They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not moan or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah 8:8-9.

The above Scripture was in Hearing God by Dallas Willard and I loved this last sentence on that page…”We stand within a community of the spoken to.” And this from You Are The Beloved by Henri Nouwen today…”Nothing is sweet or easy about community. Community is a fellowship of people who do not hide their joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other as a gesture of hope. In community we say, “Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and downs – but we do not have to live it alone. We want to drink our cup together and thus celebrate the truth that the wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care.””

Both of the excerpts above were helpful after I read our chapter, 1 Corinthians 8, because Paul is addressing concerns the church in Corinth had written to him. Corinth was known for two temples – the temple of Apollo, which was a ruin in Paul’s time; and the temple of Aphrodite which was very active and where its’ thousand temple prostitutes served “religious” purposes. And animal sacrifices were offered to this idol and people ate the meat communally. Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords…yet for us…there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him…and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble. v. 1-13.

We today who love God can scarcely understand idols as they were worshipped in ancient times. That’s why it was so hard for the disciples and those following Jesus, the Son, when He said the bread and wine of the new covenant were His body, and to take and eat His flesh and drink His blood to remember His death until He returns. Jesus never meant literally to eat His body or drink His blood, but is that not what the pagans did in their idol worship? They were partaking of the idol whom they worshipped. Satan perverts everything. And for people struggling to come out of ingrained idol worship, it was confusing to see their fellow brethren eating at the very temple of the idols they were trying to leave. They stood within a community of the spoken to, but they couldn’t reconcile the two worlds when first learning about Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. Nothing is more important than love for God and love for one another. Jesus died for us and we remember His death until He returns! That means something! If our “knowledge” puffs us up and renders us arrogant toward others, what good are we for God? We are weak when we don’t fully understand. But let’s be honest. Any and every trial and suffering we don’t understand renders us weak and helpless in the face of difficult and unexpected circumstances we can’t ourselves change. But we can turn to God. And we can trust that He is here with us and those we love and He will walk with us through every part. Many times God has had to tell me to be still. I reach that point of I can’t. He reminds me I’m standing looking down into an abyss of my own imaginings – and He is not in that abyss. He is right here with me and with you and with all of His children dearly loved through everything. So my prayer today has been to ask Him to help me see Him always. I need His redirection of my hopeless thoughts to His presence with me and those I love and those He loves. Do you? Don’t we all? We are in good company! The company of those who need God.