This Sunday’s message focus on the seemingly obscure question of whether it is permissible for Christians to eat meat sacrificed to idols—a question illustrating surprisingly relevant topics for our lives today as followers of Jesus!
Today’s Scripture reading is 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. This reading is one of my perennial favorites, and I’ve said some of this sermon material in a sermon back on internship at St. Peter in Dubuque on January 28, 2015, and at St. Peter in Greene on January 31, 2021.
Here’s the sermon podcast and livestream from Christ the King.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
There is a lot going on in our world right now. Just this week, big things like the presidential primary field shrank ad the US attacked militants in Yemen and Iraq, and smaller things like a new coach for the Bucks and NFL championship games this afternoon.
Here at church, we’ve just had our annual meeting / our annual meeting is coming up right after service, we’re getting ready for Ash Wednesday and Lent.
So, with everything going on in the world, I’ve decided today to preach on what’s obviously at the top of all our minds right now, the burning question of 1 Corinthians 8:
Are we, as Christians, permitted to eat meat that’s been sacrificed to idols?
If today’s your first time visiting or watching our service, I’m sure this is exactly what you were looking for today, right? Stay with me!
Let me start by asking you: In the last week, how many of you have eaten meat sacrificed to an idol? Ok, how many of you have been faced with the opportunity and made the deliberate choice not to eat meat sacrificed to an idol? No?
Paul spends an entire chapter on this, so what’s the big deal? Well, the background here is that the town of Corinth is a very pagan town (this is a picture of a temple to Apollos in Corinth), so there are lots of religious rituals going on all the time, including animal sacrifices.
And when an animal is sacrificed, you need to do something with the meat. Meat is valuable, too expensive to waste, so the meat from these pagan sacrifices is sold in the market, for people to buy and eat.
Obviously, good Jews and Christians know they should be worshiping only God. You know that, right? It’s number one in the 10 commandments: Do not worship idols. You shall have no God before me.
So some of the Christians in the church there in Corinth are concerned that if they were to eat this meat from the market that’s used for sacrifices to idols, then they’re participating in worshiping other gods, which is bad. They don’t want to break the commandment to worship only the one true God.
But, there are other good, faithful Christians who don’t see what the big deal is. They don’t see eating this meat as worshipping idols or going against God.
They’re buying perfectly good, affordable meat, taking advantage of what’s available. If they phrased it like we do in the church today, they might call it good stewardship! Or when they go to someone’s house to eat, they don’t want to be rude and ask if the main course is idolatrous. So, they write to Paul to ask what to do.
Of course, Paul knows that the idols this meat is sacrificed to are just that: Idols, not gods. They have no power. In verse 4, he writes, “we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists,’ and ‘there is no God but one.’”
So really, the question, “Should you eat meat sacrificed to another god?” is academic. As long as you know that the idols don’t exist and you’re just eating meat, as long as it’s not a spiritual thing for you, then Paul doesn’t see any problem.
Now, some of the stronger Christians might hear that it’s ok and think everyone should eat meat to make a point. Sort of, look what we can do without wavering in our faith. They might think they’re even making a point about how much they believe in grace, so they know they can do anything and still be forgiven. As Martin Luther famously said, “Sin boldly!”
But Paul’s not a fan of that idea either. Paul is clear that food will not bring us closer to God, so we’re no worse if we do not eat and no better off if we do. Then Paul gets to his more important point: Even though eating meat sacrificed to idols isn’t in itself a problem for those who don’t see it as worship, it could be a problem for other Christians, the ones Paul describes as “weaker.”
For those people who until recently believed in the idols, who might still be a bit superstitious, eating sacrificed meat is too much for them.
And public witness is important too: If I, knowing as I do that the Lord is the only God, eat this idol meat, someone else could see it and think I, as a Christian, am worshiping the idols. Doing the right thing isn’t about just doing what you have the right to do or what you can get away with; it’s about loving your neighbor.
