sloth is a slow-moving,
three-toed animal in South America that sleeps 22 hours a day. It just hangs
upside down from a tree branch and sleeps. But don’t make the mistake of
calling the sloth a sloth—lazy! It isn’t. The very nature of the sloth is to
be inactive—except when it’s suppertime. So it just hangs upside down, not
lazy, just doing what comes natural.
In this hurried,
intense world, we need more five-fingered sloths. Especially us A-types.
We’ve become workaholics. We’re so driven that we don’t live, we are
lived by our jobs, tasks, deadlines. I think some of us need to make like a
sloth and linger over a long lunch with a friend. Or lollygag aimlessly
through the woods with a person we love. Or spend a day doing nothing because
the demand of our job is about to do us in. When was the last time you put
your Daytimer® down to watch a
sunset? Just sitting there in silence alone to quiet your spirit and get
back in tune with God?
Relaxing, strolling,
lollygagging to refresh your soul is refreshing. But there is another kind of
sloth that we need to be aware of. This sloth comes from the Greek word,
akedia, which means “no caring.” Almost exactly what our word, apathy,
means, “without passion.” The deadly sin that goes by the same name as our
three-toed friend, has the power paralyze entire communities, churches, and
families. Sloth keeps us from loving; it just doesn’t care enough to get
involved.
Sloth is a couch
potato annoyed that someone would dare ring the door bell or call them up
during their favorite program. Sloth is a slow poisoning of the will so that
we just simply refuse to get involved if it requires any effort or
inconvenience.
Sloth makes us want
Christ, but only moderately: allows us to love Jesus, but only moderately;
allows us to follow Jesus, but only so far. Sloth is the sin that, according
to Dorothy Sayers, “cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes
with nothing, enjoys nothing, loves nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in
nothing, lives for nothing, and only remains alive because there is nothing it
would die for.”
Remember the parable
of the Good Samaritan? A guy gets thugged and left on the shoulder like a
road kill. But not to worry. Jesus tells us that it so happens that a
religious type walks by—a priest. He sees the man through the corner of his
eye, but he ignores the crumbled body and simply crosses the street, minds his
own business. Well, another passerby happens along—a Levite which is a rough
equivalent of a choir member. Not only does he see the man, but he actually
walks over the roughed up guy and gawks at him. But once his curiosity is
satisfied, he also crosses the street and goes on his way; he too refuses to
get involved. That’s what the deadly sin of sloth does to us. Sloth
prevents us from getting out of a limb, keeps us from any risk, and keeps us
self-protective and fearful of getting involved.
Did you follow the
story about Pope John Paul’s trip to Israel? He did a great service in the
name of Jesus. He came to Israel to apologize for what his Church did during
World War II. The Church he serves allowed sloth to keep them from standing
up for what is right when innocent people were being driven to their deaths.
He apologized that his Church didn’t break the silence and say what needed
saying about Hitler. Many Roman Catholic Christians risked their lives to
save Jewish people from death, but the Church leaders were silent; they simply
refused to say or do anything. That’s what sloth does to us. It turns us
into spectators.
In the movie,
Grand Tour, a group of people from the future goes back through time to
take a tour of past events. In their world of the future, they have solved
all problems of sickness, war, poverty, and natural catastrophes. But they’re
bored with their protected, perfect world. So they take tours to the past
when things weren’t quite so perfect. But theirs is not your usual Amish land
tour. These people tour what they call “spectacles,” great calamities of the
past. Since they know where and at what time the spectacle will appear, they
check into a nearby hotel and then from a safe distance, they simply become
spectators and watch the catastrophe unfold.
When the sin of
sloth gets its hooks in our life it turns us into spectators. Life becomes a
grand tour of observing, but rarely getting personally involved, not running
any risk, not loving.
