1 Corinthians 8:1-13: The Idolatry of the Thing Denied

Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.

So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: 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.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

We all have a history of sinning. There are triggers which lead us down patterns of behavior that we know are sinful yet seem unavoidable and distress us as reminders of our weakness. Those triggers are specific to our past. Only those closest to us may know us well enough to recognize the cause, only the effect.

Those who aren't close to us, may unintentionally stumble on something that triggers us and that can't be helped. And it isn't their fault. It is our relationship with God, after all. But if they know of something-something innocent in and of itself-something that they know is a problem and yet they still choose a that path, what is that? Is it not an abuse of the freedom we have? 

The hardest part of not choosing to exercise my rights is when "not choosing" happens over and over again. It is when my freedom is effectively denied by your repeated weakness. That is really frustrating. But if we focus on the one thing we are denied then we will forever be robbed of the joy of the ten thousand things are permitted. If our joy is tied to that thing, it has become an idol--a sad substitute for all of the generosity of God and a barrier between us and our neighbor. The one thing denied may be a way of God showing me more of himself and more of the beauty he has placed around me. 

 

 

1 Chronicles 29:10-22: What To Give God, Who Has Everything?

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”

Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.

The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day. - 1 Chronicles 29:10-22

What do you give to a God who has everything? What does he have need of buildings, offerings, words and praise? David must decide what he will say to God before the congregation of Israel who has contributed to the building of the temple. He can only really fall back on God knowing that the intentions of his choices and the intentions of the choices of the people were good. David says, "All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you." It was really all he could give to a God who had everything. And it is really all were can give to a God who has everything: give generously from what God has given with honest and pure hearts.

As Paul said: "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Cor. 4:7)

Luke 12:22-34: The Fear of Missed Opportunities

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Luke 12:22-34

 We have a saying around our house: "It is not a limited ______ universe." and fill in the blank. It is not a limited pancake universe. Many times we live as if the things we have and the money we have earned are the last we will ever see or earn. Even with experiences that we have, we are worried that we will never have another chance to do X. So we are discontented and stingy and grasping. I sit and monitor our bank account and credit card balances.

What I read here is: there is enough and there will be enough. We are not missing out. So much worry is spent on things that are out of our control and in God's control. As Jesus says, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." Even if everything else runs out, it is backed up by his promise that his kingdom of good things remains, It is not at risk. It is given to us and it is bountiful. We can be generous to others in need. because there is a resupply. Sounds a bit like pie in the sky, but I have found that being open handed with what I have toward what God wants is not lacking. 

I ask that my heart be in the right place, for my wife, for my family, for my job, for my friends, for the ones I will meet tomorrow expectedly or unexpectedly. Not worried that it will run out, but grateful that it doesn't.

1 Kings 17: The Last Full Measure

 Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.” - 1 Kings 17

The widow did not withhold from Elijah a portion of her food. The ravens did not withhold from Elijah a portion of their food.  The difference was that the widow had a choice.  The ravens didn't check out their granaries and calculate how much was left before they were generous to Elijah. The widow knew exactly how much was in her grain and oil jars, and still she chose generosity and hospitality. Jesus commented about the ravens, saying, "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" I think that Jesus had this chapter in Elijah's story in mind, reading it as a story of God's continued generosity to us and, consequently, our ability to imitate God by being generous. 

In some ways, I have found it easier to be generous to other people but not always so generous to those who are close to me, including family. With outsiders, it is possible to be generous without regard for consequences. With family, there are always consequences. Wisdom knows how much to give will be helpful. In the widow's case, God's measured response was that there would be enough flour and enough oil to support her, her son and her guest. It wasn't a feast. But it was, literally, their daily bread: "Give us today our daily bread." I pray for contentment and measured generosity from the heart of God.