“Do love” RUMC 1-29-12

Listening to this passage from I Corinthians I wouldn’t blame you if the first question that came to your mind was “What does that have to do with me?”  I’ll admit that it has been a long time since I have been invited to a banquet at which they served meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  I have to admit that I don’t do the grocery shopping, but I don’t remember ever seeing idol meat in the meat counter at Trunks.  At first glance this passage just has very little to do with 21^st century Americans.  We have to look deeper.

Traditionally I would tell you that Corinth was the sin city of its day.  It was the busiest harbor on the Mediterranean Sea.  Corinth was the stopping over place for sailors and  traveling salesman from all over the empire.  This transient population attracted- what shall we call it an adult entertainment industry.  It is said that one could buy every kind of sexual perversion in Corinth.  The diversity of the population also brought an influence from a great variety of cultures. The markets, and theaters and interchange of ideas were rich in cultural diversity.  But so was the religious culture.  There were temples to nearly any kind of religion you could imagine.  One of the common practices among many of the religions was animal sacrifice.  Animals of various kinds prescribed by the tradition or by the priests were brought in and ceremonially slaughtered. Parts were sometimes burned; other parts were left after the sacrifice was finished.  Those were often considered property of the priest or sometimes the family who brought the sacrifice.  Apparently some was sold at market and I suppose the proceeds given to the priests.

Often the meat that had been sacrificed to the idols was consumed in a banquet, sometimes right there at the temple.  It was also fairly common to invite friends, neighbors and relatives to these feasts.

Hence the question from some of the Corinthian Christians “Is it OK to eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols.”  Apparently they proposed an answer to their own question. “There is only one God and these idols are merely pieces of wood, or stone, or ivory, maybe covered with gold, maybe not.  There is no truth or power in idol worship. The meat isn’t any different from other meat, so there is nothing wrong with eating meat sacrificed to idols.”

Paul replies in this chapter 8, “That is absolutely right.  Eating meat sacrificed to idols is not going to hurt you. But it is also will not help you.”  He says “we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.”

So far so good.  Right.?

HOWEVER… Paul writes “Be Careful HOWEVER.”   “Be Careful that the exercise of your rights do not become a stumbling block to the weak.”

Paul is thinking about how our behavior affects others.  He says you are absolutely right that you will not be hurt by eating meat sacrificed to idols.  But what about the people around you?

·        What happens if someone who is on the fence about the faith sees you eating in a temple, and thinks you are just a hypocrite so all Christians must be hypocrites?

·        What happens if there was a great sale on idol meat, so the wife picked up idol meat? You invite someone over to a barbecue, and they see the meat wrapper says  USDA PRIME IDOL MEAT.  They wrongly conclude that you endorse the worship of idols as well as Jesus and they begin to worship idols as well.

·        What happens if the new family in the neighborhood is looking for a church?  They see you bring home your groceries in bags from the market attached  to the idolatrous temple and they wrongly conclude that that is where you worship.

o   You may be right that you can eat in that temple, but is being seen in the temple a loving thing to do to the person trying to decide about whether to follow Christ or not? NO

o   You  may be right that the idol meat that was on sale is no different from the more expensive non-idol meat, but is it loving to serve it at the barbecue where it might be misconstrued as an endorsement of idol worship? PROBABLY NOT.

o   You may be right that shopping at the market attached to the temple is a good idea because their meat is fresher than the other markets.  But is it loving to let the neighbors misunderstand that? NO.

Paul says “If I have the choice between being right and doing love, I’ll chose love every time, even if it means that I never eat meat again.”   That is what he means in the very beginning of the passage when he says

§  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 

§  Being right builds your ego- doing love builds the church.

If you have the choice between being right and doing love, chose love every time!

If you have the choice between being right in your heart and head, and doing love with your hands, chose love every time!

Chose doing love every time because our behavior matters.

Friends, you live in what pastors call the fishbowl.  We talk about living our lives in a fish bowl because living in the parsonage and especially in small towns; it seems someone is always watching us.

Politicians live in a fishbowl because there is always someone watching them, for the purpose of tripping them up.

School teachers live in a fishbowl because they are held to a high standard of conduct whether they are in or out of school.

Parents of small children live in a fishbowl, because there are always little ears and eyes on them.  Remember the old, old, commercial when the father lights up a cigarette and the son starts to do the same, and the voice over says “like father like son?”  Do you remember the first time your kids repeated something you said and you wish they hadn’t?  Yea that’s the fishbowl.

