What is going on with truth and lies? What is going on with all of the conspiracy theories? Why is it that you can watch one channel of news turn to another channel of news and hear a total contradiction from the one to the other? Why are there some social networks that support a perspective of reality, and why are there other technologies that support a totally different view of reality?
It is also hard to know what is the right thing to do sometimes. The truth and moral perfection of God is so demanding that we as human beings can hardly stand it. The Jewish people experienced this when they left Egypt during the time of Moses and spent time in the wilderness. They found that if the presence of God came and dwelled among the people in the camp, that it was simply too much and people would die. God’s righteousness just too much. So the people asked if there could be an intermediary between God and the people. And God said, “Yes.” Moses became the go between. Moses was a bridge between God and the people. Moses’ body and face would be so supercharged from being in God’s presence that he had to wear a veil over his face otherwise it growed so brightly that the people would be blinded.
There was a catch. God would only provide prophets under two conditions. The first is that the people had to listen to the prophet, otherwise there would be consequences. You couldn’t blow of the words of the prophet as if they didn’t come from God. You have to take those prophetic words seriously. The second condition is that if anyone ever presumed to be a prophet that wasn’t, that person would suffer terrible consequences. To utter falsehoods in the name of God would carry severe punishment from God: death.
My parents were like prophets to me. They taught me the truth in a way that I could understand it. It all began with artichokes. My mother would steam artichokes, then drizzle them with butter. As a family we would gather round and pick the leaves off of the artichoke and dip them in butter. It was wonderful. At the end, the artichoke looked hairy and leaves were small, white and pokey. It looked gross. I asked my father, “Is the artichoke heart good?” He would say, “No. You wouldn’t like it.” My sister and I would run off and he would enjoy eating the artichoke hearts with my mother. Now we all know that actions speak louder than words. My dad was a smart man because he had a sense of humor and took that opportunity to enjoy the best part with my mom. In doing so he taught us that indeed the heart is delicious. And as soon as I wised up and asked for some of the heart he and my mother generously obliged. My parents were prophets to me, they taught me the truth in a way I would understand and accept on my own.
Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall. 1 Corinthians 8:13
The practical advice of Saint Paul continues. Two weeks ago we read from Paul that Christians should avoid participating in prostitution. Last week, however, Paul said that we should not cling too tightly to that which we love on earth, even spouses, so that we can love God first. This week Paul has words about diet and eating meat. Don’t do it! Paul says, “I will never eat meat.” What is that about?
I myself am not a vegetarian nor a vegan, however, I try to not eat a lot of meat. There are good reasons not to eat a lot of meat. A diet that focuses on fresh vegetables and fruits is healthy. Nobody argues about that. A diet that is made up of lots of rich meat and dairy brings with it health consequences. Everybody knows this. But why did Paul say this?
Paul was concerned about faith for at least two reasons. The first has to do with Jewish purity laws. It was forbidden to eat pork and other types of meat. Many converts to Christianity also converted to Judaism. Keep in mind that almost all of the early Christians were observant Jews. So converting to Christ meant converting to Judaism, and thus giving up eating various kinds of meat.
The second reason why eating meat was avoided by most early Christians is because meat was butchered and sold alongside pagan religion. An animal was sacrificed to a pagan god, some of the portions would be burned, and other portions would be sold. So to buy meat would be to participate and fund pagan religious practices. So for both of these reasons most early Christians were not big meat eaters.
Some people did eat meat, however. They figured that their salvation came not from the food they put in their mouths, but the faith they had in their hearts. They would say that it wasn’t necessary to follow all of the purity laws of the Hebrew Bible, because our spiritual purity comes from Jesus as a gift. Paul agreed with this thinking. He said eating or not eating meat doesn’t make you acceptable to God. Faith is what saves you. However, if eating pork, that was sacrificed to a pagan god scandalizes a member of the church, if it gets them all riled up, then maybe not for your own salvation, but to be sensitive to your fellow believers, maybe try eating less.
Paul is also like a prophet, helping us to understand practical advice in a way that we can understand. By the time I got to college I knew all about artichokes, and I could even cook them on my own. One day a group of friends decided that we would make pizza from scratch. One friend said, “I have artichokes in my room that we can cook and cut out the hearts for pizza.” We were all excited because this was when it was very trendy to put artichoke hearts on pizza. One friend, however, looked horrified. He said are the artichokes alive? We were puzzled. Then it came out that he thought artichokes were animals! He had never had the opportunity to eat them before. So we initiated him to artichokes and when it was time to eat the heart he asked if the heart was good. What do you think I said? We help one another to know the truth.
Enter the gospel. Today we study the Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark chapter one versus twenty one to twenty eight. In this account we look into the first time that Jesus teaches in a synagogue. He does so with strength and power. He teaches and sheds light on scripture in a way that impresses the people. They like what he has to say. He is almost like a prophet! But not everyone like what Jesus has to say. There is a man who interrupts him. Now we know that this man was possessed by a demon. But nobody else knew this at the time except for Jesus. When the man interrupted Jesus he told him to be silent. He set a boundary. Then he cast the demon out of the man! He healed the man! Without the falsehood or demon within him, the man was freed, he was liberated to know the truth.
The good news I am here to say to you today, my friends, is that we are like the demon possessed man. We are weak and feeble people. We are easily captured by falsehoods and sold a pack of lies. We are but mere mortals who under the right conditions can be persuaded to believe all kinds of nonsense. It could happen to anybody. Especially when times are tough, when you have things that you are worried about, manipulative people can play off of our fears and cause us to think that the source of our troubles is some boogeyman. There are terrible consequences to believing a lie or a conspiracy theory. It can take over your life a person possessed by a demon. When you succumb to a lie you begin to lose sight of people in your life who care about you and want the best for you. When you believe in a lie, it is like being possessed by a demon and you can even grow to despise Jesus who is the word of God. And God warned what would happen if you don’t listen to the truth. You will be held accountable by God for not taking the truth seriously, for not fearing God.
But once again let us return to the good news. Because when a man who believed a lie yelled out to Jesus, Jesus put a stop to it. He said, “silence!” He said to the demon, “Get out!” Jesus won’t tolerate lies. But Jesus will tolerate and love you. Jesus will help to heal you from the sickness of buying into falsehoods. Jesus will love you conditionally and shower God’s truth upon you. You are saved by grace through faith, and not by your works. If you eat the wrong thing, if you eat the wrong message and internalize it, and it becomes a stumbling block to you, you are not forsaken forever, but Jesus will heal you!
Psalm 111 says that wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Knowledge is good, it is very good, and it is power. We live in the information age, and information is power. But power without love is nothing. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 8 that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Wisdom is knowledge that has been tested and applied, and worked out, and is hard fought and hard won. Wisdom comes from prophets, and from God’s people who take the time to listen to the prophets. God give you wisdom!
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