In the name of God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
“By this everyone will know you are my disciples, that
you have love for one another.” Those are Jesus’ words in John, noting that love
is our highest calling. Faith and discipleship boil down to that very simple
practice- love one another. In the letter to the Corinthian church that we
heard this morning, St. Paul writes to encourage the community of the faithful
there to focus more on love and less on the competition of who is right. It was
good advice 2,000 years ago, and it is good advice today.
Some scholars have called Corinth the Las Vegas of the
Ancient Near East, noting that if they had a slogan it would have been “what
happens in Corinth, stays in Corinth.” It was a very diverse city, especially
as it related to religious beliefs. It was a city of economic disparity, with
the haves having a whole lot, and the have nots struggling. This letter was
written around the year 55, so at least 15 years before any of the gospels are
written. There was not much developed doctrine or worship to yet speak of. So
the Corinthian church was a first generation church, and they were struggling
with their identity and how to be in community with each other. Corinth was a
dog-eat-dog city, and aspects of that culture were seeping into the church. So
Paul writes this first letter to Corinth to exhort them to put aside their
factions and egos and instead focus on the love of Jesus. Again, good advice
2,000 years ago, and good advice today.
Paul Tillich, a very influential 20th century
theologian, wrote about faith as a matter of ultimate concern. We all have lots
of concerns- the weather, who will win the Super Bowl tonight, or at least who
will have the best commercial, or even more serious things such as health and
finances. But ultimate concern is about what matters most- and for St. Paul,
that is love. He is building toward chapter 13, that passage we all know
because we’ve been to weddings: “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of
angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I
have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I
have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
What matters most is love. Again, good advice 2,000 years ago, and good advice
today.
So St. Paul writes “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.” Knowledge, or in Greek- gnosis, was a big deal to the
Corinthians. You’ve perhaps heard of Gnosticism, a movement within the early
Church that focused on the notion that they had secret knowledge that other
groups did not, and this knowledge made them special. This debate over who had
the most knowledge was tearing apart the Church. Not all that different from
the way that churches today claim superiority based on theological
enlightenment and having the moral high ground. So St. Paul says “look, even if
you know everything, you’re just puffing up your ego, because knowledge is not
of ultimate concern, but love is.”
And he then gives an example about eating meat sacrificed
to idols. I don’t know about you, but when I buy meat, though I’m interested in
buying organic and humanely raised meat, I don’t look for a sticker that says
“not sacrificed to any idols.” But for many in the Corinthian church, it was a
big concern. By this time, two verses from Deuteronomy, known as the shema had come to exemplify Judaism- “Hear,
O Israel: The Lord is our God, the
Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your might.” In light of this, part of their
ultimate concern was a strict and absolute monotheism and avoidance of
idolatry. And many of the new Christians there would have been formed by that
understanding of God and faith.
The way things worked in Corinth was that, because it was
a diverse city, there were often animal sacrifices made in the various holy
places throughout the city to all sorts of different gods and spirits. But
rarely could all of the meat that was sacrificed be eaten by those at the
services, and it was a capitalistic opportunity to take some of that extra meat
and sell it in the market. So, scholars tell us, the vast majority of the meat
that was available for purchase in Corinth was meat that had come from these
sacrificial offerings. And, understandably so, some people had some issues of
conscience when it came to eating this meat.
Though others
said “we have knowledge, and we understand that there is no such thing as other
gods, therefore it’s not really possible to sacrifice meat to other gods
because they don’t exist. Therefore, we can eat whatever we want without
repercussion or guilt.” But St. Paul tells them, “not everyone is where you
are, and by eating meat sacrificed to idols in front of them, you are weakening
their faith, and destroying the salvation that Christ has for them.” He warns
them that those weaker in faith might think “oh, we can eat this meat too,” but
since their faith is not as strong, they could fall back into idolatry. So, he
concludes “if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that
I may not cause one of them to fall.”
