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Sermon
preached by The Reverend Eric Kimball Hinds at Saint Peter's Church,
Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Lessons: Jeremiah 14: (1-6) 7-10,19-22; Psalm 84:1-6; Timothy
4: 6-8, 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14 Losing God in an Addiction I used to spend a fair amount of time with Howard. I looked up to Howard. Among other things he was bright and sensitive, caring, artistic and funny. We liked one another's company. But one day, I'm not exactly sure when, Howard found another friend and gradually (barely noticeable at first) Howard spent more and more time with his new friend and there was and less time for me. At first Howard's friend wasn't a threat to his other relationships. She actually seemed to expand his circle of friends, but slowly and surely Howard eventually had less time for his family — let alone his old friends. Relationships began to get tricky and I watched as Howard's marriage steadily deteriorated and his family began to suffer. Howard became increasingly isolated from those he loved. His marriage ended and tragically his now long-term friend began to cause problems. Predictably, Howard's long-term relationship cost him his job and life was spiraling downwards out of control. Statistically speaking, many of you not only know someone like Howard but you have had close personal contact and experience with someone in Howard's position. Perhaps some of you have already guessed that I have been describing the classic scenario for a person who has developed a long-term relationship and addiction to alcohol. As alcohol is the most prevalent mind and mood altering drug available in our society, it should come as no surprise that the problems of its abuse are substantial. Now some of you may be anticipating that the next turn of the preacher's text will be an extended discourse on the evils of drink or abuse of other drugs of choice that may lead to addiction. I actually think that those dangerous waters are fairly well known and instead I am heading towards another point — and that is to examine what may underlie addictive behavior. In his book Addiction & Grace, Gerald May defines addiction in the following way. He says that "addiction exists wherever persons are internally compelled to give energy to things that are not their true desires." In other words "addiction is a state of compulsion, obsession or preoccupation that enslaves a person's will and desire." And May concludes that "Addiction sidetracks and eclipses the energy of our deepest, truest desire for love and goodness." If we are to take seriously May's definition, then we come to see addiction not as the desired destination of the addict but as the tragic result of heading off course. In religious terms, May asks us to consider that addiction displaces and supplants God's love as the source and object of our deepest true desire. That somehow for the addict God has been lost as the focus and center of one's life. It is not apparent from the posture of the Pharisee praying to God in front of the Temple in Jerusalem, but in his parable Jesus gives an account of another case of spiritual poverty — for the Pharisee is hopelessly wrapped up in the cult of his own aggrandizement at the expense of God and others. The Pharisee has neatly divided the world up into winners and losers and has blinded himself to an awareness of how and where God may be present in the world around him — even in the life of the lowly tax collector. The example of the tax collector is not offered to us as a model of perfection but rather as someone who has made a fundamental confession that God deserves a place of primacy in one's life. It sounds like such a simple point, yet in practice each of us falters in our attempts to keep God at the center of our lives. Twelve-step recovery programs operate on this basic principle. That the first casualty of addiction is spiritual nourishment and growth, and acknowledgment of our dependence upon God is a crucial part of making the first steps towards recovery. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter and speaks to everyone whose life has become unmanageable or out of balance. The promise of the Gospel is that our lives will begin to take on the proper spiritual dimension if we can simply and with sincerity utter the words of the tax collector: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." To do so places God as the object and focus of our greatest desire — and acknowledges that it is by God's grace that we are able to live a life worthy of God's calling. |
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