"Famished"
a condensed version of the
sermon delivered by Rev. Kirk Moore on Sunday, February 10, 2008 at Union Congregational Church, United Church of
Christ, in Somonauk, Illinois.
PODCAST of "Famished" (coming soon)
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Losing weight
I’m losing weight the old-fashioned way – eat less, eat more healthily, sit on my backside less, and be more active. I’m motivated and committed to the goal of losing enough weight so that the clothes I wore when I was at what I would call my healthiest fit again.
It’s still pretty early in the process, (as of today, I’ve lost 7 pounds) and I’m really hungry. (I know that when a person is dieting they’re not supposed to be really hungry – so let’s just say that I am still craving all the fun stuff.)
I have the desire to just down a quick hamburger (or 2 or 3) with some salty fries and then to experience a chocolate and caramel candy bar – just to satisfy this hunger.
In the back of my mind is this week’s Bible reading from Matthew 4:1-11 about how Jesus fasted and then was tempted in the wilderness.
And then I think a little deeper . . .
"I’m thinking that my hunger and desire for hamburgers, fries and chocolate for a day or two while I’m trying to stop being a glutton is AT ALL similar to Jesus’ fasting and being tempted?! I am such a product of a culture of affluence and excess!"
And I could get really discouraged and throw up my arms when I think like that. There’s no hope for me to do anything altruistic. I am so motivated by this culture of affluence and excess that I’ll never really get being truly hungry or truly needy.
But maybe there’s a better way to look at it. Since we live in a culture that has so much, maybe we can find some way to learn not only in spite of, but also because of the culture we live in. Maybe we can reframe the way we look at the hunger instead. Jesus was tempted when he was hungry and likely lonely in the wilderness. In that hunger and loneliness he found a strength that God provided.
We can put our trust in God in situations like these. But maybe those are too selfish to put alongside the things Jesus relied on God for.
God can provide the way – the motivation – the possibility of any of those things to happen in any person’s life.
But there’s another part of the story I want to bring into this – lest we think "If we just want it to happen, God will make it happen!"
Jesus was tempted to take the easy way out of his circumstances. Sure – the easy way out was selfish and the temptations were, at least to Jesus, ones of selfishness (except for that stones into bread one – who wouldn’t want a little bit of food when they were starving?) and maybe our "hunger" things aren’t at all selfish (at least not most of them.) But I still want to explore this "easy way out" idea.
What might be an easy way out of a situation that trusting on the mind and skills and persistence that God has blessed us with would be the better road?
For weight loss, maybe it’s crash diets that help us to put the weight back on quickly? The long term, difficult way involves real life changes.
You know – I’m having trouble coming up with examples for all of these. Maybe it’s sufficient to think in a "There’s no such thing as free lunch." kind of way. It’s not easy to be civil and kind and we can’t make someone be civil and kind but, as hard as it may be, if we all started being more civil and kind I think things would change.
It’s not easy to live for peace when there is so much that makes us angry and wanting to lash out and we can’t make others want to make peace a priority but, as hard as it may be, if we all started seeking and living for peace I think things would change.
It seems impossible to feed everyone in the world who is hungry and we can’t make anyone care more about hunger and disease in the world, but, as hard as it may be, if we all stopped consuming so much and instead shared our excess with the rest of the world I think things would change.
Does it seem too simple? Is there something missing from this equation? In these examples of kindness, peace and justice, where is there any mention of what God provides?
God is kindness, peace and justice. When we seek things like that, we do what God wants us to do. When we have a hunger for justice woven through love for all in God’s creation we are acting unselfishly and following God’s lead.
In our Bible reading today, Jesus experienced real, human hunger. He was tempted as he prepared to go "on the road" in ministry. He chose to trust God’s direction over any other direction. He had some easy ways out from his circumstances but he chose the way that didn’t begin with selfishness.
So whether it’s weight loss, charitable giving, achieving goals, or making a difference for good in the world, there are easy routes to getting results – but too often those routes have the likelihood of being harmful to us or to others. Too often there is selfishness woven into those routes. I think something we can learn from Jesus’ fasting and being tempted in the wilderness is this: Genuinely seeking God’s way in whatever we do is always a better option.
And in review, one final thing. As we seek God’s way in whatever we do, we can trust in God’s ability to get it done. We can experience the reality that God is the one who gives us strength and who can see the impossible done. And I think God wants us to work hard and to seek to do what seems impossible. And through that I think we can really realize that we can’t get it done with our own power and motivation. We have to work – expecting and trusting in God’s power. And I think we can trust most in God’s power when we’re famished.
Close with prayer.
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