Don't worry....God will forgive

The Epistle lesson for this coming Sunday comes from Paul's first letter to the believers at Corinth, the 8th chapter.

The believers in Corinth were primarily Greek.  They were raised in Greek culture, with Greek gods, Greek values and a Greek social system.  They had little or no understanding of the Hebrew God YHWH and the relationship YHWH had developed with the people of Israel through the millennia.

Greek gods were beings to be avoided.  You paid your sacrifice; hoped the sacrifice was sufficient and kept your head down the rest of the time so that the gods did not take notice of you.  The type of relationship that is revealed in the Psalms (where one calls on the name of the Lord in thanksgiving and lament, in fear and in joy) was unknown to Greeks. 

So hearing about a God who reached out to bring new life into the lives of humans was a new idea indeed.  To think that God would take on the form of a human (not all that unusual in Greek mythology) and then sacrifice himself for the sake of less valuable humans was a foreign idea.  Forgiveness was unheard of as was the concept of 'unconditional love' especially for the last, the lost and the lonely.

Once you start believing that this God - YHWH - truly loves humankind, especially the underclasses who were rejected as less valuable by Greek society; once you start believing that this God not only could love you (a servant/slave of foreign birth) but will continue to love you through Jesus.....well, what more could anyone say?

Unfortunately, the forgiveness of God through Jesus that was first a gift became a license for many within the Corinthian community.  It became the 1st century version of Bob Marley's 'Don't Worry. Be Happy.'  Forgiveness became a tool or technique to get ahead, do whatever one wanted without worry. [The issue in the 8th chapter is around food sacrificed to idols.  Believers knew that the idols weren't real gods and the food sacrificed was simply food, but to others who were watching their actions, they appeared wanton, sacrilegious and brought a bad name to Christians].

Is there something here for us to think about?  Do we Rely on God's forgiveness or Live in God's forgiveness?  That is, do we live our lives as we please, or to please ourselves, relying on God to forgive us whenever we throw an 'I"m sorry' in God's direction?   Or, do we boldly take up the task of being a Christian, living for others, granting grace, feeding the poor, forgiving our enemies, knowing we will in fact fail too many times to mention, and yet are covered by God's forgiveness in Jesus?  Or as Martin Luther said, "Sin boldly.....but act even more boldly still"  Forgiveness is not license but life force.  It is to be the blood that flows through our bodies, giving us life, and empowering us to give life to others.  In God's name, for the sake of the world.

Pax