Nuggs

Intro So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is the true food and my blood is the true drink.” Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Vice Paul tells the Ephesians “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.” Being drunk with wine is a metaphor for sinful activity, involving vices, our guilty pleasures. Any habit which is immoral or depraved weakens our faith and draws us into sin. These influences corrupt us and lead us away from our duties to each other and to God. Resisting these temptations is a challenging aspect to living a holy life by God’s commandments.

Moderation

God knows I have my own vices, and in my prayers I ask him for help. But I mostly pray for better control rather than abstinence. I’m preaching moderation. There is no level of asceticism that is necessary for salvation. In fact no work of man can ever be sufficient to earn heaven. Behaviour that is not harmful in moderation is only vice in excess. As for Paul’s example: wine grapes, and all of the fruits of creation, were made by God for us to enjoy. He didn’t say do not drink wine, he said do not get drunk with wine. Watching television, or eating rich food, or buying clothes or art or almost anything that makes us happy doesn’t sink to the level of a vice until we start to get drunk. Like being drunk, all vice comes with a loss of control, and the potential to damage us or others, physically or spiritually. If we think ahead, about medical problems like high cholesterol, then maybe a hamburger habit can really hurt us and the people who love us and depend on us. Maybe those TV shows we like are distracting us from a holy calling. It seems unlikely that TV and hamburgers are damaging my soul, but it’s possible. If you’re not sure your habits are temperate enough, then cutting back until you are sure. That’s between you and God.

Spirit

The pleasurable things that can lead us to sin are often healthy in moderation. The fruits of creation are not unholy. But if the fruits of creation are sweet then the fruits of the spirit are purer and sweeter still. That’s the alternative Paul offered the Ephesians. Instead of getting full of wine, get full of the spirit, and he didn’t mean distilled spirits. Drink in the Holy Spirit and sings psalms, and you will have pleasure unmatched ‘till the end of time. I said that self denial can’t bring salvation, and that good works don’t earn it. Doing good deeds will not fill you with the spirit. Sadly, there’s no guarantee that people who do good things are good people, but it is true that good people will naturally tend to do good works. Kindness and charity are symptoms of love for God and faith in his Son. When we drink deep of the Holy Spirit then all our efforts will be holy, and all our work pleasing to God. It’s up to us to try every day to choose faith instead of distractions. Less vices and more worship. We’ll never be perfect but with God’s help we can be better.

True Drink

In biblical times, they drank a lot of wine. Perhaps Paul was just specifically worried about drunks in the early church, but I interpreted it as a metaphor. Metaphor is perhaps not the right word for it, but there is a rather more famous use of wine as a symbol in our religion. The wine of communion is the opposite of debauchery; it is shed the forgiveness of sins, to remember the death and passion of the Son of God. It is the best, and ultimate, and symbolically the only way for us to drink in the spirit. When you eat and relax, if it’s your taste feel free to drink a glass or two of wine. Remember Saint Paul and don’t get drunk, for that is debauchery. But on communion Sundays, at the Eucharist, and also on Sundays like today at morning prayer, and perhaps every day when you go to sleep or whenever you have time to pray, and most of all when you are sorely tempted by sin and vice, remember that you don’t need to get drunk. Remember that you drink the True Drink, and eat the True Food, and he will lift you up on the last day, and you will have eternal life.

O Lord God we pray: save us from temptation with the awesome grace of your Holy Spirit, who fills us through unearnable blood. By that blood shed by your Son Jesus Christ, and the by living bread of His body, so do we live and pray, always in His name. Amen.