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Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
The Collect of the Day
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-- as in fact there are many gods and many lords-- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. (1 Corinthians 8:1-13)
Seeking the Greater Good
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
She came around the corner of the supermarket aisle. Short. Dirty. Sleep deprived. “You know, the problem? You know the problem! There just ain’t enuf to go around. They told me that they couldn’t give me nothin’, ‘cause there ain’t enough. I don’t know what to do. They was hurtin’ me and so I left, and I came, but now they can’t help me. That’s the problem! No one cares anymore. The gubment’s behind it ya know. They tapped my phone, ya know. I don’t talk to nobody, ‘cause they’ll take it all away.” As she walked away, she continued to mutter to the pickles and olives; she had a story to tell.
The Gospel of Mark begins almost like a conversation with a schizophrenic. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” With that verse, the author of Mark jumps immediately into the story of Jesus’ ministry beginning with his baptism by John in the River Jordan. No background, no introduction, no birth story, no genealogy, no star in the sky, or magi.
“And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Forty days later, Jesus walks out of the desert and proclaims “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.” He i mmediately calls four men to follow him. And “ just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him … And the unclean spirit … came out of him. They were all amazed … “What is this? A new teaching – with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
Mark’s sense of urgency is compelling. If Mark came up to us in the supermarket today, his immediacy would be off putting. We might not get it. And he isn’t going to waste time with us either. If we don’t immediately get it, he’ll move on.
Mark told his hearers that we are to pay attention to Jesus. Jesus is teaching with a new authority, and we need to listen to him. Why? Because even the demons and unclean spirits know who he is: The Holy One of God. Listen to him, Mark pleads, as he shuffles down the supermarket aisle. And as he turns the corner, he immediately casts us another glance: “Did you get it? Come! Immediately! Follow him. The Kingdom of God has come near.”
Mark tells us that almost immediately, Jesus’ fame began to spread throughout Galilee. And while we may not know whether Mark’s version of what happened is historically accurate, what we do know is that the teachings of Jesus – this new way of living life abundantly, caring for one’s neighbor, and loving God – spread rapidly; carried by voices of many disciples, including Paul, the author of our New Testament reading for today.
In speaking to the Corinthians about the issue of whether it was appropriate for Christians to eat foods that may have been offered in sacrifice to graven images in the many pagan temples that lined the streets of the city of Corinth, Paul stressed that Jesus is Lord over all things; he had power over even the food hat was sacrificed to idols. After all, meat offered to an idol is really not offered to a god, but to a block of wood or stone.
But the important thing for us in terms of coming to grips with the authority and importance of Jesus’ teaching is what Paul says next. He said that the problem is that not everybody has that knowledge or perception. There once was a time in this country when the early British settlers in Massachusetts realized that they couldn’t grow wheat, and had to grow corn. But to British aristocrats, corn was something fed to pigs. Such aristocratic people, saw corn and thought “pig food,” just like some Corinthian Christians saw idol meat as “pagan poison.”
Paul’s advice – born directly out of his understanding of the authoritative teaching of Jesus – was to first remind the Corinthians that there is only one God, and therefore idols of stone or wood were powerless things. Some in the Corinthian church understood this, and so if temple-sold meat was previously sacrificed to an idol, that was meaningless to them. For others who did not understand the powerlessness of things, eating meat caused considerable anguish. Thus, the same action for one was something to be condemned, and for another it was meaningless.
The issue of idol meat was a gray area in terms of human behavior.[1] Good and faithful people came down on both sides of that issue – each seeing the issue as black or white, condemning others who so not feel the same way.
Paul’s advice was to do one’s best to avoid eating idol meat – not out of knowledge, but out of love. He knew there was nothing poisonous or defiling about eating meat, but as a compassionate and caring person, he didn’t want to do anything to cause a brother or sister to become confused, angry, or bewildered.
If you look across denominations– or within our own Episcopal denomination – today, there are plenty of gray areas. The doctrine of atonement; concepts of heaven and hell, including the reality of the burning lake of fire described in Revelation; whether a Baptism is valid if a person is not fully immersed; whether or not we should associate with non-Christian peoples; and of course, the hot button issue of sexuality and the ordination or consecration of gay persons.
The fact is that we might well disagree on what is a gray area. Some may believe that there is no such thing as a gray area when it comes to matters of faith, doctrine, or belief. For some, the idea that sinful behavior for one is freedom for another is anathema.
But what Paul exhorts is building up the Body of Christ and the dangers of arrogant thinking. Paul knew that in the Corinthian community there were many gifted and knowledgeable Christians who were so certain of their beliefs that they didn’t hesitate to let their Christian brothers and sisters who were struggling with some moral or ethical issue, know it. They were puffed up, snobby, and smug.
But, Paul says that while all things might be lawful, our respect and love for one another may in some cases limit our freedom. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial” he wrote. What Paul is saying is that the community of faith needs to become more of an ethical community that does not see issues of faith or doctrine as “right” or “wrong” but as questions seeking to determine of two options, where does the greater good lie?
Many times in life there are no clear-cut answers to deeply serious questions. There may be options that present a series of “goods” on the one hand and a different set of “goods” on the other. Paul asks us to recognize this.
Paul asks us to imagine what it would be like if instead of fighting over political positions as if there is an absolute right answer, that we put our passion into outdoing each other in love. Instead of picking at each other over theological differences, that we would put effort into picking up anyone who has stumbled and fallen. Instead of judging people who have different national, racial, political, cultural, or sexual identities, that we would remember to remove the two-by-four from our own eye before we try to pick the splinter out of our neighbor’s eye.
Paul tells us that so-called “certainty of knowledge” can lead to arrogance, but that love can lead to compassionate attitudes and actions that build up the Body of Christ. By focusing on love, and the loving and caring teachings of Jesus, we can become a community in which all of us, with our different views, can not just get along, but also discover deeper truths and serve one another and the larger community in the process.
Today this means getting conservatives and liberals to talk to one another, so that an atmosphere of trust and accommodation will flow from the interpersonal relationships that develop. It means identifying shared Christian principles that reach beyond boundaries that we think might separate us. Some of those principles might be simple things like seeking justice and working toward ending hunger, or providing need provisions to underprivileged school children.
This does not mean that we have to conform our lives to one another. Indeed to do so, would be to snub God’s creative genius in giving us such blessed diversity. But it means that we need to be unified in our commitment to seek the greater good.
We can find the greater good when we take the time to be touched by Jesus and to be touched by one another. And when we do that, we will discover ever deeper personal and enduring Christian principles and values.
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Moses said, The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: "If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die." Then the LORD replied to me: "They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak-- that prophet shall die."
1Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, *
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth-- as in fact there are many gods and many lords-- yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Almighty and everlasting God, you govern all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of your people, and in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
[1] Material for this sermon was adapted from Timothy F. Merrill (Exec. Ed.). “Table Manners.” Homiletics 18(1):43, 2006 and “Seasoned with Love” Homiletics 21(1):37-42, 2009.
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Copyright © 2008, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
29 January 2009
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