The Blessing and Curse of Alcohol and Grace of God

Transcribed from the sermon preached October 23, 2011                  

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings: Psalm 104 13-15, Proverbs 23:29-35 Rom 14:9-23

Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the Church sent me to New Orleans to help clear houses.  Housing for the volunteers was a Pentecostal seminary.  In orientation on the first day, they told us that there would be no listening to secular music, no alcohol, no sex, and no going to Bourbon St street, and no staying out past ten PM.  Now Presbyterians generally don’t have a problem with sexual relations between married people, Dixieland Jazz or Blues music, or, when the timing is right and within moderation, having a drink.  But these Pentecostals meant to protect the sanctity of the student dorms.  One afternoon one of the young Presbyterian men sat down at the dining room bench before supper with a forlorn look. He had gone up to visit his wife in her room and got busted.  They meant business.  Now we could have had a theological debate about the theology of music, alcohol and marital relations, but the hospitality and solidarity required in the midst of such an overwhelming disaster trumped any temporary inconvenience.  We did not want to threaten the faith of our kind hosts.  But finally at the end of our trip, a group of us busted out and went to see downtown.  I felt a little guilty being the only escaping minister, that is until we hit Bourbon St and the first song I heard was a hymn, played so well that I was immediately certain God had sent those musicians to that spot to play that very song.  I was so absolutely blown away by the quantity and quality of music that I ordered up a beer and toasted God for such a gift.  Now I would have loved to have stayed around and listened to music most of the night, but in respect for our Pentecostal driver and our hosts, we only hop scotched into three or four places and were back before midnight, only two hours late.

Now with a strong emphasis on how the grace of God through Christ frees us from the law, we tend not to make many hard and fast rules around here and members of St. John’s have been known to enjoy a drink from time to time.  Yet while we are free in Christ, and we, like Jesus, have enjoyed wine at a wedding or dinner, it is also likely that every person in this room has more than one family member or close friend who has experienced major trouble and addiction with alcohol. So I thought it might be worth taking a look at what the Bible has to say on the subject.

The Bible has a variety of things to say about alcohol consumption, but the underlying question which determines the morality of having a drink is how will the behavior impact or affect our relationship with God and others?  Our job is to be a model Christian, to live healthy, spiritually balanced lives so that we can do our best at loving others and spreading the good news of the Gospel.  If anything we do gets in the way of loving God and our neighbor, then that thing has become an idol and needs to get out of the way.  

The grace of Christ enables us to discern the appropriateness of any given action within context.  Using the guidance of scripture and the law, and the wisdom of the Spirit, we seek to celebrate life and support one another in our walk on the way of Christ Jesus.

Wine plays and integral role in the life of the people of Israel. Palestine has a great climate for the cultivation of wine and olives, much like Napa Valley.  So there are many, many places recorded in the Bible where harvests and celebrations and dinners and religious rituals include wine.  In his first miracle in the Gospel of John, Jesus helps out the wedding host when they run out.  In this miracle, the wine is a metaphor for the blood of Christ (and a precursor to Sharing of bread and wine of Communion):  Just when we thought the Kingdom party would have to be called off due to insufficient supplies, the life, death and resurrection of Christ provides more than enough for all.  Ironically, this miracle story offers great hope to the one wishing to quit drinking: We may be thinking it is too late, there is no more mercy left for me, no more spiritual strength left, no more hope, but the story tells us that this party of love is just getting started. Where our own blood, our own will, our own strength runs out, the blood and power of God steps up.   

Psalm 104 speaks of the wonders of God's work in Creation:

 [13] From thy lofty abode thou waterest the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy work.
[14] Thou dost cause the grass to grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth,
[15] and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

Wine was a common ingredient in the life of God's people in Israel, and wine is a part of wonderful Creation and a gift from God.  But it is also clear that wine and strong drink can be misused and create problems for both individuals and the community.  Negatively, it is most often used as an example of gluttonous and arrogant consumption of the rich and powerful.  They congratulate one another and become experts in wine and jewels and fashion and orgies, but neglect justice and the love of God.  Here the issue is not the wine itself, but gluttonous materialism and arrogance while the poor suffer.  In Isaiah 5 verse 7 Isaiah makes it plain, “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry!  Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room… [11] Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening till wine inflames them!
[12] They have lyre and harp, timbrel and flute and wine at their feasts;
but they do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands.

Again we see a mixed message in the story.  God plants a vineyard, but the grapes, (the ruling elite) go bad.  How do they go bad? They get drunk and neglect justice. 

Isaiah 56 makes it plain:

they have all turned to their own way,
each to his own gain, one and all.
[12] "Come," they say, "let us get wine,
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;

 

 Here we see that the Bible is concerned with relationship and community.  God is angry because his people think only of their own interest, their own short term pleasure. 

