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A Dangerous Suggestion By Rev. Jonathan Gale Sunday 29th January, 2012 1 Corinthians 8: 1 - 13 Food Offered to Idols 8Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3but anyone who loves God is known by him 4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ 5Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8‘Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. 10For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
The Man with an Unclean Spirit 21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ 26And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
As Christians we depend for our knowledge of God neither upon interior mystical self-discovery, nor upon exterior reason or wisdom; but upon God’s revelation of himself to us in love – and this revelation is found supremely in Jesus Christ. We don’t discover God through warm fuzzies, nor through cold reason. God may be warm and reasonable, but our eyes can only be opened by God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1: 21, The world did not know God through wisdom And we read in the epistle this morning, Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. In the words of the French mathematician and scientist, Blaise Pascale, “The supreme achievement of reason is to bring us to see that there is a limit to reason.” We do not think our way to God. He is so much bigger than that. It is within our spirits that the knowledge of God is birthed because God shows himself to us. The initiative is God’s; the response is ours. God has revealed himself in nature, in history (especially the history of Israel), and in the Scriptures: but most especially God reveals himself in Jesus. That is why Paul, who loved to cut to the chase, says in 1 Corinthians 2: 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. That wonderful Bible book The Letter to the Hebrews begins, Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. Jesus is God’s revelation to us. Revelation: God making himself known to us. What does Jesus say about Peter’s stunning realisation as to who Jesus really is? Let’s read it in Matthew 16: 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.
That’s the first point – our eyes are opened
to God by the goodness of God, something we do not deserve and cannot earn,
and that revelation is first and foremost the person of Jesus the Christ.
Our faith is in a person: Jesus Christ, not a world view, not a set of
religious principles – a person: Jesus, God’s Messiah. In our gospel reading Mark says, 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. The authority of Jesus is something that we humans are a little slow to acknowledge. Not so demonic forces. They know exactly who Jesus is! As James writes: You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. (James 2:19). This was certainly the case in our gospel reading this morning. Verse 23: Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ We would do well in the foolishness of our human wisdom not to ignore the supernatural. C.S. Lewis, in The Screwtape Letters has a senior devil advising his young protégé that their greatest weapon against Christians is to convince them that demons don’t exist. Supernatural forces lined up against God cannot stand the authority of Jesus, because they know the power of a life surrendered to that authority. I once attended a series of early morning prayer meetings in the Central Methodist Church in the city of Pietermaritzburg. As the preacher was teaching about the power of regular early morning prayer, a respectable woman, a long-term member of the Central Baptist Church (which was directly across the road) began manifesting loud and disruptive demonic noises. The preacher never missed a beat. He raised his voice and said, “Yes, Satan, you don’t like it when God’s people take prayer seriously, do you?” and carried right on with his teaching. I love that! Telling it like it is and then carrying right on with the important stuff: Jesus. I want to ask you this morning: do you have that kind of faith? Do you know that as a child of God in the name of Jesus you too can take dominion over the forces that oppose God? In John 14: 12 Jesus says, 12Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Clearly demonstrated to us is that Jesus is Lord, he holds all authority in heaven and on earth. That’s the second point: a revelation of Jesus reveals his authority, for he is God. The only possible sensible human response to that authority is to acknowledge that he is Lord, and to give him first place in our lives. Anything else is a pitifully inadequate response to a divine love that gave everything to see us reconciled to God. As we read in Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth this morning: Vs 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. There is only one person who has first claim upon our loyalty, our time, our money, our energies: and that is Jesus. --- Given all this: firstly that we are shown Jesus because of God’s initiative to show himself to us, and secondly that when we encounter the person of Jesus we encounter authority: given these two things, here’s a dangerous suggestion (a life-changing