This is the talk that I shared with the Noon Lenten Lunch at First United Methodist Church in downtown Mansfield, Ohio this past Ash Wednesday. I thought you might enjoy reading the text.
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Lent Is Like A Box of Chocolates - 02.13.13
Joel 2:12-13 / Psalm 51:10 NIV
I was raised in the Pilgrim Holiness church and so I never knew much about the practice of Lent. Then, as a young man, I fell in love with a beautiful Catholic girl, who came from a large practicing Catholic family in Celina, Ohio. I married that beautiful Catholic girl. For the last 34 years I’ve been learning about the Christian practice of Lent.
Illustration - In Celina the story is told of Tom, a Baptist fellow who moved into the all-Catholic community. Every Friday during Lent, Tom would grill a big, juicy steak. While all his neighbors were sitting down to their tuna fish dinners, they could smell the roasting meat wafting from Tom’s grill. They decided they needed to do something about this temptation so they talked to Tom about becoming Catholic. He met with the priest, took all the classes. Eventually the priest sprinkled water on Tom saying, “You were born a Baptist. You were raised a Baptist. Now you are a Catholic.” All Tom’s neighbors were thrilled because now they had eliminated the temptation to eat meat during the Fridays of Lent. So you can imagine their surprise when the first Friday of next year’s Lent - as they were sitting down to their tuna fish dinners - they once again smelled the aroma of seared steak wafting from Tom’s grill. All the neighbors immediately made their way to Tom’s house where they found him with a pitcher of water sprinkling the steak saying, “You were born a cow. You were raised a cow. Now you are a fish.”
Maybe you are like me not really knowing much about Lent, the 46 days leading up to Easter. I always heard about people “giving up something for Lent,” but I didn’t really understand it. I have learned that the original practice of the fasts that are practiced during Lent does not come from some Christian denominations with a more liturgical bent, but rather comes from Jesus himself!
The first three gospels all recount how Jesus began his ministry with 40 days of fasting, of how he was tempted at least three times, and how each time he responded with Scripture. We remember Jesus as the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Trinity, fully God. We sometimes forget the important Christian doctrine that Jesus was also fully man - capable of temptation and in need of the 40 days of fasting that led to his ministry.
Why is the principle of fasting, the practice of “giving up something” during Lent, so important to those who claim to be a Christ-follower? Because the human heart is fickle. We become divided. Our attention and our focus wanders. We claim that we love Jesus more than anything. We claim Him as the Lord of our lives. Then - as is true for all loves - life encroaches with its busyness and its distractions. The “heart” of our passion for Jesus becomes cluttered with many things. If we are not careful, Christ can be crowded to the side.
This is why the prophet Joel heard the LORD God command the practice of “giving up” whatever clutters our hearts away from Him:
“‘Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” Joel 2:12-13a NIV
Lent is a practice of “rending the heart” not of “rending our garments.” We are capable of only going through the motions, of relegating Lent to religion. What God wants from us is not religion, but relationship. If we are honest with ourselves, we will truly examine our relationships with Jesus. We’ll examine the priority of Christ in not only the affirmation of our minds, but also in the compassion of our hearts.
When we are tempted by whatever we are fasting, we are reminded to “rend our hearts” of whatever keeps us from experiencing the first love of the LORD. Whenever we struggle with the hunger for others things, we have the opportunity to cry out to God’s Spirit for strength. Like David, we pray:
“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 NIV
Illustration - This past Friday night I enjoyed dinner at my Dad’s house. He created a feast for Mary Kay and me, as well as my sister Kimberly’s family. At the end of the meal as we gathered in the living room Dad shared gifts of chocolates with my 11-year-old niece, Delaney, and me. Here’s something you need to know about me. I LOVE chocolate. When I say I LOVE chocolate I mean that I crave it. I think about it. I can’t get enough of it. In 55 years my LOVE of chocolate has never wavered. In my niece Delaney, I have found a fellow chocolate lover. Her sweet tooth is just like mine! So it was only natural this past Friday when we received chocolates from Dad that the two of us spent the rest of the evening trying to steal each others chocolates. Yes I am a pastor but I’m not beyond stealing my niece’s chocolates.
A few days later I looked at those chocolate truffles and made a decision. I went down to the post office and got one of those flat rate priority mail boxes. You know the ones I’m talking about? “If it fits it ships!” I filled it full of all the chocolate truffles. I added a whole bag of Valentine chocolate kisses. Then I slipped in this note: “Dear Delaney, you know I LOVE chocolate. But I want you to know that I love you more! Uncle Mark.”
Lent is like that box of chocolates. Lent is not just about the giving up, it’s about the going up. It’s not about the lack of food, it’s about the gratitude. It’s not about sacrifice, but about paradise. Lent is not just about the fasts. It’s all about a love that lasts.
Lent is our love note to Jesus that says, “You know I LOVE chocolate (or whatever you are fasting...) But I want you to know that I love you more!” Let’s pray.
