Rev. David Holwick ZM Modern Controversies #5
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 18, 2012
Daniel 1:8-19
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I. My goal by Saturday.
A. I will be performing a wedding for my nephew, Billy, in Florida.
We have rented a house right on the Gulf of Mexico and will
spend a lot of time walking on the beach.
I have known about the wedding for some time, and months ago
I set a goal of losing 15 pounds.
My sister has decided her husband and I will take a photo
of ourselves barechested, like we did 30 years ago.
Roger recently ran a marathon so the bar has been raised high.
I only have thirteen pounds to go.
If I can lose two pounds a day, I'll make it.
My only obstacle is that holiday on Thursday... [Thanksgiving!]
B. Food is a big deal for us.
1) We have to eat to survive.
2) Some of us eat so much it threatens our survival.
a) Out of all the religious groups in America, which one
is the fattest?
b) Yep, it is us Baptists. #63881
1> And it is not just because so many Baptists live in
the South.
2> We have a tradition of abstaining from alcohol and
tobacco, so some researchers think we choose
food for our addictive fix.
c) We make food a regular part of our church life.
1> Please note on your calendars that the Hanging of
the Greens dinner is December 2 at 5:00.
2> Bring a side dish or a dessert.
C. There is more to food than fat.
1) For a long time, it has been a way of expressing faith.
2) The way you approach food reveals your values in life.
II. Food and religion.
A. Baptists are by no means the first religion to highlight food.
1) Passover in the Old Testament, and the Lord's Supper in
the New Testament, are examples of sacred meals.
2) The food is really secondary, especially for communion.
a) That little cube of white bread and thimble of juice
barely have enough calories to get you to your car.
b) The real purpose of the meals is to convey religious
symbolism.
1> Jews use horseradish in the Passover to remind
themselves of the harsh slavery of Egypt.
2> Christians use dark juice to symbolize the blood
of Jesus and his death on the cross.
3) Thanksgiving is a special kind of sacred meal.
a) It started as a community event more than a church one.
b) Yet everyone knows the theme of the meal is to give
thanks for our abundance.
1> Even many non-religious families will say a blessing
over the meal.
2> The feast is a reminder that there is someone
greater than we are, and he deserves to be thanked.
B. Some religions use food as a litmus test.
1) Food restrictions can distinguish you from other groups.
a) Jews were not allowed to eat pork, but their neighbors
did.
b) Catholics used to stand apart because they did not eat
meat on Fridays.
2) Detailed food laws impose discipline on you.
a) Cleaning out all yeast products before Passover took
a lot of effort.
b) Keeping a kosher kitchen requires a huge commitment of
time and effort.
III. Super food and religion.
A. Some believe the food laws of the Bible are based on health.
1) Pork and other forbidden foods can carry disease.
a) Five years ago, Rosemary Alvarez of Phoenix thought she
had a brain tumor.
But on the operating table her doctor discovered
something even more unsightly -- a parasitic worm
eating her brain.
She probably got it from eating inadequately cooked pork.
b) However, most of the forbidden foods in Leviticus are
not obviously dangerous, and some of the allowed
food is pretty gross (grasshoppers).
2) Daniel's lean diet worked much better than the king's.
a) It sounds like Daniel had a basically vegetarian diet.
b) Seventh-Day Adventists follow a similar diet and studies
have shown they live 4 to 10 years longer than us.
c) You can thank them for inventing Corn Flakes, too.
B. Healthy eating is a legitimate concern.
1) Our addiction has serious consequences.
a) Diabetes and high blood pressure are just a few.
b) There is a reason why New York City is criminalizing
Coca Cola.
2) The Biblical principle is that your body is a temple and
you need to take care of it. 1 Cor 3:17
a) But be careful about Bible fad foods.
You can buy “Ezekiel 4:9” bread in Shoprite.
That Bible verse gives ingredients for bread made from
barley and other stuff.
So an American baker used the recipe to make rather
expensive loaves.
There is one slight problem, however.
Ezekiel's recipe was intended to help survive famine
during an upcoming siege.
It is not because it tastes good or that it's healthy
for you - barley represents the bottom of the barrel.
Oh, and Ezekiel cooked it using dried human poop.
I hope the American baker doesn’t do that. [1]
IV. Religion without food.
A. Fasting is practiced throughout the Bible.
1) In New Testament times, Jews fasted twice a week.
2) Jesus himself fasted for 40 days in the wilderness.
3) Paul undertook voluntary fasts.
B. Giving up something as critical as food focuses your mind.
1) This is why fasting is often combined with prayer.
2) Fasting is a way of proclaiming you hunger for God more
then you hunger for food.
A few years ago, Pastor Steve Willis invited some Christians
from Zambia to visit his church in West Virginia.
He had benefited from mission trips to Africa and he wanted
to return the favor.
When they arrived, the Americans wanted to give their guests
the best they had to offer.
Some of the church families opened up their homes to them and
made sure they didn't miss a meal.
Two weeks into their visit, one of the African pastors said
quietly, "I have a question for you.
It seems as though in America every meal is a feast.
You people don't eat, you feast.
I have never seen so much food."
Surprisingly, though, it wasn't our gluttonous practices that
bothered the pastor most deeply.
His next question socked Willis between the spiritual eyes:
"We've been here two weeks and we eat three or four
times every day.
