As Anglicans, we’re big into food. They say there’s two main ways to relate to food: either you eat to live, or you live to eat. In my family, it’s always been the second one. Food has always been a pretty significant part of my life. Both sides of my parents’ family enjoy eating, and our gatherings usually involve lots of food. Both of my parents are great cooks, and my Dad particularly enjoys it. For him, there’s nothing he loves more than cooking a nice meal and sharing it with friends or family, the people he loves. And although it was never a rule in our house that you had to clean your plate, his feelings would always be a little bit hurt if you didn’t finish everything, because he took it as “you didn’t like it.” From a young age, I was a good eater, always trying new things and being adventurous. And into my adult life, this has stayed the same. I’ve tried weird and wonderful things in different places, from seaweed to bamboo shoots to crickets to escargot to chicken knees, some of which I wouldn’t choose to try again, and sometimes which I only tried in the name of politeness. That’s not to say that I enjoy all foods, because there are things I don’t like, but I will try a lot of new things, and I will put up with a lot if something is served or presented to me. Because, to me, it’s more about the respect and the relationship than it is about my preferences.
I think that’s part of what our second reading was getting at today. It’s the idea of taking other people’s needs and struggles into account, instead of just considering our own ways. Like making a dish at a potluck that’s vegan or gluten-free or halal for those who need it, so that they can be included without having to give up their beliefs or needs.Because the relationship we have with that person, even if we may not know them yet, is more important than ‘having knowledge’ or being right. There are countless ways to do things like this, and they don’t all have to connect to food. It’s about respecting other people’s rights, beliefs, and needs. Any time we create a ‘stumbling block’ for someone else, we’re doing the opposite of what Christ would want.
In my case, I’ve always had a strong sweet-tooth, which has been a real struggle. Because of this and because of my upbringing, it seems like I’m always trying to get myself to “eat healthier”, trying to cut down on sweets, and carbs, and unhealthy foods. But it’s HARD! Because those are the things I enjoy eating. It’s especially hard when it’s offered to me, because I feel like I can’t refuse (and, to be honest, I probably don’t want to refuse!). There’s no better (and more guilt-causing) feeling than when a friend and I, who have both been trying to eat healthily, get together and pig out on junk food instead. And yet it’s always a regrettable decision, and I feel like a bit of a failure. Sometimes it’s easier to stick with things than others.
Now, that’s a minor example compared to what we’re talking about in 1stCorinthians. That’s about personal health and well-being, not about spiritual well-being. And yet this idea of avoiding foods or other behaviours that might make someone stumble doeshit home for me.In this context, it’s the idea of staying away from eating meat or foods that had been sacrificed to gods. Even though the early Christians, and Christians today, don’t believe we need to sacrifice food to God, this was a big practice back in the day. We hear lots of stories in the First Testament about the specific ways to sacrifice animals to God, in order to honour God, and those practices were still going strong in Jesus’ time. So Paul is reminding the Corinthians that even though it may not be important to them, it is important to someone else, and they don’t want to risk making things more difficult for others than they need to. We don’t want the things that we do to cause someone to fall off of their own path.
There are many other ways that people can be led off of their own path, and our first reading from Deuteronomy touches on that a bit. The idea of someone speaking falsely on behalf of God. There are countless times we’ve heard of someone claiming to be speaking for God, or speaking on behalf of God. And, I’m sure, sometimes that’s true! God does use other people to share His messages. At the same time, and I’ll admit I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts about cults recently, there are plenty of times when God truly isn’t speaking through people, and they just claim that He is, often because they’re seeking wealth or power or adoration. And that’s dangerous territory to be in. We just have to think of events like the Jonestown massacre to realize that people can easily be convinced of things that aren’t true, and that it can have terrible results. Especially when it’s done in the name of “God”. We’re told in most of the Gospels, but especially in the Gospel of Matthew that “manywill comeinMyname,claiming,‘IamtheChrist,’andwill deceive many.” And listening to those voices or those individuals can be a dangerous thing, both for our own faith, and for the world around us. And we hear that in Deuteronomy that those who speak falsely in the name of God aren’t appreciated by God, and will, in fact, die.
And yet there tends to be a fair amount of that speaking for God or on behalf of God in our world today. People taking their own beliefs and interpretations and claiming that they’re also God’s. This can be a tricky corner to back ourselves into. Our God, the God who loves us all, tends not to be as judgmental as many of His followers can be, on a daily basis.
