3 August 2014
I. Introduction
-- turn in
Bibles to Luke 15:11-20a
Luke 15:11-20 (NIV)
11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my
share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together
all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in
wild living.
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine
in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs
were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of
my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like
one of your hired men.'
20 So he got up and went to his father.
-- on
Friday the Center for Science in the Public Interest released their 2014 Xtreme
Eating awards -- every year this organization evaluates the menu offerings from
various restaurants in the U.S. and provides a list of the worst offenders in
terms of total calories, saturated fat, sodium, and other nutritional factors
-- the
winner for the biggest calorie offering for 2014 went to The Cheesecake Factory
for its Bruleed French Toast, which tips the scale at a whopping 2,870 calories
-- just to put that in perspective, the USDA recommends an average adult
consume no more than 2,000 to 2,800 calories a day, depending on gender and activity
levels
-- this one
breakfast offering alone provides more calories than anyone in the U.S. needs
as their recommended daily allowance, not counting its 93 grams of saturated
fat -- enough saturated fat to last someone a week -- 2,230 milligrams of sodium
and 24 teaspoons of sugar
-- other
notable winners in this years Xtreme Eating awards list include the Big Hook Up
platter from Joe's Crab Shack with 3,280 calories and the 1,670 calorie Monster
Burger with additional 370 calorie servings of Bottomless Fries at the Red
Robin Gourmet Burger restaurant chain1,2
-- and I'd
say it's great that none of our local restaurant chains were on the list as the
worst offenders this year, but the Center did not evaluate smaller local
restaurants and chains -- I imagine if the Center counted calories consumed by
Valdosta residents during one sitting at one of our local all-you-can-eat
country buffets, we would win the contest hands-down
-- this
morning we are continuing our sermon series on the Seven Deadly Sins and, as
you have probably already guessed, we are going to be looking at the sin of
gluttony today
--
interestingly, gluttony is not mentioned in very many passages in the Bible --
the sin of gluttony really did not become a major interest of the church until
the middle ages with the increasing affluence of Christians throughout the west
-- not
because it is not a serious sin, but probably because most people who lived two
to four thousand years ago simply did not have the opportunity to engage in
this sin like we do today -- as we have seen so far in our study of the Seven
Deadly Sins, it appears Americans could be poster children for all of these
sins, so far -- and as you'll see as we go through our study this morning,
America is certainly guilty of the sin of gluttony more so than most other
places on earth today
-- as the
2014 Xtreme Eating List proves, gluttony is certainly not discouraged, but is
actually encouraged in our country today
-- so let's
look now at this deadly sin and see how we can turn away from this sin in our
own lives
II. What is Gluttony?
-- before
we begin, I think it's a good idea for us to have a clear definition of what is
meant by the term gluttony -- when we hear that word, the first thought in our
mind always goes to food -- to excessive eating -- to images of the obese and
the overweight indulging in meals at The Cheesecake Factor and Red Robin
Gourmet Burgers
-- and that
is certainly the most common use of the word gluttony and that is how we see it
portrayed most often in the Bible -- in Proverbs 23, Solomon warns us to watch
out for the temptations offered by the food of rulers -- he counsels us to put
a knife to our throat if we are given to gluttony and to not crave the
delicacies of the ruler's table
-- in
Philippians 3:18-19 Paul expounds on those who continue to live as enemies of
Christ -- he writes in verse 19, "Their destiny is destruction -- their
god is their stomach -- and their glory is in their shame"
-- in both
of these passages, gluttony is linked with excessive eating -- with the
overindulgence of food and delicacies
-- but the
concept of gluttony is more than just excessive eating -- Gluttony is defined
as “the habit or act of eating too much or an inordinate desire to consume more
than that which one requires.” -- the second part of that definition expands on
the meaning of the word gluttony -- it's not just about food
-- you
commit the sin of gluttony any time you overindulge or consume more of anything
than you really need -- and that can be food, people, wealth, sex, anything --
gluttony is taking more than what you need in your life and it carries with it
the concept of an unhealthy, obsessive desire for whatever item it is
-- hoarders
are examples of people with a gluttony problem -- for them, food is not the
issue -- for them, the issue is stuff -- they want more stuff than they need --
they have to have more stuff than what they need -- and so they live in houses
busting at the seams and with storage sheds overflowing with stuff
-- so as we
go through this message today, don't get caught up in the idea that gluttony is
just about food -- any area where we are overindulging or where we are
excessive in our lifestyles could be considered gluttony
-- now with
this expanded definition of gluttony, you might be asking yourself, as I did,
what the difference is between gluttony and lust -- the definitions sound very
similar -- they are both the excessive and overindulgence in areas in our lives
-- the unhealthy obsession with food and things and people
-- the
difference is actually simple -- as used in the Bible, lust is an intense
craving after something God has chosen not to give you at this time -- lust is
wanting something that you can't have
-- gluttony,
on the other hand, is an intense craving or overconsumption of something God
has chosen to give you -- gluttony is taking more than you what you need
-- think
about the manna in the wilderness -- when God provided the Israelites the manna
while they were wandering in the desert, He told them to just take enough for
one day -- to just take what they needed for that one day alone
-- but many
of the people wanted more -- they gathered up more manna than they could use in
one day -- and that manna rotted in the jars -- that was gluttony -- manna was
something God had given them -- something God had told them was good for them,
in moderation -- the problem with gluttony came in when they were disobedient
and decided they wanted more than what they actually needed
-- that's
the difference between lust and gluttony
III. The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Gluttony
-- look
back with me now at this familiar parable of Jesus from Luke 15 -- the parable
we call the story of the prodigal son
-- verse 11-12
11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons.