Paul is reminding us today that we all live in a spiritual fishbowl.

You might have all the faith in the world.  You might know the Bible forwards and backwards.  You might grasp theological truth better than anyone else.  You might be able to teach or preach better than anyone in the church, but

§  If our behavior causes one of our youth to think all Christians are hypocrites, or liars, or cheats; and since they don’t want to be a hypocrite, liar or cheat, they pull back from the faith, you are wrong in more ways than you are right.

§  If our behavior causes to someone without a church relationship, to say I don’t think I want to be part of that church.  You are wrong in more ways than you are right.

§  If our behavior is seen by your neighbor and reflects badly on Jesus.  You are wrong in more ways than you are right.

§  If our racy face book picture or post is seen by someone who then says “if that is OK for them it must be OK for me.”  You are wrong in more ways than you are right.

§  If our children hear the language we use and decide that it is OK for them to cuss the way their old dad does.  You are wrong in more ways than you are right.

You all know what I am talking about.

Our behavior matters, look at the damage our behavior can do to others.

Let’s take a look at it from the other side. How does the behavior of others affect us.

§  Were you ashamed of Westboro Baptist Church when they expressed their opinion about the Iraq war by protesting military funerals?  Most of us were ashamed of them.  You might have agreed with them politically, but their behavior reflected badly on all Christians.

§  Do you remember when killing abortion doctors was all the rage.  I hated that, in part because they would always come out with some crazy rationale that God told them to do that in order to stop the abortions.  How many people were turned off from God by that?

§  When a pastor is accused of sexual misconduct or theft how badly does that make you question your trust in the church.

§  When someone comes to me broken in part because of the way they were treated in a previous church, it is 10 times as hard to get them involved in a church again.

You might think that this passage about eating meat sacrificed to idols has nothing to do with 21^st century Christians, but it does.  Whether the issue is eating idol meat, our language, the way we treat others, or the way we spend our free time; what we do and what other people see us do matters… a lot.  It is really hard to go back and make up for those behaviors after that fact.

But rather than trying to go back and make up for the damage we have done, let me turn this inside out.  Rather than beat ourselves up and talk about the things we can’t do….  What if we let this passage remind us that our behavior can makes a difference—for good as well as for bad.

What if this passage were to remind us that we have a power to influence the lives of those around us for the better.

What if this passage reminds us that we have a great power to show Christ to those around us- simply by doing love.

So do love. . .  share your ability with someone who needs help, and when they offer to pay you, tell them, “No that’s what Christians do.”

So Do love… Share what you have with someone who is in need.  It might be money, a lawn mower, a blanket at a football game, a ride to the store or a doctor, a meal or anything else  and when they thank you tell them that’s what Jesus would do.

So do love… take a young person under your wing.  Teach them about your hobby, take them to a ball game, cheer them on at their soccer game, write them a note including your favorite Bible verse, encourage them and let them know you are glad to know them.  And don’t forget to say God bless you.

So do love… Pray for the unchurched.  And then put your prayers into action.  Invite them to a barbeque so they can meet some of your church friends.   Invite them to a concert at the church.  Take them a prayer bear or prayer shawl.  Be willing to listen to their doubts and fears and tell them that you will pray for them.

So do love… Find someone who is lonely and take them a plate of sugar cookies in the shape of a cross.  Find someone who is recovering from surgery and take them some flowers from your yard and write a scripture on the card.  Find a single mother who works her tail off  and give her a gas card and a devotion book.

So do love… you don’t have to know everything.

So do love… you don’t have to understand everything.

So do love… you don’t have to be perfect.

You just have to   do love. . .  because your behavior  matters in more ways than you can imagine.

Do love. . .  because what you do matters.

<<< Let God be in every word. Let God be in every thought. Let God be in and every loving move you make. >>>

<<<and they’ll know you are Christian by your love >>>

A<M<E<N<

Free to be ... What? Rev Robyn Plocher 1/15/12

When I was young I had a friend.  She belonged to a church of another denomination.  I never understood her.  She was, on the surface, so religious.  One time she stayed overnight at my house and tried to “save” my younger sister, scaring the poor kid half to death which her threats of hell and eternal damnation.  Then she sat at the top of the steps and eavesdropped on the conversation between my parents and my sister as they tried to comfort her and releve some of her fear, then declared in a huff, “Now she’ll never get saved.” 

