While dining with a ruler, pay
attention to what is put before you. If
you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat; don’t desire all the
delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you. Proverbs 23:1-3 (NLT)
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever
you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)
This morning
we are looking at the next-to-last subject in a series of Lenten sermons on the
Seven
Deadly Sins. Of course we saved
the most delicious for last…controlling the demon of gluttony.
As a
teenager I recall (faintly) that the preacher had cautioned that there were
many forbidden fruit in life...illicit sex, booze, smoking and cussing. As an adult I've been warned to be honest in
business, not to cheat on the IRS. And now....THIS!
I have a
confession for you now...I have procrastinated preaching this sermon for the
reason that if God truly had anything to say about over-indulging, and I stood
up here and told you what He's told us, then I'd have to do something more than
just TALK.
So I serve
warning this day....If I have to suffer over this gluttony thing by going on a
("D-word".....d-i-e-t), I'm gonna get mean and judgmental about just
about everything else in life. There,
you've been forewarned.
My
sentiments about reduced caloric intake are roughly that of the unknown poet:
Lord, grant me the strength that
I may not fall,
Into the clutches of
cholesterol.
At
polyunsaturates, I'll never mutter
For the road
to hell is paved with butter.
And cake is cursed and cream is
awful,
And Satan is hiding in every
waffle
Beelzebub is
a chocolate drop,
And Lucifer
is a lollipop.
Teach me the evils of
hollandaise,
Of pasta and gobs of mayonnaise.
And crisp
fried chicken from the South --
Lord, if you love me, shut my mouth."
Grandma
Brownworth had a saying (for about everything); she would say: Enough is too much. Unfortunately my grandmother never met
Garfield. Garfield and John are watching
television...the cat is shouting "Go! Go!
Go!" John says: "Garfield that monster shark just ate
Tokyo. Why are you cheering for
it?" With a sly smile Garfield
answers: "Anything that eats
everything can't be all bad."
God has much
to say about gluttony, and the principles that we can glean from His Word are
more than just profitable at the dinner table; these principles spill-over into
many other areas of living.
From our
text we can see there is gluttony, greed of the soul and spirit, as well as a
craving for physical food. How do you
conquer the cravings? Especially when
there is a leftover chocolate éclair calling to you from the refrigerator at
2am?
How do you
conquer the other cravings, the ones that call you from a life of pleasing and
knowing God, and serving Him? Let me
share with you what the Master says about the NEEDS we have in
conquering all kinds of gluttony.
First we need:
ATTENTION OF MIND FOR THE SAKE OF WISDOM
To "pay
attention" (in verse 1) is to understand it by knowing what consequences
will come about as result of some activity or choice. We have to pay attention to the problem of
gluttony because the stakes are high.
Just ask the
prophet Daniel. He bet his life on
it! If you recall the king had captured
God's people, and Daniel was taken into captivity like the rest. The king ordered him to eat what he provided,
a rich, sumptuous fattening daily feast, fit for kings. Daniel said, Nope, vegetables, some herbs and
water, please.
At the end
of 10 days Daniel looked better on his diet than the king's men. But notice it says in that passage (Dan 1)
that Daniel determined in his heart that he wouldn't defile himself with the
king's food.
This leads
us to several questions:
What is the purpose of food?
Keeping the
body strong, you say! If that is so, why
do we pay such close attention to advertising that lies? Every bit of advertising you see these days
tells you that you'll feel better, smell and look better, and be better if you
indulge just a little more...a little bigger, a little farther.
The purpose
of food is to strengthen us, yet 90% of what is sold at the grocery these days
is bad for us.
Another
question:
What is the purpose of the body?
According to
Paul, the purpose of this earthen vessel is to house the treasure of God's
Spirit.
The third
question on my mind is:
What in the world does any of
that have to do with the gospel?
Simple
question, right? I believe so!
Here’s the logic: The outward things we do manifest the inward
things we are. Jesus told the
unbelieving religious leaders of His day not to worry about what went into a
man. That simply goes through the bodily
functions, and is selectively eliminated.
It’s what comes out of a man that tells you what kind of man is living
inside the earthen vessel.
