A Sermon on Addiction
Perhaps we might choose to think of addiction as existing in a dark tunnel, with a sliver of light at the end, peeking out at us- encouraging us to step forward in our direction.
I’d like to start by reading an excerpt from Time Magazine: As fans around the world mourn the death of Matthew Perry, many are remembering the beloved Friends star for the ways in which he strove to help people recovering from addiction. Fifty-four-year-old Perry was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, prompting an outpouring of love for the actor as well as recognition of his longtime commitment to helping others get sober.
“The best thing about me, bar none, is that if somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t stop drinking, can you help me?’ I can say ‘yes’ and follow up and do it,” he said. “When I die, I don’t want Friends to be the first thing that’s mentioned. I want my dedication to helping others in their recovery to be the first thing that’s mentioned. And I’m gonna live the rest of my life proving that.”
His own experiences with abuse of both drugs and alcohol is something that Perry detailed in his autobiography titled Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing released in 2022.
He revealed the impact of his first drink at 14, that he was drinking consistently by 18
and how he navigated alcoholism while portraying Chandler Bing on the show “Friends” for years.He recounted his attendance at 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, He went 15 times to rehab, He detoxed 65 times, He faced one serious medical scare that put him on life support. And he spent $9 million trying to get sober himself, while also putting time and money into advocacy work to help others reach the same goal.
Fans, friends and Perry himself hoped that those efforts are forever remembered.
“When I die, I know people will talk about Friends, Friends, Friends,”
Perry wrote in his memoir.
“But when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go,
it would be nice if Friends were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people.
I know it won’t happen, but it would be nice.”
Rest in peace, Matt.
As I was writing this sermon, I was imagining how people might feel knowing they’d be sitting through a sermon on addiction.
I even chose to name the sermon something simple and obvious: A sermon on Addiction, so that anyone coming today who might feel triggered, could self-select if they were up to hear this sermon, or perhaps if they just needed to tune-in from the psychological safety of their own homes.
Some of us might feel anxious and uncomfortable.
Some of us might feel seen and heard.
Some of us might feel that while this topic is valuable, it doesn’t apply to them.
But I think we all have tangoed in some shape or form with addiction- if not in our lives, then certainly in the lives of someone you know, work with, or are related to..
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2021, More than 106,000 people in the U.S. died from drug-involved overdoses- these, include illicit drugs and prescription opioids.
https://nida.nih.gov/sites/default/files/images/2023-Drug-od-death-rates-1.jpeg
For reference, This number, in 1999 was under 20,000.
A study from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Researchers found alcohol-related deaths rose from 35,914 in 1999 to 108,791 in 2021.
Combined, alcohol and narcotics killed 214,791 Americans alone in 2021.
If you were to put these numbers as a city population and imagine that loss- it would look as if we lost the city of Des Moines Iowa, or Fayetteville, NC, or Frisco, Texas- or Cape Coral Florida or Little Rock Arkansas, or Salt Lake City, Utah, or Tallahassee Florida.-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
As of two years ago, , we are at the rate where addiction is removing one large metropolitan city of human beings off the map and into the ground.
One a year.
200,000 people a year.
200,000 people who have the potential to serve Christ,
to pay taxes,
to be educators,
and health care workers,
and fill the voids of our understaffed infrastructure.
200,000 people who could minister to others.
Locally, In New Orleans, There were 500 drug overdose death in New Orleans last year,
Because of these statistics I carry Narcan with me or in my car at all times.
We are lucky enough to live in a world where science and the dedication of scientists and researchers are able to create this quick- band aid.
It is not a final solution of course, but it is an immediate reversal of an overdose and can save a life.
I believe in a God of resurrection. Of a God who awakens Lazarus, and raises Christ from the pits of hell. Our God is one who can turn the night into day.
But this is all alot to take in, isn't it?
There are a few parts in our Scripture that address sobriety.
1st Thessalonians is perhaps the most commonly used.
It’s a very interesting piece of writing, and has been used out of context by many in power.
