1 Corinthians 8:1-13
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.
Mark 1:21-28
They 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.
Liberty.
From
our childhoods,
we
Americans are taught that liberty is our greatest possession.
We
have it as a gift from God.
Men
and women have died for our liberty.
Patrick
Henry is said to have proclaimed,
‘Give
me liberty or give me death!’
Interestingly
enough,
Patrick
Henry did get his liberty from Britain,
but
died believing that he was not free.
He
was vehemently against the United States Constitution of 1787
because
he believed it infringed too much upon liberty.
It’s
also a great American tradition to argue about what liberty means
and
be convinced that the system we live under now is not real liberty.
As
we have heard the past few weeks,
the
Corinthians were also very interested in liberty.
Not
political liberty, but spiritual liberty.
Our
section of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians today
Paul
admonishes them about behavior regarding food.
This
section of Paul’s letter makes little sense to us today,
but
with a good study Bible we can begin to understand.
Very
simply, the problem was this.
Many
of the Corinthians would be invited by their pagan friends
to
a convivial meal,
at
which some food was offered in sacrifice to a pagan god
and
the rest of it used for supper.
The
Corinthian Christians knew that the idols were not real,
and
so they reasoned that they were free to go to these meals
because
they knew they were not really sacrificing to any god.
If
they believed the gods had power,
then
it would be wrong.
But
since the gods weren’t real,
they
could keep this knowledge to themselves
and
in the meantime stay in good with their pagan friends.
Their
knowledge of the truth
made
them free to do what they wanted.
It
seemed to make sense,
but
Paul had a different view.
Paul
wanted to make the point
that
they were indeed free,
but
they were to use their freedom in love,
specifically,
love for their Christian brothers and sisters
who
had until recently believed in the pagan gods.
Paul
was concerned that if these people,
just
coming into the church,
would
see the already established believers
participating
in these rituals,
it
would perhaps bring them back into the world of sacrifice to idols.
Perhaps
they would then believe that the God of Jesus was one among many,
instead
of the only God.
While
Paul grants the Corinthians their liberty,
he
urges them to temper their liberty with love.
Indeed,
love should guide liberty.
Liberty,
freedom, is only good in Paul’s view
insofar
as it can be used for God.
The
great gift of freedom in Christ
is
that Paul could freely give up his advantages
for
the sake of God and others.
This
is a very different view than many people have.
For
them, liberty and freedom
means
primarily self-assertion against others.
When
I read books about the great wars of the twentieth century,
I
am more and more grateful
for
the political liberty we enjoy,
including
the relative freedom from government.
However,
I am also mindful that being free in a political sense
can
be injurious to my spiritual health,
if
I forget that true freedom is found in submission,
not
submission to the power of others,
but
submission to God’s power.
Paul
would say that we are not truly free
until
we are obedient to God,
acting
out of love for our neighbors,
and
Martin Luther would say the same thing.
He
stated this paradox:
A
Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none;
a
Christian is a perfectly dutiful slave of all, subject to all.
A
truly free person in Christ
is
able to freely renounce advantage and self-assertion
in
order to do God’s will in whatever situation.
And
yet it is not in our power to make ourselves free.
We
say that whenever we make our confession.
We
say, ‘we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.’
It
is the unclean spirit of self-assertion and self-preservation
which
keeps us in bondage,
the
unclean spirit who would dominate our wills
and
keep us curved in upon ourselves.
We
need liberation from the outside,
and
this is what we see in our Gospel lesson.
We
see Jesus beginning his work of liberation among the people.
It
is a work of authority and power.
He
comes into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day
like
a whirlwind,
like
a superhero,
teaching
what is right and true,
and
with a word silencing the unclean spirit.
He
frees the afflicted one to stand before him,
to
be able to praise God,
which
he could not do when the unclean spirit possessed him.
Instead
of being possessed by the spirit,
he
is possessed by Jesus.
And
this possession makes him truly free.
Our
political freedom gives us certain rights against others,
but
our spiritual freedom in Christ gives us the right to be with Christ.
Can
we assert our freedom from others
and
at the same time be free in Jesus Christ?
Paul
says no.
In
fact, when we use our freedom against others,
we
sin against Christ,
for
Christ died for others.
All
of us will be able to easily identify
how
others offend against this principle,
how
others misuse their freedom.
However,
we do not hear today’s lessons
primarily
to use them against others.
We
must hear it upon ourselves
before
we can identify it in others.
Jesus
says in another place,
‘Why
do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye
and
not see the log in your own eye?’
Perhaps
it was this very teaching with which Jesus
held
the congregation in that synagogue spellbound,
that
very spellbinding which liberated.
This
teaching is a teaching of authority and power.
It
exorcises the unclean spirit of judgment and contempt
which
would dominate our hearts.
It
is in hearing the word of Jesus that we know true liberty.
And
this liberty can never be taken away,
for
there is no condition in which we can exist
that
we cannot freely serve the other.
It
is this liberty that Christ gives us,
for
the same Christ who died for others
also
died for us,
that
we might be free indeed.
