STUMBLING BLOCK OR STEPPING STONE IDOLS the Early Theologian

STUMBLING BLOCK OR STEPPING STONE A sermon by Dr. J. Matthew Burton, Jr. Clemmons United Methodist Church February 1, 2015 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (NRSV) 1 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him. 4 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." 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 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. 7 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. 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. 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 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? 11 So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12 But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 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. IDOLS The early theologian and philosopher, St. Augustine said this in his Confessions: I was in misery, and misery is the state of every soul overcome by friendship with mortal things and lacerated when they are lost. Then the soul becomes aware of the misery which is its actual condition even before it loses them.1 Well, if that is true then my misery started at age 12. It was my first obsession with a “mortal thing.” Having moved to the Haysville, NC as a 4th grader, I wanted to fit in and be recognized. I soon learned that the only way to do that was to participate in sports. Football didn’t work out 1https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1427207-confessiones-sancti-patris-nostri-augustini. Accessed on 1/27/2015. so I decided basketball would be my game. Sports were so important in Clay County—a county of only 6,000 people with only one school—that even elementary school students were allowed to purchase letter jackets. The letter jacket became the “mortal thing” that would “lacerate my soul.” I had to have one. I knew I couldn’t have it. I had already asked my father and he said, “Sorry son.” “NO!” There were three children to cloth and feed on a preacher’s salary and my emerging obsession to own a letter jacket was not a priority. So what did I do when the coach asked, “Who wants a jacket?” I raised my hand of course! I put it on and walked home hoping everyone in town would see me. I had only one day to show it off. The money or the return of the jacket was required the next day. Here’s the thing: I wasn’t a good basketball player. The black and white letter jacket with yellow letters, gold pin, and orange basketball in the middle of the letters was going to be the grace for all the times I warmed the bench. The jacket had filled my thoughts and dreams for weeks. It would keep me warm when I walked home from school but more importantly it would turn heads. People would think I was one of the good players. As a 12 year old desperate for acceptance, it meant everything. All through supper, the jacket hung in the living room closet among the other cheap, ordinary jackets. Somehow, I had to convince my father that twenty-eight dollars was nothing compared to my need for validation. Unable to come up with a good speech, I excused myself from the supper table and went to my hiding place. I thought if I wore the jacket, my father would see beyond the money to my need. I wasn’t much of a basketball player but I could at least look the part. My need nor the tears that eventually formed in my eyes were enough to release twenty-eight dollars from my father’s treasury. So I continued to warm basketball benches throughout Western, North Carolina and walk home from school wearing a non-descript coat. It was always cold. The 16th century French theologian and pastor during the Protestant reformation, John Calvin said, “Every one of us is, even from his mother’s womb, a master craftsman of idols.” As we all know, Idols come in many forms. Wealth, power, position, a car, your home, your work, and even a letter jacket can become an idol—something we adore and worship more than anything else. These idols, as Calvin suggests, start at an early age. Giving up our idol worship is not an easy thing. ALL PUFFED UP The Corinthians supposedly gave up their idol worship. Unfortunately, they replaced their wood and stone statues with another even more dangerous idol/God-substitute—superior knowledge. There were some Christians who felt superior to others because they thought eating meat sacrificed to idols was no big deal. Idols were not God. They were just stone or wood and so food sacrificed to these nonentities was not tainted as some suggested. They lorded their position over Christians who believed that food sacrificed to idols should be avoided. The whole thing eventually turned into a massive food fight, so to speak. The big issue for Paul was the lack of love for those who were new to the faith. Established Christians were causing some—those who they considered naive—to stumble. I faced a similar situation when I took building teams to Cuba. One of the visible and outward signs of being a Christian for many Methodists in Cuba was to dress differently, give up cigarettes, and alcohol. One of the first thoughts for many visitors to Cuba, including American Methodists, is the idea of a good Cuban cigar and maybe a little Cuban Rum. I always asked team members, though, to please refrain. I didn’t think a Cuban cigar or a little Cuban rum was going to do any harm but I did know that it might harm our image with our brothers and sisters in Cuba. Therefore, I asked all team members to abide by their rules. This also included asking the women to wear skirts to church and in public instead of pants. I didn’t think wearing pants or a skirt made much difference to God but it made a difference to our Cuban friends who were desperately trying to follow Jesus in a repressive society. St. Paul reminded the “Puffed up” Christians in Corinth that while there was nothing wrong, really, with eating meat sacrificed to idols if consuming it caused a brother or sister in the faith to stumble, then it was wrong. Paul reminds us that we have a responsibility to one another. That means we are sensitive to other people and their spiritual journey. LIVING WITH A HEART OF LOVE Paul’s point was that knowledge runs the threat of becoming as dangerous as an idol when it is NOT tempered by the love of others, especially others who may think and believe differently than we do. If Thomas Aquinas is correct and there are only two credible things that must be believed in the Christian faith—first, that God exists, and second, that we are loved in Jesus Christ—then Jesus must expect His followers to live in His love. That means we will be genuinely loving people. When John wrote, “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth,”2 He was saying, “Don’t just talk a good game. Get out there and do what you say.” As Leonard Sweet says in his book I Am a Follower, If we are followers of the greatest Lover who ever lived, then we will be great lovers ourselves. If the Spirit of God is in us and we 2I John 3:18. are abiding in Christ, love will spew naturally from us. In our words, deeds, our very being, we will be love casters.3 LOVE BUILDS UP Love casters understand that love is about building up not tearing down. This was Paul’s issue with the Corinthian Christians. The goal was not so much right and perfect thinking as it was loving others. Eating meat sacrificed to idols was a problem for some Christians so don’t be a stumbling block by insisting that there was nothing wrong with the meat or eating it in their presence. Have a kind heart and refrain for the sake of a fellow Christian whose journey was different at that point.

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