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| 2 Epiphany 15 January, 2006 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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I have mentioned, before, I think, that Mary sometimes gets on me about declaring
this or that lesson “one of my favorites,” on the grounds that I seem to have a
favorite every other week. So I decided long ago to try to control the urge. The
trouble is, though, I do have favorites – lessons that I really enjoy talking about,
preaching on, and they do tend to pop up.
Today is an interesting example. Our first lesson, this morning, verses 1-10 of the
first Book of Samuel, really is one of my all timers. But I’m going to resist temptation,
and I’m NOT going to preach on that one, this morning.
Instead, I’m going to concentrate on one of my least favorite lessons in all of
scripture – which is the bulk of our reading from First Corinthians. It’s a lesson I don’
t like to read; don’t like to hear read. It’s so unpleasant!
“’Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,’” Paul tells us, “and God
will destroy both one and the other.” He goes on from there – and it gets worse! It is
certainly true that the Good News of God in Christ Jesus is not all sweetness and
light, and the Scriptures certainly aren’t – but this lesson is “something else”.
But, do you know what’s wrong with this lesson? You know why I don’t like it? It’s not
the obvious reason – some of the words and the detailed subject matter. I’m not
offended by either! Contrary to popular belief, clergy DO know about such things! No;
I don’t like it because it sounds so much like what so many people – maybe even
most people – think Christianity is all about. I don’t like it because it really isn’t
representative of what St. Paul actually taught. And I don’t like it because it doesn’t
really mean what it sounds like it means.
Taking those objections in order:
This lesson reads almost like a parody of most people’s idea of Christianity. When I
hear this lesson, I can almost see the stereotypical “preacher” pounding on the
pulpit as he inveighs against the sins – real or imagined – of his flock, waving his fist
and raising his voice. And so many Christians really believe that is what Christianity is
all about: “Hellfire and Brimstone,” legalistic, narrow, demanding, condemning. A
religion of laws telling us what we may Not do. A vengeful religion, warning us what
will happen if we DO them! The religion people like Pat Robertson preach in their
hatefulness! And among those stereotypical preachers, Paul is their favorite writer.
Why, I don’t know, because this particular section – as well as a few others in his
writings that are like it – is not at all typical of Paul. Rather, what the preachers don’t
tell you is that this selection, and the others, stands out from the rest of Paul’s
writings because they were written for specific situations that called for such strong
expressions.
In this case, Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth, a City that he, himself, had
evangelized with his preaching, and a church that he had established. But years have
passed at the time this letter is written, and things are not good in the Corinthian
Church. Division and strife have arisen, and conditions of Christian life have
deteriorated to the point of some members of the Church actually going to court
against each other.
In this chapter, Paul takes on two groups, specifically – the early Gnostics and the
libertines – both of which are carryovers from the outside world, rather than being
divisions within Christian thought, itself. Both groups have taken Paul’s original
teachings and run wild with them, pushing them to extremes. To fight extreme
positions requires extreme expressions, and Paul does speak strongly. He does, in
fact, rant and rave and “lay down the law.” And if he sounds angry, it’s because he is
angry!
But his writing, here, is not typical of his thought, and his mode of expression is at its
most extreme.
In reading this selection – and any similar selection in Paul’s writings – we have to
see what he has to say in context. And in this case, the context comes at the
beginning. The context – and the crux of the controversy he’s dealing with – is found
in Verse 12 – the second sentence in today’s lesson, where Paul begins with a quote.
Who is he quoting? Well , that’s kind of complicated. He’s quoting these groups that
have taken his teachings to extremes. But he’s quoting them quoting himself. Except,
unlike them, he completes the idea.
“All things are lawful for me,” they say he said. And they are right.
How many Christians think Christianity is all about rules of behavior – “though shalts”
and “thou shalt nots.” Laws requiring this, laws forbidding that. And how many non-
Christians are not members of the faith because that is what THEY believe the faith is
all about, and they reject it. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
In Jesus Christ, the Law given by God to Moses was fulfilled. Jesus came to free us
from the law once and for all. Paul – raised under the law and a teacher of the law,
knows this better than anyone – and teaches it. But he understands what freedom
from the law entails. He understands that to be free from the law does not mean
“anything goes” as the libertines of Corinth would teach. Rather, to be free from the
law means to be under an even heavier responsibility.
“’ All things are lawful for me,”’ he tells them, “BUT not all things are beneficial. ‘All
things are lawful for me,’ But I will not be dominated by anything.”
