Readings – Genesis 42: 1 – 25; Psalm 88: 1 – 10; 1 Corinthians 10: 1 – 24
Amongst the many things that I do, I belong to a local inter-faith forum for clergy and other faith leaders. At our gatherings we sometimes have interesting conversations about our faith traditions and our festivals. I’m often struck by the number of rules and regulations there seem to be – especially if you are a Muslim or a Jew. Rules about, for example what you can eat, and when you can eat it, and very complicated rules about what you can and can’t do on a Sabbath if you happen to be Jewish. Sometimes we talk about a specific topic like, for example, fasting. A Muslim may explain Ramadan to me when they’re not allowed to eat at all between dawn and dusk – and then they ask me to explain about our Lenten fast. Well, I say, some people do, and some don’t. Some people eat fish on a Friday…..We might give up chocolate and give the money to charity….. It all sounds very limp and undisciplined by comparison. And I feel a little apologetic about our lack of seriousness.
But of course there’s rather more to it than this. As the comedian Milton Jones puts it “Unfortunately for those of us who like to look stylish and enigmatic, the Christian faith is embarrassingly simple”
We don’t have to jump through hoops or follow rafts of rules and regulations. All we’re asked to do is believe in Jesus and do our best to follow Him. As Christians we have a remarkable amount of freedom. Which leaves us in 21st century London in the same position as the Christians in first century Corinth. We have to work out what this means in practice.
As I said last Sunday evening, the church in Corinth was young. Probably only about five years old – and it was only twenty to twenty five years since the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Corinthian church had many problems, but one specific one was the question of whether their members could eat meat which had been sacrificed to idols. This was a knotty problem because much of the meat sold in the market had probably been sacrificed to an idol, and then there was the question of what you did if you were invited to a party and your host, knowing your Christian faith, pointed this out. And then there was the further problem of how to deal with invitations to a range of otherwise secular social gatherings which would include a temple sacrifice meal. Attending such a gathering didn’t imply at all that you were a signed up member of the temple cult – it was just a matter of form. Our second reading this evening contains just some of Paul’s thoughts on all of this.
The more sophisticated members of the church in Corinth seemed to have been arguing that since the Christian faith taught that none of the idols were real at all, there was no problem about them continuing just as they had done before they became Christians. They all knew perfectly well that there is only one God. So they carried on buying their meat in the market and kept up all their old social commitments based on temple cults.
Paul is not happy about this. As he sees it they have fallen into the trap of just doing what everyone in Corinth does without thinking about the impression they might be giving to those both within and outside the church. Their faith ought to have made them respond differently. However, he doesn’t want to deny the true freedom which their faith gives them or suggest that the idols are real gods. So he points out that the more sophisticated or stronger members of the church could be leading other simpler people astray. In a church all the members, and especially those who consider themselves stronger or more gifted should be looking out first for the interests of those who are weaker.
Meat sacrificed to idols and feasts in pagan temples. I wonder what our 21st century Hampstead equivalents might be? Perhaps something to do with money, consumerism or lifestyle? Things that we feel entitled to and don’t even think about most of the time.
One modern example of this is that in some churches it’s the practice to serve only non-alcoholic wine at Communion. It means that those who cannot take any alcohol at all without fear of addiction are truly included by the community. It’s a sacrifice of freedom which the majority make for the sake of those for whom it’s a problem.
So, given that we start from a position of freedom, how do we begin to work out what this means in practice, day to day?
The early church father Augustine of Hippo is often quoted as saying ‘Love God, and do what you like’. Here is what he actually said in its context. In this translation sometimes the word charity is used and sometimes love:
“See what we are insisting upon; that the deeds of men are only discerned by the root of charity. For many things may be done that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of charity. For thorns also have flowers: some actions truly seem rough, seem savage; howbeit they are done for discipline at the bidding of charity. Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.”
As we have just sung in Addison’s great hymn The spacious firmament on high, and as I’m always aware at inter-faith gatherings, it’s God’s desire that we should enjoy his created world as reflecting His glory. He doesn’t want us hedged about with rules and restrictions. We are indeed free. But like the Christians of Corinth we have to work out what that means in a complex and multi-faith context. And at the same time we’re invited to follow the example of Jesus who gave up everything for love. So let us review our lives and our actions and look for the root of love.
Amen