Proper 13B’24
4 August 2024
Exodus 16; John 6.24-35
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
O God you sent your beloved Son down to earth to be the true Bread of Life: Give us your grace to eat this bread, that we might live forever, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today we will continue our series on the Seven Deadly Sins with the subject of Gluttony – a subject I don’t believe I have ever heard a sermon on. Before I begin, I feel impressed to provide a disclaimer. I wouldn’t want anyone here today or those joining us by social media to feel shame because of anything I may say. It is important to state that just because a person struggles with being overweight doesn’t automatically mean they are trapped by the sin gluttony. There are many factors that can contribute to a person carrying extra body weight, like certain medical conditions, and a number of medications can cause folks to put on extra weight. This is the case no matter how healthy they eat or how much they exercise. In fact, with the biblical interpretation of this deadly sin, even a skinny person can be a glutton, for it like each of the ‘seven deadlies’ have much more to do with a disordered soul than an overweight body.
All disclaimers aside I was talking with someone from Australia the other day who had never been to the US and they commented on how shocked they were by the number of Americans that seemed to be overweight. They weren’t being judgmental just stating an observable fact.
If you’ll look in your bulletin you will see the picture of a man with his mouth overflowing with French fries, McDonald’s French fries to be exact. His name was Marcus Spurlock, who was in the news this summer for passing away at the age of 53 due to cancer. He became famous a number of years ago for a documentary film he produced and starred in called “Supersize Me.”
Marcus Spurlock sought to raise awareness of just how out of control the fast-food industry had gotten. Portion sizes were exploding as were waist lines. In the documentary he agreed to conduct an experiment over a 30-day period. During this time, he would only eat food from McDonald’s – breakfast – lunch, and dinner. That’s a lot of egg McMuffins, quarter pounders, and chocolate shakes! In just 30 days he gained 24 and a half lbs., his cholesterol was over 230, he developed fatty liver and was having mood swings.
Our sin may not be the overindulgence of fast food, maybe it’s with “comfort food.” You are no doubt familiar with that term especially in the south where we could add the word “southern -southern comfort food;” foods that are usually high in calories from sugar, salt, carbs, and fat – yep, all the good stuff!
Food itself isn’t the trouble. God after making all the creation (including the edible parts) said that it was all “good!” Later in a vision, it was revealed to St. Peter that even non-kosher foods had God’s seal of approval. In the Church think about our church calendar. It’s chocked full of feast and fast days, with way more feasts than fasts. What do you think of on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Epiphany, Shrove Tuesday, Easter, Pentecost, all the summer holidays – well besides church, we think of special foods! Food is a great way to celebrate, to use for family and religious rituals, even our most holy feast is the Holy Eucharist a sacred meal of bread and wine. Good, healthy, tasty, food and drink aren’t the problem it is when it’s use becomes overindulgent and compulsive. When we begin relying on food and drink to do more that nourish us or add to our celebration of life it turns into something else, something that can be quite deadly.
Beloved author Frederick Buechner points toward the disease and the cure when he wrote: “A glutton is one who raids the refrigerator [icebox] for a cure for spiritual malnutrition.”1
In a world filled with high crime, war, violence, economic difficulty, relationship woes, and on-line scammers. No wonder we might seek temporary relief for our permanent problems, through food and drink.
The answer is not another Pop tart but a person that is growing ever closer in our relationship of love to God – to know that love, to receive it all the way down to our bones. A safe Savior, where we can bring all of our anxieties, worries, fear and grief to God, leaving them there, and finding a peace beyond our understanding as we place our trust and hope of security in God. The gospels are filled with references about food and drink (Jesus seemed to bring it up a lot). Like he did with the woman at the well if you drink the water I give, you will never be thirsty again! In St. John’s gospel we hear Jesus say that the cure for gluttony is a change in diet: “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” The people said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”2
In the midst of all of our fears in an uncertain world, our world will constantly be offering us a false sense of security through comfort food. True comfort only comes from God. What is one of the names of the Holy Spirit? “The Comforter – “I will not leave you comfortless but will send you another comforter with the coming of the Holy Spirit comes. What does the experience of the comforting Holy Spirit bring to us? What scripture refers to as the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
The cure for gluttony is a change in diet. As my dear and recently departed friend, the Rev. Patrick Murray used to say, “Adam and Eve ate the fruit and the human race has been hungry ever since.” Today as you hold out your hand to receive the bread and wine allow yourselves to truly take God in, and eat the bread of God that our souls truly crave, and never be hungry again. Amen.