As Paul puts it, “By your knowledge, those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.”
The Message Bible paraphrase puts it like this:
“For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn’t there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet?
The danger is that he will become terribly confused – maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.
Christ gave up his life for that person. Wouldn’t you at least be willing to give up going to dinner for him – because, as you say, it doesn’t really make any difference?But it does make a difference if you hurt your friend terribly, risking his eternal ruin! When you hurt your friend, you hurt Christ. A free meal here and there isn’t worth it at the cost of even one of these ‘weak ones.’”
In a worship note last week, one of the confirmation students asked me “What is next Sunday going to be about?” I wrote back “It’s about meat sacrificed to idols, but really it’s about loving your neighbor.”
I’ve always liked this story because it seems to be about this obscure, archaic issue, but it’s really about how we live together as God’s people.
The point of this reading is not really whether or not it’s acceptable to eat meat sacrificed to idols; the point is the principle of supporting each other. As a church, our job is to support each other, and not just each other here in the building, but others in our world and community.
If someone’s struggling with an issue, we ought to be doing what we can to support them. Maybe a more modern example is gambling: If someone goes to the casino to gamble for fun and responsibly chooses how much money they can afford to spend, that’s probably ok.
But if I take a friend to the casino who I know has problems with gambling, then I’m causing them to stumble. That’s not lifting each other up. Same for alcohol. There are churches that have beer and theology nights, and for some people, that’s great. For people who struggle with alcoholism, though, going to a bar for Bible study would be a terrible idea.
I also like this story because it demonstrates conflict in church is not a new thing. People with good intentions are on both sides of the issue, asking Paul what to do.
I think we can learn from Paul’s response. Look at what he does. Although he agrees with one side, he ends up deciding in favor of what will benefit others. He agrees that the people have the freedom, the right to eat meat that’s been sacrificed to idols, but he asks them to limit their freedom for the benefit of others.
We do that as a church, right? We set aside some of our personal preferences for the sake of the community. Maybe a song’s not your favorite, but I hope you’ll sing it anyway and trust it’s meaningful for someone else.
One of the tasks of an annual meeting is to set a budget, a financial ministry plan for the year. When we give money in the offering, we know those who give are supporting those who don’t give. I’m so grateful to those who give more than their “fair share” to support their sisters and brothers who don’t or can’t give.
Our church exists to serve others. Our goal as a congregation has to be to look out for the weak, for the people who have different priorities, for our neighbors. If we’re here for our own benefit, then we’re closer to a country club. There’s nothing wrong with a country club, but it’s not a church.
When we invite people to come to worship, if we’re inviting them because we’re concerned that our attendance is low, or that our budget could use more givers, we’re missing the point. We need to be inviting people for their sake, for their benefit, because we love them and care for them.
When we make decisions about what we do as a church, how to shape our worship, where to spend our time and energy, our priority cannot be ourselves. Just because we can do something, just because it’ll feel good to us, does not mean it’s the right or faithful thing to do.
Our mission is to reach out to all people with love and the good news of Jesus, to help people grow in faith, not so our church will be the biggest, but because God has trusted us with a message that our neighbors need to hear. We do community service work not so that we’ll look good, but so people will experience God’s love through our work.
If we really believe we’re forgiven by God’s grace, if we really believe that we are free in Christ, then we are free to do all things. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. We’re already forgiven.
But in our freedom, we choose to follow God, to live in ways that serve others. As God chose to sacrifice, to be limited by coming to live with us as a human in Jesus, we give up some of our freedoms, what we could do, for the benefit of others. It’s all Jesus’ fault!
Your actions, your choices, your priorities affect others, both in this church community and in the rest of life.
So what freedom will you give up for the sake of another, for the sake of the church?
As Paul asked the strong Christians in Corinth to give up eating meat sacrificed to idols for the sake of the weaker ones who needed help, what will you give up to help others? Amen