EZEKIEL 34:11-17

PSALM 95:1-7

1 CORINTHIANS 15:20-28

MATTHEW 25:31-46

Sermon – 11/24/02

Today’s famous Gospel passage is the final description by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel of The Last Judgment – what will take place when he returns to earth and brings about the end of history as we know it and ushers in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus’ final teaching before the Last Supper focuses our attention not on abstractions of theology but on our actions – or inactions – on whether or not we live our faith. Have we fed the hungry, offered something to drink to the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, cared for the sick, visited those in prison?

For, as Christ commands or admonishes us, “As you did it – or did it not – to the least of these members of my family, you did it – or did it not – to me.”

Today’s Gospel is the classic text for Christian outreach ministries. It hovers in our minds when we serve food at Elijah’s Promise, take flowers from the altar to someone who is sick – and also when we welcome “the stranger” to our services, any one of whom could be Christ in disguise. This Gospel passage is a wake-up call to those who think Christianity is only about personal piety and morality or assention to theological concepts: in addition to those things, Christianity is about what we do for those in need, not just those we know but for anyone who is “a member of Christ’s family” – that is, everyone.

It was on this Sunday the last time this Gospel was read, three years ago, that we launched our involvement in helping Christ Church, New Brunswick host the Men’s Shelter for two weeks in the winter, and a good ministry that is.

But today I’d like to look at these Scriptures from a different angle. When we hear the words, “Did you visit those in prison?” we might think of the ministries of trained lay visitors or clergy going into jails and penitentiaries and striving to reach the incarcerated with the life-changing Gospel of Christ – also a good thing.

But there is more than one kind of prison.

So today, let’s consider the prison of addiction.

Addiction can lock a person into a pattern of behavior just as well as a prison of steel bars can. Addiction can limit a person’s freedom just as much as a prison of steel bars can.

And addiction, like some sentences in prisons of steel bars, can also be for life.

And a “life sentence” from addiction can in some cases last a very short time. And when the “life sentence” ends in death, the addict sometimes metes out the same sentence of death to others.

According to last Friday’s Star-Ledger, 39.8% of all traffic deaths in New Jersey in 2001 were alcohol-related. And Mothers Against Drunk Driving gave New Jersey a “C” in its “report card” on the states, in part for the legislature’s failure (so far) to lower the legal limit for blood alcohol level. Our state gets a “C” for “complacency”.

According to the July 2002 issue of Discover magazine, alcohol contributes to about 100,000 deaths annually in America. Yes, the more exotic and illegal drugs (like heroin, cocaine and ecstasy) get lots of coverage (and they should), but what harms more people is a drug that’s legal and has been around since Noah: alcohol.

In fact, “The National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence claims that more than 13 million American adults are alcoholics, and another 76 million have been affected by an alcoholic in the family.”

The aforementioned Discover article also declares that “2/3 of the American population drinks, but half of all booze is consumed by only 10% of the people in this country.”

I’d have to say that all those are “sobering” statistics – except that statistics alone never got anyone sober. It takes – well, let’s listen to today’s Scriptures again to hear what it takes.

“Did you visit those in prison?” Jesus asks. This, the first of my three points this morning is addressed to those who can hear my voice who are already in 12 Step Recovery Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Alanon (for families and very close friends of alcoholics), Narcotics Anonymous (for recovering drug addicts) and Families Anonymous (for drug addicts). What this sentence from this Gospel means for you is, “Have you done any 12^th Step work lately?”

Let’s all take out the insert to our bulletins marked “Family Addiction and Healing” and look at the bottom of page one, where the 12 Steps of A.A. are listed. The 12^th Step is, “having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Please note this opportunity for outreach is for those who have worked and are working on the first eleven steps, who are in a position to reach out to those imprisoned by addiction with the Good News that a Power greater than themselves could restore them to sanity – once they admitted they were powerless over alcohol – or drugs – or someone else’s use of either.

Whether the person chooses to come out of prison is up to that person, but those who do 12^th Step visits to people can say to our Lord, “Yes, Lord, I visited those who were in prison.”

My second point is addressed to everyone. We can be glad at the role St. Barnabas takes in supporting the Recovery movement merely by hosting four A.A. meetings a week – which are always listed in the newsletter calendar, in the bulletin and usually on the Voice Mail tape. We can also be glad of the booklets we make available regularly on our tract racks, plus the information packed into today’s insert. Please take it home and read it. Pass it on. Ask for more. Our Church is interested in saving lives. Being in recovery from addiction – a life long process – is a life-saving business and a life-transforming business, and if the Church is not about saving and transforming lives it has no business being in business. This is just one of the ways we do it, but it is one of the ways.

And the Episcopal Church reaches far, far beyond our parish, including in the ministries of G.O.A.L. (Global Outreach for Addiction Leadership) featured on the back of the insert [and about which we will hear briefly today from our new parishioner, Terry Webb]. Addiction is an equal-opportunity disaster crossing boundaries of race, income, language and geography.

My final point this morning is for those who are actually in the prison of addiction themselves, who may be feeling very defensive or even angry right now. If so, that means you’re paying attention, which is good.

I will ask the following questions in hopes of saving and transforming some lives. Please answer, silently, for yourself:

“1. When you have trouble or feel under pressure, do

you drink more heavily than usual?

2. Have you noticed that you are able to handle more alcohol than you did when you were first drinking?

3. Do you sometimes gulp drinks?

4. When drinking with other people, do you try to have a few extra drinks when others will not know it?

5. Are there certain occasions when you feel uncomfortable if alcohol is not available?

6. Do you sometimes feel guilty about your drinking?

7. Have you ever switched brands or followed different plans for controlling your drinking?”

That’s the National Council on Alcoholism questionnaire. If your answers have raised concerns in your own mind, check out the resources in your Recovery Sunday insert.

I know well that it is amazing what people can get used to and themselves start to consider “normal” and therefore something that “doesn’t need to be changed” or “can’t be changed.” The behaviors in the questionnaire are not “normal” in the sense of healthy. And they can be changed.

Because God wants all people to experience life in its fullness – not just “survival” while in the prison of addiction, until the death sentence is carried out. God wants us all to experience life before death (as well as afterwards). God also reaches out to us to heal us.

God tells us as much in the first Scripture reading: “Thus says the Lord God, ‘I myself will search for my sheep and I will seek them out...I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured...’” God offers us life. NOW.

I once said to a parishioner who was in Recovery, “The way I see it, you get to celebrate Easter and new life in Christ twice a year – once on Easter and once on your anniversary of sobriety.” The person smiled and said, “No, actually, I celebrate Easter every day. Every day sober is new life.”

May everyone who is literally dying for Easter experience this kind of Easter, by the grace of God. There is a way out of prison through the 12 Steps.

Let us pray together The Serenity Prayer, on page six of the Recovery Sunday insert.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

(The Rev.) Francis A. Hubbard

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church