Easter falls on April 9.
We have the in-between to prepare.
Growing up, I was told that in preparation for Easter, I should give up something for Lent that I really love. This was meant to prove my sacrificial love for God. The information supplied stipulated that it could not be something like well, Asparagus. Chocolate would do, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups would be OK, but the Brussels Sprouts are off the table - well, literally, at least in my house.
In later years, I was hearing things like making a pledge for some kind of self-improvement. This would, of course, start with a spiritual aspect, but it would also be good if there was some personal benefit as well. I guess some were thinking that a new Gym-membership would be financially sacrificial and would take up valuable time, but hey, the abs would be awesome!
And come to think of it, perhaps the Brussels Sprouts might work if the idea was to EAT them - sacrificial for certain, maybe even beneficial.
I admit that I didn’t buy into this one very well. My objections would be well known if you met me. Exercise? Eat more veggies? NO! Not those beets! Enough said.
Years later, the Lenten suggestions were again revised, and I was challenged to become more other-centered during this season. Volunteer, they said. Sacrifice your time in His name and help your neighbor.
Better.
Anyway, when I start getting in the middle of things like this, I tend to overthink and most of the ideas grow into something so enormous that the whole concept fails on its own. It becomes something like the dreams of all Miss America contestants when they proclaim they want, “World Peace.” Things like that tend to go nowhere. (You remember the SOS2009 thing, right? THAT went well.)
A sermon this week gave me a new (to me anyway) idea that I’d like to share. It comes from Fred Craddock. This is what he said.
“To give my life for Christ appears glorious,” To pour myself out for others … to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom - I’ll do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory.
“We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table - ‘Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.’
“But the reality for most of us is that He sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there.
“Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give up a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ isn’t glorious. It’s done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it’s harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.”
So, for me, no grand gestures this year. Maybe a quick trip to the bank with an open mind and heart trying to see where to spend a 50-pound bag of quarters.
Yeah, OK. I lied. I'm not going to the bank. But I am going to keep a quarter in my pocket at all times.
You see, this analogy works so well that I think keeping this one little coin where I'll come across it frequently will help to remind me to look for the little things - all day, every day. Jesus saw people as they were. He noticed, and then did something about it.
I probably won't be healing any lepers, but one small coin will remind me that it's not the grand things that I dream of doing, but it's the little things right there in front of me that will truly make a difference.
This may well go beyond Lent, 2023. Perhaps it will last decades which is exactly the point.
“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.” Matthew 10:4-42 (The Message)
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