12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my
share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
-- Jesus
begins this parable telling us about this man who had two sons -- an older and
a younger brother who lived with their father on an estate -- one day the
younger son came to his father and asked for his share of the estate up front
-- now it's
important you understand what the younger son meant by this request -- he was basically
asking for his inheritance upfront -- you see, when a father died, the property
and the wealth he had acquired would be divided at his death among his living
sons, with the eldest children receiving a greater share of the inheritance
than the younger children
-- what is
important to note relative to our discussion of the sin of gluttony is the
inheritance the son asked for was rightfully his -- although it was against
social norms to ask for it up front, it was rightfully and legally his -- it
was something that he was entitled to, although the intent of passing down an
inheritance to the next generation was for the children to continue the legacy
of the parents by taking care of the estate after the death of their father
-- by
asking for his inheritance now, the son was basically removing himself from the
family -- he was saying he wanted to take his money and go now and be separated
from the family from that point on -- he did not want to wait and use the money
as his father and the law intended -- he wanted to use the money on himself
-- verse 13
13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together
all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in
wild living.
-- we all
know this parable as the story of the prodigal son -- do you know what the word
"prodigal" means? -- it actually means excessive -- wastefully
extravagant -- gluttonous
-- and
that's exactly what we see here -- Jesus tells us the younger son took his
inheritance, went out from their country estate to the big city, and squandered
his wealth in wild living -- gluttony lived large
-- verse 14-16
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine
in that whole country, and he began to be in need.
15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs
were eating, but no one gave him anything.
-- here we
see the danger of gluttony -- excessive overindulgence hastened the ruin of
this young man -- he went from being a member of a wealthy family to living alone
and estranged in poverty -- because he had spent all he had -- because he had
overindulged and consumed more than he needed -- he had nothing set back for
the rainy season -- nothing to tide him over during the famine -- nothing left
from the fortune he had acquired
-- have you
ever seen what happens to someone when they win the lottery? -- every Friday
afternoon, the counter at the convenience store outside my office is filled
with lustful people -- people lusting after the riches promised by scratch-off
tickets and the big win of millions of dollars in the weekend drawing
-- but for
the handful that actually win, their lust gives way to gluttony -- and the
riches become a ticket to despair -- they live as the younger son did in this
passage -- excessive spending -- wasteful extravagance -- gluttony in the
extreme -- and they pay the consequences just as he did -- most lottery winners
tell you they wish they had never won -- and this young brother is the same
-- he is
reduced to hiring himself out to a citizen of this country -- feeding the pigs
with better food than he was capable of buying -- gluttony promises the world,
but delivers heartache and pain and separation from our Father in heaven
-- verse 17-20a
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of
my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him:
Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like
one of your hired men.'
20 So he got up and went to his father.
-- verse 17
has always been one of my favorite verses in the Bible -- "he came to his
senses" -- how many times in our lives have we been heading down the wrong
road -- giving in to this sin or that sin -- overindulging and desiring more
and more in our lives -- when, all of a sudden, it's like a lightning bolt hits
us and our mind clears and we realize what we're doing -- we come to our senses
and say, "you know, I don't think so -- not this time" -- and we walk
away and run back to our Father
-- these
verses are the heart of the gospel -- they are the answer to gluttony -- and,
for that matter, to all the sins we face -- after living in the pig pen that
gluttony brought about, this young man finally comes to his senses -- he hears
the call of the Holy Spirit in his life wooing him back to the father -- back
to a life of obedience and relationship -- and he shakes the mud of the pig pen
off his boots and returns to his father
-- gluttony
-- the desire to have more than he needed -- the excessive, overindulgence of a
good thing -- caused this young man to go from living as the heir of a wealthy
estate to residing in a pig pen and wallowing in a life of despair
-- gluttony
never provides what it promises but it draws out attention from the Father to
the world
-- as
Socrates wrote, “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be
contented with what he would like to have.”
