Sermon Tone Analysis

Anyone who knows me at all knows I am a bit particular and just a teensy-bit obsessive.

And it all starts to make sense once you meet my mother—the wonderful woman from whom I inherited by compulsiveness.

I can’t blame her fully.

I’m some ways I’m much more particular; still, I believe I learned the basics from her.

It’s not all bad (unless you’re my wife or children; say a prayer for them daily, would you?

They have had to figure out a way to live with this ogre who also happens to be obsessive-compulsive).

It’s not without its benefits: from my mom I learned how to keep a house, how to organize, how to keep everything picked up and put away.

My sister didn’t learn the same, though we were raised the same and only two years apart.

It’s funny how one of us took on all the obsessive, tidy, particular attributes and the other went in the opposite direction.

Though, I must tell you, Bethany is getting better about being organized; she’s a little more tidy, but this is no thanks to Mom.

Bethany’s been watching Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up” on Netflix.

We’ll see how long that lasts...

One part of my mom’s particularities focuses on table manners.

Mom had very strict rules when it came to eating and other behaviors at the dinner table.

She had the normal rules and some fairly odd rules: no chewing with your mouth open, no smacking; no talking with food in your mouth; after you take a bite, set your fork or spoon down on your plate while you chew that bite.

She had the napkin-in-the-lap-and-one-hand-resting-in-your-lap rule.

She had the no-elbows-on-the-table rule.

This rule carried with it the most painful consequence.

If my elbow found its way to the table, mom would take whichever utensil she had in her hand and smack my arm with it.

Steak night was the worst; those steak knives can really cut.

That’s why I wear long sleeve shirts rolled up a bit, to cover the scars.

Far and away the most important of mom’s rules for the table came into play when we were invited over to someone else’s home.

We were very clear on our job: to eat whatever was served whether or not we liked it.

We weren’t allergic to any food, so we couldn’t play that card.

If it was put in front of us, we were to eat it and make sure we didn’t pick at it or push it aside or make any faces while eating.

I choked down a lot of things I would have rather not eaten.

It obviously did me no harm.

It didn’t hurt me or kill me.

I do, however, believe it probably spared the feelings of all those who had invited us over to their homes throughout the years.

I believe the eat-whatever-you’re-served rule is such a significant and important rule that we’ve passed it on to our kids.

It’s better to eat something you don’t like than offend or hurt the feelings of the person who made the food.

>In the city of Corinth, there’s this difficulty surrounding food.

Paul’s been writing recently in the context of food, food offered to idols, and the believers’ relationship to that food.

To eat or not to eat, that is the question.

We read this in chapter 8, you remember:

It matters what we eat, but not so much what we eat as what kind of effect our eating has on those around us.

In our text today, Paul writes: If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.

Turns out, mom’s advice to eat whatever is put before you is biblical, but it’s not exactly what Paul meant.

It was pretty common to come into contact with idol food.

As you remember from chapter 8, most, if not all, of the meat in the market had been offered as sacrifice to idols.

So, accepting an invitation to dinner hosted by a friend or neighbor would present an issue, especially if they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus.

Such dinners were extremely common.

These dinners served as a key to establishing the social and political network essential to the advancement and even survival in that society.

Any respectable person would hope to receive invitations to dinners in the homes of others.

If you didn’t receive such dinner invitations it would show how socially unimportant you were.

If you didn’t accept such invitations, you would be socially isolated.

Some of the Corinthian Christians are receiving dinner invitations from people who aren’t Christians and, naturally, they want to accept them for various reasons.

The problem is that even when such meals were primarily social events, there were almost always religious components that couldn’t be ignored.

The wine would almost certainly be offered in the name of Dionysus, and false gods were likely to be honored or even sung to.

Some, if not all, of the food would have been previously offered to some false god to whom thanks was given for the joyful occasion of the dinner.

And still Paul says: “Eat whatever is put before you.”

In chapter 8—the last time we spoke about food at length—the discussion was focused upon how the Corinthians’ actions affected their brothers and sisters—their fellow Christians—especially those who were new in their faith or weak in their belief.

In chapter 10, Paul wants the Corinthians (and us!) to consider how our behavior might affect the unbelievers with whom we interact.

How do we relate to them?

If they invite us over for dinner, do we go?

Do we eat what they serve?

How does all this work?

How are we to relate to those who don’t believe in and belong to Christ?

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 10.

If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word, out of reverence for Him:

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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Paul takes this issue—a real sticky-wicket—and gives guidance by offering two considerations: (1) what’s best for one’s neighbor and (2) what will bring the most glory to God.

Paul launches right in.

He takes one of the Corinthians’ mantras and turns it around on them.

The Corinthians were apparently fond of saying: “I have the right to do anything.”

And, in a way, that’s true.

The believer, the Christian does have incredible, unmatched freedom in Christ.

Within the bounds of God’s Law and the laws of the land, the Christian does have the right to do anything.

But Paul recognizes the trouble in this expression.

You might have the right to do anything you please, but that doesn’t mean it’s beneficial or constructive.

In Christ, you are free, but you have to think about whether or not what you’re doing is good for anyone but you.

Paul gets right to the crux of the matter in verse 24.

It’s one of those clarifying moments, this verse.

As a kid, if I entered a building without taking off my hat, Dad would pop me in the back of the head with his hand—the hand that had the big Air Force ring on it—this verse is likewise a ringed-hand to the back of the head.

Paul writes, verse 24:

This is one of those applies-to-every-part-of-my-life verses, isn’t it?

This is one-half of the Christian ethic.

Seek the Good of Others

You understand this is our task in the world, don’t you?

This is how we are to behave, how we are to operate, how we are to function, especially where unbelievers are concerned.

In the scenario of what to eat, Paul puts forth a general principle: Eat anything you want, eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience.

And Paul’s justification of this comes from a belief that everything belongs to God.

That food might have been offered to idols, but an idol is nothing.

Just because that food was offered to an idol doesn’t mean the idol has any ownership of it.

Remember: everything is the Lord’s.

Psalm 24 boldly declares that the Lord, the God of Israel (and no other deity), is sovereign Lord over all the earth.

The earth does not belong to Baal or any other god, but to the Lord of Israel!

He is the glorious King who reigns over all the earth and over all its inhabitants!

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

That pretty well settles it.

It all belongs to Him—everything in the world, all who live on this earth…His.

This has some serious and far-reaching implications, doesn’t it?

Think about it.

If everything and everyone is His, that gives everything and everyone inestimable worth and value.

If that person is His (and they are), then no matter who or what, no matter race or creed or ethnicity, no matter their status, their socio-economic position, no matter their sexual orientation or political leaning—if that person is His (and they are), they are of supreme worth and highest value.

Seek the Good of Others

It’s on us to seek their good.

Seek the good of others.

Sometimes I feel like I repeat myself quite a bit.

But then I realize that God’s Word is pretty repetitive.