Meat sacrificed to idols may not cause anyone to stumble
in their faith today, but I wonder how the way in which we live our faith might
cause others to stumble? I love the smell of incense, but I know that not
everyone feels that way. If we used incense every Sunday, how many people would
stay away from St. Luke’s? Many Christians are quite comfortable saying the
word Yahweh, the name of God that is revealed to Moses in Exodus. But that is
rather offensive and blasphemous to Jews, so in interfaith dialogue it is best
to avoid using that word, even though our faith allows us to. Though many of
have no issues with having a few drinks along with our fellowship, what sort of
hospitality is that to those who struggle with alcoholism? Some people don’t want
to vaccinate teir children, but as we’re seeing in the news, that is not in the
best interest of society. I am quite comfortable reading Scripture as metaphor
or presiding at same-sex blessings, but I realize that is not a place to start
a conversation with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Now to be clear,
that doesn’t mean we cease to work for justice and equality, but it means that
we perhaps start with a handshake instead of a fist, with love instead of
thinking we have special understanding that they don’t.
The issue is that we’re all in this together. The 12th
century monk Bernard of Clairvaux wrote “Some seek knowledge for the sake of
knowledge: that is curiosity. Others seek knowledge so that they may be known:
that is vanity. But there are still others who seek knowledge in order to serve
and edify others: and that is love.” The fact of the matter is that each of us
experiences God differently. Yes, we believe that there is “one Lord, one
Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all,” but we do not proclaim that
there is only one valid understanding or experience of God. Some of us are new
in the faith and are just beginning to know the love of God in our lives,
others have perhaps known about amazing grace in their lives for 50 years. The
beauty of the Body of Christ is that, though we are many and distinct, we are
still bound to one another in love. As the final verse of today’s Psalm proclaims,
“The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom.” We might better translate “fear” as “ reverence,” but the
point remains, if our wisdom and knowledge isn’t pointing to love, then it isn’t
pointing us in the right direction.
It is
incumbent upon us, when we are weaker in the faith, to ask questions. If you
struggle in faith because others seem to be doing things that go against your
understanding or experience of faith, ask a question and have a conversation.
If you are strong in faith, remember that not everyone is where you are. It is
our duty to be stewards of the grace that has been given to us, and to share
that knowledge with others, helping them along in faith and meeting them where they
are. That is love and that the sort of community which St. Paul is trying to
raise up in Corinth.
There is
a theology that originates from South Africa and has been championed by
Archbishop Desmond Tutu known as ubuntu. The
word expresses the idea of community and interconnectedness. Some define ubuntu as “I am what I am because of who
we all are.” Now, this goes against Western understandings of our existence,
which is overly individualistic, being rooted in the philosophy of “I think,
therefore I am.” Instead, ubuntu says
“I am because you are.” It realizes the truth in what Martin Luther King once said,
that “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single
garment of destiny.” And St. Paul realizes that if this garment of destiny is not
spun out of love, it will unravel. So his advice 2,000 years ago still applies today-
focus on what matters ultimately, and love one another.
This is
not to erase the beauty of diversity, as Tutu says “it is not that there are no
differences, but they become the framework for reconciliation and
transformation.” Theology still matters, but knowing, accepting, and sharing the
love of God is our first priority. The ethics of ubuntu are relational, not absolute; which is harder to do. We can’t
have a list of rules that will settle every dispute, but instead have to take the
time to get to know each other, listen to each other, and listen for that still
small voice of God. It has been said that there is wisdom to be found in the fact
that we have two ears and only one mouth.
Our culture
is one that places a great deal of emphasis on freedom and the language of “rights.”
But what ubuntu reminds us is that freedom
is not a license to do whatever you please, but a gift of which to be a steward.
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity[1]. St. Paul exhorts us, as followers
of Jesus, to pay attention to the needs of the other, to consider how our actions
affect others, and how we use our knowledge and freedom for the greater good.
This season
of Epiphany, as we celebrate the manifestation of God to the world, we also are
encouraged to share the Good News of God’s love in Christ Jesus. Each of you are
a unit of God’s grace and love. This powerful love which reconciles, redeems, and
transforms you is something that you can share with others. My hope is that Salisbury
starts to talk about St. Luke’s and wonders- what in the world is going on in that
church? What is so transforming their lives? What is enabling them to reach out
in service? What is the source of their joy? What makes them such a hospitable church?
“By this everyone will know you are my disciples, that you have love for one
another.”