In his book, The
Seven Deadly Sins, Tony Campolo says that folks split up when sloth is
wrapped around their relationship. It’s not enough to know what our marriages
need—more communication, less blaming, more listening, spending more time
together. Most troubled couples will agree that that is exactly what their
relationship needs. But Campolo says that many just simply reach a point
where they don’t want to expend the energy to fix what needs fixing. Scott
Peck agrees and says that sloth stands in the way of a growing healthy
relationship.
Sloth says to
the preacher, “Why should you study so hard? Why spend so much energy on
these people? They probably won’t know the difference if you just lay back
and throw something together at the last moment.”
Sloth says to
the choir, “All this work just to get rid of the “r’s” in our words! Do we
really need to do this? Can’t we just SING, for heaven’s sake, literally?”
Sloth says to
us, “What’s the big deal about missions? Why should we get lathered up over
the heifer project. There’s a hundred other churches out there that are
helping. Let’s just give some food to help our neighbors and put a few extra
bucks in the plate to keep the district off our backs.”
Sloth says,
“Why should I get involved in one of the teams at EUMC? Why should I
volunteer to work in our Sunday School or in the nursery? They don’t need
me; what difference does it really make? Don’t they know that I don’t do
kids?”
Sloth says,
“You’re doing them a real favor just to show up on Sunday morning; no one
should expect anymore than that.”
·
When the death of Calvin Coolidge was made public, someone
quipped, “But how can they tell?”
·
George Bernard Shaw once said that the epitaph for many people
should read, “Died at 30; buried at 60.”
·
You’re dead when the suffering of another causes you no pain.
·
You’re dead when your blood does not run hot in the face of
blatant injustice.
·
You’re dead when you evade the truth that hurts and accept an
easy lie.
·
You’re dead when you are not willing to put forth the energy to
save a dying relationship.
In 1 John 3, the writer aims at sloth when he
says, if we have the resources of time and money and yet close our hearts to
those who need our help, how can we claim that we love God?
And the
writer of James says, “my friends, what good is there in saying to brothers or
sisters in need “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well! -- but never giving
them from your personal treasures?” That’s not faith, that’s sloth, James
would say.
How can we pull the
hooks of apathy out of our lives and become more loving active people who
aren’t afraid to get involved?
First, don’t duck
the bullets. Simply confess you participation in sloth. Confess any excuses
that have kept you from loving this congregation, from loving your neighbors,
from loving others enough to do something about it. Let Jesus save you, let
him remove the hooks from your life.
Second, develop what
Wesley called a “rule of life.” That’s the strongest defense against
spiritual sloth. A rule of life is a simply plan that allows us to be formed
by Christ through daily Scripture reading and prayer, by regular church
attendance and the Lord’s Supper. The rule of life is a simple plan to
nourish the soul and resist sloth.
But we’re still
missing something. Without this missing piece, we’ll fall flat on our
face tomorrow morning when we try the rule of life for the first time. Before
you even think about trying to keep any rule of life, we need motivation!
Just propping ourselves up with new nerve won’t cut it.
The Holy Spirit is
the real Motivator in the Christian life. The Spirit will give you a thirst
and hunger for God that nothing else will. The Spirit will give you the sense
of direction, the sense of risk, and the energy to be different and better and
more loving. The Holy Spirit is Someone outside of ourselves outside or our
American culture, outside of Random House publishers who will heal our will
and empower us to love with action and risk.
The Holy Spirit will
allow you to see this world as God sees it. When God fills you with Himself,
the things that break the heart of Jesus will break our hearts. To be alive
in the Spirit is to view people through the eyes of Christ. So that whenever
we see anyone suffering, we will feel what Christ feels for that person and
seek to alleviate that suffering.
Sloth deadens, but
the Spirit gives life. Sloth is self-centered but the Spirit creates a
burning desire to change the world. Sloth will leave you unmoved and untouched
in the presence of God. But the Spirit will fill you with the power to love
again, to make the relationships better, to be better parents and kids, to get
involved again. Amen.
