"I Shall Not Want!"

sermon by Pastor David Layman

November 6, 2005

Psalm 23; Philippians 3:17-21

When gluttony was labeled one of the "7 Deadly Sins", some 1400 years ago, the world was a different place. The foods we are tempted with today tend to be far more harmful to our bodies than foods people were tempted with in 600 AD. As a result, many are challenged by issues related to food. Kathy Gardner tells ofho.w her husband went on a diet, and managed to lose 50 pounds. After staying at home the first 8 years of their marriage, Kathy took ajob in a restaurant. When she returned home from her first day of work, Kathy gave her husband a big hug. He clung to her longer than usual, and she asked "Did you really miss me that much today, dear?" He responded "No. But you smell so much like pancakes that I hate to let you go!" (1992 Reader's Digest, p. 62) They didn't have pancakes and syrup in 600 AD, nor were there McDonald's French fries back then, or Big Macs. Ryans' and the Golden Corral were yet to go into business. There were no processed foods. People didn't have many choices in their diet, but their choices were healthier. And people did much more physical labor in 600 AD. Plus, there were no recliners, or remote control tvs. People had to get up and change the channel manually in 600 AD! Eating healthy is much more of a challenge to us today. Books on dieting are frequently on best seller lists.

We now know about body chemistry and genetics in relation to food. It hardly seems fair for a person of my body type to be speaking on a subject such as gluttony, if we think of gluttony primarily in relation to food. Some people are born with a certain genetic makeup that makes weight control far more of a challenge to them than to me. It hurt me as a child for references to be made to my slender build. It's sinful human nature that wants to make fun of some who are very short or tall, slender or heavy. God doesn't look at us with a desire to make fun of us or make us feel badly. God looks at and loves each and every one of us, in whatever condition He finds us to be in. Making cold hearted fun of others is a far more deadly sin than some of those on the "deadly" list. I would agree with the authors of our study that pride is the most deadly sin of all, for that can put us at a distance from both God and our fellow human beings!

In the Robert Redford movie, "The Horse Whisperer", a girl in her early teens was seriously injured while riding her horse. She lost a leg, and hobbled around on an artificial limb. The girl was angry with her mother and life in general. But at one point, the teenage girl finally shares

what is distressing her, asking her mother, while pointing to her artificial limb, "Who would want me like this?" We live in a world where we are often judged because of our physical appearance. But when I saw this crippled teenager asking this question, I wanted to step into the tv screen and personally tell her "God wants you! God wants you to be his!" We don't have to be perfect to be wanted by Him. We're wanted by God even though NONE of us are perfect. We can struggle with eating problems, alcohol and drug problems, with our self image. But the deep answer to our struggles, whatever form they take, is that we need to recognize God wants us! And God wants to help us deal with the struggles and challenges in life.

Paul wrote to the Philippians about some whose" minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord lesus Christ." As some in Philippi made material things their god, are we tempted to search for happiness merely through the material? Are there times when we're shopping, eating, or drinking that we really ought to be praying? In Psalm 23, we read those familiar words: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." God will provide those things most needful; He prepares a table before us. Our problem comes when we seek to satisfy ultimate needs with an excess of the material. It never works!

God created us as incredibly complex beings. We're a mixture of body, mind and spirit. As Presbyterians, we're not like those who believe medication is never needful, that prayer and meditation are enough. Willpower is needful, but so also is the support of others, and a wise use of material resources, perhaps including medication. God created a material world, and wants us to use it wisely and seek His strength as we face the challenges before us.

Kelso Mendenhall was a member of Reid Presbyterian Church years ago that my father greatly admired. He became seriously ill, and was hospitalized. Kelso was so ill he couldn't even read his Bible, or pray intelligently. But old hymns he'd learned as a boy in his little country church, and hymns his family had sung around their small organ, brought comfort to him as he sang them over in his mind. A friend stopped to see him, and heard Kelso say how much these hymns that he'd learned as a child meant to him. His friend said "Kelso, even though you didn't realize it 65 years ago, God was preparing a spiritual table for you for times like this, and now your soul is feasting at that table."

On the night in which he was betrayed, Jesus left us with a sacrament built around food and Christian fellowship. Jesus took a piece of bread and said "This is my body", and a cup of wine, saying "This is my blood". "As often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim my death until I come." God's fellowship in the midst of the material elements we must have are what can enable us to be physically and spiritually nourished for the challenges that lie ahead.

The only lasting answer for the "7 Deadly Sins" that challenge us is not a lecture about what we shouldn't do. The answer lies in our coming to the Lord who prepared this table for us, surrounded by a community of faith ready to forgive, encourage and nurture us.

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