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Sermon Epiphany 4, yr B, 2024
The bible was complied a very long time ago.
A very long time ago,
Which means that from time to time we get readings that start with sentences such as “Now concerning food sacrificed to idols:”… and your mind can easily switch to another channel, because clearly this bit doesn’t concern you.
That is the challenge with scripture, we believe that is relevant and true today, but it’s content and context is from so long ago. Todays reading from 1 Corinthians is a fantastic example. First Corinthians is more accurately titled the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, because it was just that…a letter. Meant to be read in one go…so you can see the whole discussion and get the whole message. It’s also a challenge when that letter is read thousands of years after it was written, a lot of inside information is lost, a lot of assumptions no longer apply.
After all, who remembers even where Corinth is? Never mind what it was like to live or start a church there. So how do we know what Paul is talking about? we need context. So here it is.
Corinth was a prosperous city on the thread of land between mainland Greece and the massive peninsula to the south. This meant it lay directly on the travel route from north to south and between the two gulfs that connect to the Mediterranean. Corinth was a major hub and an intersession of culture, travel, trade and people. The population was hugely diverse, with many cultures and religions. The population was hugely transient, with the sailors and merchants passing through. There were Jews, but the population was mostly gentile. There were people who were extremely rich because of the trades and commerce of the area, but there was also a large population of very poor people, who gravitate to such cities for the hope of opportunity.
And Corinth had a reputation. We see a lot of that in Paul’s letters and it is born up in other historical sources. The rich were arrogant, well educated, keen on their status, and known for their indulgent lifestyles. There were also known for their cruel and dismissive treatment of the poor in their city.
The Church in Corinth suffered the same failings as their city. We can read in Paul’s letters that the rich hosted Church in their houses, but used the church as a social club, feasting and getting drunk during the Eucharist. They would be finely dressed and sit by status, forcing the poor of the church to sit on the floor without saving food or space for them. Sexual impropriety, gluttony, and social snobbery were all addressed in the letters that Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, knowing full well that it was the educated elite that were likely to read them out.
It is to this congregation, divided and diverse, that Paul writes and it gives a whole new interpretation to the famous ‘love is patient, love is kind’ verses in Corinthians, knowing Paul is writing less a commendation and more like a reprimand and a reminder to those in charge.
So, when Paul speaks of food sacrificed to idols, he’s really not speaking about food or idols. Paul is talking about relationships. When Paul was asked about whether or not Christians should eat meat from the market that has been sacrificed at a local temple. I imagine the elite of Corinth rolling their eyes, ‘of course it doesn’t matter if meat is sacrificed to Asherah… there is no Asherah, so it doesn’t make a difference!’ We know better! So, we can eat what we like!
It is not unlike the questions early Jewish converts asked about Kosher foods after conversion. It took a vision for Peter to understand that kosher laws no longer applied, so it is not surprising that some new converts in Corinth were concerned about meat sacrificed to idols and if eating it would offend God.
The issue was further confused by the teaching that you should ‘worship no God but God’, and the fact that Church leaders or elders seemed to have no issue joining the banquets in local temples. New converts saw this as worshiping other gods, and the educated, elite argued that since there are no other gods, they could eat where and what they like without consequence.
What Paul is trying to explain though, is that it isn’t about the food… The church elders have said, perhaps even written to Paul that ”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.” Paul reminds them that there are members of the community, who have grown up eating meat only in the temples of various idols, understanding that meat was sacrificed and eaten with worship and offering in mind and that if you eat that meat, you were worshiping that deity.
In ancient times, temples would sacrifice a cow, goat or such and their worshipers and leaders would worship with a feast and the rest of the meat could be sold at the market. So, when you bought meat in Corinth it very well may have been killed in one of the many temples of Corinth, and proceeds gone to maintain the temple.
So, some members of the new church community may have been taught that there is only one God, and these other deities don’t exist, but they can’t bring themselves to eat temple meat, because when they did before it was in knowledge of worship and now it feels wrong.
Paul is telling the members of the community that already understood… that where their food came from does not affect their worship of God, that regardless of their ‘knowledge’ they shouldn’t be condescending or arrogant towards those who are refraining from meant in an honest attempt to respect God.
“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, how does this effect us? Temple sacrificial meat isn’t usually in Safeway, so it isn’t an issue. However, like Paul tells us it isn’t about the food, it’s about relationship and encouraging one another to grow in Christ.
We have wine at church, during the service in fact. We have wine at our dinners from time to time. I know clergy that keep a bottle in the office to share with a friend or have a drink at the end of the day. I myself, enjoy a scotch while I read. However, I will not have any alcohol in my office. Not because it is wrong or because I think clergy shouldn’t drink, but because on a regular basis I host Step 5 meetings.
Step 5 is a part of the recovery process for Alcoholics Anonymous and it could be harmful or at least distracting to have the smell or sight of alcohol in the room where you are making your confession. It seems more likely to tear down a person in recovery, than build them up.
It isn’t about the alcohol, it is about encouraging our relationships, and helping each other thrive, it is about opportunities to build up, rather than tear people down.
We too are in a parish of varied socio economic strata, if somewhat homogenous cultural backgrounds. Yet, it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure we are a community that builds people up and doesn’t take any privilege we may have for granted.
I value education, I value research and knowledge. In the back of my mind I am fairly sure that the answer to any question or problem can be found in a book. Which means that I tend to default to a dismissive and condescending mental attitude when confronted with ideas or beliefs that I consider illogical, unscientific or contrary to good common sense. In this way I share the faults of my Corinthian forebearers, for example in the face of conspiracy theories, including biblical ones I struggle to be humble and patient.
What I need to recall is that arrogant awareness of my own knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
So, I need to be aware of my own blind spots, the areas where I find my knowledge puffs me up as Paul says, and makes me arrogant and dismissive.
Therefore is assuming to be right is the cause of another’s falling, I will never do it, so that I may not cause someone to fall. “Anyone who claims to know…doesn’t have the necessary knowledge” I think Paul means that if I’m so arrogant to think I have all the answers, I clearly don’t have the right answers. The knowledge that builds up rather than puffs up.
There are many people of faith, whose understanding of how to be faithful is different then mine and between the two I usually think what I believe is right. However, how helpful is that in building community?
There are parents whose children are not to read Harry Potter because they believe the content is inappropriate for Christian children. It will do those families no good if I bombard them with logical arguments about the lack of phoenix feathers to create viable wands needed to employ magic spells.
To argue this only creates division and breaks relationship. Rather, perhaps I would better serve God and them by listening to how they are doing their best to do what they believe God would wish. Taking the time to be with them and encourage their faith, building knowledge and relationship together. As Paul might say… magic wands neither build nor harm our faith, so do what you need to keep your neighbour from falling away from faith. Ok, maybe he wouldn’t but you get the point.
Martin Luther once said “A Christian is perfectly free, Lord of all and subject to none, A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all and subject to all.”
Corinth and it’s issues may have been thousands of years ago and superficially their issues don’t seem to be our issues. However, people are people and somethings never change. Scripture’s interpretations and the eyes that read them change all the time, but the truth of Scripture’s teaching never does. All scripture is written for our edification …that we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
Our challenge is to look at scripture and not dismiss it as antiquated and irrelevant, but rather seek the truth in it’s words that build up our community. All scripture holds truth and God in it’s words…it is up to us to seek the Spirit’s wisdom to find it.
And if you need help, I’ve got a couple books you can borrow.