January 31, 2021 Sermon on Meat Sacrificed to Idols

This sermon was prepared and recorded with the expectation that this would be our congregation’s annual meeting. Unfortunately, due to winter weather, we postponed the meeting to next week and had only online worship (although we did still celebrate Oliver Schmidt’s baptism on Saturday as planned!).

So, here’s my sermon for January 31, 2021, on what turned out to be a week before the annual meeting! The text is 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. Also, this sermon is a lightly adapted version of a previous sermon I wrote for my internship congregation six years ago – here’s the original.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

There’s a lot going on in our world right now. There’s a pandemic, the political world is in turmoil, people continue to be concerned about the economy and their own jobs; here at church, we had a baptism, I’m concerned about worship attendance and safety, and it’s almost Ash Wednesday.

Oh, and of course, it’s annual meeting weekend and I’m wondering how the weather is going to affect our meeting!

So, with everything going on in the world, I’ve decided today to preach on what’s obviously at the top of all of our minds right now, the question of 1 Corinthians 8: Are we, as Christians, permitted to eat meat that’s been sacrificed to idols? It’s a burning question, I know.

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?

Now, you might be wondering what the big deal is. Well, the background here is that the town of Corinth is a very pagan town, and 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 been sacrificed 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 (because there wasn’t a pandemic and they could do that), 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.

And 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 here 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.’”

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. I don’t know about you, but I actually find it encouraging that people in the church has always struggled over what seem like silly issues.

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. Another example might be 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 went gambling and took a friend 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.

Paul certainly isn’t talking about responding to a pandemic, but choosing to limit our freedom for the benefit of others sounds a lot like choosing to wear a mask even when you’re in good health, or how we decided to limit our gatherings for worship to keep from spreading disease in our community. But this isn’t just about a pandemic either – we do this as a church all the time.

At our annual meeting, we’re going to vote on a budget, a financial ministry plan for the next year. When we give money in the offering, we know those who give are supporting those who don’t give. We have many 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.

As we hopefully move on from the pandemic in the next few months, we’re going to need to do some work as a congregation to encourage people to come back to worship, or to come for the first time. If we’re inviting people because we’re concerned that attendance is low, 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.

Our church’s mission is to welcome people into a relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church, not so our church looks better, but because we love our neighbors and we believe a relationship with God is important and good.

We work to equip people with a faith that works in daily life, again, because we love our neighbors and we want to share with them the joy we’ve found in knowing Jesus.

We serve in the world to make a difference in Jesus’ name, because Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, to care for them, to serve them. Not so we feel good, although I hope that happens too, but because we love God by loving our neighbors.

We’re here to lift one another up, to encourage and build up each other. That’s why one of the hardest parts of the pandemic for me has been that we can’t gather as a community for big funerals, because funerals are a beautiful example of supporting one another.

We sacrifice our time, our freedom to do something else, to choose to come and support those who are mourning. That’s church.

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.

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