Virus – Hidden Infections of the Spiritual Life
Gluttony
Funny: A hiker was charged w/ eating an endangered species while tracking the woods of California. After hearing the man had eaten a condor, the judge quickly passed a harsh sentence of 10 years behind bars. The man pleaded w/ the judge to hear his side of the story b/c he felt circumstances justified his actions. The judge was interested to hear how anyone could rationalize killing a protected bird so he allowed the man to speak. The hiker explained how he had been lost in the wilderness for (3) days and nights w/out any food or water. He then spotted the bird sitting on a rock. W/ the little strength he had left, he threw a rock and killed the bird. After eating the condor he walked another (3) days w/out food or water before being rescued. He said, "Your honor, had I not eaten that bird, I wouldn’t be here today." The judge was moved by the story and suspended the hiker’s sentence. As they left the courtroom the judge asked the man what a condor tastes like. The man thought for a moment and said, "It’s kind of a cross b/w a bald eagle and a spotted owl." (Exec. Speechwriter, V. 8.4)
Intro: I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving? Mine could’ve been better, Ga. Tech lost to Georgia and b/c I knew I was going to talk about gluttony this AM, it forced me stop and think twice before going back for 2nd. I must confess there were a few times when I was having to choose b/w the pecan and pumpkin pie that I strongly considered doing additional research on the actual effects of gluttony.
Insert: As we begin this AM, I want to start w/ a clip from the Andy Griffith Show. Andy and Barney have found themselves in a pickle. Aunt Bee has worked to make them some homemade pickles that don’t taste good. Barney calls them kerosene cucumbers. To get around not eating them, Andy and Barn switched Bee’s pickles for some store bought pickles. And this is where the fun begins, b/c once Aunt Bee tastes the pickles she thinks she has made, she decides to enter them in the pickle contest at the county fair. Knowing they couldn’t let Aunt Bee enter the store bought pickles, Andy and Barney put operation pickle into action. Show Clip: Andy and the Pickles
Insert: Gluttons, gluttons, gluttons! I few weeks ago I joked about sharing this message on the Sunday after Thanksgiving to insure that the altars would be full at the end of the service, but the truth is, gluttony is no laughing matter. Yet of the seven deadly viruses, it is the one taken least serious. 60% of all professing Christians are overweight and out of shape b/c they are mastered by their appetites. They can’t say know to the buffet at the church potluck.
Note: Overeating is clearly a problem in our society. Did you know that 40% of all people say their greatest fear is becoming fat and overweight? It’s not that hard to imagine when you consider that the avg. person will spend some 20,000 hours feeding their face from the ages 20 to 50.
Trans: But the Bible says it is better to cut your throat than to be a glutton?
Verse: When you sit down to dine w/ a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. Pr. 23:1-3
Trans: That is a very harsh statement on the issue of gluttony. It is better to kill yourself quickly than to stuff yourself to slow death.
Note: When we think of gluttony we think of overeating, but there’s more to gluttony than just overeating and over-drinking. Gluttony is an appetite out of control.
Word: given to gluttony literally means, “to be mastered by your appetites.”
Note: Gluttony is everywhere. It’s an international sport – the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Where gorging on food is celebrated.
Insert: Chili – Richard LeFeavor ate 1 ½ gallons of chili in 10 min.
Donuts – 49 glazed in 8 min. by Eric Booker a retired cop.
Eggs – 38 hardboiled eggs in 10 min. (Booker)
Oysters – 168 in 10 min.
Cow brains – Takaroo Kabotsi – 57 in 15 min. (Tak. is 5’7” and 130 lbs.)
Hot Dogs – He set the record at 50 ½ dogs w/ buns in 15 min. (see quote)
Note: I want to be clear about something – gluttony isn’t a matter of your waistline. Remember Takaroo – 5’7”, 130lbs. We have a human tendency to equate overweight w/ gluttony. But our size and weight may have nothing to do w/ it. For some it’s a matter of genetics. But to confuse genetics w/ gluttony would be superficial. For others it’s a matter of injury or health. Gluttony is a lack of control towards our appetites. From a biblical perspective, gluttony has to do w/ over-indulgence. Yet for most, it’s a matter of over-indulging and being lethargic. If this is the category you fit into, then I hope you’ll be motivated to do something about it.
