The Greatest Law - 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13

Jan 30, 2000

What will you be doing this afternoon? Will you go for a nice long walk, to a movie, talk with a friend, listen to favorite radio show, go shopping…great day to shop crowds low. Are you having a Super Bowl party or going to one? Will you watch the football game today because you are a big football fan or will you watch it so you will be able to talk intelligently about the big play tomorrow morning with friends or at work? Maybe you are like me. I will record the game and fast forward through it so I can watch the commercials.

Did you know that Super Bowl Sunday is the day when Americans consume the second largest amount of food during the year? Thanksgiving is the only day when we eat more food.

Food, Food, food! Party, party, party. Who do you invite to your parties? What do you serve at your parties? Did you know those might be more than simple questions? They might be ethical questions.
Ethical questions. Questions of right and wrong, good and bad. Back in the early days of the church what food you served was an ethical question.

Who do you influence? Parents influence their children, children influence their parents. Friends influence friends and strangers influence strangers. A moment ago I asked if you were watching the game this afternoon because you were a fan or because it was something you had better do to be part of the crew or to be able to talk about it tomorrow. That is influence and being influenced. Commercials are a form of influence, but this product over that one, buy this item even though you may not NEED it

But back to the question: What do you serve at the party this afternoon? Will you serve alcohol? Will you serve alcohol if you have a friend who is an alcoholic and is trying to stay sober?

On one of the TV morning shows the other day they had a famous chef on talking about what to serve for the big party. Apparently they had people vote on-line to choose their favorite recipe. They will have a pre-game show showing you how to cook this wonderful treat. The 2nd favorite was garlic meatballs made with 1/3 PORK, 1/3 beef, 1/3 veal all swimming in a natural gravy. Would you serve garlic meatballs swimming in natural greasy gravy if someone at the party was allergic to garlic? How about if someone was recovering from by-pass surgery? Would you serve 1/3 pork meatballs if Jewish friends were coming over? Serve veal to animal rights activist?

The question is “How does a Christian participate in society and the world in a way that builds up and does not tempt or destroy?” “How do we throw a party, a super bowl feast that does not contradict our participation in the Lord’s Supper? Inclusive welcoming, graceful.

Back to the Question Who do you influence? Your life is an example to lots of folks. If you like to drink alcohol and there is someone in your family who is alcoholic what is the loving thing to do? Can we say “You know, that is their battle. I support them but you can’t expect me to give up drinking what I like just for them.”

Or if someone is trying to lose weight and we keep bringing tempting treats into the house, is that supportive?

Trivial Tempest in a tea pot. Food and drink are such small things. The Christian faith teaches that it is not what goes into a person that is sin, but what comes out of a person. So the issue is not to eat or not to eat, there is a bigger issue. The question is not do I drink or not drink. The ethical question of what you will serve at your party today is so much bigger than that.

At issue is the question: “Will I exercise my liberty at the expense of the well being of another. Let’s frame it more clearly. Will I do what I want if it will cause one of God’s children to stumble and fall? Will I place stumbling blocks, no matter how small, in front of someone for whom Christ died? Will I insist on doing things my way if it might tempt lead or in any way another away from God? Away from healing health, wholeness and peace?

Christianity is sometimes seen as a major pain, a huge burden because it INSISTS that we live love. Love. Later in this same letter, I Corinthians, Paul talks about love and he writes, “Love does not insist on its own way…love is patient and kind.” Many folks in our day and age use love as a bludgeon, a tool to get what we want when we want it. We what we want. “If you don’t give me what I want you are not loving.” It is enough to make your head spin trying to figure out what is really loving and what is manipulation. Love or coercion?

Here are a couple of guidelines Paul uses to help define what is loving and what is not.

1. Love builds up. Love makes stronger. Love lifts up the weak.
2. Love takes precedence over our liberty or rights. What is safe for one is not safe for another. No one who calls themselves Christian has the RIGHT to indulge in a pleasure or liberty that would bring ruin to another. Nothing wrong with drinking alcohol UNLESS in exercising our rights and pleasures it causes another to stumble and move away from God. To exercise our rights and liberty at the expense of another becomes a sin; a thing that divides us and others from God.
3. Love moves us away from temptation and hurt and toward strength and peace and healing.
4. Love is responsible for strengthening the weak link, slowest vehicle
5. When all is said and done Love is a constructive force that is empowered by God. If we say words, do deeds that demean or put down another that is not of God’s spirit. Hurt, fear, anger are not God’s tools of love. God will that we heal and align.

The Source of Healing, Hope and Strength - Isaiah 40: 21-31; Mark 1:29-39

Today we hear stories about the nature of healing and some reflections on the God given source of strength.
We begin with stories of Jesus healing people.

