The Deadly Sin of Gluttony
--Proverbs 23:1-3, 20-21; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; I Corinthians 6:15-20; John 4:27-34
A column entitled “Lite Fare” that appeared in The Christian Reader shares this story by Sherrie Murphree of Odessa, Texas: “My husband has an almost boundless appetite for ice cream, and it was obvious at a Sunday school party where he helped himself to a good sample of every flavor available. Later during a game time, he was asked: ‘If you could choose any famous couple to be your parents, who would they be?’ His answer came without hesitation: ‘Baskin and Robbins!’”
“Someone asked a pastor who had a rather sizeable pulpit blister, how he got that fat. He said, ‘I don’t know, it just snacked up on me.’” That pastor was not me, but it well could have been. For my birthday this past week Liz brought out all the old pictures including my fourth and fifth grade ones. Both clearly reveal that I was overweight; therefore, I got out all the old report cards. At the close of my fourth grade year in 1958 I weighed 102 pounds. One year later I had ballooned up to 116. Now that’s way too much weight for a fourth or fifth grade boy to carry.
Our second appointment at Alton Grace United Methodist Church had two potluck suppers per month. I remember one layman made this comment after we had attended for a couple of months, “Boy, preacher, you certain can put away the food.” That was back in 1978, the year I also started logging my runs and entering races, and it became the first time I became motivated to loose weight. Beginning at that point in my life I have lost and regained my weight a minimum of five times.
Although I lost a modest amount of weight when we first came to Trinity in 2005, I have not been able to return the comfortable, ideal 163-170 range and 34 inch waist I reached in previous attempts. After my fractured fibula one year ago I topped off at the most I have ever weighed in my life. At the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 I tipped the scales at 228 pounds. On February 4th I joined “The Biggest Looser” at the YMCA and in the first two weeks lost 8.5 pounds. Tomorrow will be my third time to “weigh in.”
I poured out my heart to you in my last message by openly sharing my pilgrimage with Jesus and confessing that my besetting sin has always been envy, but “The Deadly Sin of Gluttony” is not far behind. Believe it or not, I was a picky eater until I had my tonsillectomy at age seven. Mom was the typical Mother in the fifties, as she kept insisting that I must “clean up my plate,” but I never would. However, once the tonsils came out, the appetite became ravenous.
Other than brussel sprouts and asparagus, there is no food that I dislike, and now I can even tolerate a few brussel sprouts. I have a sweet tooth that is usually “out of control,” especially for anything chocolate. I like our contemporary gas stations, for they are all Convenient Stores. When I purchase gas, most always I also buy a “Giant Snicker” candy bar and sometimes a package of Hostess cupcakes too. I’ve come to prefer the new “Almond” Snickers, and I keep telling Liz, “Don’t worry, they are almonds, and almonds are healthy food.”
Gluttony is a continuous temptation and battle for me. Since that tonsillectomy almost 53 years ago, I have been a voracious eater. I’ve always craved seconds—and even thirds, and at funeral dinners or church potlucks I usually fill up a dessert plate. Gluttony is not only a personal problem, temptation, and sin for me but for my dog and cat as well.
Anyone who is a glutton habitually eats and drinks too much. Therefore, Scripture often links gluttony with drunkenness. A glutton is “an excessively greedy eater.” He or she devours large quantities of food. My problem over the past several years is that I have not been disciplined in both my exercise program and my eating habits at the same time. The two are different sides of the same coin and must work in cooperation with one another to maintain an ideal weight and healthy lifestyle. I’ve often heard the question asked, “Do you eat to live, or do you live to eat?” Most of my life I have been “a glutton who lives to eat.” Gluttony is a deadly sin as is anything that is done in excess. As Christians we so often point the finger at those who excessively consume alcohol or tobacco products but remain spiritually blind when it comes to the sin of gluttony. It’s so easy to judge the sins of others while ignoring our own that are equally as wrong.
Our text from Proverbs 23 is very clear. We are told that when we eat with a ruler we must “note well what is put before us, and put a knife to our throat if we are given to gluttony.” I doubt that many of us will ever dine at the White House or Buckingham Palace, but we need to practice these manners at every meal. Remember the imagery here is symbolic. Solomon does not intend for us to “slit our throats,” only that we “push back from the table.”
