Gentle Restoration

Pentecost 7

Year C

July 3, 2016

Text Galatians 6:1

Brothers, ( And Sisters ) if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

Gluttony certainly is not spoken highly of in the Bible. Proverbs 23:2 tells us that when we dine with a ruler we are to put a knife to our throat if we are given to gluttony. Proverbs 23.21 says that drunkards and gluttons become poor, the resulting drowsiness clothes then in rags. Proverbs 28:7 says that a companion of gluttons disgraces his father. Saint Paul in Titus 1:12 states that Cretans –People who live on the island of Crete – are liars, evil brutes and lazy gluttons. They are to be rebuked sharply so that they may be sound in the faith. Our Lord Jesus is negatively referred to as a glutton and a drunk in Matthew 11:19 and again in Luke 7:34. Deuteronomy 21:20 speaks ill of gluttony and drunkenness. In Philippians 3: Paul talks about those living as enemies of the cross – their god is their stomach.

The Church – prior to the reformation – attempted to give some sins more weight than others hence the thinking behind the Seven Deadly Sins. The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins is a grouping and classification of vices.

Behaviors or habits, such as gluttony are classified under this category if they directly give birth to other immoralities which are also contrary to the seven virtues. These sins are often thought to be abuses of one's natural faculties or passions. Gluttony is the over indulgence and over consumption of anything to the point of waste. The word is derived from the Latin Gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow.

It is particularly sinful if the desire and consumption of excess food causes it to be withheld from the needy. Gluttony is seen as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's impulses or interests above the well being and interests of others. During times of famine and war, or similar times when food is scarce, it is possible for one to indirectly kill his/her family through starvation just by eating too much or even too soon. The common table manner of beginning to eat at the same time may have had its origin in this this thinking.

Medieval church leaders, such as Thomas Aquinas, took a more expansive view of gluttony arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods. Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of five ways to commit gluttony.

Eating too expensively --- Laute

Eating too Daintily -----------Studiose

Eating too much ---------------Nimis

Eating too soon --------------Praepropere

Eating too eagerly ----------- Ardenter

Out of these, eating too eagerly is often considered the most serious. It is extreme attachment to the pleasure of mere eating, which can cause one to eat impulsively; absolutely and without qualification to live merely to eat and drink; lose attachment to health related , social. intellectual, and spiritual pleasures and lose proper judgment. A Biblical example is Esau selling his birthright for ordinary food of bread and pottage lentils. His punishment was that the unholy person – who for a morsel of meat sold his birthright,” found no place for repentance, though he sought it with tears.” (Gen 25:30)

Source on Gluttony, Aquinas, deadly sin, etc WIKIPEDIA

In my opinion Aquinas and associates were a little too much into the details. Just how fast am I allowed to eat a hot dog? According to Aquinas too fast is sinful and so is too slow. Do I get points for a Hebrew National hot dog and demerits for a foot long? This is the kind of legalistic debate the Pharisees seem to love.

Now that I have eaten my lunch early and fast, let me share my life as a glutton. Without splittings hairs I freely admit that I am a glutton. My first recollection of this is when I was five years old. I was forced, against my will, to have a tonsillectomy. I was given ice cream, to ease the discomfort, and positive reinforcement to eat as many soft foods as I wanted. Prior to this I had been a picky eater. The sugar high and parental and grad parental approval turned a theoretical metabolic receptor on and I rapidly switched from a picky eater into a full blown glutton. I assure you this is not just eating too much. This is eating with a vengeance. Not a few cookies but the whole box and then a second box. This is waking up at 3:00 AM and going to the all night store to buy and eat a pound of cheese. This is stopping for a Big Mac and eating it ten minutes before dinner. This is constant eating from after dinner to bedtime. This is like a swarm of locusts clearing a field when I go to a buffet. ---- However, I only went to Fire Mountain a few times and refuse to take the complete blame for their demise. –