Sermon May 5 2007 "The Weak, the Strong, Commitment to Community part 2"

Continuity from last week: A religion based on externals is easy to cast aside, and that is what I did for a period of time. When I moved out to taste the broader world for myself, I rejected the legalistic environment of my childhood. They talked about Grace but lived by Law; they spoke of love but showed signs of hate. I see now that the Deep South fundamentalism of my childhood represented far more than a place of worship or a spiritual community. It was a controlled environment, a subculture. I now recognize that a harsh church, full of fierce condemnation and empty of humility and any sense of mystery stunted my faith for many years. In short, the rules, regulations, and absolutes of the institution of Christianity kept me from seeking a relationship with God. I have spent the rest of my life climbing back toward faith and toward church.

In the section of the letter to the Roman house church we saw last week, we saw that Paul wasn’t as concerned about what people were taking stands on, whether eating or the day of worship, he doesn’t rip into either party, he instead addresses most directly each member’s attitude towards others in the church.

So obviously the guy’s gotten a letter or two from different factions in the church about two BIG ISSUES for the people: eating and drinking and what day you worship. We have to make sure when spend time to consider our attitudes toward our brothers and sisters to remember that Paul DOES take a position on these issues here, and those positions are what we’re going to talk about today. Clearly for Paul, what one eats and drinks does matter, and matters deeply.

1 Corinthians 8:4, 7-13 (Food sacrificed to idols is nothing, but caring for brother is)

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and there is no God but one…but not everyone knows this. Some people are so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled….be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in a idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again.

1 Corinthians 10:25-11:1

Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising issues of conscience. But if anyone says to you, “this has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake- the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why I am denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God…for I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

1 Peter 4:3
For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

Twin themes of temptation of absolutes and this thing called the gospel God is doing is bigger than you

Temptation of absolutes first:

(well, can't go to the drunkenness extreme, so we'd better occupy the abstinence extreme)

Well, cant do A, so we'd better choose B

Luke 7:31-34

"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.'

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."”

(Chart of ridiculousness)

The word “therefore” in 14:13 shows that Paul is building on the argument just completed as he calls the community to let go of one attitude and adopt another. “Let us therefore no longer judge one another, but rather decide (literally:judge) never to put an obstacle or stumbling block in the way of another.” And it is here that Paul states his own position,

“I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; instead, it is unclean for the person who considers it unclean.” (14:14)

Paul’s injunctions (Stop destroying the one for whom Christ died by what you eat (14:15) and Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God (14:20)) and 1 Corinthians 8:8-13) once more function to relativize the importance of the religious behaviors that are dividing the community by contrasting them with the work of God in Christ. (reconciling, not dividing)

Paul rarely speaks of the kingdom of God. When he does, it is sometimes in connection with a list of vices to make the point that those who do such things will not enter the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:21).

Now we deal with the second theme here: this thing called the gospel is bigger than you!

It is significant, therefore, that he mentions the kingdom here with the opposite effect: the kingdom of God is not about food and drink; it consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (14:17).

In the interests of peace and mutual upbuilding of the community, Paul will not allow the “strong” and their slogan “everything is clean” (14:20) to dominate even though he agrees with them- if by eating and drinking wine or doing anything else they cause another member of the community to stumble and fall.

With respect to observing days or not, Paul had said earlier, “Let each one be fully convinced in their own minds” (14:5). The same thing applies to food; those who are clear about their convictions about what God wants and follow them are blessed, since they have no reason to condemn themselves for their actions.

But those who are unsure and eat or drink what they think may be wrong to eat or drink are condemned because their actions do not stem from faithful obedience to God but from sin (14:23).

The vision of community Paul shows in his letters to the small house churches of early Christianity is accomplished in large measure through the building of deep spiritual friendships with people who will involve themselves with one another in the long process of spiritual formation. In spiritual formation, the inner life of Jesus, over time, becomes visible in my life. It’s who I am, what I do, and how I live my life.

I need friends- and so do you- who hear the call from God expressed in Hebrews: “Consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…let us encourage one another.” These friends are eager to experience Christ’s life released in others. So they intentionally- moving with purpose, seek to inspire and rise up a passion for Christ within us. They invest in our lives for the purpose of seeing the glory of God revealed in their lives and ours.

There are many qualities that characterize a friend. What are some friendship qualities that are important to you?

All of us have experienced friendships lost. The pain we feel is enormous when someone we thought we could count on just walks away from us. They take the path of least resistance when situations become difficult. Maybe you’ve not only experienced this happening to you, but have also done it to someone else. (Work with this a bit?)

In the book of Job, as Job faces terrible circumstances; losing all of his family and possessions…everything that he has depended on from before…and his friends come to him, and all they can say is, “Job, you’ve obviously done something wrong to have something like this happen to you. What are your hidden sins, friend?”, he cries out

“A despairing friend should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams.”[1]

Friendship requires the ability to see a friend at his or her worst and look beyond all that is ugly to what could be. It’s standing with someone in the darkest of nights and allowing the light of Christ to pierce that darkness.

There are times when it’s hard, really hard, to be my friend. I’m sometimes self-absorbed and demanding. I am sometimes petty, and in conversations drive people away. I often experience some degree of fear at the extremely painful experiences of others and withdraw into my life. Yet a spiritual friend will hang in there and not give up; will enter into a situation that has no easy answer and will be there anyways. I long both to have a friend like that, and to be a friend like that. Sometimes I am.

The path of friendship isn’t always a smooth, gentle walk. It’s often messy. Friendships can also be filled with annoyances. Therefore our responses need to be intentional. That process begins with a willingness to just show up. I don’t know all that will be required of me, but I’m willing to enter even the uncertainty. Friendship must be allowed to develop as life unfolds. It takes time, enough time for hope and patience to become real.[2]

There’s no such thing as a self-made Christian, and there’s no such thing as a self-maintained Christian.

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[1] Job 6:14-15

[2] Kallam, Jim. Risking Church. 77-78.