Morning Meds

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today
Grant us gratitude
Recognizing how you show up in our lives
Your great loving care
Your instruction
Your discipline
Your affection
Moment by moment abiding with us

And grant us hope
Knowing that what we do matters
And that positive changes are possible
That with you
And in you
All shall be well

And grant us compassion
The strength to confront suffering
The strength to care for others
The strength to stand up
And stand in for others
Like you have for us
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—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. 1 Corinthians 8:1-6

Intro: Thursday morning I was meditating on this chapter

It’s not one of my favorites, but this time something happened
– it was like I saw a glint of light sparkle from one of the verses
• so I started digging at it
◦ I took my investigation as far as I could,
◦ but when that wasn’t enough, I consulted a biblical scholar
• in a few minutes I’ll share with you what I discovered,
– but first, we’ll take a brief look at this passage

Paul stresses a key thought through repetition

Eight times in the first four verses he mentions knowing
– two different Greek words are translated as “knowledge”
• it seems to me that Paul used those words strategically
• first oidamen, then six times gnosin, then oidamen again|
◦ so he enclosed gnosin within oidamen
◦ I believe that was strategic
– when meat was sold in the Corinthian marketplace,
• it would have come from local temples where it had been offered before idols
◦ the ancient belief was that worshipers provided food for their gods
◦ this was a problem for some of the believers
• but there were those in the Corinthian who were not bothered by it
◦ they justified there freedom by saying,
“Now that we’re Christians, we know that Idols are nothing”

I think that Paul would agree with this group in general principle
– a couple weeks ago we learned that Paul identified to types of Christians in Rome:
• those who were weak in faith and those who were strong in faith
◦ those who felt free to purchase and consume meat from the marketplace were the strong in faith
◦ but in this instance, Paul wanted to modify their freedom
• here he uses the same argument here as he did in Romans 14
◦ “your convictions can’t be the only criteria for exercising your freedom”
◦ you have to consider how it might affect others
“For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died” (vv. 10-11; and notice the role “knowledge” plays in this argument!)
– so Paul begins his instructions by pointing to knowledge
• he says we already understand that we all know some things
◦ that was the argument of the freedom crowd — they knew some things
• but there was a drawback to using knowledge
◦ it inflated one’s ego, justifying their actions in spite of how it affected others
◦ his argument goes like this:
“If you assume you’re knowledgeable about something,
you really don’t know it as well as you think you do”
– what was missing in their education?
• the effect their well-informed freedom had on others
◦ or to put it more clearly: they failed to see the importance of love!
• this one line is powerful and we need to hear it
◦ no matter how much you think you know about God,
◦ it’s more important that God knows you
“if anyone loves God, [they are] known by God”
(do you remember when Jesus said in the Sermon On the Mount, “I never knew you”? Mt. 7:23)

Many Christians have been misled and it’s damaged their influence in the world

They’re convinced that learning correct doctrine is knowing God
– no one’s theology is perfect – its formation is ongoing throughout our lifetime
• and even if our concepts came close to the best information,
◦ God is not a concept!
◦ he transcends every idea we can possibly think
• biblical knowing is personal and experiential
◦ we know God by opening our hearts to him and others,
◦ by listening to him, and walking with him
– to know God requires an ongoing pursuit (Php. 3:8-16)
• but loving God is our natural response to him,
◦ and like a child’s love for its parents, it comes instantly

Now I want to get back to what sparked my curiosity on Thursday

In verse 6, Paul affirms our belief in one God
– we know him as our Father and through Jesus our Lord
• when I read that through Jesus “we exist,” I wanted to find out what was the Greek word for “exist”
◦ surprise! – there wasn’t any word translated exist in the Greek text
• the entire verse, in fact, is rather sparse – and more than one English word is implied rather than present
◦ but thinking about that sent me in another direction
– for several weeks I’ve been reading the Psalms
• all 150 of them are written as poetry
◦ most verses consist of two lines or, less often, three lines
◦ the thought in the second line runs parallel to the first
• the poetry is fascinating in how the parallel is worked out
◦ three examples:
– the first line is repeated, in the second but using different words
– the first line is repeated, the second line but in reverse order
– a statement in the first line is intensified in the second line

When I looked at the Greek text, it looked to me like four poetic lines
– the first line contained fourteen syllables
– the second line contained six syllables
– the third line matched the first line with fourteen syllables
– the fourth line matched the second line with six syllables
• reading it translated literally, Paul introduces it with “Yet to us”
“One God the Father of whom all things,
and we in him,
and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things
and we through him”
– the message itself is profound
• God is identified as our Father,
◦ and all things are of (or from ) him
◦ and we who are from him as well, are also in him
• Jesus is identified as our Lord,
◦ and all things come through him
◦ and we also are through him

This looked so much like the poetic form of the Psalms,
– that I had to check with a friend who is more knowledgeable than I
• he wrote back:
“Here is a quote from a Corinthians scholar:
‘Verse 6 also has a creedal sound to it (and is set off in poetic form in [one ancient manuscript NA27]), leading many to believe that Paul is citing (or slightly modifying) creedal material from the early church. [N.T.] Wright is not exaggerating when he asserts that the writing of this text ranks ‘as one of the greatest pioneering moments in the entire history of Christology.’”
– Paul may have been quoting an early Christian hymn
• or perhaps some believers had begun to write Christian psalms
• but why poetry? and why place it here in his letter?

When the human soul is moved by profound experiences,
– it’s not enough to try to describe it in words; our vocabulary fails us
• some experiences cannot be expressed in normal speech
◦ for instance the death of someone you have loved deeply
• if we’re going to try communicate at all,
◦ we want to communicate the powerful feelings within us
◦ and for that, we need the arts: paint, poetry, music, dance, woodworking, and so on
– that is why we sing our faith – and why Paul quotes a poem
• he wants us to feel this profound connection with God and Jesus

Not finding the word “exist” in Greek text sent me to Acts 17

“[God] is actually not far from each one of us, for
‘In him we live and move
and have our being’” (Acts. 17:27-28)
– “have our being” is not in the Greek text there either
• but the point Paul makes is clear God’s presence fills his universe
◦ we are surrounded by him everywhere at all times
“Am a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD (Jer. 23:23-24)
(I often remind myself of this when I settle into God’s presence)
• my desire is to increase, deepen, and maintain a constant awareness of his immediate presence
◦ and that’s what the poem in 1 Corinthians impressed on me this past week

Conclusion: I will close now with a bit of my meditation from Thursday

My med, “My present moment realization is that God brought me into existence, and that I can enjoy this here and now experience of him is possible through Jesus. There did not have to be a ‘me.’ I did not have to be brought into God’s universe to see the splendor of a sunset or the flight of twenty pelicans riding a thermal. I never had to feel minuscule while gazing into a star-studded sky, or fall in love, or hold my infant child in my arms, or hear a song that every time made me cry. Nor did I have to live these seven decades. I am only because God is. That I have this awareness in the space of each breath, is the gift of knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord, my Savior, my Brother, my Friend.”