Verse: Know that your body is the temple of God, who is in you, and you have been bought w/ a price, therefore glorify God w/ your mortal body. 1 Cr. 6:19f
Insert: But I want to be clear, gluttony isn’t observed solely by bulging midriffs, high blood pressures, poisoned livers, and bad breath. It can also be traced in the fanatical modern devotion to dieting, health foods, and drug taking. In a society in which cookbooks outsell the Bible 10 to 1, food and dieting has become a god that rules the masses w/ an iron spatula.
Trans: I know this can be difficult b/c it is so much easier to be a couch potato stuffing your face watching T.V. than it is to get out and exercise and eat healthy. Let’s face it, some foods are almost too irresistible – it is as if they call to you in the middle of the night.
Funny: Man who find a genie bottle and is granted 3 wishes – he wishes for a billion $ in a Swiss bank account, a Ferrari, and to be irresistible to women – and genie confirms his 3rd wish and turns him into a box of chocolates.
Verse: Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me – but I will not be mastered by anything. Food for the stomach and the stomach for food – but God will destroy them both. 1 Cr. 6:12f
I The ROOT of Gluttony
Note: What is gluttony? Gluttony is being mastered by your appetites. And while it most specifically pertains to food and drink, it can include any natural desire or need taken beyond healthy boundaries.
Note: Gluttony has a lot in common w/ lust in that both of them are natural, legitimate God-given appetites but somewhere along the way they wander beyond healthy boundaries and people who are indulging in them outside of God’s prescription find themselves out of control and out of bounds.
Trans: The sacry part is that Paul equates gluttony w/ paganism and worldliness.
Verse: For, as I have often told you before and now say again even w/ tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction and their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven. Ph. 3:18-20a
Word: their god is their stomach – people who live for food to fill there bellies. Paul’s point is that only the worldly and unsaved man lives for his human appetites. He longs to fill his stomach until the next meal comes along. But those whose citizenship is in heaven – who have been saved – it is not about attempting to quench our fleshly appetites that matters, but honoring God.
A INSATIABLE
Note: The problem w/ the glutton is that they can never be satisfied or filled. They have an insatiable appetite they seek to fill w/ the things of this world.
Insert: “If there are 7 deadly sins, then here’s 8, 9, and 10.” Denny’s Restaurant
Insert: That is why when you go out for dinner they wheel around that cart of waxed desserts – they are tempting your taste buds b/c they know how insatiable the appetite is for sweets.
B INDULGENT
Note: Gluttony from a biblical perspective has to do w/ self-indulgence – it is taking into your body more than your body needs. I crave so I cave.
Insert: It says, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
Note: God gave us our appetites and He intended for us to enjoy food, but gluttony is over-doing it and over-indulging.
C INTOXICATING
Note: Over-indulging isn’t just something we do, it is something we think about, dream about, and long for. Many people are so addicted to food that they have specific cravings and an inability to say no. As a result their appetites control them, consume them, and will eventually condemn them.
Note: For some people, they are so consumed w/ gratifying their appetites that they can hardly think straight.
Funny: The teacher knew there was a shortfall in intelligence after she asked the class to name the (4) major food groups. Suzie, shot up her hand and quickly reeled them off, "Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Pizza Hut." (Houston Post)
II The REALITY of Gluttony
Verse: Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path. Do not join those who drink too much wine or who gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. Pr. 23:21
Note: The Bible views the heavy drinker in the same light as the heavy eater. In our traditional Christian thinking we separate drinking and drunkenness from overeating, but God doesn’t. He says that they are both wrong.
Note: Gluttony is putting the things of this world before the things of God.
