Spiritual Apathy
one
a. This third deadly sin is defined as sorrow or boredom spiritual and interior goods
i. It’s the sin of being uninterested in things of God or things of the soul – being repulsed by prayer or virtue or the commitment of love
b. We all know this feeling – the feeling that prayer is “meh,” that laying down your life for your family is “meh,” that heroism and holiness and love are all “meh.”
i. But if we act on that feeling, the result isn’t what we ordinarily mean by laziness – it’s much, much worse.
ii. It’s the rejection of the only things that make life worth living.
two - The call to greatness
a. We were made for the greatest things there are.
b. But since we were made for perfection, for the heights of heroism, of sanctity, of self-sacrificial love, and of God himself
i. And the vice of sloth is a rejection of natural and supernatural orientation to supreme excellence
ii. Because, after all, being heroic, being godly, is hard.
c. So, as Pieper says, Sloth is a kind of resentment. It’s resenting God for giving us such a noble calling.
i. It’s saying, “Why couldn’t you have just left me alone to enjoy myself? Why couldn’t you just leave me to be a mediocre waste of a human life?”
1. But God hasn’t. He hasn’t made us that way. And try as we might, we can’t even get comfortable by being selfish and shallow.
2. Sloth, like all the sins, just doesn’t work.
three
First manifestation of spiritual apathy – distracted entertainment
a. There are two main symptoms of sloth.
b. The first is an attachment to distraction – to entertainment.
i. Have any of your kids ever had a major assignment do, and instead of just consistently working at it, they try to just forget about the assignment altogether?
ii. Well, that’s what people with sloth do. They know the assignment is to be saints, but instead of working on growing in love and virtue, they try to forget the assignment altogether. They also try to forget that Death – the Day of the Final Exam – is coming.
c. Why do you think we waste so much time on pointless games and news stories and streaming services?
i. Because we are trying to forget that we’re going to die, and that we’re not ready. We’re trying to forget the spiritual good that we’ve rejected.
four
Second manifestation of spiritual apathy – being “busy” all the time
a. Imagine a kid who was supposed to write an essay during class, and he took out a pencil and a piece of paper, and started writing furiously. You might think, from looking at a distance, that he was working hard.
i. But then imagine the class ended and the only thing on his paper was doodles. The teacher would say, “Why were you so lazy?”
ii. And the kid might say, “But look at how much I wrote!”
b. And the teacher would say, “But that wasn’t the assignment!”
c. The assignment is becoming a saint. If you go to God, it’s not going to work to say, “Look at all the stuff I did! I was busy all the time!”
1. That’s more likely to be a sign of sloth – of ignoring the spiritual good that’s supposed to come first.
ii. Martha’s sin was a sin of busy sloth – and Jesus reprimanded her by saying, “Martha, Martha, you are busy and anxious about many things. Only one thing is necessary.”
1. That thing is intimacy with God. That one thing is love and holiness. That’s the assignment
five
Fasting from the senses and fasting from doing
a. The slothful person is uninterested in spiritual things, and has instead thrown themselves into distraction
i. And just like gorging on candy will spoil your appetite for healthy food – but without satisfying you; so will gorging yourself on entertainment spoil your appetite for goods of the soul – and without satisfying you.
ii. So we have to cut back on our entertainment if we want to desire God. Sunday is a good day for that.
b. And the slothful person escapes into busyness, instead of peaceful communion with God and community with others.
i. So you have to cut back on busyness, and take time to pray and be with others. Sunday is a good day for that also.
ii. So let’s take back Sunday!