Roger Lynn
January 17, 2021
(CLICK HERE for the audio for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for the whole service)
Paul debates with the Corinthian church about eating food offered to idols. Jesus drives out an evil spirit. These two scripture passages are obviously from another time and another way of looking at the world. In our modern view, we tend not to believe in demons or unclean spirits, and food offered to idols is really a non-issue. So, at first glance both of the scripture passages for this morning would seem to be completely irrelevant for us. OK, I’ll just stop talking now.
Or, we could spend a few minutes exploring what these ancient and seemingly irrelevant passages might have to say about faith even in these modern times in which we live. First, it must be noted that while spirit possession and idol worship are not generally a part of our world view, they were very much a part of the way in which people understood the world 2,000 years ago. They were not silly superstitions which could simply be dismissed. Second, it is important to recognize that what they have to teach us is not so much related to the specifics of those issues as it is to the broader topic of how faith shapes the ways in which we live our lives in the world.
Paul was writing to the new Corinthian church because it was being torn apart by people’s selfish disregard for the well-being of others with whom they shared fellowship. This took a number of different specific forms, but the one which is addressed in our scripture for today centered around an arrogant self-confidence in personal knowledge which had failed to include love in the formula. The issue was whether or not to eat meat which had been offered to idols. The city of Corinth was a very cosmopolitan center with a poly-theistic world view. Amongst the abundance of gods being worshipped, animal sacrifice would often have been involved. One of the side-effects of such activity was the sale of the excess meat which was not required for the sacrifice. This is where the problem arose for folks newly converted to the Christian faith, with its emphasis on One God and the mandate to worship only that One God. Did the eating of meat which had been a part of a pagan sacrifice constitute participation in that sacrifice and thus a compromise of their faith? For some, having only recently come out of such religious practices themselves, the answer was clearly yes. For others, filled with the new notion of “freedom in Christ”, the answer was just as clearly no. “Since we know that there is only one true God, then whatever other idols and gods might be found have no real power or substance. Therefore, whatever sacrifices are made to such gods are also empty and without meaning. Eating such meat cannot affect the person whose confidence is in Christ.” To some extent, Paul was in agreement with this position, but that was not ultimately the point. “Freedom in Christ” and the “knowledge” which comes to us through our new faith cannot be the ultimate guide for our lives. If, by exercising such freedom and knowledge in “non-essential” areas such as eating meat, we injure the faith of someone else, however much weaker we might consider such faith to be, then we have sacrificed the heart of the gospel, which is love, and we have ignored one of Jesus’ central teachings, which is wholeness. For Paul, faith is more than a personal matter and it is more than an intellectual exercise. We are called to care for the needs of others and we are called to do so in practical, real-life ways. This doesn’t mean ignoring our own values and sacrificing our personal integrity, but it does mean considering the well-being of others when we make our choices.
In Mark’s Gospel we find an interesting combination of stories which says much about how Jesus understood faith. The passage begins with Jesus teaching in the synagogue and the people being amazed at his teaching. Then we are told about the incident with the unclean spirit. And finally, we return to the theme of Jesus’ teaching. These are not unrelated incidents which have been accidentally or carelessly lumped together by an inept storyteller. Mark apparently understood Jesus’ teaching to be about more than just words, since the whole Gospel of Mark reports far fewer of Jesus’ words than any of the other Gospels. What we do hear about, however, is Jesus’ actions. And we hear about those actions within the context of Jesus’ teaching. They are not separate issues. To speak about his teaching is to speak about what he did and who he was. Jesus came teaching about God’s love and he demonstrated that love by getting personally involved in the lives of those around him and doing what he could to make a positive difference in the quality of their lives.
So, how do we put our faith into action? How do we make love a practical part of how we live our lives? Today both unclean spirits and meat offered to idols take different forms and are called by different names, but the need for us to be involved remains as real as it was in the days of Jesus and Paul. We don’t think in terms of unclean spirits, but there are certainly a myriad of disruptive forces in our world which prevent people from experiencing whole and abundant living. Such forces range from the very personal, such as loneliness, grief, depression, and various addictions, to the truly global, such as poverty, ethnic hatred, violence, and unbridled greed. And we in the Church, as the Body of Christ, can still bear witness to the power of God when we participate in healing such brokenness in our world. We do this through the various outreach ministries of this congregation, including the monies we give and the other community organizations we support. We do this through the wide variety of efforts made by individuals within the congregation whose work makes a difference in our community, including volunteering in the schools and working at Food Share. We do this simply by being the kind of congregation we are, offering a non-judgmental environment where people are welcomed and invited to experience first hand the love and grace of God through the accepting fellowship of this faith-community. We do this whenever we allow love to be our guide in the choices we make and the ways in which we relate to others – when we value connections above rules, and when we remember that our own self-interest is intimately connected with the well-being of everyone.
May we continue to become the people whom God is calling us to be – people who put love into practice as we seek to make a difference in the lives of those around us. May the Spirit of God continue to be present in our midst, binding us together, and leading us into the world to share God’s love in practical, tangible ways. Amen.
