The ABCs of our faith
Dear friends in Christ at Grue and Peace,
Normally I don’t ask people to fast during Lent or any other time of year. Many of the conversations I overhear about giving up chocolate or donuts trivialize our spiritual life with God and our neighbors. Moreover, chocolate and donuts are good things.
As Benjamin Franklin wrote about wine, they are “constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.” (And last year, when I told the congregation on Ash Wednesday to eat all the chocolate they want, cheers sounded from the choir!) But, I am going to ask you to consider a fast this year, one that shifts the focus from things to people.
I ask you to consider a fast from suspicion, cynicism and sarcasm — not for your own spiritual improvement, but for the people in your life. Because all three of these behaviors get in the way. These behaviors get in the way of your serving God’s healing of broken hearts — hearts broken by sorrow, hearts poisoned with resentment, hearts that no longer love with joy and courage.
Suspicion is more than simple uncertainty about people and their motives. It is choosing to resolve that uncertainty by opting to find others at their worst, not their best. Cynicism is the insistence that nothing can be done about whatever results from what I suspect (including my own suspicion). Cynicism is acting like not even God is going to do anything about it. And sarcasm is the way I use my speech to defend myself against the worst that I suspect others will do.
Alongside this fast I also ask you to consider a 40-day Lenten diet. On this diet you will consume fresh thoughts and new information — a fresh look at the people you find yourself most suspicious of, most cynical about, most sarcastic toward.
Think of it as an experimental diet, a 40-day diet of listening and looking for the best in the people from whom you may have become accustomed to expect the worst. It may mean watching and reading different media. It may mean some very intentional listening to people you usually ignore … or even people you don’t know. It may mean tackling a book or two. Whatever it takes for you to see others for what they are in God’s sight — created good in God’s image, sisters and brothers in one family of redemption in Christ, filled with promising gifts by the Holy Spirit.
I invite you to join in this Lenten fast and diet. It is not an easy one (I know, because it is also hard for me). It’s not for you. It’s for your neighbors. They, like you, have broken hearts. You can serve God’s healing of this world.
~Pastor Marcus Kunz