suggestion): put him first in your life. You may be thinking, as I did when I read this sermon to myself, “I pretty much do put Jesus first, at least I give it a good bash – you know.” But then it struck me, and I suppose it was the voice of the Holy Spirit quietly informing me that I have only just scratched the surface. There is a great deal more that God wants to share with us; there is much deeper to go yet. That’s right. I challenge each and every one of us in this church building to make a definite decision to make Christ our first priority in everything we do this week. You resolve to do that seriously, and any boredom in your existence will disappear because you’ll find two things beginning to happen: · Firstly, you’ll discover an altogether new dynamic to your relationship with God which will result in the blessing of God I said this was a dangerous thing to do, because it’s a danger to every sin which may have been holding you back from serving God effectively. Hebrews 12 tells us: let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, We can’t throw off the sin that gets in the way without fixing our eyes on Jesus, without making him the focus of our lives; because we need his help. When we depend upon him, we are exercising faith, and it is faith that moves the hand of God. Being open to God, having God speak to you, and seeing God act is one of the most pleasant experiences imaginable. There is simply nothing to beat being blessed by God. We don’t do it for the “jollies”. It’s pleasant, yes, but we draw closer to God because he is Lord. · The second thing you’ll discover when you seriously resolve to make Christ the first priority in your life, is opposition from many quarters Not least in the line-up of opposition is Satan. Watch what happens in the Capernaum synagogue: 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, Do you notice what happened there? The moment Jesus’ authority is recognised, up pops a demonic manifestation disrupting proceedings. “Just then”. The timing of the disruption is no co-incidence. Satan hates Jesus being recognised as having authority. He hates us giving Jesus priority and when you do, you can expect opposition. I told you it was a dangerous suggestion I was making. What happened in the Central Methodist Church after hundreds of people began meeting daily at 5.00 a.m. to pray, when God’s people began to catch the vision of making personal sacrifices to put Jesus first? Demonic opposition. Couldn’t help itself and yells out. I tell you what; you start getting up each day at 5.00 a.m. to pray and watch what happens. You’ll forget to put your alarm on. You’ll sleep through the alarm. You’ll fall asleep while praying. You’ll get distracted while praying. Anyone else affected by your waking will begin to complain. You’ll get opposition. When you’ve heard the truth being presented to you, have you ever felt slightly annoyed and uncomfortable, and you’ve wondered where that came from? Well, ask yourself where it came from. Jesus says in Matthew 10: 36, ‘a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Sometimes it’s your family who are inconvenienced by your decision to put Jesus first. You can expect it. Sometimes it’s those with whom you work Certainly it will be anyone who has any form of authority over you. You’ll need to ask yourself. “Do I put Jesus first – giving the message that he is the final authority I recognise - or do I yield to pressure and make life easier for myself in the short-term?” Opposition. It comes. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Tim 3: 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Anyone who has any claim over you in any way will be threatened by a decision to put Christ first in your life, unless they too happen to have determined to do so as well. And that’s something we can’t necessarily expect because we’re all human and our levels of faith and commitment fluctuate. You know, following Christ is not easy. He never promised that. He promised to be with us. In Matthew 7: 13 Jesus says: 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Most people live lives of mediocrity, wandering down the broad way. Jesus says only few find the way that leads to life. Robert Frost in his poem, The Road Not Taken speaks of coming to a fork in the road in a wood, and having to choose which way to go. He concludes the poem: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Faced today with a challenge to put Jesus first in your life, what do you choose? · A meaningless life of putting yourself and your interests first – the way of short-term pleasure which, in Jesus’ words, most follow and leads to destruction; OR
·
The life
of discipleship; committed, disciplined, self-sacrificing - the way of
delayed gratification, which in Jesus’ words, few find and which leads to
life. It’s my responsibility to point out to you that the choice is yours, and to urge you, for both yours and God’s sake, to choose life, for there is no opposition, whether demonic or human, that can take away the joy of living a life under the blessing of God. You want to be a danger to everything that opposes God? Take up this ‘dangerous suggestion’, and put Jesus first in your life. AMEN. |
