March 26, 2006 -
Addiction. Obsession. Dependence. Compulsion. Fixation. Habits. Cravings. Psychologists could spend the whole 21st century debating their definitions. But of one kind or another to one degree or another, we see these symptoms in ourselves, don’t we? With this modern age of choices comes a whole new world of vices.
Now some of you committed to abstaining from various vices for Lent; Venti mochas, chocolate ice cream, Camel lights, Guiness, text messaging, mom’s meatloaf. I tried giving up red meat, but turned out Whataburger was too powerful to resist…and that was only the 2nd day! How’s that for confession? (I suppose it’s really abstinence that makes the heart grow fonder). But now it’s 25 days and counting! How’s it going for you?
The purging of such pleasures is harmless if not helpful. It is a way to say our indulgences don’t have the best of us. We can give them up if we want to. We don’t need these things to be happy. We can handle it. We can keep control of our cravings. We can keep control…control…control.
Yes, maybe. But maybe this is not about proving how in control we are. Maybe it’s about giving up some control; to take an honest look at what matters most to us. Maybe Lent is a good time to confess: our appetite for sin is great. But our appetite for God is greater.
And it’s true. Among the many obsessions of Americans is the spiritual. It’s called by many names. Americans are chasing yoga classes, Buddhist retreats, Quaker meetings, prayer beads, chanting, cleansing, bell ringing, and even the liberal Jesus. We are a nation of spiritual seekers. We are a nation of restless souls.
There is a sense in which Ephesians describes our 21st century reality in first century language. Ephesians gives us the before and after picture of a life dead through sins then alive to Christ. Notice the before part first; how that when we were dead through sins, we followed a power that rules the world. But that when we were made alive together with Christ, God raised us up and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Now, being raised and sitting in the heavenly places in Christ is not about levitation exactly. It’s not about changing zip codes, because it’s not a matter of location. It is a matter of the heart. In other words, we are witnesses to death and resurrection because of the change Christ works in our heart through faith.
Ephesians talks about the change from death to life as a past event. The point is not only life after death in some future time but life before death. The resurrection life takes effect now. We don’t wait for heaven in order for the resurrection of Christ to have any meaning. Christians confess that what happened to Christ will one day happen for all of us. But in the meantime, we are islands of heaven; we are places of resurrection in a world fat on a diet of wealth…fat on a diet of power… fat on a diet of popularity but starving to death for the power of Christ.
The church is kind of like a community dietician for the spirit. We care about individual needs. And we are called to be the moral conscience of society to prevent spiritual disease and promote spiritual health.
We are part of God’s recipe to help curb the cravings that keep us stuck in patterns and life choices that are destructive; vicious cycles that keep us trapped in trespasses and sins.
All of us were once dead through sins. We once followed the course of this world. We once were ruled by the powers of the air. So we know what these powers of the air are, don’t we? The Environmental Protection Agency might judge these powers of the air as pollutants. The clean air index would read more like Los Angeles smog than the fog of the Great Smoky Mountains. But these powers of the air seduce us into patterns and lifestyles and ways of thinking that are self-destructive and dangerous to others, too.
Cultural powers work to tell us we are never enough. We feel awkward and shy in groups. We can’t think of anything to say. We wish we were different. We just wish we were more like everybody else. We believe we are not beautiful enough; not good enough; not smart enough; not worthy enough; not qualified enough. Enough!!
Slick-haired and shiny-shoed political powers make us protect self-interests by never owning up to mistakes. Truth sadly takes a second seat to rhetoric.
Economic powers with a vast appetite for money inspire us to cook the books to make an extra buck. These powers inspire us to lie about it instead of tell the truth, because we’ll lose our jobs.
And isn’t that a power of profit? It’s easy for us upwardly-mobile folks to believe that our companies can give us power. If I get the promotion I’ll get the pay raise and not soon enough I’ll be somebody’s boss and then I can do what I want. It’s power we think we want, but isn’t it really influence that we need? Because at the end of the day, isn’t the whole point to serve your clients and customers? The more strategic question is: How can we serve others better?
In his book Love and Profit, Jim Autry says, “Power and control are illusions that we create for ourselves out of the sense of our authority, just as we have the illusion that we can control our children because we’re bigger and stronger. At some point, we realize the truth: Our children control their own lives, and all we can hope to do is influence them.” [1]
When it comes to the powers of the air, the church can do the same. We cannot control the powers, but we can influence them. Even next week Wilshire will seek to influence the powers. Dallas Area Interfaith will sponsor a workshop here to discuss public school finance reform and how the Texas system got in its current condition and how it will impact the future of Texas children. Join the conversation for how people of faith can help children in our communities have a fair shake and equal access to quality education.
