Looking Ahead to January 28, 2024 -- 4th Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

The Scripture Readings this week are: 

• 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

The Sermon title is To Do or Not To Do

Early Thoughts: If all things are permitted why not do them? And what criteria do we use to decide what to do and what not to do.

I see three possible answers in these passages from 1 Corinthians:

1. Self-control. We may be permitted to do something but we should not be dominated by it. We need to set limits
2. Does doing the thing bring glory to God? We should choose to do things that are in line with our identity as beloved children of God. Our choices should show that God is active in our lives.
3. Care for our neighbour. Do the choices we make lead others into confusion? We are called to build a community, not to indulge our own desires.

 It appears that among the many issues being faced by the Corinthian church was a failure to understand those three points.

I wonder if we are that much different today? Culturally we have moved through a few cycles in recent generations. In the 2020's we may not be quite as deep in the "if it feels good do it" mindset of previous decades but we are still living in a culture that is coloured to some degree by that ideal. I think it goes along with a "me first" mindset (something else that has marked the last 50 or 60 years).

At the same time we are not as puritanical as some earlier generations, and I believe we never will be. The pendulum might swing between permissiveness and restriction but each time it swings the center of the movement pushes over slightly to the permissive side. Whether that is a good thing or not is a matter for debate.

So how, in the 21st century, do we decide "to do or not to do"? How do we decide what limits to place on ourselves -- particularly when we are talking about placing stronger limits than the wider culture?

I encourage us to return to the three points I named above. It turns out Paul might have know what he was talking about (even if his discussion of eating meat in chapter 8 seems to say both yes and no).

What things are you allowed to do but choose not to? When do you say "well I could but it would be better if I didn't"? Are there times you choose care for your neighbour to override your desire to do something?
--Gord