Sermon Archive

4th Sunday after Epiphany January 29, 2012

Sermon Archive

Let us pray: Dear Savior, we live today in a rough and tumble times, much like it was during Your ministry around the Roman world. As a result, we are influenced by those around us and often tempted to follow their lead and their lifestyle in countless areas of life. Lord, today we thank You for providing us with a blueprint of how to exercise our Christian liberty and freedom, but to do it in a way which uplifts us and edifies those beloved by You. Amen

GRACE MERCY AND PEACE ARE YOURS FROM CHRIST, WHO HAS SET US FREE FROM ETERNAL GUILT AND SHAME

TEXT: I Cor. 8: 1-13

Dearly Beloved By Christ:

The members of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, wouldn't have done well during the times of the apostles. Animal sacrifices were rampant in almost all of the many religions to be found. Animals were the equivalent of money. Thus, by sacrificing them to some sort of "god" people were trying to buy favor with that deity. The carcasses would mount up and with no refrigeration, it was a big, smelly problem. So, most of those heathen temples would sell the meat to a local butcher shop, people would buy and eat it, and the problem was solved. In an age when many people starved, it all made sense.

However, many early Christians had a practical problem with all this. The meat was sacrificed to false gods. So, if they bought it and ate it, were they then guilty of supporting the local temple of Apollo or Artemis? If they never did anything about it but simply ignored the issue, were they guilty by association? To be sure, those of Jewish background were well acquainted with animal sacrifices, too. In the Old Testament God expected and demanded that they engage in such sacrifices to Him. He did this, not because He was blood-thirsty, but because He expected them to give their all to Him, their entire heart, and when that animal died, you could not take it back.—Most of the time they actually burned it up and only ashes remained. Also, that vivid blood was a powerful reminder of a profoundly greater truth: that God would send His Son, the Lamb of God, to willingly pour out His blood to take away the sins of the world and make fallen humans right with God. His blood, His sacrifice of total love, would be the ransom that set us free from all guilt before the Almighty.

People who read this little section from I Corinthians and don't know any of that background wince, avert their mind's gaze, and promptly skip over it. The popular view would be: "It really has nothing to do with us today since we don't engage in such coarse, barbaric practices." But, they would be wrong. The underlying issue it addresses is this:

HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN EXERCISE THEIR GODLY FREEDOM IN
A COARSE WORLD?

I

I'm not ancient. But, even I can remember when bad language wasn't used on television, when sexual promiscuity wasn't flaunted in every magazine and newspaper as the norm, when people were more careful in their public attire, and where comedians made their careers on wit instead of grade-school bathroom humor. Some have called that the "Leave it to Beaver" mindset. I would call it good taste. We didn't have reality TV. People didn't waste their time jumping in mud-puddles, seeing who could use the most foul words in a sentence or eating the grossest stuff imaginable, nor in celebrating a scandalous lifestyle. Instead, they were trying to earn an honest living and to raise their children by pointing them toward noble goals which uplifted humankind. Honesty, integrity, genuine hard work, clean streets and clean lives were what we aspired to. In other words, Christian principles were esteemed.

The counter-culture of the '60's rebelled against all that. And now anything and everything goes. If you say: "Well, I disagree, such behavior is coarse and often downright sinful," you're branded as a Victorian crank and a hypocrite. As a culture, we've devolved, not evolved, into the sewer. So, in many respects we're right back to the days of Corinth in our lesson.

II

Many of the simple believers in Corinth were troubled by this meat sacrificed to idols. "If I'm free in Christ, what does my freedom mean? How can and should I exercise it? As long as I don't actively break a particular commandment, what kind of guidelines should I employ so that I don't cross over God's line into sin?" These exact, same questions confront us as we labor at living in a coarse, anything goes society, too, don't they?

In chapter 5 of this epistle, Paul says this: "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial." Folks, that is a truism. Because of Jesus' sacrifice we are not ruled by anything except the Law of Christ's love for us. Or, as Paul states elsewhere: "whatever is true, just, right, noble and praiseworthy—think about these things." Some of the members of that church were thinking. They were troubled that if they ate "tainted meat" or ignored the issue, they would be giving tacit approval to idols, denigrating the Triune God, and violating their allegiance to Him. Others said: "It's no big deal, so don't sweat the small stuff." What should they do?

All of us face this exact issue every single day. The informal office party is at that restaurant with exotic dancers, should I go? The local club has a performer who tells a lot of off-color jokes.—If I walk out, will I be ostracized? Should I switch TV channels when certain entertainers come on? Should I mention to that neighbor that I don't like some of the hard-edged language they employ? Should I ever speak up against the "anything goes" lifestyles that friends or relatives live? Is there such a thing as guilt by association? How much do others pull me down in my faith even when I'm not aware of it? And do others look at me and conclude: "Well, he or she is doing or saying that, so it must be o.k.?"

III

Note Paul's words: "We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." So far, so good. Then Paul goes on to point out that an idol is nothing since false gods are a figment of the human mind. Everything ultimately comes from the Triune God including animals. However, since some folks have weak understanding and their consciences bother them, if they go along with all this they are sinning against themselves. So, we should never, ever, exercise any Christian freedoms we may possess in a way that knowingly causes others to fall or to stumble in their faith. We dare never wound another's conscience by accepting coarse behavior and passing it off as perfectly o.k. Christians don't have that right because "you are not your own, you were bought with a price"—that being the blood of Christ.

How should a Christian exercise their Godly freedom in a coarse world? Very carefully. Yes, I know Christ ate with cheating tax collectors and preached to prostitutes. But He did so carefully and for one reason: to try to convert them and save their souls. Meanwhile, He also was a model wedding guest who spared that young couple a lifetime of embarrassment by turning water into wine. If anything violates the law of Christian love, don't do it, run away from it, and actively work against it by employing the fruits of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Amen