It is often taught as a lesson in eschatology which means the doctrine of “last things”, as a lesson on Christ’s return and how we as Christians are expected to be awake and ready for when that time comes.
It says, The Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
I do kind of love the oppositional imagery in this scripture- Day Lord, Night, Thief.
By using this language, the writer of Thessalonians (which is Apostle Paul) Paul contrasts believers to non-believers of the authority of Christ.
Believers being those who belong to the Lord as illuminated, awake, watchful and sober.
And non-believers being the equivalent of thieves who belong to the night,
shrouded in secrecy and darkness,
separated by the light of God’s love due to the sin.
One sec- I have to take a quick detour here-
because due to the sad and sinful nature of slavery and racism,
I must add that there is a reparation to be made by Christians for harm done to communities of color by this imagery throughout history to support claims of white superiority.
By no means does the light vs darkness motif this refer to skin color when Apostle Paul speaks of darkness,
and it is to our great shame that Christians have used this text and other Pauline texts to manipulate, control, abuse and inflict inhumane acts on people of color
under the guise of approval by this scripture and by other things that Paul has written.
I want to be extraordinarily clear,
that light and day do not refer to white skin.
Darkness and night does not mean brown skin.
These misinterpretations are racist and acutely incorrect from the original text and meaning.
I am sorry that these holy words have been used to cause harm.
These images of children of lightness and darkness actually come from a long history of the culture of that time in which those who were children of the light were enlightened to a certain belief system.
Darkness was a powerful image used to push the message along with a lack of spiritual insight.
Paul here is also equating sobriety- and awareness to being in the light of day,
And drunkenness as a representation of being unaware, unable to see clearly.
In this passage, Paul is asking us as believers to be present, aware and prepared for when Christ does return.
It sounds like a simple task at hand, much like a mother leaving a small list of chores for her children to complete while she runs to the store.
Yet, being present, aware, and prepared is difficult in the midst of being a human being.
Free from whatever distractions numb us, so that we might be able to make it one more day.
If we are- every single last one of us on this Earth- are God’s children, and as Thessalonians says- children of the light, and children of the day”
Then how come we live in a world where there is so much darkness?
Perhaps we might choose to think of addiction as existing in a dark tunnel, with a sliver of light at the end, peeking out at us- encouraging us to step forward in our direction.
And it is so easy to step into that dark tunnel- there are so many easy ways to get suckered in to a dangerous habit.
There’s gambling addiction,
shopping addiction,
technology addiction
and the last category which I think is the least recognized is work addiction and an addiction to a full calendar.
Because what happens when we stop imbibing and feeding these distractions?....
The numbness begins to fade and the raw wounds began to bubble up. We begin to remember past traumas, heartbreaks, suppressed grief.
The memories, the problems, the broken relationships, the debt, our failures….
When you sober up to the world around you,
that’s where the rubber meets the road.
I have watched many people I went to school with,
and knew growing up went through this process. I have watched drugs and alcohol drain the light from their eyes, chipping away at bright minds and athletic potential and have seen addiction steal the life away from people I cared about.
Some are in active recovery, some are alive and still in their addictions, some did not survive.
I think this passage from Thessalonians is demanding though that we fight-
That we go through withdrawal from whatever it is we are using to numb ourselves so as to avoid that inevitable healing journey.
And awaken to the world around us, so we can truly serve.
If not for you, then for Christ. For your children.
Because if you have walked in these valleys, and come out on the other side- you are able to operate as a guide to those who are still in the darkness of night.
When you fight your addiction, you have an opportunity to transmute that addiction into something bigger than yourself-
You reclaim a sense of purpose.
You make meaning of the past.
That is enlightenment- that is the light of the day.
And with every Narcan application,
every AA, NA meeting attended,
With every stint in rehab,
With every raised hand, asking for help-
We are given hope to begin anew.
There is something hopeful about beginning anew.
As long as our blood is pumping through our veins, we are granted endless opportunity for redemption.
Next year:
Next month:
Next week:
Next day:
But with every breath we take, we begin anew.
