Gluttony is what happens when we over-indulge in our God given appetite for food.

Transcription

1 Gluttony This is one of the sins that often goes unmentioned these days, for a variety of reasons modern Christians don t talk about it too much. but the Bible has much to say about food, and our relation to it. The earliest Christians were regularly writing about the sin of gluttony and its affects and its cures Modern secular writers and scholars and doctors are now pointing out the linkage between the way that we view food and the way we order our inner life, that to some degree our physical health is linked or attached to our mental health, and I think it is safe to say even our spiritual health. We should have a proper view of food. We eat it 3x a day, we live in Cork, which is called The food capitol of Ireland so we of all people ought to work towards a biblical view of food! Defined: The appetite is created to prompt us toward nutrition. God did not create human beings to eat on the basis of reason alone. The appetites are there to drive us toward what we need, whether its food or sleep or sex or something else. God could have called together a universe where you would regularly saying things like, my fat reserves are now alarmingly low, so I must eat food for sustenance or based on my calculations, my hydration levels are below the acceptable minimum, so let s drink or our marriage should be unified through sexual intercourse, and children are a blessing, so let s copulate. That s not how our bodies work, that s not how God made us, He made us with appetites and desires that point us towards something healthy. Our sexuality, our thirst and our hunger are God given drives that are to motivate us towards healthy expressions and satisfaction. But for every healthy source of satisfaction there are probably at least a thousand unhealthy ways to deal with those appetites. With our hunger, thirst or sexual drives we can either over-indulge or resist them in such a way that denies who we were made to be. Gluttony is what happens when we over-indulge in our God given appetite for food. Let me first say that the sin of gluttony is not just another way to describe the medical diagnosis of obesity. Gluttony is not the spiritual synonym for being overweight. Certainly the sin of gluttony often leads to obesity or being overweight but sometimes it doesn t. There are gluttons who are very skinny, and there are people who are overweight who are not necessarily gluttonous. (we ll talk about that more in a little bit) But that being said; of course there is a strong link between the cause (gluttony) and its usual effect (obesity). We need to pay attention to this: according to the World Health Organisation s 2015 report, Ireland is on its way to becoming Europe s most overweight country. Dr Laura Webber,said the study presented a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe, and Ireland is at the forefront. "Obesity is already driving a diabetes epidemic, a cancer epidemic, a heart disease epidemic that frankly within the health service we're currently not coping with. "If the WHO figures are even half correct, it's an unthinkable scenario, - Professor Donal O Shea The country that 160 years ago lived through An Gorta Mor is now on its way to being one of the fattest countries in the developed world.

2 what is gluttony: inordinate interest/obsession with food. it isn't necessarily how much you eat, but the control or the power that food has over you. The Bible is not food negative; Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God (1Cor. 10:31). This is very much connected to last Sunday s sermon on lust. The bible is not sex-negative ; it just give guidelines so that we do not elevate a natural appetite to the wrong order and cause destruction and dislocation of our would. Two proverbs lay out the biblical view of food, just like how proverbs 5 and 6 laid out a biblical view of sex. Proverbs 24:13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. (Proverbs 25:16, ESV) Proverbs 25:27 : It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory. it is the idolisation of food and drink. allowing what we eat to to play the role of God in our lives. It is a violation of the 1st Commandment to place no other gods before the LORD. removes food from its proper place in our lives and it gives it too much importance. Augustine: Virtuous people avail themselves of the things of this life with the moderation of a use, not the attachment of a lover. For the gluttonous person food isn t something that he or she uses, it is something that they love; inordinately. Described: Gen 25:29-34 : Esau trades a birthright for a bowl of stew. birthright: legal status - heir of all the family, he will control the affairs and the direction of the family. Esau is ready to trade this away for just a bowl of soup. He isn t really starving. there is no famine. there is no real danger, he is just being dramatic. his hunger is crowding out every other consideration. his appetite is usurping everything else. [ Hangry : when you are so hungry you are angry, well right now Esau is H-Desperate ] his failure was his inability to forgo immediate gratification and comfort in order to wait for the greater, but deferred blessing. this is how gluttony (and lust and nearly every other sin) works: we trade the best for the immediate. 1 Cor 6 combines gluttony and lust as those things that can master you. (6:12-13) Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. - Philippians 3:19 Food is good. Gluttony takes something that is good and spins it out of control. God, Paul tells us, gives "rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying [our] hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17).

3 Adam and Eve disobey God over food. Esau trades his birthright over food. Israelites in the wilderness want to go back because they miss the food. (Numbers 11) Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness with food. Paul tells the Corinthians that they were divided over the way that they eat. God gave food and drink, but sin messes them up. If we allow it to occupy the central place in our hearts it is going to cause disaster. You are never meant to be defined by your appetites. If gluttony is an inordinate interest in food, how does this play out? What forms does it take? Gregory the great 5th century. too daintily sumptuously hastily greedily obsessively. too delicately: everything has to be perfect. opinion about every restaurant. you are a food snob. hospitality is hard to accept from others because it isn t good enough. instead of being humble and grateful you are finicky and demanding. exerting control over others by what you insist on eating. Sumptuously : what kind of food you eat. you only want the pleasurable experience. you never eat for health, only for the taste. Hastily: shovelling food into your mouth. Greedily: excess over eating eating past the point of fullness just to indulge your taste. you overlook long term consequences in order to get the short term pleasure. you know you are going to feel sick later but you want to feel good now. (not a one time event but a pattern) obsessively: instead of eating to live you live to eat. if you go to a party you are more interested in what sort of food is going to be there instead of what people will be there. if the food is bad then the evening is destroyed. or if you define yourself by what you eat or don t eat. foodies are especially susceptible to this. we want to be known as the guy who only eats good food, or only drinks craft beer, or only drinks the finest of wine, only artisan coffee. or obsessed with losing weight, constantly counting calories. it is possible to be a skinny glutton. it is a matter of being obsessed with food, not packing on pounds. anorexia and bulimia are categorised as eating disorders just like how overeating is. what is the prognosis: what happens if we don t do anything? if you continue on a gluttonous path you will die. As I already quoted from professor Donal O Shea: Obesity is already driving a diabetes epidemic, a cancer epidemic, a heart disease epidemic But beyond that there is the spiritual danger of assigning anything other than God the unbearable weight of your soul. God alone is strong enough to deal with it. We want to break free of the prison of our appetites:

