6-7-09 Hungry For More?

Big Idea: For many American’s food is an idol. We have become more dependent upon food than we are upon God. We have two voids within our bodies. One is a stomach; the other is our soul. We often times eat, not because are stomach is hungry, but because our soul is hungry for more of God. Fasting allows our souls to be filled with God’s goodness.

2 weeks ago we started this 3 part series on being hungry. We started the series asking the question “What are you hungry for?” And we said that we are hungry at least 3 times a day for food, but there is a greater reality that we should hunger for as well. We are called to hunger for Jesus who is the bread of life. We said that we have two voids within us. One is our stomach; food satisfies our stomach. But we have another void called our soul and it’s only God through the presence of his Holy Spirit that satisfies our soul.

Then last week we talked about fasting. We said that most of us don’t particularly like to fast, because we don’t understand it. Fasting make us weak physically, but strong spiritually. We have two voids within us; our stomach and our soul. We keep trying to fill our stomachs with food (even when we are not hungry), when the real need and real hunger is our soul that is craving to be filled. We’re going to talk more about that today.

This morning, I’d like to tie both of those last two sermons together. You will hear some familiar things in what I say today, but we’re going to take both of those messages and push them a bit farther. If you missed one or both of the other messages, this message will still make sense (hopefully), but it will not be as strong. Again, like last weeks’ message, I am much indebted to Mark Buchanan and his book Your God IS Too Safe for this sermon.

We often times eat, not because are stomachs are empty, but because there is an emptiness inside of us. We are hungry for something else. Our stomach is not the only void in our lives that needs to be filled. There is a vacuum shaped place in our hearts that can only be filled with God. Often times we eat, not because we are hungry, but because we confuse the emptiness of our soul with the emptiness of our stomachs.

Fasting reveals what’s in our hearts. Fasting is like a drudging process that brings to the surface that which is way down in my soul. Fasting is a purifying process much like panning for gold was for gold miners. When people pan for gold, they dip their pans into the bottom of a streambed and then they begin to swirl the pan around in circles under water. Because the gold is much heavier than the other rocks and dirt, everything but the gold floats to the top and get whisked away by the current. All you’re left with is the gold in your pan.

Fasting scours all kinds of goodies up off the stream bed of our souls and all the impurities are brought to the surface. The reason why most of us don’t like to fast is because we don’t like feeling all the things that come to the surface.

When we feel like we’re getting hungry, most of the time we are not really hungry. What we’re trying to cover over our need for God – a hunger for the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) – a hunger for love, joy, and peace in our soul, but instead our souls are filled with things like hurt, loneliness, anxiety, stress, fear, or anger.

When I get hungry, I’m more aware of these things, but it’s not really very comfortable being aware of these things, so I tend to push these unwanted feeling back down with a  bag of Corn Chips and a root beer.

If I’m angry, usually a hamburger and a milkshake will take care of that. If I’m resentful, irritated, or fearful, I can usually knock those feelings down with a supreme pizza. If I’m depressed, or embittered with a sense of life’s unfairness, I can usually push those feelings back down with chocolate, it doesn’t matter what kind, just as long as it’s chocolate.

Hunger strips away the disguise of what’s really there. We don’t like to fast because we don’t like coming face to face with all the junk that is drudged up from the pit of our soul. But if we don’t fast and if we don’t come face to face with it, then we will never really understand our need for God’s grace and redemption. If we don’t ever come face to face with the emptiness of our soul, we will never fully be hungry for God.

Anybody here ever try to diet? How’d it go? Did you make it to your goal? Are you at the weight that you want to be at now? Why not? It’s because you can’t stop eating. There is a hunger within you, I’ll grant you that, but what are you truly hungry for?

Now, I’ll confess that food has become an idol for me. I don’t just like food, I love food. Tim McGraw has a song whose chorus fits my need for food. It goes something like this.

“I like it, I love it, I want some more of it; I try so hard, can’t rise above it.”

Now, Tim’s talking about a little girl’s lovin’, but it’s the same for all things that we love. I like food, I love it, and I want some more of it. I love food and our culture loves food. I am a man of stuffed lips and we live among a people of stuffed lips. Our preoccupation with food is absolutely absurd.

(have Food magazine) Look at any magazine and there’s page after page of succulent, air-brushed, glistening food that makes my mouth water. The food always looks better on the page than it does when anyone that I know makes it. It’s like culinary pornography – food pornography.

Our culture has turned eating into an idol. Food has become an idol. We overemphasize the pleasure of eating, but we downplay the nutritional value. When I look at this air-brushed food, the question that I ask myself is not, “Is the food good for me,” but rather, does it look good and taste good?” Most of us are not primarily eating to satisfy a hunger in our bellies, but rather we are attempting to satisfy a craving in our soul. 

When the serpent tempts Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit, what is it that makes them indulge in it?

It was pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. Genesis 3:6

They had a whole garden laden with every good food. They were full, but because it looked good, they had to have it. I know this. I might be stuffed to the gills, barely able to move, but if someone offers me something that is desirable to the eye and pleasing to my palate – something that is sweet or rich or salty. I have to have it. I just need some of that in my mouth.

Oh, I know that it will clot my arteries, clog my heart, and rot my teeth, but who cares it tastes good. I may have to unbutton my pants to make room for it, but I’ll do it. At that point, I’m eating not because I’m hungry, not because I need nourishment, but because that food looks good and tastes good.

Did I mention that there is a simple theological name for that? It’s called idolatry. The reason the people of God fast is because it keeps food from being an idol. An idol is anything that we trust our life to. An idol is anything that we are addicted to. An idol is anything that makes us bow to it if we don’t have it.

Eating and fasting was a rhythm in the ancient world, because the people didn’t want to worship anything but God and they found that if they didn’t fast, then they became a people who made food an idol.

The reason I get a headache when I fast is because I am withdrawing from the addiction of food. The headache that I get is the same one that an alcoholic gets when they go through the drying out process. I have an addiction. Fasting keeps that in check.

There are two voids within a human being that need to be filled regularly. The first one we are very familiar with – that’s our stomach. I have no problem remembering to fill that void. The second void is not easily recognizable until we fast. The second void can only be satisfied with the Spirit of God – with God’s love. We try to put all kinds of things into this void, but nothing ultimately satisfies the craving that comes from that void except God’s love.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment in all of life is to Love God with all that we are – to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, because God is called to be at the center of everything in our lives, because when the Holy Spirit fills your soul and mine, he meets the deepest cravings of our heart.

Communion

Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:26-28 (NIV)

Life link:

• Do you have a favorite food or foods that your would eat even if you were stuffed to the gills?

• Was there anything in Sunday’s message that intrigued you, puzzled you, or challenged you?
• Why do you eat even when you’re not hungry?
• Did you know that you have two voids within you – your stomach and your soul – and that each one of them hungers to be filled? Do you ever feel or comprehend the emptiness and longing of your soul? How does your soul get filled up? What fills it up? How is that good?
• Have you ever thought about food as an idol? What is an idol? How can food be an idol?
• Have you ever thought about food as an addiction? How would you define an addiction? Does food in your life qualify as an addiction?
• Why is it important to fast?
• How does fasting show our love to God? How does it bring heaven to earth?