Knowledge and Love

Knowledge & Love

Opening Prayer:

Romans 14:17 (NRSVue)

For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The nature of belonging to the Kingdom of God

We are ONE people, no longer individuals

What we say and do, or not say and not do, affects others around us

We do not live in a vacuum.

Here what St. Paul says to the Christians in Corinth regarding Christian unity.

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 NRSVue

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

Being a child of God, a part of the Church, means that we can no longer consider only our best interest in mind.

Marine Corps: Team ethos. If one suffers, we all suffer. If one wins, we all win. We served and fought not only for the entire nation but for one another; for the man to my left and my right.

As Christians, we ought to live with that same ethos: That the needs of the person sitting next to you are greater than your personal desires.

How can I say this? Hear what Jesus said about his purpose on earth, from the Gospel of St. Mark

Mark 10:45 NRSVue

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”

So, if the Son of Man came to serve, how much more should we be eager to follow his example of service to others.

Sadly, the Church has been infected with American individualism. I don’t say this as a negative critique but as an observation of fact. My intention is not to offend anybody’s patriotic sensitivities but to illuminate an area of growth in the family of God. I would argue that there is no greater patriot in this room than me; having deployed multiple times over the course of two wars. I’ve given up my blood, sweat, and tears for this country. I have given my body and life over to the government to be used for the whims and vacillations of politicians. And of this I do not complain because I did so by my own free will. But what I simply cannot stand for, what keeps me up at night, the thing that burns in my chest is a desire to eradicate from God’s vineyard every ounce and shred of this American individualism which is killing the Church from the inside out. What I mean by American individualism is the notion that the individual is the central and most important tenet in the life of the church, which is a false understanding of our faith.

Paul in writing his letter to the Church in Corinth, around AD 54, offers us a glimpse into an age-old problem in the mind and life of humanity: that the I is greater than the we, that the individual is of utmost importance, to the detriment of the Church. A good portion of this first epistle to the Corinthians focuses on this topic of knowledge and love. From the eighth chapter to the eleventh, St. Paul addresses the social relationships amongst the believers. He launches into this topic from the issue of meat offered to idols.

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Love builds up, knowledge Puffs up

St. Paul’s use of the words “build up” and “puff up” are not accidental. Here he intends to conjure images that are helpful in understanding his message. Instead of trying to show some individualistic freedom of choice, love chooses the welfare and wellbeing of Christian brothers and sisters.

When Paul says “build up,” he is referring to the act of constructing something.

The sense he is trying to convey is the love drives the Christian to work toward making something or someone more complete. Think of a construction worker who labors day after day, despite the setbacks of weather and economy, lovingly laying brick after brick, toiling and sweating until the project is complete. The worker does not put his desire ahead of the one who hired him for the job. Neither should a Christian be so apathetic as to put their desires ahead of the kingdom of God. Herein lies the insidiousness of American individualism: that we have been conditioned to believe and propagate the notion that we are “masters of our own destinies, captains of our own ships.” If that is so, how can we proclaim that Christ is Lord, that He alone is king of our lives? The two notions cannot be true at the same time. Either we truly act as kings of our lives or Jesus Christ is Lord.

As to the puffing up, I will say this: Knowledge is not a bad thing, it is a good thing that must be kept in check lest we use it hurt others. Think of that structure which love built of brick and mortar. It is solid, sturdy, and will stand through the storms of life. Now, consider how knowledge on its own, without love, puffs up the individual, like a balloon filled with helium. That thin-skinned balloon will be swept away with the first gust of wind, and yet the effects of love will remain for generations.

Do not sin against Christ

St. Paul warns both the church in Corinth and us about the effects of puffing ourselves up with knowledge alone. The person who puffs themselves up with knowledge and acts without consideration and love toward those who might be affected by their words and actions, sins not only against their brother or sister but against Christ. Here what St. Paul says.

1 Corinthians 8:12 NRSVue

But when you thus sin against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

This sin of ours against our brothers and sisters and against Christ might be inadvertent, but it is still an offense against God himself. Paul himself says that if “food is a cause” of the falling of a brother or sister “I will never again eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.” Paul’s commitment to the success of the Church is without question. And we would do good to emulate him. For no good thing grows without extreme toil and commitment. No good thing comes easily. If it were so, this place would be filled with souls seeking to worship God.

Paul’s commitment to avoid making other Christians stumble is to be commended and emulated. His heart is one that is after the deep desire of God’s heart, that the good news of Jesus Christ be preached and that disciples be made in all corners of the earth. And yet, Christians in Corinth are more concerned about their personal freedom, their individual liberty. Paul says, “Who cares about your personal liberty if your brother or sister is hurting and stumbling.”

Jesus told the eleven disciples in Matthew 28.19

Matthew 28:19 NRSVue

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

This, precisely, is the work of the Church. This should be the function of the Body of Christ. The making of disciples is the purpose of all churches. We are called to preach the Gospel, to heal the sick, to administer the Sacraments, to bring comfort to the afflicted. But you cannot expect one priest to do all the heavy lifting. Paul was not expected to do so either, nor were the apostles. It takes a great effort from every single part of the Body of Christ to promote growth, to create an environment of love, wherein the gifts of the Holy Spirit are encouraged to the building up of the body.

I have preached this sermon with one person in mind: me, because I am chief among sinners. Let me leave you with this encouragement and exhortation. This work to which we have all been called is not an accident. You are here at this Church of the Good Shepherd for good reason, for the noblest of works, and perhaps the most challenging and at times frustrating of works: And that is, to the work of making disciples.

You may not be the one teaching the classes, or singing the hymns, or administering the sacraments, but in one way or another each person is either contributing to the work or hindering it. You are either fully engaged or coldly apathetic. I’m all in, but I can’t do it alone.

May God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, fill us with his love, that each person here would be so compelled to give of their gifts, which come from above, to the building up of God’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church in Wichita Falls. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.