03232022 – Luke 13. 1-9
It happens as it always does…sometime after three a.m. in the early morning hours. I was awakened, and couldn’t fall back to sleep. It was a nagging question. Recurring.
Are you a friend of Bill W? Do you know Dr. Bob?
For exactly 87 years, alcoholics worldwide have found a haven in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
For every time an alcoholic finds “understanding,” “love,” and a “community of helpers,” they have Bill Wilson, founder of AA, to thank.
Long before Bill Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholics had “a hard time” finding their way to sobriety.
To make matters worse, the only “help” they got was through “mental institutions or jail” until they got sober.
And if they “get sober,” they’ll be released back to their lives “to continue drinking.”
Talk about your vicious circles…
As you can imagine, this created a “damaging cycle” for anyone struggling with alcoholism, and for all those who loved and supported them…that is, until AA was established
Today, AA and other similar communities have helped “millions of people overcome alcohol addiction” – all thanks to Bill Wilson.
Today, there are more than 100,000 registered groups and over 2 million members.
AA was the brainchild of Bill Wilson…a long with its 12 steps and 12 traditions…
The goal of the 12-step model is to help people “to abstain from substances or behaviors” that are “addictive.”
Each week in the prayer of the church, we pray for and remember the addict who is still suffering…
The model (itself) focuses on “bringing people together” so they can “share” their experiences with “each other.”
Realizing you aren’t alone is “one key benefit.”
Another key benefit is called “flourishing,” which occurs when there is a long-term period in which people “abstain from the substance.”
Those who are involved in this type of model are more likely “to flourish” for longer periods and more often than those who do not.
Step One of the AA’s Twelve Steps is, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Step 2 states that, “We came to be aware that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” This step follows the first step, in which the alcoholic admits he has an alcohol problem and is powerless to stop drinking on his own.
Step 3, Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
And, as I layed there and tossed and turned, I kept thinking of “Sinners Anonymous”, not to take anything away from AA. But to be totally respectful and thankful for their ground-laying-work.
We are all powerless over sin. And sometimes, our lives seemingly spin out of control and seem unmanageable.
We among all people are aware that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity and reason.
We have to “stop the sinning,” “stop the madness” and turn our lives over to the care of our God, as we understand him to be.
There are so many parallels.
Weekly “confession” is helpful. Weekly “absolution” may be freeing…
Not everyone takes confession and holy absolution seriously.
But we are “addicted to sin.”
Romans 7. 15-20 says: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
We get it.
We lie, we cheat, we steal, we do not place God first in our lives. We kill one another’s spirit. We hurt, we harm, we hold back and do not love as we have been commanded to love, we hold grudges and we repeat it all again.
I Corinthians 15, verse 57 says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
For over 2,000 years, sinners worldwide have found a haven in the Holy Scriptures and in their lives of faithfulness, knowing they have been forgiven.
We need each other, to help us to do better…to know we can be better…to pray for us in all of our struggles.
Jesus died and went to the cross of Calvary that we might have life, and have it abundantly. Salvation is ours in spite of our sinful nature. Thanks be to God. Amen.