Love Builds Up | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon audio:

Sermon: Love Builds Up

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

January 28 and 29, 2012

Three quotes:

People don’t care how much you know,

until they know how much you care.

Have you heard that before?

People don’t care how much you know,

until they know how much you care.

Second, from our reading today from the apostle Paul.

Knowledge puffs up,

but love builds up.

And third, from Martin Luther:

We are perfectly free, lord of all,

subject to none…

…and we are a perfectly dutiful servant of all,

subject to all.

In Corinth,

there were temples to idols,

false gods.

And, it seems,

that in the marketplace

they sold meat

that had been sacrificed to those false gods.

And the Christians in Corinth

were arguing about whether or not

it was okay to eat that meat.

Was that okay?

And Paul,

in his letter,

is responding to their argument.

Did you notice the quotation marks in the reading?

Take a look.

It starts out:

“Now concerning food sacrificed to idols:

we know that:

(quotation marks)

“all of us possess knowledge…”

(end quotes).

Or a little further,

verse 4:

“Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols,

we know that

(quote)

“no idol in the world really exists…”

(end quote).

Do you know why those quotation marks are in there?

Biblical scholars

think those are the phrases that the Corinthians

were using in their arguments back and forth.

And the Apostle Paul

is using their language

to shape his letter.

And do you catch the essence of his answer?

Can you eat the meat or not?

Well—there are really two answers.

First answer—yes.

Second answer—maybe not.

First answer—yes.

Why?

Because there is only one God.

When meat is sacrificed to false gods,

it doesn’t really change anything,

because those gods don’t exist anyway.

So, Paul says,

“It’s not a sin to eat the meat offered to idols.”

We are set free by Christ.

It’s okay.

That’s the first answer.

But he doesn’t stop there.

Second answer—maybe (actually probably not).

He says—it’s legal to eat the meat offered to idols.

But…on the other hand…

Some of the people, he says,

are so used to the concept of many gods,

that it’s a problem for them to eat the meat.

In fact, it’s a problem for them

if you, as a fellow follower of Christ,

eat that meat offered to idols.

It’s a stumbling block.

It messes with their faith.

So, for them,

it’s a problem.

It’s not that it’s wrong to eat it—

--on one level—

--we are set free by Christ.

But if it’s a stumbling block for some…

…then what?

Paul says:

“It eating meat offered to idols

is going to hurt their faith,

don’t do it.”

In fact, he says,

if it’s going to cause them to fall,

I won’t eat meat at all.

I’ll give it up completely.

And—this is important—

--it’s not just a rule that’s keeping me from eating meat offered to idols.

What is it?

LOVE.

Why is Paul willing to give up meat,

even though he knows it’s not really a big deal?

Because of love.

I remember reading one of my Dad’s sermons.

He had gone to visit someone who was thinking

about joining the church.

The man asked,

“In your church,

are you allowed to drink?”

My dad said—yes.

“Are you allowed to go to dance?”

Yes.

“Are you allowed to smoke?”

Yes.

The man said:

“I think I’ll like your church.”

Sometimes we want to define ourselves

by what we can and can’t do.

What are the rules?

Can you eat meat or not?

Can you smoke?

Drink?

Play cards?

Go to movies?

Dance?

But Paul is saying,

there’s another way of looking at it.

When Jesus was asked

what was the greatest commandment—

--how did he respond?

He said:

“Love the Lord your God

with all your heart and mind and soul and strength.

And love your neighbor as yourself.”

What’s most important?

Love God.

Love others.

That’s more important than being right.

Knowledge puffs up.

But love builds up.

We like being right.

I know I do.

I can’t remember how old I was.

Old enough to know better.

And our family

was spending the evening with another family,

playing games.

And, I don’t even remember what we were playing—

--but I lost the first game.

And I didn’t like losing.

So, the next game,

I focused in—

--I took way too long for my turn each time

--analyzed everything way more than necessary

--because, one way or another,

I was going to win.

And I did.

Convincingly.

In fact, at the end of the game,

after I had won,

I could tell everyone

what cards they had in their hand.

And you know what?

It was all empty.

I had succeeded in winning.

And getting the attention for myself.

But I’d pretty much ruined the evening.

For everyone else.

And for me, too.

I like being right.

But Paul reminds us--

Knowledge puffs up,

but love builds up.

People don’t care how much you know,

until they know how much you care.

What really matters is love.

That’s how we know how to live.

I heard someone say this last week

that 1 Corinthians 8

is a case study

on 1 Corinthians 13.

Listen to the connection.

1 Corinthians 13 starts like this:

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.

Knowledge puffs up.

Love builds up.

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.

Knowledge puffs up.

Love builds up.

If I give away all my possessions,

and if I hand over my body

so that I may boast,

but do not have love,

I gain nothing.

Knowledge puffs up.

Love builds up.

And 1 Corinthians 13 ends with these words:

Now faith, hope, and love abide,

these three,

and the greatest of these is…love.

Knowledge puffs up.

Love builds up.

And you notice,

the burden of love

is on those who—from the perspective of knowledge—

--are right.

So, if both sides think they are right,

which seems to be the case most of the time—

--what do both sides do?

Base their actions on love—

--love for the other.

And honestly,

this can get challenging.

Big issues in politics,

or in churches,

or in families—

--are usually big issues because they’re not simple.

They’re complicated.

And that means that the solutions aren’t going to be obvious.

But Paul does tell us how to decide.

And the basis for deciding is—love.

What is most loving?

What makes sense,

when we love God

and love others?

What’s the most loving thing we can do

in this situation?

But I like that Paul helps us understand

that our thought process,

our minds

are involved in all this.

Did you know that two other places in the New Testament

it talks about eating food sacrificed to idols?

In Acts and Revelations.

And in both places,

it just says—

--“Don’t do it.”

Now, I don’t know about you,

but for me,

Paul’s explanation is a lot more helpful.

Because—when someone just tells me,

“Don’t do it,”

my natural response is to say:

“Why not?”

“You can’t make me.”

“Those gods aren’t real anyway,

so what’s the big deal.”

And I’d be right.

From a knowledge point of view.

But—as you know by now—

knowledge puffs up,

but love builds up.

And I’d be so caught up in being right,

that I’d miss being loving.

Back to the quote from Martin Luther:

We are perfectly free, lord of all,

subject to none…

…and we are a perfectly dutiful servant of all,

subject to all.

We are free.

Why?

It’s a gift.

Given to us.

Costing an incredible price.

A price paid by Jesus,

who gave up his freedom for our sake.

Because of Jesus,

we are free.

Now, what are we going to do with that freedom?

Will we use it to focus on ourselves?

Or live the way Jesus lived—

--in love?

Someone said this:

“Until you understand your freedom

as being a servant to the other person,

you will continue to be in bondage.”

You are free because of Christ.

You are set free to love.

To look beyond yourself.

To care for others with abandon.

And, as you give yourself away,

you gain true life.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen