Will I Fast Or Eat My Chocolate With A Changed Heart?
Good Morning Friends,
Today is an interesting confluence of Ash Wednesday and St. Valentine’s Day. And it is compounded in a way for Easter, which is coming soon and April Fool’s Day also fall on the same day. Interestingly, the date we celebrate as St. Valentine’s Day also marks the date that St. Valentine lost his head literally and parallels the beginning of bird mating season which kind of turns whole Easter thing into a bit of a pagan holiday. So, this year we get a fusion of the confusion of the sacred and secular celebrations that must be experienced before we can sort it all out. For, this year the moveable feasts and our fixed holidays are wedded for a time only to be separated in the years to come. Really, I hope this day is not a distraction from the central purpose of sacred preparation to honor Christ’s passion. Cynically I suppose one could argue that repentance and marriage go together and that we are to be fools for Christ, but I am not going to be wed to this clever union forever. Something more is needed that only time will answer. But I guess I will be satisfied now with an answer to a question related to the Spirit of confession, repentance, and forgiveness. Will I Fast Or Eat My Chocolate With A Changed Heart?
Scripture: Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?'” Then the Lord became jealous for his land, and had pity on his people.
Joel 2:12-18 (NRSV)
So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 (NRSV)
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 (NRSV)
Message: I do not know if Valentine himself ever married or ate chocolate or had any inkling that he would be remembered with the images of half-clad infants armed with airborne weapons. I kind of doubt he did. Maybe he practiced celibacy or maybe not. Maybe some of this stuff has been made up. Regardless, it strikes me as profound that in the Legend of the story, he put himself at risk, not for his own passionate true love for an earthly woman, but for the love of the young people around him for whom marriage was not allowed. He showed compassion by helping to sanctify unions he hoped would last and be of benefit to their communities. Maybe he was hoping that the men would not be conscripted for the Roman military by Emperor Claudius but instead become fathers. It all reminds me of passing out Valentine’s Cards to my classmates in elementary school. But something new is going on here that in a way forces the issue of the heart and our confession. Now honestly, I cannot remember when St. Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday and Easter and April Fool’s Day aligned before. It forces the choice. So, perhaps a soberer Valentine’s Day is good occasionally, especially after a Fat Tuesday with more than its share of bawdiness. For this Ash Wednesday/ Valentine’s Day, may prompt us to consider that Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and atonement, was also made in the name of love. Hopefully the venture that will end up being more satisfying than a bag of chocolates and more meaningful than a fast. Hopefully we will have a marriage of our hearts, heads, hands with Christ.
Pray we look for the love in Lent but not applause or pious approval. Pray we are grateful for love, companionship, family and hope. Pray God bless our desires to strengthen our love for each other. Pray God help us to spread our love to those who feel alone. Pray God help us to create bonds of community so that we might be full of joy and understanding. Pray we desire to love as Christ lived and live with a love that changes our hearts. Pray we are humbled by the reality that because of love Christ died for each of us. Pray we believe that death is not the end. Pray we realize that repentance comes before revival and renewal. Pray we realize the seriousness of sin and authentically repent. Pray we prepare ourselves for the experience of Christ’s passion and sacrifice. Pray that this day ends up having much more to do with loving and reverencing Christ than with a box of chocolates, Valentine’s Day cards and dozens of roses. Pray that whatever we do we be worthy ambassadors for Christ. Pray we realize that now is the time to repent.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 