Perhaps it is in each new breath we draw that we receive that grace from God, who sees us all of deserving yet one more chance. To restart our lives. If we are not ready in our lives at this moment of listening- for the Day of the Lord to come, Then, let this next breath we take fill us up with God’s grace
And remind us of our baptism
In which we were claimed by God
We are God’s children, bound by divine love- forever and ever.
Henri Nouwin in a book called Wounded Healer taught that the only authentic healers are always wounded healers- or- people who have walked the same journey and come out on the other side,
Because those people understand exactly what it is someone else is going through, the understand the pain in a way no one else can understand. When you find the daylight, after years of being in the darkness, Every single moment of your life makes sense. There exists a strange paradox to suffering. You go through something, if you’re lucky- you overcome it and come out on the other side- and then, all of a sudden you become this cosmically appointed spiritual navigator like Matthew Perry was saying earlier. I do not believe in a God that causes addiction but I do believe in a God that walks with us- perhaps as an invisible light that our numbed eyes cannot yet see- desperately trying to illumine that dark tunnel of despair.
We each have a special road to walk in this life-But our free will allows us our choice to answer that pre-destined vocation, To leave the darkness and ask for help And once we’re in better places, to help light the way for those behind us.
They are the ones with authority- and lived experience and knowledge.
When you get to the other side
Of whatever it is inside you that needs healing..And when you encounter someone who says
I am struggling , I need help. You look them in the eyeAnd say I can help you..
I have been in that pit you’re in and I know some tricks to lift you up. So that they can go , heal themselves , and pay it forward. For the day when they encounter someone who in turn says to them- I need help.
And if we do this-
If we take responsibility for our own healing processes, and inventory what it is that is keeping us in darkness and not living as Christ intended, then we won’t be burying a city of people in America each and every year. Like Nelson Mandela said, “it always seems impossible until its done.”
But- it can be done. I know we are losing 200,000 people in America to this issue each year.
Things in life feel insurmountable while we are in battle. When we are looking at the world around us, and feeling struck by our own weakness and fear.The content of our character is not judged by the scars we incur during this battle, but by the nature of how we heal those scars after the battle has been fought.
For those who are tied to someone with alcohol dependency or substance use dependency please know, that you can overcome this.Your loved one can overcome this. There is hope. And there are many people who are in active recovery and thriving, who struggle each day to remain sober- but who do remain sober because they worked the programs, or they sought treatment, they did not shoulder this burden alone.
We must learn to see Christ in these faces perhaps as we too reflect on the addictions we feed and the other gods we serve to numb our own pains.
Here are ways you can help:
Become a Big Brother or Big Sister through the Big Brother Program here in New Orleans and mentor someone who is at risk. Or mentor a child of an incarcerated parent through Mentoring Children of Promise.
Consider fostering at-risk youth. There are 5700 youth in the Louisiana Foster Care system currently.
Educate your children about drugs. Have open conversations with them.
Support places like Cafe Reconcile and Liberty Kitchen which train at-risk communities for careers in hospitality.
Take care of yourself and your loved ones, and if there is a substance abuse issue in your life that you want to seek treatment for, know that you are cared for, loved and that you’re not alone.
To be full awake as our Scripture today begs, involves being a part of the healing process for others as well as advocates for ourselves. We were made not to be imprisoned from deeper love, purpose and fulfillment by our diseases or desires by our limits nor our comforts and that takes the humility to recognize where it is that we are blocking out God’s life in our lives, we must refuse to let ourselves and others walk in darkness alone.
Hallie Boh has prepared a page on the SCAPC website full of national and local resources, Na and AA meetings, suggested books, help phone lines, online groups, narcan pick up sites in New Orleans- etc- that anyone can access. We also have printed versions of those resources located in Fellowship Hall on a side table.
Our church is an AA site on Friday evenings 7-9. AA meets in Fellowship Hall, and is completely anonymous.
I end today with wisdom from a television series called Call the Midwife:
Nothing is ever beyond repair.
We break
We bleed
And we begin again.
Trust can be mended.
Love can be restored.
New shoots can flourish
Among the broken stone.
Amen.
Solid reflection. Thank you for sharing it with us.