Gluttony, Sloth, And Anger Series

“Dirt”

Part 3 – Gluttony, Sloth, and Anger

I. Introduction

How did your homework go? Did you count your blessings? Did you build safeguards for lust?

We have been discussing the fact that we don’t like to have our dirt exposed. Now, I must admit that we don’t mind everyone else’s dirt being revealed. That is why an entire industry has been created to expose dirt . . . tabloids/celebrity magazines. 60 Million celebrity magazines are sold every week in the USA.

According to research out of the University of Ghent in Belgium, our brain cells light up in positive ways when we tune into tabloids. Gossip is an instant stimulator of endorphins. When the dirt gets dished, we’re happy campers. It makes us feel good, providing escape from our own stressful, hectic lives.

We love everyone else’s dirt and refuse to deal with our own. That is why Jesus tries to shake us back to reality when he harshly asks us in Matthew 7:3-4, “3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?”

We must deal with our dirt. Yes, other people have dirt, but our responsibility is our dirt. We have dealt with Pride, Greed, Lust and Envy. This morning I want us to conclude by talking about Gluttony, Sloth, and Anger.

II. Gluttony

American is a society built on excess. We are a nation of gluttons. I want to deal specifically with gluttony in relationship to food, but we are gluttons in every area.

Did you know that Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day - that’s roughly 200 billion more than needed - enough to feed 80 million people.

Americans throw out 200,000 tons of edible food daily.

The average individual daily consumption of water is 159 gallons, while more than half the world’s population lives on 25 gallons.

We over consume everything. Americans constitute 5% of the world’s population but consume 24% of the world’s energy. To put that in perspective 1 American consumes as much energy as 370 Ethiopians.

We are gluttons. Our more is better attitude causes us to go overboard.

That is why:

There are 100,000 alcohol deaths in America per year…but obesity related deaths are around 300,000

76% of pastors are either overweight or obese!

Gluttony is defined as “an inordinate desire to consume more than that which one requires.”

Scripture has as a glaring example of gluttony. It is the story of Esau found in Genesis 25. You will remember that Esau was extremely hungry. He was famished, but he wasn’t starving. I want to encourage you this morning to get rid of that statement. Are you really starving? We aren’t and neither was Esau and yet he throws away his birthright for a bowl of stew. Food in exchange for his future! No restraint! No sense of proportion! He gives it away for a measly bowl of stew.

That is gluttony in a nutshell. No restraint.

One man said that "gluttony exemplifies an absence of the restraint that dignifies the human condition."

One writer says there are 5 types of gluttony:

1. Being overly fussy about the quality of the food one eats, being satisfied with only the choicest brands, the choicest cuts of meat.

2. Obsessed or finicky about how the food is prepared, e.g., spending inordinate amounts of time and energy in cooking, or being overly distressed if something comes out slightly overcooked or undercooked or just a little bit off in the seasoning.

3. Consuming food in excess quantity; this overeating is what we usually have in mind when we speak of gluttony.

4. Eating at inappropriate times, e.g., right before mealtime (impeding one’s capacity to eat and/or enjoy the meal itself), or just snacking constantly all day long.

5. Eating too ravenously, wolfing one’s food, uncouth table manners due to over-intense involvement with the food.

I want to say some things quickly about gluttony.

1. It is usually the obvious sin. I felt like the Lord said to me regarding this sin that this is usually the easy one to spot. It is usually, but not always obvious. So we like to point or make condemning statements or judge. Yet, the other sins we have talked about are just as wrong, damaging, and in need of cleansing, but we can’t see them so easily so we either ignore them or overlook them. It is the whole speck/plank deal again. Is gluttony wrong? Yes. Does that give us the right to point? No!

2. Not all gluttons are obese or even overweight.

I have fallen to gluttony at times. Chocolate is a weakness. But the times I remember being a glutton is more connected with a particular restaurant in the south. I remember on several trips with One Voice when we would stop and eat a meal only to travel about a mile or two down the road and my weakness would appear. Bojangles! I have literally eaten a full meal and then stopped one mile later and eaten again because I love Country Ham, egg and cheese biscuits and cinnamon biscuits so much. That is gluttony. Not being able to handle portions.