A Gluttony is PERFIDY against your God
Note: Perfidy is to be disloyal and treacherous. It’s to be unfaithful against what you know to be true and have committed your self to.
Note: The Bible says only a fool goes against what they know is right and good, and to venture down a path contrary to God’s best is ignorant and foolish.
B Gluttony is POVERTY to your life
Note: Gluttony will cause you to become lazy b/c you’re too tired to get up and get to work – you eat past capacity and then need to go and find a place to sleep.
Note: Drowsiness is the result of overeating and drinking – it robs us of energy and robs us of completing our work.
Insert: Think about it. What is the first thing you want to do after a big meal – rest! Too much to eat or drink makes you lethargic and incapacitated.
C Gluttony is POISON to your body
Note: Gluttony will have a dramatic effect upon your health. You will bring harm to your body which will eventually catch up to you.
Insert: America is the fattest nation in the world w/ 3 in 4 Americans considered overweight. 75% of us are overweight and out of shape. Diabetes has become the fastest growing disease in America. Some 1 million people will succumb to food related diseases to the heart and blood vessels this year.
Note: According to the American Cancer Association a person who is overweight is just as likely to have cancer as a person who smokes.
Note: Gluttony will bankrupt your body and bring poverty to your life.
III The REMEDY of Gluttony (Learn to EAT properly)
E ENJOY your Blessings
Note: Most of us will not have a problem w/ this one.
Note: First, we need a proper understanding of food and drink. Food and drink are viewed as a gift from God and an indication of God’s blessing. They are meant not only for our nourishment but also for our enjoyment. Thus, we must learn to eat healthy and proportionately and to enjoy every morsel.
Note: Food is nothing more than fuel for the body. What you put into your body will determine how efficiently your body will function.
A ACCOUNT to Others
Note: Here is a simple fact. Most people need the support of others if they are going to control their appetites. We need to have a few people who challenge us in the area of food and drink.
Note: We need a Designated Hitter – someone who will smack us when we get out of line and allow our appetites to master us. We need someone who will get us from the table to the workout room and will review our actions and attitudes concerning our appetites.
Note: Why do you think Weight Watchers and L.A. Diet are so successful – b/c they build in accountability through w/ the weigh and pay plan.
T TRAIN your Body
Note: Training is an issue of personal discipline and determination. Will I beat my body to make it do what I know it should do, or will I live under the influence of my desires seeking only to address the addiction of the moment as it arises? Will I have a right attitude towards food and drink?
Key: Desire to be mastered by God and not by the god of food.
Note: We need a different attitude from the one that says, “I’ve got to get skinny to fit in my bikini so the guys can see me.
Insert: This is where the concept of fasting arises. Fasting is refraining from food for the purpose of disciplining your body to trust in the Lord to be your provision. It is how a Christian disciplines his addiction to food.
Verse: Everything is permissible for me – but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me – but I will not be mastered by anything.
Verse: Have nothing to do w/ godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather train yourself to be godly. Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Tm. 4:7
Note: Ultimately, even w/ the best accountability, controlling one’s appetites and exercising are a matter of personal discipline. So much so, that God clarifies that taming the desires of the flesh, including gluttony, is essential for godliness.
Concl: Gluttony – like the other (6) viruses comes down to an issue of trust. Will I trust God to be my provision and will I follow the principles established in His word. Will I hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God.
Story: Before refrigerators icehouses were used to preserve foods. These icehouses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. Large blocks of ice were obtained during the winter and covered w/ sawdust to prevent melting allowing the ice to last well into summer. One day a man lost his watch while working in the icehouse. He and his fellow workers searched for the piece but never found it. A boy heard of the problem and slipped into the icehouse. He soon emerged from the cold w/ the man’s watch. Amazed, they asked the boy how he found it. He said, "I closed the door, lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking." From the cool darkness of this dated icehouse comes the timeless reminder of Ps. 46:10. "Be still and know that I am God." (The Christian Reader, Nov/Dec 1992)
