My mom makes a special dessert for me on every birthday and every Christmas. I say it is for me because no one else eats it. It is a rich dessert that works like magic on the taste buds. It is called “magic cookie bars.” Now this past Christmas as before I was privileged to take the whole pan home. I can devour a whole pan of that stuff in two days.
The Center for Disease Control estimates that 64 percent of adults age 20 years or older are considered overweight or obese. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has found that approximately 14 million Americans – 7.4 percent of the population – meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse. A 1998 Purdue University study found that religious people are more likely to be overweight than other Americans – too many potlucks! Gluttonous is attributed to food and alcohol but it would be a mistake to consider those the only culprits of this vicious sin.
Glutton is all about excess. It is the urge to overindulge in anything: owning 60 pair of shoes,buying a house too big for your budget, buying a large car that is not necessary. It is not only the overindulging in food but also the obsession with losing weight. We are daily confronted with ads for bacon cheeseburgers and soda and beer. And on the other hand, we’re confronted with losing weight and keeping up appearances. A glutton consumes without considering the consequences. He eats too much, talks too much, and demands too much. Around a thousand years ago, Thomas Aquainas taught that at the center of gluttony is the concept of “too,” as in “too soon, too expensive, too much, too eager, and making to much fuss.” The glutton never gets enough to fully enjoy and in the end kills the very pleasure it seeks. Lonliness can be attributed to the sin of gluttony. Lonely because they don’t care about the needs of others and that has left them shallow on the inside. For the gluttonous it is all about me and what I can get out of life. The person dealing with gluttony is so consumed about themselves that they use others for their own gain. They are surface people not caring about the feelings of others. They are too immersed in themselves to know how their words really affect others outside of themselves. Gluttony kills the soul first, and eventually the body follows.
How do we get ourselves out of this “too much, too soon, too eager, too expensive, too much fuss” side of life? The Wisdom writers of Scripture believed that by using the mind that God gave us we could find a better alternative. Proverb 23:19 begins, “Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.” The danger of gluttony is that it dulls the minds ability to reason and decreases the ability to guard against temptation. Gaining all the pleasure you can from one object has consumed your mind at the expense of your soul. We live beyond the deadly sin of gluttony by being mindful of what is before us. Temperance helps us to realize that pleasure is found through greater awareness, not necessarily greater consumption. When you think of temperance what comes to mind? “Oh no they going to take away my pleasures!” Or a movement to take away alcohol. Or that grumpy neighbor who never laughs, always looks depressed, and we think is out to stone us at the least little move we make. While temperance can involve a degree of restriction, the early Christians associated temperance with gaining freedom and joy. How could they not? Was it not Jesus who turned water to wine at a wedding feast? Was it not Jesus who was accused by the Pharisees or being a “glutton and drunkard?” Jesus seemed to enjoy good food and good wine. What Jesus, his disciples, and early Christians knew that we have forgotten is that there are ways of eating, drinking, and consuming life that actually goes against gluttony.
The goal is being mindful of what is before us. Mindfulness is the discipline of being as fully aware as possible of what is before you – be it food and drink, or any other material good, or even another person. When we are fully attentive, we avoid the danger of over consuming and we enjoy freedom and pleasures of life more. The challenge before us this morning is becoming more conscious of what we consume: in regards to our means of living, food, alcohol, activities such as iPods, TV, internet, or sports, or other people. As you become more mindful you begin to struggle with the “why” questions of life. “Why am I eating?” Is it to fill some lonliness inside. “Why do I need bigger house?” Is it an ego thing? “Why do I watch so much TV?” Is it because I am lazy and don’t want to challenge myself? Being mindful is a frightening thing but it leads to greater freedom.
