Author: Valerie Horn

The Virtue in the Vice /

The Virtue in the Vice: Communion, not Gluttony

The Virtue in the Vice: Communion, not Gluttony

Robin McGonigle
University Congregational Church
April 3, 2022

I Cor. 11:17-34
One of the lost things I missed most during Covid was a delightful, fine meal, eaten slowly with beloved friends at a nice restaurant. An evening out in the company of good friends lingering over a glass of wine at a table is one of life’s great blessing. In the Bible, one of the great metaphors for the kindom of God is a banquet – and many of us can imagine why. When we dine with others we love and enjoy tasty food – well, it is delightful.
Food is a good thing… a necessity for life itself. But too much of a good thing is not good for us. Gluttony is listed as one of the seven deadly sins. It is sad to note that while much of the world is starving, Americans eat ourselves (literally) to death. 60% or more of us are overweight. Gluttony is not only about eating too much – it is about eating for the wrong reasons. Gluttony is about a deeper hunger in the soul itself. Gluttony can include trying to fill that hunger in the soul with alcohol and other drugs. In fact, gluttony is often closely related to lust and to sloth.
I will also point out that gluttony is self-indulgent and contributes to the societal problem of others not having enough. As Robin Meyers’ notes in his book, The Virtue in the Vice, “We walk down city streets on our way to the newest restaurant, making sure that we step over or around the homeless. We are offended if they ask for spare change, but we spend more on a bottle of wine than it would cost to feed and clothe them for a month. Gluttony is not just irrational. It is immoral.”
As we have in this sermon series, we are not focusing on the vice – instead, we are looking at the virtue in the vice. For this week, the virtue in gluttony is communion! While many of us in this congregation may think that the highest and most sacramental form of eating in the church is fellowship time or potluck
dinners, it is not! Unlike gluttony, communion satisfies the hungry heart. It is obvious that the small portion of food and drink we receive from the communion table is not enough to fill the stomach, but somehow, there is always enough for everyone at the table.
The difference is between quality and quantity. With communion, we eat to live – not live to eat. As Robin Meyers’ writes, “Communion… connects us to the earth, to thankfulness, and to the author of every good and perfect gift… the opposite of a glutton is not (someone) who counts out beans on his (or her) plate and drinks water without ice. The opposite of a glutton is a (person) for whom food is a means to an end, not an end unto itself. It is (a person) who uses food and loves people.”
Food brings us together. As a parent, I thought that one of the most important places in our family home was the dining table. At the table, I encouraged my children how to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. I also taught them how to set a table with silverware and good dishes. I taught them how to have conversation with others, including adults, about important things –
• the events of their day food
• things happening in the community
• world events
• ideas
• subjects of interest to them and others
• questions of moral and ethical importance
• express gratitude
A number of people have commented that my children were able to converse with adults at an early age. I believe they learned these things at the dinner table. Having a theology of food is important. The Bible spells out, in many locations, teachings about how and what to eat and the theological significance of food. One such place there is a specific teaching about food is our traditional word for today: Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some
extent I believe it. Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine. When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you! For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. I Cor. 11:17-34 The apostle Paul was offering in this writing a theology of communion and of eating together. When Christians eat together – whether it is at communion (a symbolic meal) or just at a dining table in someone’s home – we share mutuality and respect. We do not belly up to a trough and gulp or slobber. We look one another in the eyes, share words of hope and encouragement and share nourishment for the soul. The purpose is to share what we eat, but it bonds us as friends. My New Testament professor and mentor Dennis Smith authored books about this and always claimed that those who shared in a common meal had a social obligation to one another. If I share a meal with you, I have an obligation to you… I am bound to you. He is echoing the apostle Paul’s warnings in I Cor.
Even eating alone can be a sacramental experience. The food is still a blessing, and the spirit of God is the unnamed table guest. We are grateful because we have available food. We are among the privileged of the world. Food is not morally neutral; it is precious because it sustains what is precious – the creation of God. Millions of people do not have enough food. The virtue of communion is the antidote to gluttony. Associated with communion are community and thankfulness. These qualities turn all eating into a communion of sorts. Communion is what turns every table from a trough into an altar. As Meyers’ writes, “Gluttony teaches us to devour, while communion teaches us to savor.” Let me end with a story. It was 1991 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 9,000 people had gathered from all over the world to elect a new General Minister for my denomination. The candidate who was nominated was Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, one of the most prominent and influential ecumenical leaders and educators of our time. He later served as the General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ. He was a seminary and university professor and served as Dean of Lexington Theological Seminary. But there was one problem. He was accepting of LGBTQ people. The vote on Dr. Kinnamon was divisive at the assembly and required 67% approval. Some congregations bussed people in from across the country to sway the vote. Out of the nearly 9,000 in attendance, the vote was not approved by about sixty votes. The sting and disillusionment I felt with the vote went to my very soul. I did not know if I could stay with the church or in ministry after the cruel things that were said. It was a crushing defeat for many of us who thought Dr. Kinnamon was the right person to lead our denomination into a bright new future of ecumenicism and unity. The next morning, 9,000 people dispersed to the many congregations in Tulsa to worship – as is the custom at these assemblies. Dr. Kinnamon had been invited to preach at a small church and it overflowed with people 2 hours before the worship service began. People were sitting on the floor in the aisles and on the chancel. People were standing in the foyer and Sunday School classroom, where the sound was piped in. There were people standing outside and the windows were open. The church was packed to overflowing. It just so happened that I was standing in an aisle near Dr. Kinnamon’s wife, whom I had never met. She was also a minister. When the communion plates came to her – it was obvious that this small congregation had not prepared for the overwhelming numbers of
people who came that morning. A few small communion chips were left in the plate and only 5-6 cups on juice were left and many rows of people were remaining. This faithful woman took quick inventory and did something shocking. She took a small communion chip in her palm and crushed it and shared it with many around her (at least twenty of us), offering us a crumble and said, “This is the bread of heaven.” And then she dipped her finger in the cup and touched our lips and said, “This is the cup of life.” It was a moment I will always remember. My parched and empty soul was filled to overflowing. I went home from the assembly renewed and ready to work even harder for my values! A simple shared meal is the principal sacrament of human existence. We live around the table, and in sharing our lives – not just our bread – we are satisfied. The tiny bits of bread and wine at the table we share during communion are not quantified as much. But if you find that quality and add the community to it – it is more than enough to fill our souls to overflowing.
Resources Used:
Meyers, Robin R. “The Virtue in the Vice”. Deerfield Beech, Florida: Health Communications, Inc. 2004.