Paul debates with the Corinthian church about eating food offered to idols. Jesus drives out an evil spirit. These two scripture passages are obviously from another time and another way of looking at the world. In our modern view, we tend not to believe in demons or unclean spirits, and food offered to idols is really a non-issue. So, at first glance both of the scripture passages for this morning would seem to be completely irrelevant for us. OK, I’ll just stop talking now.
Or, we could spend a few minutes exploring what these ancient and seemingly irrelevant passages might have to say about faith even in these modern times in which we live. First, it must be noted that while spirit possession and idol worship are not generally a part of our world view, they were very much a part of the way in which people understood the world 2,000 years ago. They were not silly superstitions which could simply be dismissed. Second, it is important to recognize that what they have to teach us is not so much related to the specifics of those issues as it is to the broader topic of how faith shapes the ways in which we live our lives in the world.
Paul was writing to the new Corinthian church because it was being torn apart by people’s selfish disregard for the well-being of others with whom they shared fellowship. This took a number of different specific forms, but the one which is addressed in our scripture for today centered around an arrogant self-confidence in personal knowledge which had failed to include love in the formula. The issue was whether or not to eat meat which had been offered to idols. The city of Corinth was a very cosmopolitan center with a poly-theistic world view. Amongst the abundance of gods being worshipped, animal sacrifice would often have been involved. One of the side-effects of such activity was the sale of the excess meat which was not required for the sacrifice. This is where the problem arose for folks newly converted to the Christian faith, with its emphasis on One God and the mandate to worship only that One God. Did the eating of meat which had been a part of a pagan sacrifice constitute participation in that sacrifice and thus a compromise of their faith? For some, having only recently come out of such religious practices themselves, the answer was clearly yes. For others, filled with the new notion of “freedom in Christ”, the answer was just as clearly no. “Since we know that there is only one true God, then whatever other idols and gods might be found have no real power or substance. Therefore, whatever sacrifices are made to such gods are also empty and without meaning. Eating such meat cannot affect the person whose confidence is in Christ.” To some extent, Paul was in agreement with this position, but that was not ultimately the point. “Freedom in Christ” and the “knowledge” which comes to us through our new faith cannot be the ultimate guide for our lives. If, by exercising such freedom and knowledge in “non-essential” areas such as eating meat, we injure the faith of someone else, however much weaker we might consider such faith to be, then we have sacrificed the heart of the gospel, which is love, and we have ignored one of Jesus’ central teachings, which is wholeness. For Paul, faith is more than a personal matter and it is more than an intellectual exercise. We are called to care for the needs of others and we are called to do so in practical, real-life ways. This doesn’t mean ignoring our own values and sacrificing our personal integrity, but it does mean considering the well-being of others when we make our choices.
In Mark’s Gospel we find an interesting combination of stories which says much about how Jesus understood faith. The passage begins with Jesus teaching in the synagogue and the people being amazed at his teaching. Then we are told about the incident with the unclean spirit. And finally, we return to the theme of Jesus’ teaching. These are not unrelated incidents which have been accidentally or carelessly lumped together by an inept storyteller. Mark apparently understood Jesus’ teaching to be about more than just words, since the whole Gospel of Mark reports far fewer of Jesus’ words than any of the other Gospels. What we do hear about, however, is Jesus’ actions. And we hear about those actions within the context of Jesus’ teaching. They are not separate issues. To speak about his teaching is to speak about what he did and who he was. Jesus came teaching about God’s love and he demonstrated that love by getting personally involved in the lives of those around him and doing what he could to make a positive difference in the quality of their lives.
So, how do we put our faith into action? How do we make love a practical part of how we live our lives? Today both unclean spirits and meat offered to idols take different forms and are called by different names, but the need for us to be involved remains as real as it was in the days of Jesus and Paul. We don’t think in terms of unclean spirits, but there are certainly a myriad of disruptive forces in our world which prevent people from experiencing whole and abundant living. Such forces range from the very personal, such as loneliness, grief, depression, and various addictions, to the truly global, such as poverty, ethnic hatred, violence, and unbridled greed. And we in the Church, as the Body of Christ, can still bear witness to the power of God when we participate in healing such brokenness in our world. We do this through the various outreach ministries of this congregation, including the monies we give and the other community organizations we support. We do this through the wide variety of efforts made by individuals within the congregation whose work makes a difference in our community, including volunteering in the schools and working at Food Share. We do this simply by being the kind of congregation we are, offering a non-judgmental environment where people are welcomed and invited to experience first hand the love and grace of God through the accepting fellowship of this faith-community. We do this whenever we allow love to be our guide in the choices we make and the ways in which we relate to others – when we value connections above rules, and when we remember that our own self-interest is intimately connected with the well-being of everyone.
May we continue to become the people whom God is calling us to be – people who put love into practice as we seek to make a difference in the lives of those around us. May the Spirit of God continue to be present in our midst, binding us together, and leading us into the world to share God’s love in practical, tangible ways. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment