Compiled by: Georgeanne Falstrom, Intern
PARISH LAY MINISTRY ACADEMY
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Monday, March 27, 2006
(Daily Readings: Ps 89; Gen 49:1-49; 1Cor 10:14-11:1; Mark 7:24-37)


LIVER ON FRIDAY
By: Rhonda Fields

Scripture: 23"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. 24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
27If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. 28But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake[d]— 29the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? 30If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved...1 Cor. 10:23-33


When I was growing up, a rule came down at my house concerning Fridays. What normally should have been a very pleasant day, being the end of the school week and the beginning of the weekend, turned bitter and grim. Somewhere, somehow, someone decided that we would have liver and onions on Friday. The devil had come to roost at my house, and Fridays would never be the same again.
To add to this new grim reality, we had another rule. Under no circumstances were we ever to complain about what we were eating. It was a hanging offense. If you didn’t like what we were having, you took a little and hoped for better at the next meal. Unfortunately, this rule did not apply to liver. Everyone had to have some. And, if you didn’t eat it, you got an early bedtime and no desert.

So, with fork in hand and tears in my eyes, I tried to eat it. I smothered it in ketchup – yuck. I buried it in mashed potatoes – no good. I cut it up in tiny pieces – the stuff just wasn’t palatable. My efforts to make it so only served to irritate my parental units, who apparently felt it was in my best interest to eat it. How on earth could anything with a taste and a consistency like that possibly be good for me?

In light of this event, I wish I would have had this Corinthian text in my back pocket to pull out. Sure eating liver is permissible, but it’s not beneficial. These rules that were meant to strengthen my character, if not my body, drove a dividing wedge between me and the afore-mentioned parental unit (who will give me grief if I mention her name).

Do we as Lutherans have rules that divide us with each other and the rest of the world? In our attempt to do things the right way, do we leave people out? Do we sacrifice our good to seek the good of many? Though these are corporate questions, they require individual answers. Christ’s coming broke apart the ages of tradition that kept people out. As we reflect on his sacrifice, I suggest we do away with the liver and go straight to the desert. Invite your hungry friends and neighbors to the feast that knows no end, and never serves liver on Fridays.

Prayer: Loving Father, you have surrounded us with good things from the earth and given us the ability to enjoy them. Help us as we strive to bring others to your feast, and keep us from offending those who need your bounty most. We will sing of your love forever, and your mercy we will tell throughout the age, until we all come to your heavenly feast. Amen.