January 28, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: “Food and Idols”
Scripture: I Corinthians 8:1-13
(Other lectionary choices include Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Psalm 111, and Mark 1:21-28.)
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Food Offered to Idols
1Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3but anyone who loves God is known by him. 4Hence, 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.” 5Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords—6yet 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. 7It 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. 8“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. 9But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For 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? 11So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
The Scripture reading for today is from I Corinthians, meaning, of course, that it was written by the apostle Paul to the church at Corinth. Corinth was a sophisticated city, and several trade routes crossed there. Even ships would sail to and from Corinth. (I almost opened this sermon with the line, "Hello, sailor. New in town?" But I didn't want to talk about prostitution!)
There was a certain arrogance among the members of the Corinthian church because they knew they lived in a sophisticated city. They thought they were wise men and women, but in Paul's mind, they really were no better than babies. Paul was concerned that their so-called “sophistication” might make them blind to the needs of others. Here is what was going on, and it may be beyond anything you and I have experienced:
In Corinth there were lots of religions. The Greco-Roman world at the time had its panoply of gods and goddesses. So, you might have friends who belonged to this religion or that religion, and there was a very good chance that you might enjoy a meal with somebody who was not a Jew or a Christian. The question Paul is trying to answer is this: “What if I'm at the house of a believer of one of these religions and I am served some meat that has been offered to an idol? Should I eat it? I'm a follower of Jesus. Should I eat what has probably been sacrificed to an idol?”
What Paul said is that since we believers are fairly sophisticated - he was trying to throw them a sop of sorts! - we know that there is only one God, not many gods. So, we sophisticated believers know that meat sacrificed to an idol was actually sacrificed to NOTHING, because we know there is only one God and that those other gods don't really exist. So, theoretically, we can eat meat sacrificed to an idol with no problem. BUT - there's always a “but”! What if somebody new in the faith, a “babe in Christ,” doesn't have the strong faith or sophistication that you and I have? What if that person with a lesser faith than ours is disturbed by the fact that he/she saw us eat something that had been sacrificed to an idol? What then?
Let me digress and tell you something that happened to my mother one time at a party. My mother was a wonderful believer and a good church member. I'd say she was a pillar of the church. But she also liked to have a good time, and she and my father socialized a lot in our little Indiana town. One time somebody saw her having a good time at a party, and the person congratulated her for being such a “regular” person. In fact, that person had told her that previously she had thought my mother was a real stink-in-the-mud and wasn't really a regular person. My mother told me about this encounter and said she really didn't know what to think. Was she supposed to feel guilty because her Christian faith didn't stick out? I'm sure the woman who told her that she seemed to be a “regular” person thought she was paying my mom a compliment, but my mom wasn't sure how to feel. What do you think? Should she have felt bad that her faith didn't stick out like a sore thumb?
That's what Paul is getting at in today's Scripture lesson: YOU know there are no such things as other gods and I know there are no such things as other gods......but what about those weaker in the faith?
I have a brother who is a recovering alcoholic. He hasn't had a drink since 1980. When I went to visit him then, he asked that I not drink anything alcoholic while I was there, and I honored his wishes. As time went by, and as he grew stronger, it became okay with him if those around him wanted to have an alcoholic drink. If you are unsure, you can always ask the person: Do you mind if I have a glass of wine?
The point Paul is trying to make is that LOVE should come first and not MY RIGHT to do whatever I want! We need to be careful and not ASSUME that we have more power over another than we have - and that's why I said it would not be a bad idea to ask the person in question. I'll close with a quote from the Scottish scholar William Barclay. “No one has any right to indulge in a pleasure or to demand a liberty which may be destructive to someone else.....In whatever we do, we should not only think of ourselves; we must also think of those who are weaker.” Do you agree with the Rev. Mr. Barclay? Amen.
Pastor Skip