The Way of the Other /

“The Way of the Other:  We are ALL Others”

Robin McGonigle

University Congregational Church

Jan. 2, 2022

“The Way of the Other:  We are ALL Others”

Matt. 7:12

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.”                                                                                 Matthew 7:12

“Do to others.”  Who is this “other”?  The Bible is chock full of stories about “the other.” 

  • There is the Prodigal Son – the son who wants his early inheritance and goes out to spend it on wine and women!
  • And then there is the other sheep – the one who gets lost when all the good sheep are safe in the pen with their shepherd.
  • We are to “turn the other cheek;” “carry one another’s burden’s;” “treat one another as we want to be treated;” “forgive one another;” and “love one another” as God loves us.

One of our contemporary word quotes for today comes from Kamand Kojouri and says, “We reveal most about ourselves when we speak about others.”  I really like this!  What we say about our friends tells something about us.  But what we say about everyone else tells even more about us!  How we treat one another tells so much about our own character.

When we were growing up, my brother and I were encouraged to memorize scripture.  He is four years younger than me, so I was quite amused when he misquoted our traditional word for today.  He regularly and repeatedly (and I think purposely) got it wrong when he said, “Do unto others as they do to you!”  Unfortunately, there are many adults who function as if this is a reasonable way to treat people.  Do as they do, instead of do as you would want them to do to you.

Repeatedly, the New Testament writers exhort believers to engage in specific activities and attitudes toward those “outside” their normal circles.  As spiritual teacher, the late Henri Nouwen wrote, “Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring people over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” 

The Greek word alle´lon (pronounced al-lay’-lone), translated as “one another” is used 58 times in the New Testament. Paul utilized it most often, using it 40 of the 58 instances in the New Testament. Since some of them are repeated, for instance “love one another” is found 17 times in the New Testament, or almost one-third of the total, we end up with 22 separate “one another” commands.

When you take them all together, you realize that this is an important, though neglected, New Testament priority.  Andy Stanley said of the early church: “The primary activity of the church was one-anothering one another.”  What does it mean to “one-another” one another?  It can look like offering a ride; sending a card; taking a meal; offering a hug; calling on the phone to show support; surprising someone with a token gift or note; meeting them for coffee; inviting them over for an evening; taking time to listen… the list is endless.  And frankly, friends, at UCC during COVID, we need to do more of this.  We need to one-another one another.  It has been a long 2 years.  And we are all increasingly feeling like “others.”

