Sermon for
January 30th, 2012

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LOVE MAKES FOR A WONDERFUL CHURCH LIFE

I Corinthians 8:1-13 January 29, 2012
“Don't know much about history, don't know much biology. Don't know much about a science book; don't know much about the French I took. But I do know that I love you, and I know that if you love me, too, what a wonderful world this would be.” These are lyrics from a popular song long ago. A silly love song, yet with an important point. Knowledge of biology, history, French is a good thing, but even better is love. What makes this a wonderful world is love. First, God’s love. He so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son to join us here, to take to himself our awful sins and be crucified for them. His loving sacrifice gives you God’s forgiveness and peace. What a wonderful world to live with that love. But also to live with love for one another. Love that is kind, patient, forgiving, and bearing with one another, ah, this makes for a wonderful world, for a wonderful marriage, family, and congregation.

The Church in Corinth needed to learn this. It was made up of people of different backgrounds and they came at a food issue from different perspectives. Some felt they had the right knowledge and the right behavior and that settled the matter. Paul taught them that they needed something more than knowledge - love. Our church has people of different backgrounds and mindsets, and we deal with matters from different points of view. What are the best times for worship? What style of music should we use? What use should we make of the building during the week? Should we have a Lutheran school or not? Brats, or pizza, which should be the menu for a church dinner? Will knowledge settle these issues? Those with more experience in church life? Jesus teaches that we need something else to help us be a united and strong church: Love Makes For a Wonderful Life: This is Jesus’ Lesson for his Church

Suppose there was a Moslem mosque in town. They worship a false god. In their worship they use prayer rugs. Suppose these prayer rugs are on sale at a local second hand store; some of you like buy them and lay them out in your living room. Others of you think that using a prayer rug formerly of a Moslem mosque would be like worshipping that false god. The church of Corinth faced a similar situation. In Corinth many worshiped idols and part of that worship were meals with meat. The leftover meat was taken to the local market and sold to the public. Some Christians bought the meat and ate it. But other Christians were troubled. For them eating such meat was like partaking in the worship of idols.

Paul their former pastor wrote them a letter with instructions from the Holy Spirit. “We all possess knowledge,” he said. “Knowledge puffs up.” It puffs us up with pride. “I got an A on the test; you got a C.” Notice how boastful I came across. Paul adds, “But love builds up.” Love steps into the shoes of the other classmates or church members and seeks to build them up. Paul wrote that “The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know,” he has much to learn about love. “The man who loves God is known by God.” God can identify with love. He is love and his people live lives of love.

Paul continued in his letter: “We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so–called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”, yet for us there is but one God, the Father from whom all things came and for whom we live, and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” Gods like Jupiter and Mars don’t really exist. There is one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. Idols are not real and the meat used in idol worship is not the idol’s but the Lord’s. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” “But not everyone knows this,” Paul quickly added. “Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.” Some of your brothers just can’t swallow the idea that the meat is permissible; and so when they swallow it they feel defiled with sin. And all this trouble caused by food. “But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do,” wrote Paul. Eating meat does not make us better Christians, nor does not eating the meat make us worse ones.

Listen to what Paul next wrote to the strong members of the church who ate the meat with no qualms of conscience: “Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, won’t he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother for whom Christ died is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak consciences, you sin against Christ.” Your eating meat sacrificed to idols could harm your weak brothers. They’ll see you eating at a community dinner and not wanting to look odd will eat the meat, too, and then…your actions will cause their consciences to be wounded with guilt and their faith to be destroyed. To do that would be to sin against Christ. How so? What is Christ’s hope for us? Why did he die on the cross? To give us peace with God, the certainty that our sins are forgiven. But if I do something to cause a brother to lose that peace and certainty, to be wracked with guilt and fear of damnation then I have interfered with Christ’s holy purposes for that brother. “Therefore,” Paul writes, “if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.” Paul would rather give up meat entirely than risk eating food that would harm the faith of a brother in Christ.

What do Paul’s words to the church boil down to? Let love be the foundation of your relationships with each other. Love Makes a Wonderful Life: This is Jesus’ Lesson for his Church
When Jesus Christ lived on earth long ago the fullness of the deity lived in his body. All of God’s knowledge was in him. But he did not live as “a know-it-all.” He did not Wow people with his smarts but with his heart. What the people back then needed from God and what each of you need from God is something more than his knowledge, but his love. If God knew us inside and out and knew every thought of ours and had not love, we’d be headed for hell. But how does God know you? He does he look upon you? With love. John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” What moved Jesus to die for us? Love. “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”

Is there a Bible passage where Jesus says, “Be as smart as I am”? There is one where he says, “Love one another as I have loved you.” There is I John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. So let us lay down our lives for one another.” There is I Corinthians 13: “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs...Love never fails.”

We Americans pride ourselves on our rugged individualism. “I pulled myself up by my bootstraps.” “I have my opinions and no one can take them from me.” But individualism can do a lot of harm in a church. Voicing an opinion on matters without consideration for the conscience and faith of others can do a lot of damage. Some of you have much knowledge of the Bible and doctrine. God gave you years of training from Christian parents and Christian teachers. Some of you don’t have that level knowledge, not yet. What you all need to give each other is love.

And you have it to share. Because you have Christ and a clean conscience in his sacrifice and you have his love powerfully working within your spirit. Jesus’s love has changed the shape of your heart from the letter I – it’s all about me - to the letter U – it’s all about serving one another, bearing with each other. In Christ you watch what you eat and drink and wear and listen to on the ipod and watch on tv or play on the Xbox. You’re careful of your actions because you keep your family of believers in mind. You want to help them live with the peace of Christ. So if your friend feels that stepping on a rug that came from a Moslem mosque would be violating his conscience you will remove the rug when he comes over, you might remove all the carpet. It’s amazing how Christ’s love affects our relationships.

“Don't know much about history, don't know much biology. Don't know much about a science book, don't know much about the French I took. But I do know that I love you, and I know that if you love me, too, what a wonderful world this would be.” Love among brothers through Christ. That makes for a wonderful life, in marriage, in the family, and in the congregation. Amen.

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