Ephesians 5: Getting Drunk

Getting Drunk

In Ephesians 5:18-19 (the text for this coming Sunday) we read:
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your heart (NRSV).

Those who have struggled with addiction to alcohol are some of my favorite Christians, because they seem to get grace, repentance and redemption in a very deep way.

The easy part of the text above is the "don't get drunk" part. However, I am concerned that we often read this as simply a word about too much alcohol. I think we need to say more than that. Many of the sins in our culture are sins of excess, sins of gluttony, sins of simply "too much." In other words, even for those who can count on one hand the number of times they had too much alcohol to drink (or perhaps have never had "too much"), most of us regularly "get drunk" on all sorts of things: excessive shopping, too much TV, too much technology... the list is probably endless. As a relative of mine once said: "Everyone has their vice."

What all of this excess leads to, as with alcohol, is a dulling of the senses, a lack of awareness of God and of the world around us. In other words, regardless of the object, "too much" is nearly always spiritually dangerous.

In contrast, Paul encourages the Ephesian Christians (and us!) to drink deeply of the Spirit. The verse above locates this deep drinking of the spirit in the center of the worship life of the Church: in particular in singing: hymns, songs and Psalms. The Psalms are a rich collection of prayers to God that form not just the first hymn book of the people of Israel but also for us as the Church. If you do not already have a weekly or daily practice of praying the Psalms, I would encourage you in that direction.

What are some other ways we drink deeply of the Spirit? Christians throughout space and time have centered on three or four disciplines of faith that put us in the right places and frames of mind to receive the Spirit:
1.) Prayer (daily, or multiple times daily)
2.) Fasting
3.) Works of Mercy/Charity
4.) Scripture Reading

But there is also a sacramental way that we drink deeply of the Spirit. In the Sacrament of Holy Communion we literally drink of the Holy Spirit as we receive the precious Body and Blood of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. We believe by eating and drinking.

May God the Holy Spirit fill you enfold you this week and always!

A few housekeeping items:

+ The "Church at Cherry's" Theology discussion continues this evening at 7 pm at Cherry's Pub on Front Street. This evening's topic will be: "The Way, the Truth and the Life?" exploring what it means that Jesus is the Way and how Christians relate to other religious traditions.

+ I am a bit behind in posting sermons from the past several weeks due to the New Orleans youth gathering and vacation, so please be patient. I am hoping to post Pastor Jim Miller's sermon from the Community Worship Service this past Sunday, but I have not yet checked the audio quality.

+ I am hoping to at some point consolidate this blog with my other one (revmatt.blogspot.com).