When do you take the time to fast?"
He didn't have to say another word.
Willis had to admit that we Americans don't fast much.
I am not aware of a single Baptist church in our state that
fasts regularly.
#63411
V. Food as religion.
A. For many people, food seems to be their faith.
1) It goes beyond a simple health perspective to almost being
an obsession.
A recent New Yorker magazine had a cover that showed
city people in old-fashioned stocks - the kind where
your head and hands are locked into a wooden frame.
One had the label "Carbs."
Another said "Sugar."
A warning sign said, "Don't feed the backsliders." [2]
2) For the secular, food has replaced sex as the ultimate taboo.
a) Food has to be locally grown, organic, free from
additives and not genetically engineered.
b) They don't care who they have sex with, but their
strawberries had better be pure!
B. Vegetarianism has long had a religious motivation.
1) It is popular in Eastern religions, and in India.
a) Many young people in the United States have adopted it.
b) Over by the old traffic circle there is a small
restaurant called "Loving Hut."
It is actually part of a Vegan chain, which is
ultra-strict vegetarianism.
It is operated by a group that some consider a cult.
They usually have a TV running is tuned to the Supreme
Master Channel.
They broadcast their beliefs while you eat.
One patron said he found out if we all went vegetarian
and meditated we can turn this super sun from
catastrophe to a new level of awesomeness on Earth. [3]
2) There are moral motivations to be vegetarian.
a) It causes no cruelty to animals.
b) It is better for the environment because beef and other
livestock requires far more resources per calorie.
3) There are also Biblical arguments.
a) Adam and Eve were vegetarians, at least at first.
Genesis 1:29 says,
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant
on the face of the whole earth and every tree
that has fruit with seed in it.
They will be yours for food."
b) Jesus, however, was not a vegetarian.
1> He ate fish, even after he was resurrected.
2> And in Genesis 9:3, God gives animals to humans
for a food source.
c) You can certainly be a vegetarian if you wish, but
it is not a requirement for Christians.
VI. Don't let food steer you off-track.
A. Your biggest problem is not your mouth but your heart. Mark 7:18
1) Jesus said sin comes from our thoughts and not our food.
a) By this he let us know that all foods are spiritually
clean and acceptable.
b) The Apostle Paul said the same thing:
Romans 14:14
"As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced
that no food is unclean in itself.
But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for
him it is unclean."
c) In other words, food is bad only if you think it is bad.
1> You have to follow your conscience.
2) Many early Christians had hang-ups about food.
a) Most of the local meat came from pagan temples.
b) But Paul says we can eat any food -- if we are thankful
for it. 1 Timothy 4:3-4
c) As a matter of fact, he warns about people who say,
"Don't eat this," or, "Don't eat that." Col 2:20
1> This attitude is a throwback to the old legalistic
mindset.
2> Food restrictions sound spiritual, but they actually
build spiritual pride.
3> Fasting can have the same result if you are not
careful.
B. Food is not a replacement for God.
1) One woman's discovery.
Ten years ago, Kimberly Bensen weighed almost 350 pounds,
and she was miserable.
She says, "I remember thinking, I am eating myself to death
and I can't stop it. ...
I really felt hopeless, and that hopelessness was very
dark."
Her back hurt all the time, and her knees hurt all the time.
She was uncomfortable sleeping, and couldn't buckle up in
the car.
One day an amazing thing happened, and it wasn't at a
weight loss clinic.
It was at Kimberly's church in Trumble, Connecticut.
Kimberly was sitting in church and her pastor was talking
about how the Israelites craved meat more than God.
She remembered thinking, "Who can love meat, food, more
than God?
Think about it - God, food.
There's no comparison."
Then she just sat there and said, "That's me."
Where's my time and my focus and my enjoyment?
That's when I first realized that I had put food above God."
She prayed this prayer: "God, You know I love food more
than You.
I'm sorry. I really am.
But You can change that, God.
I can't change that, but You can change my heart.
O God, please."
She felt a stirring in her soul.
Just days later, at 347 pounds, Kimberly joined Weight
Watchers with a friend.
Then step by step, within two years Kimberly lost an
astonishing 212 pounds.
And she has kept it off.
#63794
2) How big is your appetite for God?
a) You will undoubtedly eat food today.
b) Will you have any spiritual hunger?
c) The only food that can satisfy you forever is the
food that comes from God.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Adapted from <http://www.nobeliefs.com/washingtonnews/EzekielBread.htm>.
[2] Cover of the New Yorker by Bruce McCall, June 6, 2011.
[3] Comment by Yelp reviewer “Kate S.” of Seattle, Washington,
<http://www.yelp.com/biz/loving-hut-seattle>, March 1, 2012.
#63411 “A Visitor’s Piercing Question,” Steve Willis, Baptist Press,
http://www.baptistpress.org, November 18, 2011.
#63794 “When Food Was Her God,” Gorman Woodfin, March 13, 2005,
http://www.cbn.com/700club/features/kimberly_bensen_041305.aspx>
#63881 “Baptists Are the Fattest, Adapted from the January 31, 2008, issue
of the Baptist Messenger, the newspaper of the Baptist General
Convention of Oklahoma.
<http://erlc.com/article/baptists-the-fattest-of-the-fat/>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
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