Love Builds Up!
January 28, 2024 + Faith-Lilac Way + Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
Have you ever been to an exorcism? I’m guessing that most – if not all of us – would say no. I know that exorcisms still happen. I’ve had conversations with Africans who have participated in exorcisms as a part of their church life. But for most of us, what comes to mind when you hear the word, “exorcism” is a movie which, personally, I can’t watch. Even spy movies give me nightmares.
But in the very first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, not long after Jesus has called his first disciples, he goes to the synagogue in Capernaum. Capernaum is on the northern side of the sea of Galilee, a home base for Jesus after his neighbors in Nazareth, the town he grew up in, tried to throw him over a cliff after he preached there. Jesus goes to worship but instead of a welcome committee, he is challenged by a man with an unclean spirit who says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Notice what is happening the demonic forces ask Jesus what he is doing there. It is almost like a turf war.1 Like the bad guys in an old western movie they say, “this is our town. You’re from Narazeth. “You don’t belong here. We run things here.” This is going on in the middle of the sanctuary – in God’s house.
But Jesus is not willing to give up any “turf” or any child of God no matter where they live or who they are. And so,with just a few words, Jesus rebukes him and the evil spirit immediately comes out of him. As it says in the Psalms, “God is Lord of heaven and earth and all who live and breathe therein” – and that includes the spirits both good and evil.
Jesus set this man free from the power of the evil spirit – and Jesus has set you free. You, baptized child of God, are marked with the sign of Christ. You are claimed as God’s child, a brother or sister of Jesus Christ. And there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. There is no spirit – on heaven or on earth that can come between us and the love of Jesus. Jesus has not only set you free but Jesus also gives you, and all children of God, the freedom to choose how you are going to use this gift of freedom.
In his letter to the Corinthian Christians, Paul writes to the church about how they can faithfully use the freedom God has given them. In today’s lesson, he weighs in on an argument the Corinthian Christians are having over eating meat offered to idols. At first glance, this looks like a weird problem that is specific to the Corinthians at that time. We’ll get to why this has any relevance for us, but let’s first look at the problem that the Corinthian Christians are having.
At that time, in Corinth, one of the community gatherings – a civic affair - was held in the temple of the pagan god. The whole community was invited to come and gather and eat the meat that had been offered to the local idol. Some of the Corinthian Christians argue that, since they believe that our God is Lord of heaven and earth and they have been set free, they can eat anything – including the free meat that the priests of the idol are offering. Meat was hard to come by in those days, so if it doesn’t mean anything, why not? However, others were arguing that – if you take the bait, the free meat – you are on the idol’s fishline – and no longer following Jesus.
Paul’s answer is interesting. He tells the Corinthians that those who argue that the meat is just fine to eat are right. Jesus has given them the freedom to eat anything they want. In terms of your soul, what you eat is “adiaphora.” That’s my favorite Greek word. It’s even fun to say: Adiaphora. Try it! Adiaphora. It means, “it doesn’t matter.” It’s up to you what you eat - whether you eat meat, are a vegetarian, are gluten-free, dairy free or keep kosher. The real question for Paul is this: just because you have the freedom to eat the meat offered to idols, should you?
Paul reminds them that they live in a community and that what they do affects not only them – but also their neighbor. As a result, if their neighbor is less capable of understanding that the eating of meat offered to idols is “Adiaphora” and are likely to relapse into following the idol again if they eat the meat, then, for the sake of your neighbor, choose on the side of building up the neighbor and the neighbor’s faith – even if it means you miss out on eating the free meat at the barbeque, because love builds up!
This issue is completely “adiaphora” for us. Thanks to the USDA, the meat available to us is safe and sacrificing meat to idols and having BBQs is not really a thing anymore. But the problem isn’t really about the meat. The problem is over who is right – and what they should do about the problem that is causing a schism in their community. Knowledge was highly valued in Greek culture – and in our own. We often make decisions based on what we think, on what we know. But Paul asserts that knowledge, while wonderful and good, is not the greatest good. He says, “Knowledge puffs up.” Knowledge – feeling like we know the “answer” can appeal to our ego and our sense of being “right.” Like the Greeks, we have been taught to seek what is right – and to do it. Furthermore, we know, as Christians, that we have been set free by Christ to make decisions. So… if we know something is “adiaphora,” we are free to choose to do it or not.
However, Paul writes that yes, you are free to choose, and so when making a choice, the best choice is to act out of love and do whatever it is that builds up the neighbor and avoids causing harm to the neighbor, because love builds up!
In our ordinary lives, this happens when we take time to think about our neighbors’ needs as well as our own. For example: if I was looking for a place to hold a meeting and I knew one person was allergic to nuts and one was a recovering alcoholic, the best choice for a location would not be a bar that only serves beer and nuts. So even though I would have the “right” to do so, and it would be fine for most of the people, I would be endangering two people. Instead, out of love I should do something that builds up all the people – for love builds up!
Another example might be the woman I met at the Wildfire retreat last Saturday who attends a game night her church holds – not because she likes to play games, but so that she can give a ride to someone else and hold the cards for one of her new friends. Or Ben, the vocal teacher that I met at the retreat who adapts his curriculum so that he can teach students who have a difficult time hearing. Or the daughter who cares for her mother with dementia even though, much of the time her mother doesn’t know her as her daughter anymore. Or the children who alter their game to include a little kid who doesn’t understand the rules. Love builds up the weakest, the smallest and the most vulnerable among us.
There are many ways – some that make no difference to us and some that require some sacrifice – that we give up some of our freedom in order to care for our neighbor, our fellow child of God. This does not mean, however, that we are called to “give in” to everyone’s stated need or desire. There is a difference between accommodating the needs of our neighbor – which is love - and giving in to the demands of a bully – which is often done out of fear.
There are times that we are called to take a stand for the sake of truth and for the sake of our faith. For example, Rosa Parks took a seat on the bus because she could no longer tolerate the laws that distinguished and separated people on the basis of the color of their skin. Others, who had nothing to gain personally, joined her in that quest. As Americans, we are not done with that goal. We are still on the journey of using our freedom for the sake of others, especially those who are most vulnerable, so that all of God’s children may be free.
I have heard it said, if you must choose between being right and being kind, choose kindness. I would extend that even further to say, if you must choose between being “right” and showing love for someone who is vulnerable, choose love. Out of God’s great love, Jesus came to set us free, each one of us. So let us choose to respond to God’s love by using our freedom to care for all of God’s children. For this is the mission to which we have been called. Thanks be to God. Amen.