Modern
translation: What you do speaks so loud,
I can't hear what you say you do.
What
gluttony has to do with the gospel is relative to our witness for Jesus
Christ. Our attitude toward every material
thing gives away our true condition in Christ.
Remember, His admonition....unless we are ready to deny self, take up
the cross and follow, we CANNOT be His disciple.
You recall
the story of how they catch monkeys in Africa?
They make a hole in a tree just big enough for the monkey to squeeze his
paw inside to grab the food. But when
his hand closes on the bait, the paw then is too big to get it back out! As long as he holds tightly to the bait his
paw enlarges; he'll be bound to the tree, an easy prey for the hunter.
We need
attention of mind to see the wisdom that food is one more way that selfishness
can hinder our walk. We also need....
APPREHENSION OF DESIRE FOR THE SAKE OF TRUTH
In verses
2-3 of our text the writer tells us what to do if we have a runaway
appetite….put A Knife to the Throat. When the Proverb writer says
"throat", the word means "gullet" (Latin:
"luxury"). The bottom line
here is...If what pleases your senses overcomes your good sense; it makes sense
to declare war on the senses. "Hold
a knife to your love of appetite."
Allow me to
do that…the Sword of God's Word makes a lovely knife. It teaches us important truths about
gluttony:
Gluttony brings natural judgments
Drowsiness Proverbs 23:21
Unfruitful
labor Proverbs 30:21-23
Habit
forming (captivity) Amos 6:4-7
Gluttony brings super-natural
judgments
Luke
12:19,20 the rich fool gathered all into his barns, and neglected God. He died without enjoying his prosperity.
Gluttony robs
Israel
gathered manna and quail greedily in disobedience to God.
Gluttony misleads
Esau sold
his spiritual future and past for some bean stew.
Gluttony brings backfire and
bankruptcy
Haaman built
a scaffold so he could hang Mordecai, steal his goods to have bigger banquets
and prestige, but it turned out to be his own gallows.
So, we need Attention
of Mind for the sake of WISDOM...Apprehension of Desire for the sake of TRUTH....And:
APPLICATION OF LIFE FOR SAKE OF GOD
So whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT)
What does a
sensible, sincere disciple of Jesus Christ do when he or she reads God’s word? We apply the principles of our Master's
teaching to the way we live. Paul
says...Whatever you do, do everything, in every way, in every day, in every
place, so that God receives glory.
The natural
response for the Christian who really cares to follow Christ is to ask the
question: Does it glorify God? But I think it goes beyond that when we talk
about the daily temptation we face.
If we can
begin to view temptation (in every form, not just Häagen-Dazs® Rocky Road), as the form of an opportunity to prove/love God, we will begin
to apply the principle of faith to overcome.
James says
(1:2) to be joyful when temptation comes.
Paul says
(Ro 12:2) to prove God's will by being changed.
Temptations can change us.
Give me nuts
and bolts for that...How do you do it?
Recognize
temptation for what it is....
·
Visualize in
your mind the results, both negative and positive
·
Make a
choice for good.
·
Be
transformed!
In other
words Do Something POSITIVE....in the opposite direction from the
temptation.
Example: Next dinner on the grounds.....Make it
healthful, low calorie, low sodium, easy on the cholesterol and
preservatives.....and bring it in the door with a great big smile on your
face!
See? What a change already!
A lady who
was always on a diet, always losing and backsliding made a change. She took a positive step, visualizing the
good results. She decided to set aside
$5 a week to send to support world hunger.
It was her "binge" money.
Now,
whenever she's tempted to run for the chips she knows someone else won't eat
for a day; that’s constructive guilt!
I have as
much to learn about controlling the glutton demon as anyone. I do know this, however; the body is given to
us to house God's Spirit....We are to be good stewards of all He has
given. My heart and mind tell me it is
not good stewardship to indulge.
I can think of a whole lot of other sins that are
higher on my Better-Not-Do-That list than overeating. But, if there is any sin that leads me
slowly, deliciously, but inevitably into other sins, it is a gluttonous
attitude.
As a church, as families and as individuals we need to
have a little restraint over our appetites and attitudes. And we should demonstrate that for the
community in which we live, starting with food.
