Sermon Cloud

Do you remember the days when a lot of our friends were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays? Do you remember when the schools always served fish on Fridays whether it was during Lent or not? I grew up going to school in the sixties, and I had a lot of friends who were Roman Catholic. Of course they still had pretty strict rules about eating meat on Fridays. My next door neighbor, John Daily, was from a real Catholic family. He had five siblings, he was the fourth. John was one of my best friends and we’d always eat lunch together in the cafeteria. Most days I packed my lunch. Being Methodist, we never had any diet restrictions, even during Lent. We would always have this debate about whether it was better to be a Catholic or a Methodist. Neither of us convinced the other to change.

When I was reading today’s New Testament lesson I thought of John, and the only modern-day example that sprang to mind of different food practices.

Some of you may know that my daughter, Courtney, is trying hard to be a vegetarian. One of her friends found this vegan web site with hidden video footage of the mistreatment of animals, and from that time on, she’s been predisposed against eating very much meat. Now I said she was “trying” to be vegetarian because if all things were equal, she’d rather not eat meat but she can’t always stick to it. Dawn and I try to respect her choices, while trying to make sure she eats balanced and nutritious meals. She encourages us to go ahead and fix whatever dinner we want and she will fix her own food. But sometimes, out of concern for her health or after looking at what kind of a “meal” she’s eating, we really put the pressure on to have her eat some of the same dinner we are having. She does generally cave when we press her, but the whole time, she eats like we are forcing a kid to eat her vegetables.

Food restrictions are rarely a spiritual matter for most of us these days. We don’t have temples erected to false gods, and the only idols we have, are those trying to sing on television. So how does this passage even apply to our lives anymore?

It applies to us in that everything we do, every way that we behave or conduct ourselves impacts others. If you have children in your house, or if you have the grandchildren over pretty frequently, or you work in an office with younger co-workers, or you hang out with other moms before and after school, then everything you do, everything you say, and everything about you influences others around you.

You may know perfectly well, that it doesn’t matter whether you wear make up or not. And indeed there’s nothing in the Bible against it. However, we all know that make-up can be worn in such a way that it may impugn your character.

I know that I am an old fuddy-duddy, but I’m disturbed by one of the latest fashion trends. I don’t know, does it bother you when young men and teens wear their pants belted tightly below their butts so that their boxer shorts show? They may be perfectly harmless or even good fellows, but it casts the image of someone ready to take their pants off. It doesn’t matter if it is the newest fashion trend, it looks inappropriate regardless of one’s intentions.

We all have read the studies and seen the news on TV: we all know that a glass of wine from time to time has positive health benefits. We know very well that there are times when it is acceptable, and times when any alcohol could make a very bad impression. Not to mention the problem of drinking too much. The people around us are watching. What does our behavior say?

Here’s where knowledge can get us into trouble. We may know in our minds that it is perfectly harmless to dress a certain way, or to drink a little, or to go to certain establishments. We know what our intentions are and we have a clear conscience. But sometimes in our thinking only about ourselves, we forget to consider the impact of our witness, the damage that may be caused to our image, if we were to be seen by someone younger or more impressionable.

What if a co-worker who really respected you as a person of faith and kindness, happened to run into you at McDonald’s just as you were screaming at your kids. Wouldn’t that cause a bit of confusion for the co-worker.

Let’s say you are a teacher and one day one of your students or a former student saw you going into a liquor store? Maybe you are just buying ice, but we don’t know how it is going to be interpreted. Our actions are perfectly normal and reasonable in our minds, but it raises some real questions in the mind of someone unsure of what it means to be a Christian, and what is acceptable or unacceptable behavior.

Let’s say you are a pastor and you like to play golf. But one day, because you haven’t played in months, you are out on the golf course, and you hit a ball into the woods. That’s your fifth lost ball of the round, and you are so frustrated with yourself that you throw your club at your golf bag. The group behind me may not be able to see my scorecard and know how terrible a day I am having, but to them it just looks like I have a very short temper. Imagine how I’d feel if when I finished, I see that in the group behind me are some of my parishioners.

This is not to say that we can never be ourselves. But we do need to be conscious of our surroundings, and we must remember that our behavior may very well impact those who look up to us.

Paul was warning the Christians in Corinth not to let their understanding of God’s ways cause them to harm the faith of someone who is still learning what it means to be Christian. Of course there are no gods beside our one God and Father of us all. Of course food that is brought before an idol and presented to it doesn’t suddenly become tainted. There is nothing wrong with the food, but eating the food might indeed impact others who saw you. Paul warns that we should make appropriate sacrifices and restrain ourselves for the sake of others who watch us and still cannot discern the difference.

Knowing that God forgives all sins and mistakes doesn’t give us license to do immoral or unethical things. Knowing that anything can be forgiven doesn’t mean we can get away with anything. Our faith journey must be sincere, and our daily behavior must reflect the goodness of Jesus. We need communion to cleanse us from the sins we truly regret. But if we aren’t sincere, or we are too quickly ready to sin that way again, then God knows what’s in our hearts, and he cautions us to change our ways. We should change, not just for ourselves, but especially because of the ones around us who are watching what we do. Let us pray ...