-- and thus
is the trap of gluttony, because you can never have enough -- there's never
enough food -- enough things -- enough stuff -- there's never enough --
gluttony leaves you wanting more and more and more
IV. Closing: The Cure for Gluttony
-- let me
close by sharing with you a verse from the Eagle's song, "Hotel
California"
“Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just
prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely
knives,
But they just can't kill the
beast"
-- we see
in this song the trap of gluttony -- the lure of the exotic and the extravagant
-- mirrors on the ceiling -- pink champagne in our glasses -- feasts of excess
-- the desire for more and more
-- in this
song we see the prophetic cry against the excesses of the American dream with
the singer seeing no way out -- no way to break free from the bondage of
gluttony in his life
-- so how
do we fight back against this tendency in our lives for gluttony? -- how do we
push back from the table or the department store or the storage shed and say,
"Enough?" -- what will help us come to our senses and return to the
Father?
-- the
ultimate answer is a word we seldom hear today in our society: temperance --
temperance means moderation or self- restraint -- it means limiting yourself to
that which you really need and abstaining from that which goes beyond or which
has the tendency to harm
-- there
are two key passages I think apply in the realm of gluttony -- two passages I
think will help us as we seek to come to our senses and turn away from this sin
-- the
first is found in Paul's first epistle to the church at Corinth -- 1 Corinthians 6:12 -- either turn
there with me or listen as I read it
1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)
12 "Everything is permissible for me"--but not
everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I
will not be mastered by anything.
--
"everything is permissible" -- God has given us food and possessions
and a place to live and clothes to wear -- He has given us all that we need to
survive -- these are good things that He has given -- they are rightfully ours
-- the
problem comes in when we want more than what is provided -- more than what is
necessary -- so Paul tells the Corinthians here, "Yes, everything is
permissible, up to a point -- everything is not beneficial -- yes, we need food
-- yes, we have to have food to live, but we don't have to eat a single meal at
breakfast with 2,800 calories -- we don't have to spend money on things we
don't really need -- we don't have to acquire more than we can possibly
use"
--
"everything is permissible," Paul says, "but I will not be
mastered by it" -- as the prodigal son discovered, when you live a
gluttonous lifestyle, the lifestyle demands your attention -- it demands more
and more of what you have -- more and more money -- more and more time
-- I heard
a quote from a famous actor a long time ago -- I don't even remember who it was
-- but I remember him being asked why he didn't move from his small house to a
large estate like everyone else -- and he responded, "Having a bigger
house just means you have more rooms to clean -- it doesn't give you a better
life" -- and that quote has stuck in my mind all these years
-- the more
we have, the more is demanded -- the more we have, the more of our time and
energy and focus is required to take care of our body or our stuff or our
things -- that is the paradox of gluttony -- the more you have, the more is
required to keep it
-- when we
let things master us, whether it is food or possessions or people or power or
whatever, we have created an idol in our lives and have exalted these things
above our God and Creator
-- which
brings us to our second verse I want you to look at -- Matthew 6:33
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well.
-- the
first thing we should seek -- the most important thing we should focus our time
and attention and energy on -- is the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness -- knowing that all we need will be provided
-- so the
answer to gluttony is three-fold:
1. Focus -- focus on God and His Kingdom -- turn
your eyes and energy and time and attention on Him and all else will fade in
comparison
2. Temperance -- Choose moderation and
self-restraint -- choose to just get what you need and no more -- learn to live
on less -- whether that's food or possessions or money
3. Mastery -- choose to be the master of your
domain -- make the decision to be in charge of your life under the Lordship of
Jesus Christ -- don't let your things or your possessions or food boss you
around
-- if we do
these three things -- if we practice these disciplines in our lives, gluttony
will not be a problem
-- let's pray
-----------------------------------------
References:
1 "Extreme Eating 2014," Center for Science in the
Public Interest, http://www.cspinet.org/nah/xtreme2014.html
2 "3,540-calorie monster meal, 2,780-calorie French
toast earn Xtreme Eating awards," Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-xtreme-eating-awards-french-toast-burgers-ribs-20140730-story.html
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