4 Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means fat. After a violent quarrel, Raynald s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald s size. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. But Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer: My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills. Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year a prisoner of his own appetite. Reynald Crassus was unable to put off the present temptation for the future benefit. he gave in to the moment day after day. he was a prisoner of his appetite - literally. and so was Esau, he couldn t forgo the immediate satisfaction for the future benefit. gluttony does damage to your body and damage to your soul. Esau as an exmaple. He knew that it was good to be the firstborn - the rights included with primogenitor He knows that birthrights are transferable - not common but real. He knows that Jacob can t be trusted - red flags should have come up for him. Something even bigger is at stake here - this is more than just the family farm and property up for grabs, God had made a promise to their grandfather Abraham that something significant and world changing was going to come through their family line. They would become a great nation and God would bless the whole world through them. Esau isn t just swapping some average inheritance, he is devaluing God s plan for his future. All of this he knows, but none of this matters in the moment. at that moment his god was his belly. What about us? the stakes don t seem as high for us as it is for Esau and for King Reynald Crassus. but food is important (we eat it 3x a day!) and the way we think and act about it is important. The bible and sociologists agree: your attititude toward food are an an indicator of your level of happiness for the rest of your life. when do you eat the most obsessively? when you are anxious, lonely, sad, scared, bored? Is food the place that you run when you are anxious - rather than God? what is that saying to you about where you believe relief is going to come? Subconsciously are you looking for something else to bring you rescue or comfort because you don t believe that God can? Do you eat to reward yourself? Do you eat to punish yourself? What role does food serve in your life. Food is good, but it is not God. Gluttony is turning food into a god.

5 Gluttony is looking to food to do the miraculous in our lives. comfort us, make us feel good. Jesus says come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. but instead we go to fish and chips, ice cream, beer, ramen, hummus etc. Denied: fasting and feasting Fasting: fasting is a helpful spiritual discipline, and the bible has much to say about it. it reminds us of our mortality and our weakness, our dependence on God. in Matthew 6 Jesus assumes that the Christian life will include times of fasting. however - the bible has much more to say about feasting than fasting. (10:1 ratio) there were 6 major feasts in the OT some of them stretched on for weeks, families were feasting together to celebrate milestones in their lives, NT feasts, Jesus first miracle was at a wedding feast, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven with a great banquet, revelation says that heaven is going to be like a wedding party filled with the finest of food and drink, Jesus went to so many parties that he was falsely accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. we need to fight gluttony by feasting well. It starts in the soul. remember what the sociologists say, our inner life / contemtment is often reflected in how we view food. if things aren t right inwardly, we will have unhealthy or abusive views towards food. overeating, under-eating, alcohol abuse etc Theologians agree: motivation for gluttony is the unconscious self image of emptiness. I must fill myself because i am empty, ghostlike and worthless. - Peter Kreeft Gluttony is trying to fill a spiritual vacuum with a physical remedy. It is like taking penicillin for a broken heart. Thereʼs nothing wrong with penicillin, but it doesnʼt do much for a restless soul, and too much of it can lead to all kinds of problems. (Graham Tomlin) The more your soul is full - the less you will try to fill a gap with food. If you have a self you are not out looking for a self. John 6:35 I am the bread of life, he who believes in me shall not hunger and he who comes to me shall never thirst Zoe not Bios - spiritual life inner life, true life. Jesus is the bread of Zoe. bread is to keep our body running but we are more than just a body. We need the life giving bread of life, Jesus. the battle against gluttony is choosing between feasting with God or stuffing our face with lesser things. (feasting well)

6 Feasting well: eating with thanks If it is a gift we can receive it well, become more appreciative praying before a meal can be an empty ritual, but it can also be a discipline that reminds us that we ought to be thankful to God for every meal that we have. Feasting well: eating with purpose. Food connects us with other people. how many good memories do you have that include food? family gatherings, dates, banter happen over a meal. eating with people reminds you that there are others out there that also have needs - not just you. The Lord s supper: A picture of the gospel, Jesus giving himself for us. We take it in by faith. Eucharist means thanksgiving. Communion is a time for us to take it together - look around you as you take communion, people you know, people you don t know but we are doing it together. Think about all the christians around the world that are taking communion this morning, perhaps on this time zone or perhaps earlier or later in the day. we are united together by Christ. all sinners saved by grace each with a different story but all welcomed by Jesus into his table. throughout a week you will eat 21 meals, allow this one to shape the next 20.