A couple of years ago I introduced a word for the Hebrew and Greek term for “SIN” in
Scripture. I use the word, occasionally, but I haven’t spoken about it, specifically, in
some time. Do you remember what it was? It was the word, Hamartia.
And do you remember what I said it meant? Hamartia is a term about marksmanship,
and it means, “to miss the mark.” In the context of Paul’s teaching about freedom
from the Law, to sin, is to miss the mark. To sin is to stray from the path that leads to
that person that God would have you become. To sin is to do that which is not
beneficial to my being who I am; to my becoming who I am called to be!
Sin is not a matter of breaking laws; it is, rather, a failure to Be. A failure to be the
person God creates us to be, and calls us to be. A failure to live into our own fullness!
But, because it has nothing to do with the Law does not mean, “anything goes!” If
anything, we learn from Paul’s writings, the demands of freedom from the law are
even greater, the requirements even more difficult, than they would be under the
law, because they are internal, rather than external. “All things are lawful for me – but
not all things are beneficial;” that is, not all things will help me become the person I
am called to become. “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by
anything;” that is, I will not be enslaved by patterns of behavior and habits that are
destructive of who I am, and who I must become. I am free from all these things, and
it is my task, my call, to live in that freedom!
But freedom is never an easy thing! Ask the people of places like Russia, less than
two decades from the fall of the USSR, and moving inexorably, it seems, back toward
totalitarianism – because totalianarianism can be easier and more comfortable than
freedom. Ask the people of the Middle East – of Iran and Afghanistan, of Pakistan and
Iraq and Palestine! Freedom is never easy! Freedom is hard; freedom makes
demands; freedom hurts!
And freedom from the law is no different from other freedoms; it’s never an easy path
to follow and it’s such an easy thing to abuse – as those against whom Paul rants and
raves demonstrate! It is a difficult path that leads where we are called: to our own
being; to our own wholeness; but it’s a path that requires self-awareness and
vigilance and constant self-examination. It requires self-honesty – sometimes brutally
so. And it requires dedication: dedication to the Lord who created and calls us;
dedication to that image of wholeness that we are called to be.
But it is the only path to the goal to which we are called – the only goal really worth
striving for. It’s the path and the goal our Lord Christ died to show us. How much less
can we do than pursue it?
“All things are lawful for me,” says Saint Paul! Actually, that’s one of my favorite lines
in all of Scripture; and one of the most difficult of all to follow!
In Christ’s name. Amen.
this or that lesson “one of my favorites,” on the grounds that I seem to have a
favorite every other week. So I decided long ago to try to control the urge. The
trouble is, though, I do have favorites – lessons that I really enjoy talking about,
preaching on, and they do tend to pop up.
Today is an interesting example. Our first lesson, this morning, verses 1-10 of the
first Book of Samuel, really is one of my all timers. But I’m going to resist temptation,
and I’m NOT going to preach on that one, this morning.
Instead, I’m going to concentrate on one of my least favorite lessons in all of
scripture – which is the bulk of our reading from First Corinthians. It’s a lesson I don’
t like to read; don’t like to hear read. It’s so unpleasant!
“’Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,’” Paul tells us, “and God
will destroy both one and the other.” He goes on from there – and it gets worse! It is
certainly true that the Good News of God in Christ Jesus is not all sweetness and
light, and the Scriptures certainly aren’t – but this lesson is “something else”.
But, do you know what’s wrong with this lesson? You know why I don’t like it? It’s not
the obvious reason – some of the words and the detailed subject matter. I’m not
offended by either! Contrary to popular belief, clergy DO know about such things! No;
I don’t like it because it sounds so much like what so many people – maybe even
most people – think Christianity is all about. I don’t like it because it really isn’t
representative of what St. Paul actually taught. And I don’t like it because it doesn’t
really mean what it sounds like it means.
Taking those objections in order:
This lesson reads almost like a parody of most people’s idea of Christianity. When I
hear this lesson, I can almost see the stereotypical “preacher” pounding on the
pulpit as he inveighs against the sins – real or imagined – of his flock, waving his fist
and raising his voice. And so many Christians really believe that is what Christianity is
all about: “Hellfire and Brimstone,” legalistic, narrow, demanding, condemning. A
religion of laws telling us what we may Not do. A vengeful religion, warning us what
will happen if we DO them! The religion people like Pat Robertson preach in their
hatefulness! And among those stereotypical preachers, Paul is their favorite writer.
Why, I don’t know, because this particular section – as well as a few others in his
writings that are like it – is not at all typical of Paul. Rather, what the preachers don’t
tell you is that this selection, and the others, stands out from the rest of Paul’s
writings because they were written for specific situations that called for such strong
expressions.
