The Holy Great-Martyr Marina; Passing into Eternal Life (1944) of Blessed Tarsykia (Matskiv) of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate, Martyr
1 Corinthians 7:35-8:7; Matthew 15:29-31
Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read 1 Corinthians 7:35-8:7
Corinth was like the Las Vegas of the 1st-century Mediterranean world. Pick a sin, any sin and its there. Entering into this moral depravity is Paul who ends up giving really specific instructions about all sorts of matters. We see his very specific teaching on marriage as well as idol worship. Paul is using all of his brainpower here, working through difficult problems, noted by pauses like “I think,” or “I believe,” or “I have the spirit of God” in explaining this matter. Notice his insistence on staying together in mixed marriages between Christians and pagans, for the sake of sanctifying the unbelieving spouse. This 1st-century advice is certainly pertinent for our 21st-century problems, as mixed marriages are more the norm than the exception. The reminder of marriage as sanctification of the other gets us out of ourselves. It reminds us that it’s not what we “get out” of marriage, but what we “put in.” Furthermore, what are we to make of the defilement that comes with eating food sacrificed to idols? Paul clearly states that these God’s are fake, yet the defilement comes with those who are not in full knowledge. What Paul means is the level of scrutiny should be high regarding what we put in our bodies and minds. For example, how often do we google the answers without checking the source or read the news without seeing past through the biases? If we accept their words without critical analytics, we mindlessly eat their food and regurgitate it as our own thoughts. Pretty soon, we are living according to bad conclusions and bad thoughts.
The truth is sin makes everything very complicated. How grateful we are for an apostle to help us sort through our messes with the wisdom and discernment of an intimate follower of the Lord.