So how can we know if a person is truly speaking the word of God? Well, it starts with common sense, and sometimes even your gut-feeling. It’s also about remembering that “speaking the truth” doesn’t always mean that no one will be offended. After all, a lot of what Jesus said and did was countercultural for His time, and didn’t sit well with a lot of people. But a big portion of knowing if the person is speaking from God is to recognize if the person is speaking authentically, and if while they’re doing it, they realize the weight of the words they’re saying. Speaking the word of God is rarely an easy task, and it comes with a lot of seriousness attached. We don’t truly know God’s mind, so to stand up and say that we know all is just impossible. As one translation of today’s reading from Corinthians put it, “Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much.” ((New Living Translation)). It takes humility and being humble to truly be able to speak the word of God. And, most of all, the words of the person also need to be combined with loving actions. Love is the key. Again, our second reading reminds us that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
Today’s Gospel reading shows us a glimpse into Jesus’ authority, specifically his authority over “unclean spirits”. His abilities and His authority begins to spread around Galilee, but Mark doesn’t focus on this fact. He doesn’t focus on the fame and the notoriety, but on the loving, healing acts that Jesus performs.Jesus isn’t in it for the wealth or the power. He has plenty of power, but He uses that for the good of others. The actions of love that Jesus undertakes are what build up His ministry and build up His followers. Without the actions of love and healing, Jesus would simply be another wise teacher.
We have a hard time understanding miracles and healing today. Of course we hear stories of miracles and miraculous healing in the world, but they often haven’t happened to us, or, if they have, they’ve been few and far between. We have different ways of understanding lots of things in the world today. Back in the day, people believed that the earth was flat and the centre of the universe, whereas now we know that the world is round and orbits around the sun. Similarly, “unclean spirits” in Jesus time were often people who behaved in ways they may not have understood. We can now explain many of these things through the lens of mental illness, epilepsy, and other ailments. We can also look at “unclean spirits” that overtake us as being “sins” or things like jealousy, gluttony, anger and such, or even things in the modern day like substance abuse, or being a workaholic, addicted to our work. And, truth be told, “possession”, though incredibly rare, can also be an explanation. There’s a reason that an option for exorcisms exist in the Anglican church. But, as the Rev. David Lose puts it, “we can read this scene as Mark’s signal that Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God from the abundant life God desires for all of us…that is still the case: God wants the most for us from this life and stands in opposition to anything that robs us of the joy and community and purpose for which we were created.” And this passage is also a reminder “that God – especially in Mark’s Gospel – regularly shows us where we least expect God to be. In authoritative teaching? Sure, but also in the plight of a man possessed by an unclean spirit. […]Our God is a God of the broken, and our church is a fellowship of the needy.”
Ultimately, it’s up to us to do all that we can in our lives to support each other, and support those who are broken. That means building each other up, being there to support someone when they fall, and it means removing those things that might cause people to stumble on their journey. This is what community in Christ is. Let us try to always to be mindful of the needs of others and listen for the Holy Spirit to guide us on our way.
Amen.
- today upstairs we had a reading about prophets.
- Does anyone know what a prophet is?
- word we use in the Bible
- someone who speaks for God, tells others God’s message
- don’t predict the future, really, but they tell the truth about the present from God’s point of view.
- kind of like someone standing up to friends and saying “that’s not right,”or “someone is going to get hurt,” or “we’ll get in trouble”
- So, we can both listen for prophets and be prophets for God.
- Sometimes prophets are the ones who shared the word of the Lord in writing, too, like we have in the Bible.
- The readings we have from the Bible are really special because of that.
- That’s why when we have our readings, at the end, the person who was reading says “The word of the Lord!”, and we respond “Thanks be to God!” because we’re thankful for those words from God!
- sometimes we forget that, and we don’t really mean it when we say “Thanks be to God!”
- sometimes we end up saying it in a way that’s more like just yawn or saying “if you say so”or “I’m bored”, instead of remembering how important the readings from the Bible are
- but each time we do say it and mean it, it’s a reminder that the words in the Bible are special and important and they come from God.
- So, next time you hear a reading, try being excited and thankful for it!
The other thing we talked about was that sometimes we have to do things to take care of other people.
- Sometimes we don’t do these things because we need to, but because someone else needs to, and they need us to set a good example for them.
- going to bed earlier than you need to so younger siblings who do need the sleep will go to bed,
- sitting at a children’s table when you could act right sitting at the grown table
- waiting to eat a piece of candy in class, if you don’t have enough to share with everyone, because it might make them all wish they had candy and make them sad that they don’t.
- sometimes we have to change our behaviour to be good models for people around us.
Dear God,
Thank you for your words and stories/That you sent through people long ago.
Help us to hear those words / And be excited and thankful for them./ Help us to be good role models /To those around us / Even when it isn’t always easy or fun. / Amen.