Sermon on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: To whom should we listen?
Paul’s opening gambit in today’s epistle struck me. As I’ve said many times, Paul’s teachings are to help people better understand the then new way, the new religion, of Christianity.
He says today “…we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.”
So, Paul says love is better than mere knowledge. I cannot disagree with him.
As I start to teach college classes tomorrow, I stand before my students as one who possesses knowledge, of history and art, who wants to share it with them. As a preacher before you today, I stand as one who possesses knowledge, of scripture and faith, and want to share it with you. Knowledge for its own sake does inflate the ego and leads to a dead end. Instead, my hope is, that those with whom I share knowledge will use what I share with them to both learn more on their own, and live into a better life of love themselves.
In the Old Testament reading, Moses talks about prophets to come, who will share the Word of God with the people. The prophets shared of divine knowledge in the hope that people would love more. Love God and love their neighbors.
Turning to the gospel, what is important about what Jesus taught in Capernaum’s synagogue? Teaching as one with authority, like a prophet, not like the scribes did, from mere rote.
We don’t get specifics in today’s reading, but Jesus’ teachings are scattered throughout scripture and history and art. Yet they are easily summarized. In general: love God and love your neighbors.
Neither Paul’s concern about food sacrificed to idols, nor the gospel’s concern about demons is relevant to many people’s concerns these days. Jesus’ flashy exorcism of an unclean spirit impressed people back then, just as demagogic charisma, flattering egos, insulting humor, exaggerating promises, stoking antagonisms, flaunting wealth, and pandering to base appetites appeal to people in all ages and times.
But we always should be concerned about what knowledge we learn and how we apply it to living out our lives in a loving way. What the prophets, apostles, and Christ himself say we should do, is to care about the poor, the prisoner, the sick, the vulnerable, the stranger, the foreigner, as well as each other. Anyone who says different, is speaking in the name of other gods, gods of death. Those who learn from Jesus, however, and practice love in this world, shall live.
Written for the parish of St. James & St. George 2021 January 31
URL: <http://therev.brianpavlac.org/srms/20210131.html