This same friend thought absolutely nothing of gossiping, lying and being quite nasty.  I slowly came to understand that her perspective was that since she was saved and all her sins forgiven this behavior was okay.  It was like she had a blank check or a get out of jail free card to do whatever she wanted free of any consequences or concern.

Well, I didn’t know it then, but what I was struggling to understand about her behavior was something the Apostle Paul had to deal with in the first century church.  Paul was clear that because of Christ we are free, free from bondage to sin and free from the constraints of the law. 

Galatians 5:1

Freedom in Christ

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Romans 8:1,2

 ¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death.

But Paul never meant that what we do doesn’t matter or have consequences.    In today’s scripture lesson, Paul is addressing the believers in the city of Corinth who, like others, read far too much into Paul’s words about being free in Christ. 

I need to tell you a little bit about Corinth to set the context of Paul’s letter.  Corinth was a major city of Southern Greece,  strategically situated  on an isthmus between two harbors.  One led to Asia and one to Italy.  This made it a major trade center and largely wealthy.  In 146 BC it was destroyed.  Almost exactly 100 years later it was rebuilt by Julius Ceasar and became the capital of Achai.    The population was diverse, including Romans, Greeks, Jews and many  others.   Roman soldiers were given a parcel of land in Corinth to begin their civilian life.  By and large the people enjoyed a high standard of living, including theater and the arts, athletic competitions, and the benefits of manufacturing and trade, specifically in bronze. 

Like all Greeks  they believed that things of the soul and the intellect were superior to things of the physical realm.  This could express itself in a couple of different ways, but for the Corinthians it meant that you could do anything you like with your body, satisfy all your physical appetites.  This made Corinth a hotbed of vice, a city that Bible commentary William Barclay called “the most immoral city in the world” at that time.  It was also the site of some of the Apostle Paul’s most important work.

Perhaps you can imagine what the Corinthians thought when Paul wrote to them about how Christians are no longer constrained by the law.  True to form, what they heard was that it is okay to live life selfishly seeking the fulfillment of every passion and desire.  As a result, sexual immorality, social snobbery and lack of unity were persistent problems in the Corinthian congregation. 

These were the issues that Paul felt compelled to address in his second letter to the Corinthians.  Paul understood that these people had become more invested in their own social advancement than in the advancement of the Gospel.  This was deeply troubling to Paul.   He knew he had to correct these misunderstandings.

Paul wants the Christians in Corinth to know that being free from the law does not mean we are free to do anything we want.  We ARE free from the law of Moses with all it’s prescribed rules about hygiene and what we can and cannot eat.  But we are not free to do whatever we want.  We are set free for a purpose.  That purpose is so that we may be and do all that God wants for us. Paul writes not a sermon, not an essay. 

To make this point Paul uses the one illustration he knows will hit the Corinthians right where the live – He makes it clear that   

What we do with our bodies and how we treat our bodies matters.  It is relevant to our Christian faith.  

1.  What we do matters because our example can offend or distract a weaker brother or sister.  Paul says at one time that he is FREE to eat anything he wants, but he chose not to eat foods that were ritually unclean so that he would not offend or weaken the faith of a brother. 

WE don’t have clean and unclean foods per se, but I think we can get our minds around this if we think in terms of alcohol.  Maybe you can handle having a social drink without becoming impaired or addicted.  But knowing that there are people with you, watching you, for whom the first drink can lead to a nightmare of addiction or life endangering impairment the right thing for you to do may be to choose not to drink.  What you do with and to your body, especially when others know you are a Christian, can make a very big difference.

2.  What we do matters because we may simply trade one form of enslavement for another.

  1/3 of adults in this nation are obese, while one billion people in the world are hungry.  It’s not that eating what we like is immoral or illegal, but eating what we like without consideration for the way our habits harm us or society is wrong. 

If food or drink (think caffeine) or sex or your computer becomes so important that  you are controlled by it, then you  have simply traded one type of enslavement for another.  How do you know if you are enslaved by these things?  Try going without it for a week.   If you feel uneasy, irritable or find yourself fighting to control your desire for this food, drink or whatever then you have given it power over you and have become a slave to it.  When anything takes over my life in such a way, I am no longer free.

3.  What we do matters because our bodies belong to the Lord.

We are free to ignore a healthy diet, to refuse to exercise, to start smoking, to get drunk 7 nights a week, to shoot cocaine, to buy on credit until we are desperately in debt and to be mean to everyone we meet.  (Now just in case that last sentence is the only thing any of you kids out there have heard, LISTEN to what I have to say next)  BUT these things are unacceptable behavior for Christians because they cause harm to our bodies and our bodies belong to the Lord. 