Speaking of a fair shake. I remember in January 2003, Illinois Governor George Ryan told 156 inmates who were on death row that they no longer faced dying by lethal injection. I remember watching this historic moment on CNN that day. The governor said, I’m going to sleep well tonight knowing that I made the right decision. A Republican pharmacist turned crusading criminal-justice reformer, Governor Ryan literally emptied Illinois’ death row in the name of what he described as a “manifest injustice.”
Four death row inmates were also pardoned after determining they had been tortured into confessing crimes they did not commit.
What is more, a study found that the death sentences were given disproportionately to the poor, people from ethnic minorities, and these reports changed the governor’s mind. He confessed the system was flawed and even if one innocent man died because of it, it was worth calling the whole thing off. He believed the prisoners deserved a fair shake and equal access to the law.
When it comes to the riches of God’s grace, all human beings have equal access. Grace is not sold to the highest bidder. It is a free gift of God. This is why our way of life now is good works. Grace first, then good works to take on the powers at work in the world and within ourselves.
These powers are not invisible demon creatures floating around in the earth’s atmosphere. They are not to be found among the stars but within ourselves; and within our society. A Russian novelist and historian once said: The line separating good and evil doesn’t run through states, nor between classes or political parties. It cuts through every human heart. [2]
Human hearts are captive to the powers that be. We inherit and live in a world ravaged by the cycles of violence and revenge; shot through with sin and suffering. It is the call of Christians everywhere to name the powers of the air.
When we start to name the powers, we break the silence on what keeps us bound. We expose what is invisible right beneath our noses; to face our demons and deceptions and become free. We let go of our defenses to let God cut the rope from around our necks so our souls can breathe free again.
All of us have been dead in trespasses and sins. We can be caught in patterns that devastate our relationships and not even know it.
But all the while we were dead in our transgressions and sins, the heart of God longed for human beings to know what being fully alive was like. This is why Ephesians says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing---it is a gift of God.”
Jonathan Sacks, in his book, “The Dignity of Difference,” says, “We may not survive while others drown; we may not feast while others starve; we are not free when others are in servitude; we are not well when billions languish in disease and premature death.” [3]
Our spiritual life is as good as dead so long as our cravings are captive to cultural, political, economic, and social forces that take us farther and farther away from the grace and kindness of God. We must discern between what is truly good and what only masquerades as good. We must discern what is bogus and what is truly born of the broken-hearted love of Christ.
To indulge what God indulges is to become who we are made to be. We are made for good works based on grace first. Finding such a way of life is taking pleasure in God’s pleasure; to indulge in the kindness God did in Christ. Do good works. Sniff out injustice. Believe the truth about who God says you are.
“God is rich in mercy,” and acts in our best interest even when we don’t have the good sense enough to help ourselves. Thank God! Even when we were dead through our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ so that in the ages to come God might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
There are times when we sense the power of this grace so close. But then there are times when it’s good to look back and see that grace was there even when we didn’t know it.
In 1967, there was a move made called “Two for the Road,” starring the lovely Audrey Hepburn. The film follows the relationship of a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. And still the great tagline of the film is: they made something wonderful out of being alive!
As with our lives, the road with Christ to Calvary can be a bumpy one. But the grace of it all is that together we can make something beautiful out of being alive.
God longs to make our constant cravings holy. Our constant cravings are made holy when we crave the constant presence of Christ.
Cravings are made holy every time we tell the truth. Cravings are made holy every time we expose lies: the lies at work in our society and the lies we believe about ourselves. Cravings are made holy every time the church has the courage to name the powers.
We are redeemed through no doing of our own; but with a beggar’s empty hands we come to God. We come to concede our control to the only power that stands a chance of leading us on the long, slow journey of redemption.
Christ comes to break the ties that bind. Christ comes to unravel the tangled webs we weave. Christ comes to entice us to indulge the holy pleasures of God for our own good…and for the good of our society. Live it up. Amen.
[1] Autry, James, “Love and Profit,” New York: Avon Books, 1990, pp.85-86.
[2] Attributed to Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn.
[3] Sacks, Jonathan, “The Dignity of Difference,” New York: Continuum, p. 196.
under the chosen Sunday to hear audio of sermon (mp3 format) (beginning March 11, 2007).
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