In this case, Paul is writing to the Church in Corinth, a City that he, himself, had
evangelized with his preaching, and a church that he had established. But years have
passed at the time this letter is written, and things are not good in the Corinthian
Church. Division and strife have arisen, and conditions of Christian life have
deteriorated to the point of some members of the Church actually going to court
against each other.
In this chapter, Paul takes on two groups, specifically – the early Gnostics and the
libertines – both of which are carryovers from the outside world, rather than being
divisions within Christian thought, itself. Both groups have taken Paul’s original
teachings and run wild with them, pushing them to extremes. To fight extreme
positions requires extreme expressions, and Paul does speak strongly. He does, in
fact, rant and rave and “lay down the law.” And if he sounds angry, it’s because he is
angry!
But his writing, here, is not typical of his thought, and his mode of expression is at its
most extreme.
In reading this selection – and any similar selection in Paul’s writings – we have to
see what he has to say in context. And in this case, the context comes at the
beginning. The context – and the crux of the controversy he’s dealing with – is found
in Verse 12 – the second sentence in today’s lesson, where Paul begins with a quote.
Who is he quoting? Well , that’s kind of complicated. He’s quoting these groups that
have taken his teachings to extremes. But he’s quoting them quoting himself. Except,
unlike them, he completes the idea.
“All things are lawful for me,” they say he said. And they are right.
How many Christians think Christianity is all about rules of behavior – “though shalts”
and “thou shalt nots.” Laws requiring this, laws forbidding that. And how many non-
Christians are not members of the faith because that is what THEY believe the faith is
all about, and they reject it. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
In Jesus Christ, the Law given by God to Moses was fulfilled. Jesus came to free us
from the law once and for all. Paul – raised under the law and a teacher of the law,
knows this better than anyone – and teaches it. But he understands what freedom
from the law entails. He understands that to be free from the law does not mean
“anything goes” as the libertines of Corinth would teach. Rather, to be free from the
law means to be under an even heavier responsibility.
“’ All things are lawful for me,”’ he tells them, “BUT not all things are beneficial. ‘All
things are lawful for me,’ But I will not be dominated by anything.”
A couple of years ago I introduced a word for the Hebrew and Greek term for “SIN” in
Scripture. I use the word, occasionally, but I haven’t spoken about it, specifically, in
some time. Do you remember what it was? It was the word, Hamartia.
And do you remember what I said it meant? Hamartia is a term about marksmanship,
and it means, “to miss the mark.” In the context of Paul’s teaching about freedom
from the Law, to sin, is to miss the mark. To sin is to stray from the path that leads to
that person that God would have you become. To sin is to do that which is not
beneficial to my being who I am; to my becoming who I am called to be!
Sin is not a matter of breaking laws; it is, rather, a failure to Be. A failure to be the
person God creates us to be, and calls us to be. A failure to live into our own fullness!
But, because it has nothing to do with the Law does not mean, “anything goes!” If
anything, we learn from Paul’s writings, the demands of freedom from the law are
even greater, the requirements even more difficult, than they would be under the
law, because they are internal, rather than external. “All things are lawful for me – but
not all things are beneficial;” that is, not all things will help me become the person I
am called to become. “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by
anything;” that is, I will not be enslaved by patterns of behavior and habits that are
destructive of who I am, and who I must become. I am free from all these things, and
it is my task, my call, to live in that freedom!
But freedom is never an easy thing! Ask the people of places like Russia, less than
two decades from the fall of the USSR, and moving inexorably, it seems, back toward
totalitarianism – because totalianarianism can be easier and more comfortable than
freedom. Ask the people of the Middle East – of Iran and Afghanistan, of Pakistan and
Iraq and Palestine! Freedom is never easy! Freedom is hard; freedom makes
demands; freedom hurts!
And freedom from the law is no different from other freedoms; it’s never an easy path
to follow and it’s such an easy thing to abuse – as those against whom Paul rants and
raves demonstrate! It is a difficult path that leads where we are called: to our own
being; to our own wholeness; but it’s a path that requires self-awareness and
vigilance and constant self-examination. It requires self-honesty – sometimes brutally
so. And it requires dedication: dedication to the Lord who created and calls us;
dedication to that image of wholeness that we are called to be.
But it is the only path to the goal to which we are called – the only goal really worth
striving for. It’s the path and the goal our Lord Christ died to show us. How much less
can we do than pursue it?
“All things are lawful for me,” says Saint Paul! Actually, that’s one of my favorite lines
in all of Scripture; and one of the most difficult of all to follow!
In Christ’s name. Amen.
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| Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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