Your body is God’s creation to be used for God’s purposes and the purpose is to glorify God in our physical being.   

Your soul was redeemed by a price.  Your body was made pure by a price – and the price was the shed blood of Jesus.

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Sexual immorality is especially offensive to the Lord.  It’s not a popular or politically correct notion today  but scripture is clear that sexual immorality  is especially offensive to the Lord.  I went digging this week to check just how true this statement is because there is a great deal of debate on the internet.  Many writers claim that “the church” has distorted the meaning of the greek work “Pornea” which us usually translated “sexual immorality”.   They claim pornea means idolatry.  My study makes it clear that pornea means :  adultery, incest, prostitution and indulging lust – sexual immorality.   All sin pollutes the soul, (lying)  but sexual immorality (sleeping with a prostitute) pollutes the body as well.  

Conclusion: So, while we are free from the constraints of the law, It should be the desire of every Christian to honor and respect their physical body.  What we do with and to our bodies DOES make a difference. 

What we do and how we treat our bodies may lend credibility to or detract from our Christian witness.

What we do and how we treat our bodies matters because we can become enslaved by bad habits such as over-eating, uncontrolled drinking and the like.

What we do and how we treat our bodies matters because our bodies are not our own.   Our bodies, with our souls, are made to express the glory of God.  Our bodies are the temple, a  vessel for the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in us.  Christ died for our redemption.  Three days later his physical body was raised from the dead and we proclaim in the Apostle’s creed that we believe in the resurrection of the body. 

To Do

I believe all of us can do more to glorify God with our physical being.  Today you have the opportunity to confess ways in which you may have been polluting or mistreating your body  You may repent, begin to change, to start practicing new, healthier habits or give up bad habits that are preventing you from honoring God with your body.

Maybe you need to start exercising more or lose weight.  Maybe you need to go the doctor to discuss a concern.  Maybe you need to stop smoking.  Maybe you need to quit drinking.  Maybe you need change end a sexual relationship.

I don’t know what you need to do, but you do…and God does too. 

The ushers are going to pass out a piece of paper for each of you.  Write down your commitment .  Write down how you will begin to honor God with your body today. 

During the singing of the last hymn, bring your paper forward and leave it anywhere here in the chancel area. 

Christ has set us free and we are free indeed.  Free to be the very best that we can be.  Free to be the man, woman or child God has called us to be. 

What difference does it make? RUMC 8:30 1/8/12

What difference does it make?

RUMC 8:30  1/8/12

Let me ask you a question.  WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

 I could almost stop right here and we could spend the next 15 minutes, or 15 days answering this question

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

Notice I did not say “a” Christian-- I said WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

There is a big difference

It is one thing to be a mother- it is an entirely different thing to be MOM.

It is one thing to be a pastor.  Anyone can do that.  It is quite another to PASTOR someone through a time of crisis.

It is one thing to be in love.  It is a totally different thing to be UNCONDITIONALLY LOVED.

Do you see what I mean?  It is one thing to be a Christian -to connect ourselves with the people institutions that call themselves Christian.  To BE Christian has nothing to do with institutions, but has everything to do with connection to the living God through Jesus Christ.

To be Christian then…what difference does it really make?

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

Your answer to the question might be along the lines of, “It makes me feel better.” 

·        I know I am forgiven; I don’t have to feel guilty.

·        It gives me hope for the future and eternal life with God.  I don’t have to feel afraid.

·         It makes me feel loved.  I know God and fellow Christians accept me even if I don’t feel very acceptable.

Those are great things.  No one likes to feel guilty and ashamed.  No one likes to be anxious or afraid of the future.  Everyone needs to feel accepted and loved somewhere.  Being free of guilt, fear, and rejection makes life a lot better.

Is that all there is, however, to being Christian:  Feeling better?  I don’t want to minimize the importance the emotional impact of faith.  The power of faith to improve our mental health and all around happiness is undisputed, but is that all there is?  Is our faith, a faith of feelings and emotions?  Is our faith one that only improves the way we feel about ourselves, our lives, and the world?  Taken to the extreme, if we focus too much on the way our faith makes us feel, we can become very self-centered. 

Micah doesn’t say that we should feel that life is just and kind and have a pleasant walk with God.

Jesus doesn’t say blessed are those who are at peace.