Over the next few weeks, we are going to look a few of these significant actions or attitudes Christians ought to have toward one another.  Each week, we will look at a Biblical story with someone who was an outsider at the center… and what we can learn from the story and the outsider.  We will look at:

            -Jonathan and David

            -Elijah & the 8th century prophets

            -the pagans and the Gnostics

            -Paul & Thecla

            -Ruth & Naomi

            -Cornelius, the Centurion & Simon the Tanner

            -The Good Samaritan

And today, we are going to even talk about how each one of us is an “other.”  I will not ask you to raise hands… but if we are to be honest, my guess is that all of us feel like an “other” periodically.  It is easy to trick our inner dialog into thinking that everyone else feels like they belong and that we are one of the few who feel left out.   The truth is that the most popular, the prettiest, and the best among us also feel alone.  We all feel lost at times.  We all feel isolated and left out.  We all want to be included.  We can all feel anxious.

But, as Desmond Tutu, who was a wise advocate for the inclusion of all people during Apartheid in South Africa said, “In God’s family, there are no outsiders, no enemies.”  I loved that man.  I was so blessed to hear him speak at a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly in 1989, and though he was small in stature, his authentic presence and his genuine smile captured the large room with 6,000 in attendance.   “In God’s family, there are no outsiders, no enemies.” 

To treat one another as we want to be treated, we must employ empathy.  And to employ empathy, we need to understand their perspective.  Here are some ways to increase our empathy… we can ask them friendly questions about their point of view.  This is not only good practice, but also an imperative for Christian living.

1. We might be wrong, and they might be right.

In Acts 17, Luke contrasted two groups of people, the Jews in Berea and the Jews in Thessalonica. I am certain both groups of Jews were diligent students of Scripture, but what made the Jews in Berea “more noble” than those in Thessalonica was their willingness to listen to another perspective about Scripture. The apostle Paul came to each city and preached a brand-new idea. One group disagreed and refused to even listen to Paul’s differing perspective. But the Bereans listened eagerly, comparing what Paul said to Scripture “to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

We ALL assume we are right about what we think. When we hear something that differs with our opinion, we say, “I disagree!” But we need to learn to say, “Tell me more; I want to understand where you’re coming from,” because it may turn out they are right, and we are wrong.

If we are going to be people who learn and grow, we must stop looking to win arguments and start looking to discover truth.

2. We need to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Loving your neighbor as yourself means “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”

  • We want others to take time to hear us out – so we need to do it for them.
  • We want others to try to understand where we are coming from – so we need to try to understand them.
  • We appreciate when people try to understand what we are saying before writing us off – so we need to try to offer the same to them.

Let us treat our neighbor the way we want to be treated. Let us try to understand where they are coming from; if for no other reason than that is what we wish others would do for us.

This does not mean you have to accept their position as being correct. It does not even mean you cannot try to change their mind. But it does mean we recognize it is NOT loving to try to persuade someone before you even understand them. Strive to understand before you strive to be understood.

3. We need to know what is (and is not) honorable in their sight.

In Romans 12, the apostle Paul was explaining what it looks like to live in step with the gospel. He was explaining how Christians are to treat one another, their neighbors, and even their enemies. In verse 17 he says, “give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” That is a command that would totally transform our lives, if we would let it.

The phrase, “give thought” means to “consider in advance.” It is forethought. Paul says we need to consider in advance “to do what is honorable in the sight of all.” In other words, give forethought to how other people will perceive our actions. How can we give forethought to that unless we first understand our neighbors’ point of view?

To be a person of truly Christian conduct, we MUST find out how other people think. We must try to see things through their eyes. We must try to see ourselves, our words, and our behavior through their eyes. This is the only way we can “live peaceably with all” (vs. 18).

It might be a cultural issue like “Black Lives Matter.” It might be a political issue like which party or candidate to support. It might be a religious issue like how to worship. The question is, do we really understand the other’s perspective? Have we sat down with people who hold another point of view? Have we just listened? Have we said, “Would you explain this to me? I really want to understand.”

I would like to see people doing this more often – listening to one another… trying to understand other perspectives. To seek to understand before seeking to be understood…. Treating one another the way we would like to be treated… offering empathy instead of judgement… realizing that we are all “the other” at some point.

If everyone listening today would employ these actions this week, we could impact our community in a direct way!

Resources Used:

Radicallychristian.com  “Why You Need to Try to Understand Other People’s Perspectives”.  By Wes McAdams.  Sept. 21, 2016.