The warning in Proverbs 23 continues. We must not “crave the ruler’s delicacies, for that food is deceptive.” Those delicacies may cover a lot of territory, but for me it brings conviction when it comes to over indulgence in junk food, fast foods, and sweets. Gluttons are not only excessive eaters; they are also debased by their eating habits. When anything is debased its value, quality, character, or dignity is lowered.
Gluttony devalues or lowers our quality of life. Obesity is a health hazard and a risk factor for such serious health issues as Type II Diabetes; high blood pressure; unhealthy cholesterol levels; heart disease; stroke; colorectal, breast, and uterine cancer; gallstones; infertility; joint problems; and back pain. Just this morning (02/24/08) on the 6:00 a. m. ABC Chicago news broadcast I learned that each year in the U. S. obesity causes 300,000 deaths. Emotionally and psychologically gluttony can lead to depression and low self-esteem.
We must remember two points. First, our “bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us.” Paul concludes our Epistle lesson from I Corinthians 6 this morning with the commandment: “Therefore, honour God with your body.” I realize that the context of this passage deals with the problem and sin of prostitution. Both male and female prostitution were rampant in Corinth, but prostitution is not limited to sexual activity.
We prostitute ourselves in many ways. We commit idolatry by prostituting ourselves to other gods other than the Holy Trinity as Scripture often makes clear. This is especially true in the Biblical accounts of the relationship between God and Israel and Judah in the Old Testament. When anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ becomes our number one priority and Lord of our lives, we are guilty of spiritual prostitution.
I’ve never patronized a brothel, been a prostitute’s “John,” or hired a call girl, but I have prostituted myself to food. I have habitually lived an unhealthy life style that has been evident in my debased and excessive eating habits. I am addicted to food. “My name is David Reynolds, and I am a “foodaholic.” Alcoholics overindulge in drinking intoxicating beverages.
Drug addicts are hooked on such drugs as nicotine, barbiturates, heroine, anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, methamphetamines, marijuana, uppers, downers, Vicadin, Darvon, Valium, or Xanax; but my addiction to eating is just as deadly a sin for me as if I were addicted to alcohol or any other drug; by continuing down that pathway, I could easily die prematurely. Most importantly of all, as a glutton, I have “not honored God with my body.”
Here is the second point we must remember. By indulging in gluttony, I do not allow the Holy Spirit to develop the spiritual fruit of self-control in my life. Self-control is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit. Self-control and gluttony are ferocious opponents. Gluttony attacks our willpower, determination, and self-control.
My brothers and sisters, true self-control does not stem from self or ego. It is not based on my personal strength, determination, and power; it is grounded in the Holy Spirit. He is the one who produces self-control as spiritual fruit in me.
In developing the fruit of self-control in us, the Holy Spirit wants to mold us to be like Jesus when it comes to healthy eating. Hide our Gospel lesson from John 4 in your hearts. When the disciples returned from Sychar where Jesus had ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well, they urged Him to eat. Although Jesus knew what it was like to experience hunger and not only ate during His earthly life but often participated in banquet feasts, His response to the disciples was, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about. . . . My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work.”
While wholesome meals are important, our most vital nourishment comes from the Holy Spirit. Time and again in this series we keep returning to Galatians 5:16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Adam and Eve committed the original sin in the Garden of Eden by overindulging in eating the forbidden fruit. Eve saw that “The fruit of the tree: (1.) Was good for food; (2.) Pleasing to the eye; and (3.) Also desirable for gaining wisdom.” They had plenty to eat. Excessive eating led them and us into deep trouble.
As with all the other deadly sins, the key to overcoming gluttony is to depend on the Holy Spirit. Moderation is always the key. Live by His power. Yield your physical appetite to Him and allow Him to develop self-control in you. Above all else, let Him feed your soul. That is the food that truly satisfies for eternity.
By the way, the Holy Spirit is my source of strength and power in conquering my deadly sin of gluttony. Even before joining the YMCA’S “BIGGEST LOOSER” program on February 4th, I finally, seriously turned this temptation, problem, and deadly sin over to Him, and He began recreating my self-control. Although I did eat birthday cake and ice cream this past week, it was not in excess, and by His grace I continued my weight loss.
“PRAISE THE LORD, AND THANK YOU, JESUS.” My desire is to “keep living by the Spirit and not gratifying the desire of the flesh by being a glutton.” How about you? Will you surrender your appetites to Him and live not in your own strength and but by His divine grace and power?