Today, let’s simply consider 4 ideas from today’s bible readings.

The first idea I invite you to absorb is that Jesus (which is just another name for the love of God made real) heals. God’s love heals. Jesus has the power to heal.

There are any number of implications that can be drawn from the statement “God’s love heals.” First, God does not require elaborate rituals to heal us. In the story we read, Jesus used simple words and graceful deeds that were rooted in compassion and empowered by a connection to God. As we unpack the idea that God’s love heals we might also discover that, Jesus’ connection with God allowed others to recognize God and therefore experience God’s healing presence.

Are you a follower of Jesus? It seems obvious that if we want to have a positive and loving impact on people who are hurting or searching then we need to have a connection with God like Jesus had. Clearly our healing presence in the world will be made stronger if our connection to God is stronger.Another thing we could say about healing is that healing comes from love not from anger and animosity. Peace does not come because we take a more aggressive or intimidating stance than anyone else. Just so, the power to heal springs from love not fear or anger. The power that produces joy is love. Only love has enough spiritual substance to sanctify the process of knitting broken pieces into a whole again.

The second lesson we can learn from these stories is that there is healing for the people who are friends of Jesus and there is also healing for people who are strangers to the Christ. In the story it says that crowds came to have a need met. Many people come to meet Jesus in precisely that way. Maybe that is how you began your pilgrimage of faith. We have a need, social or spiritual, so we come seeking healing or strength. It should come as no surprise that we are more likely to turn to the institution that embodies God in our time of need than at any other time. We may come because of need but we stay because we discover love and its healing power. It is usually after we have experienced God’s healing love that we begin learning how to love Jesus, and to see him as the spring from which God’s healing power flows. When we are in need we go to Jesus because somehow we know that God’s love heals.

After 9-11 and now during these hard economic times, churches are discovering that people come searching for God’s strength, healing, and hope. Even people who have never been to church, come to places like the Kirk, because they intuitively know that only the love of God can meet our deep needs.

Sometimes folks who have been friends of Christ for a long time get a little uppity when strangers come looking for help after life has dealt them a tough blow. But the truth is every one of us has asked God to help us in our time of need. The bible story makes it clear that whether we are long time friends of Jesus, or whether we are meeting the Christ of God for the very first time, God loves us without reservation and God offers all of us the twin gifts of healing and strength.

We may come to God in time of need but we stay in the fellowship of the faithful because we experience love given with grace, by those who are CHRIST-connected. It is not programs or buildings or such it is loving relationships that attract and keep people in fellowship.We stay because we recognize God within others and we want to see the same power and joy transforming our own lives.

The third idea you may have discovered in the story is that after we are healed we are called to serve. Listen to the story again.

"Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them."

When we follow the path to God and experience God’s healing, the next step on our journey of faith is for us to serve others. How we are called to serve is of course unique to each individual. Perhaps we are called to be a healing presence in someone else’s pain. It is entirely possible that we are saved so that we can support and encourage others. Some folks are called to serve on the front lines of the battle between good and evil. Others are the behind the scenes supporters who serve in quiet, invisible and yet equally vital and important ways. Regardless, we are healed so that we may serve others in whatever way God calls us. We are strengthened so we can do things to honor God. Healing is a good thing and good things cannot be kept secret or hidden. We are healed to serve others in Jesus name and to share the Good News of God’s love.

The final point to take away today is found in Isaiah. Waiting on the Lord is our source of strength. When Jesus went to a lonely place to pray he was, in effect, waiting on God.
Here is the way the poet/theologian says it:

Waiting on the Lord brings the blessings of healing and strength to those who wait.
When we humbly acknowledge our need to be strengthened and renewed; when we take our role as healers seriously, we become aware of our need for some good quality time with God, alone and in solitude. The solitude that is spiritually refreshing is different than going camping or taking a hike. The solitude that spiritually renews at the deepest levels is an intentional time of prayer by ourselves, undisturbed, and uninterrupted. There is a difference between spending time appreciating God’s creation and spending time one on one with God.
As wounded healers we need to remember that all of Jesus’ healing activity was grounded in and capped by a time alone in prayer in a solitary place waiting for God’s gift of strength as we face each new day.
Jesus’ connection with God allowed others to recognize God and experience God’s healing presence. If we want to be powerful healing presences in the world, if we want to have a positive and loving impact on people who are hurting or searching then we need to understand and remember that the power to heal comes from a strong connection to God that is empowered by waiting for the Lord. For those who are wounded and in need of healing the same is true; actively waiting on God brings strength and hope for each new day.