Spirit-Filled -1- Rev. Joan Pell Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 8/16/15 Series: Building Community Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20

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1 Rev. Joan Pell Sierra Pines United Methodist Church Sermon: 8/16/15 Series: Building Community Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-20 Spirit-Filled <Ephesians 5:15-20 NRSV> Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the passage from Ephesians, Paul continued with his moral exhortation to the Ephesians: Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns. I was jesting with some Finance Committee members on Thursday that I was going to be preaching today on the evils of drinking! Before any of you start squirming in your seats, that s not where I am going, but before I move off of the topic I am going to talk for a while about the Methodist position on alcohol. I get questions on this frequently. Drinking was a huge problem in 18 th Century England. Men drank excessively often leaving no money to feed their families. Our founder, John Wesley, was strongly against drinking. John s brother Charles was known for taking the pub tunes of the day and setting Christian words to them many are still in our hymnal. As early as 1743, the Methodist General Rules had a statement added that forbid the buying and drinking of spirituous liquors except in cases of extreme necessity. Following in John Wesley s footsteps, Methodists were actively involved in the temperance movement. In the early 20 th Century, Methodist ministers had to pledge abstinence and encourage their congregations to do the same. It took until 1950/60 s for the stance to soften. Our current position is to allow judicious use with deliberate and intentional restraint with scripture as a guide. 1 As a pastor, I am asked to not do anything that would seriously embarrass me, the church, or God. For some pastors, that means not drinking at all. For others, they drink in moderation. For me personally, I am conscious that I am on pastoral call 24/7 so I do 1 Clayton McCleskey, Methodists: Drinking still a touchy topic in Christian Century (March 2011)

2 have an occasional drink, but I usually limit it to one, so that I can still drive (and if I didn t think enough time has passed, I would call a cab). UM Churches use unfermented grape juice for Communion. This is an expression of pastoral concern for recovering alcoholics, enables the participation of children and youth, and supports the church's witness of abstinence. Did you know that Welches Grape Juice was started by a Methodist? Thomas Welch, a Methodist layperson and a communion steward, had scruples about the use of wine for communion and had heard of Louis Pasteur's process of pasteurization of milk. Welch was successful in applying the process to grape juice, and he began to use it in his church. His son, Dr. Charles Welch, was an enterprising Methodist layman (a dentist, like his father) from southern New Jersey. He marketed the pasteurized grape juice to temperance-minded evangelical Protestants as authentic biblical "wine." As word spread and as the temperance movement grew among evangelical Protestant churches, Welch left dentistry and produced Welch's Grape Juice commercially. 2 UM church buildings are also required by our rules to be alcohol free. Those two things (grape juice for communion, and no drinks in UM buildings) are well known in the 12-step communities in Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Al Anon. Methodist worship and events on their premises are safe places to attend for recovering alcoholics and their families. If that is you, then welcome! and we are glad you are here. The problem as we all know is that alcohol is addictive and some people are more disposed than others to becoming addicted. Addiction leads to brokenness, instead of a whole and abundant life, both for the addict and their family. As UM we believe that all individuals are of infinite human worth, that addiction is an illness and all are deserving of treatment, rehabilitation and ongoing life-changing recovery. God s grace and love is there for all of us. With our Methodist temperance history, many Methodist churches support Alcoholic Anonymous groups we have AA meetings here 5 days a week. If you have a family member in need of help, then you can find support at Al-Anon, and that meets here on a Thursday evening. If you need help with any type of addiction, I strongly recommend these 12-step programs. There is also AlaTeen, Narcotics Anonymous, along with OverEaters Anonymous and Sex Adicts Anonymous, which we do not hold here, but they are all available within a 20-mile radius of here. 2