But we also find how wine contributes to personal trouble:  In Proverbs, which are quick teaching lessons for youth and the rest of us:

Proverbs 20[1] Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;
and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

The more I read Sirach the more I like it.  Sirach is not a part of the Hebrew or protestant cannon, but was included in the Septuagent orearly Greek version of the bible, and is part of the Catholic an Eastern Orthodox Bible.  Unlike the book of proverbs, which is a collection wise snipits from various sources, Sirach is written by a single author or scribe,  Jesus ben Sirach around 180 BCE.  It reads like wisdom for boys wealthy enough to get an education.  It sounds like an antidote to thinking like Machiavelli.  Use and abuse of alcohol figure prominently in his book of advice to young people:

Sir.19[1] A workman who is a drunkard will not become rich;
he who despises small things will fail little by little.
[2] Wine and women lead intelligent men astray,
and the man who consorts with harlots is very reckless.
[3] Decay and worms will inherit him,
and the reckless soul will be snatched away.

Can’t you just see the worms sitting there bent up at the reading of the will by the lawyer: and to the worms go his body.  And they are all, Yahooo! 

Sir. 31[25] Do not aim to be valiant over wine,
for wine has destroyed many.

[26] Fire and water prove the temper of steel,
so wine tests hearts in the strife of the proud.

[27] Wine is like life to men,
if you drink it in moderation...
It has been created to make men glad.

[28] Wine drunk in season and temperately
is rejoicing of heart and gladness of soul.

[29] Wine drunk to excess is bitterness of soul,
with provocation and stumbling.

Sir. 40[20] Wine and music gladden the heart,
but the love of wisdom is better than both.

Now in Romans there is a bit of conflict between what we may call the liberals and the conservatives, those who emphasize freedom in Christ and those who emphasize discipline and following rules.  The conservatives worried that because some of the meat and wine being sold in the market or served at parties had been sacrificed to idols, it had the spiritual curse of the idol.  Therefore, eating the meat sacrificed to the idol would be like worshipping the idol.  So some of the Christians have become vegetarians and drink water, and they think they are better Christians.   According to the liberals, since there is only one God, the idols are not real and therefore nothing to worry about.   Not only are the idols fake, but Christians are free from the law in Christ, and therefore nothing is unlawful, and so they can go ahead and join the parties where meat and wine have been sacrificed to idols and share in the feast.  They judge the conservatives and uptight and weak.  So they consider themselves stronger Christians.

So Paul offers three points of advice.  First, whatever we do, let us do it to the Lord.  If we eat and drink, may it honor the Lord.  If we obstain, let us obstain in honor of the Lord and in Thanks to God.  No matter what we do, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Second, stop judging the other.  We will account for our own sins and that is quite enough for us to worry about.  No need to spend time judging the other when we have our own lives to worry about improving. 

Third, don’t put a stumbling block before your brother or sister.  So here Paul concedes that nothing is unclean in itself.  But will doing it make our neighbor stumble? 

What kind of example do we set for kids?  If we come in off the street seeking freedom from drugs and alcohol, will we find freedom here?  The good will of the other should be our primary concern, even over our freedom.  So Paul is calling for self-regulation according to how the exercise of our freedom will impact others.

Paul is not done. He continues with a lawyer’s genius, if eating and drinking is not that big a deal, then it shouldn’t be very hard to give it up here and there.  And if it is so hard to give up, then maybe it is a bigger spiritual idol for us than we seem willing to admit.  

“For the kingdom of God,” he says, “ is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; …Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

It seems to me that freedom, combined with decency and moderation is a good lesson to teach each other, and our children,  and something we want to be about here at St. John’s.  But we also are about being self-critical, and about supporting one another and the world in love.   It is not just alcohol we have trouble with.  Much of the world gets obsessed with material things, with having this or avoiding that.  St. John’s has said “enough” with this fad of paying outrageous prices for water, enough polluting the oceans with plastic.  We are obsessed with brand names and having or doing things at certain times.  If we go for a walk we need our ipod, if we go anywhere we need to offer a sacrifice to the God of text messages, we need our jeans sacrificed to the god of Levis, our coffee consecrated at altar of Starbucks.  We get home from work and are certain to toast to Miller.  The kids get home and off to the altar of Xbox they go.  Now as Christians we know none of these things, in and of themselves are all bad.  We need not actually worship Miller beer or starbucks coffee.  But if we can’t do without them, or without the labels, then maybe we are in trouble.  If we can’t stop playing video games even though our friend’s health is going down the tubes because he never gets outside, then we better think again.

So as freedom is a central ingredient of the Christianity promoted by St. John’s, so it seems all the more important that fasting or voluntary abstinence also be a part of our spirituality.  For while we want to express our freedom to do something, we also want to express our freedom from something.  For it is in demonstrating the freedom from something we show that the freedom to do it has not pulled us in.  And it also shows solidarity with those who, for whatever reason, need to leave something like alcohol completely behind.  It shows that we can live and be thankful and praise God without, that the Kingdom of God is more than food or drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.