Saying our faith makes us feel better is good as far as it goes, but this response to the question WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?  Misses some important things.

Perhaps your answer to the question was more along the lines of, “My faith makes me act better.”

·        The Bible gives me commandments and moral principles that guide my behavior.

·        My faith demands that I live on a higher moral level than the world expects.

·        Being Christian means that I don’t do a lot of things that I might otherwise do.

·        Being Christian, on the other hand, means that I do thing I might not otherwise do.  I have to love my neighbor and do unto others, as I want them to do to me.  

Those things are certainly true.  The world is undoubtedly a better place when faithful Christians let their faith guide their behavior.

If I could pick my neighbors, I would want people who live by the golden rule.

If I could control my children’s behavior, I would want them to honor their father and mother.

If we could get everyone in the world to live by the 10 commandments many of the world’s problems would disappear.

If everyone lived by the golden rule, we could alleviate hunger, malnutrition, and many diseases that ravage the world because of the inequalities in resources and distribution. 

I have to admit, my life is a little easier because I just know, as a Christian and a pastor that there are certain behaviors that are just not an option.  I don’t even have to think about some things that might otherwise be real temptations.

The church from the book of James onward, has preached that faith without action is dead.  It isn’t just what you believe, it is how you behave.

Is that, however, all there is to being Christian?  Remember that I said that there was more to the question “WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?  Than it makes me feel good.  Do you think there is more than it makes be act better?

I think so.  Even as good as it is, to live our faith.  As good as it is, to say I behave differently because of Jesus.  I have a nagging feeling that there is more.  

Anyone can act the part of a Christian.  There is a whole industry in Hollywood built around people acting like they are someone or something that they are not.

Micah doesn’t say to act kindly.

Jesus doesn’t say blessed are those who do all the right things, after all that is what the Pharisees did.

Saying our faith makes us feel better or act better is good as far as it goes, but these responses to the question WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?  Still miss something important.

Then let me ask again WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?  Sure, it makes us feel better; sure, it makes us act differently.  To tell you the truth, I think I feel different, and act differently because I am different.  It goes deeper than feelings.  It goes deeper than actions.  I am a different person because I am connected to the living God through Jesus Christ.

I am not the same person I would be without God.  I feel different, I act different, I think differently, I talk differently,  I see the world differently, I have a different priorities, a different relationships, different hopes and different dreams.  I have a different story and a different future.  I have a different heart and a different mind, all because I am Christian.

Don’t you?

Micah says to do justice, that is behavior.

To love kindness.  That is feeling.

And to walk humbly with our God, that is a total transformation of who we are.  By nature we are independent, self sufficient, self centered, creatures.  Leave a group of people stranded in a life-threatening situation and it won’t be long before someone says “every man for himself.”  Micah calls for a total transformation of who we are.  Walk humbly with our God.

So does Jesus in the beatitudes he blesses

·        Not the proud, but the poor in spirit.

·        Not the party animals, but those who mourn.

·        Not survival of the fittest, but survival of the meek.

·        Not every man for himself, but hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

·        Not the fair, but the merciful

·        Not the one with the  most influential friends, but the one with purity of heart

·        Not the victor, but the peacemaker

·        Not the comfortable, but the one who takes risks for the sake of Jesus.

I think Jesus is talking about a whole different animal.  Not a human being, but a transformed human being.  Not a man or woman of the world, but a child of God. 

Do you see that our faith does more than make us feel good?

Our faith does more than make us act nicer.

Faith in Jesus Christ, serving Jesus the Christ is the most extreme makeover possible.

Being Christian means that we have been rebuilt With God powered abilities, love powered senses, and a faith-powered heart and we will never be the same.

THAT is why we feel better than we otherwise would, because we are better.

THAT is why we act better than we otherwise would, because we are better.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

All the difference in the world.

We in the church have sometimes been like children playing on the floor with our chemistry sets, carelessly mixing up batches of TNT to kill a Sunday morning.

It is madness to think that we will leave the presence of God without being changed.

The gospel is such a powerfully life changing experience that we should be wearing crash helmets, the ushers should issue oxygen masks and signal flares.  Our pews should have seat belts and we should have made sure these new cushions would double as flotation devices.

From that perspective, from that perspective I ask you the question one more time. . .

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE THAT WE ARE CHRISTIAN?

It makes all the difference in the world to us.

We can make all the difference in the world to the people around us.

And the world will never be the same because we are here.