3 That s enough! Let s get back to Paul s words! Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns. When we read this passage, we usually associate it with all the negative effects of drinking comparing those to the positive effects of being Christians filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with drink, it can impair judgment, lead to violent, belligerent, or lecherous behavior. Paul says it leads to debauchery, which the dictionary defines as corruption or indulging excessively in sensual pleasures. We also know drinking can be an escape to forget something, to numb ourselves, to feel better, because we are broken or sad. In contrast, when we are filled with the HS, we feel God s presence and love lifting our souls. Paul is saying, be wise in your choices, keep a clear head. But perhaps Paul is also making a statement about what Christians can learn from those who are drunk. Because the other mark of drunkenness is that pleasurable state that makes people happy and joyful. Because sometimes drinking is a social lubricant and it leads to relaxation, an uninhibitedness, and joy and laughter. There are times when as Christians these are traits that we do not display. Christians are often stereotyped as stiff, starchy, miserly, and life-less. How often have you seen Christians singing during worship stoically holding a hymnal (or staring at the screen, hands by sides) with faces devoid of emotion, and bodies as stiff as boards? Perhaps Paul is saying, don t get drunk on drink, but do get drunk on the Holy Spirit. Get high on the Spirit! We don t need alcohol to get us singing. Being full of the spirit can have the same result: a spirit of joy, of celebration, of creativity. So, says Paul, sing your songs! You know what? He s right! There s something special about a group of people singing together with gusto. Personally I find it hard to stand still (or sit) when I am singing. I want to move to the music. I was lucky enough to go to Africa (Uganda / Rwanda) in Jan 2008 on a seminary immersion trip. There we met Africans living in great poverty. They would greet us as we arrived with singing, and rhythm instruments, shrieks, dancing. Then we d get to worship with them. My movement to music was so tame compared to their uninhibited movements and joy. They d jump up and down, high in the air. They were so fit. I got breathless after one verse. But there was so much joy in the room. And no drink! They put their soul and body into their singing. Most of the people we met were living in darkness: slums, refugees in IDP camps, former child-soldiers, AIDS, orphans from genocide & from AIDs. Yet they had such faith, such hope. And they sang it. -3-

4 I remember after the earthquake in Haiti, seeing videos and pictures of people in the rubble in the streets singing praises to God. And the commentators wondering why they were singing praises. I think the Haitians understood Paul s call to give thanks in all situations. Sing Psalms and Hymns, he said. Well the Psalms were not all happy. There s lament Psalms that cry out to God too, but they also express a faithfulness, a hope that things will come out right in the end. That is what our African and Haitian neighbors can teach us. That to sing out loud in the darkness as well as the light is to express HOPE. And as we raise our voices in COMMUNITY together we draw strength from one another and focus our center, our lives on the One who matters. I know my soul is always lifted by music. But I especially find it so when I sing the great hymns of faith, both old and modern. As I sing them, the words make their way deep inside my soul. Even if I am feeling down, and am in a dark place, if I have no hope, as I start to sing and join my voice to yours by the end my soul is touched and I am filled with the Spirit and with hope. It is said that Methodists sing their faith. Our hymnal has in it on all sorts of subjects: God, Jesus, HS, Trinity, Grace Praise and Thanksgiving, Church and its mission, Sacraments of baptism, communion, Closing, Death, Eternal Life, Reign of God. We sing about the things we believe and as we do so, they seep into our very being. I find it so uplifting and joy-filled, spirit-filled when a group / a community of Christians singing, fills and metaphorically lifts the roof off a building with the sound of their singing. Then I feel like we are all interconnected as one body. And yet I know that the person next to me might not totally share my theology or that we quarreled with each other or that we disagree over things. Yet as we sing, as we lift our voices together, somehow, for a moment at least, these differences are put aside, and we are filled with the joy and hope of the spirit. When we sing, we get a taste of heaven. And the whole of creation sings with us too. So let s give thanks in all things. Let s raise our voices in harmony with each other, together in community. Let s be spirit-filled! Amen. Let us pray. Creator God, We are in awe as we consider the universe that you have made and life in all its abundant forms. Some of us like to drink; help us not to use alcohol to avoid life, and drown our sorrows; instead let us turn to you in the good times and the bad, in the knowledge that you are our strength and hope. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, breathe your energy into us, and help us to express our full emotions to you and to each other. Join our voices together in unity overcoming our differences as we bring our praises to you. AMEN. -4-

5 Resources Nettleton, Nathan, Drunk and Disorderly for Jesus: A reflection on Ephesians 5:15-20 (LaughingBird.net, August 20, 2000). Verhey, Allen & Joseph S. Harvard. Ephesians: Belief, a Theological Commentary on the Bible. Louisville, Westminster John Knox Press,