Make A Commitment To Spiritual Fitness
The Lenten season gives us an opportunity to step back, assess our spiritual condition, and refocus. That's the point of the letter as recorded in Revelation 3:14-22. That encouragement fits our entry into the Lenten season on this Ash Wednesday to "Make A Commitment To Spiritual Fitness." February 17, 2010.
“What do Lutherans give up for Lent?” I’ve heard that question on more than one occasion. I’ve also heard people say in a rather admiring tone, “Do you know what my neighbor gave up for Lent?” Apparently lots of people accept this business of giving up something for Lent as a given. Maybe you even feel a little guilty if you don’t. But let’s be clear. There’s nothing in the Bible that says we have to give up something for Lent. The word Lent isn’t even in the Bible. Of course, it is a blessing for us that centuries ago Christians developed the church year and included a season of Lent. The Lenten season gives us an opportunity to step back, assess our spiritual condition, and refocus. That’s the point of the letter Jesus sent through the apostle John to the congregation in Laodicea as recorded in Revelation chapter three. His encouragement fits our entry into the Lenten season on this Ash Wednesday to Make A Commitment To Spiritual Fitness.
Pay the right price
Some people might want to use the Lenten season to get in shape, almost like making a New Year’s resolution. That’s fine. Getting in shape is a noble goal. But what is it going to cost? Monthly fees at a fitness center? Buying expensive equipment – only $29.99 per month, but the small print reads, “For the next fifteen years”? What if the doctor said, “If you don’t get in shape, you’re going to die”? Some might say, “That’s OK by me. I’d rather go to heaven a few pounds overweight than torture myself with diet and exercise. I’ll just keep banging down bags of Doritos until I swell shut and die.” But what if some kind of physical fitness program was the only way to avoid a slow agonizing death with months and months, years and years of excruciating pain? You might think that you can’t afford it, but given the awful alternative, you might begin to think, “I can’t afford not to do it.”
What’s it going to cost to get spiritual fitness? The Laodiceans weren’t worried. Laodicea was in the center of what is now Turkey and had some big city advantages. A major Roman freeway ran alongside and brought merchants and businessmen. It was a banking town. Money changers made a mint – literally. The city had its own mint. With the lifestyle the Laodiceans enjoyed the thought of spiritual fitness was, “Ach! Who needs it? Why should we bother? We’ve got all we need – a nice home, decent chariot, enough savings in our emergency fund if the roof leaks or the water heater dies. We aren’t filthy rich, but we’re comfortable. This talk about spiritual fitness is OK, but we’ve got other pressing things on our mind like getting the kids to their after-school gymastics practices, planning for our vacation on the island of Crete, and polishing our dog.”
What did Jesus have to say about their take-it-or-leave-it attitude? He said, “You people make me want to throw up.” Do you think that’s a little crude? Listen, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor.” You don’t have to be rolling in dough to be the target of the analogy Jesus used earlier in his ministry, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:25). The point? Money and creature comforts can get in the way of spiritual fitness. It’s hard to convince people who don’t feel burdened with sin that they need to unload excess sin-baggage. It’s hard to convince people who never miss a meal that they need spiritual nutrition. Where do you and I fit in this scene? How comfortable have we become in our lifestyle, even in our spiritual life? Are we at a point where we’re thinking that we don’t need anything more, thinking that we don’t need to grow closer to God, thinking we can just waltz into another Lenten season, maybe give up a little chocolate or offer a little extra money or hold off on that second glass of wine, and we’ll be just fine. We acted. We worked. We did our spiritual duty. Do we realize that makes Jesus want to throw up?
If you knew that your eternal life depended on it, what price would you pay to get spiritually fit? We’d probably join the Laodiceans in shock that we need to get off our back side or else! Then we’d join them in digging through our piggy bank or checking account to come up with the shekels. What if the price was so high, we could never pay it? In other words, what if the price was pain and loneliness that will never end? Now listen to the words of God’s Yes, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich.” How can we buy gold when we are wretched, pitiful, poor? The Lord spoke through Isaiah, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare”(Isaiah 55:1-2). Without Jesus we’d be not only out of shape spiritually, but we couldn’t afford to do anything about it. With Jesus we have unlimited credit with God, no down payment to make, no annual fees, zero percent interest, and no need to ever pay the balance. With Jesus we can make a commitment to spiritual fitness.
Wear the right clothes
Some people determine that they’re going to take the plunge to get in shape but get hung up on what to wear. “If I have to go to the fitness center and wear one of those spandex outfits that show all the bulges hanging out, I’m not going. I’d be embarrassed to death. Besides, have you checked the prices of those dry-fit clothes? Can’t I just wear ratty old shirts with paint specks and holes?”
What’s the proper attire for a spiritual fitness program? The Laodiceans thought they had that covered. Not only were they in a business and banking center, but their community was surrounded by sheep farmers, and the entire community had a reputation for its exquisite woolen products. “Whatever it takes to get the right clothes, we’ve probably got that in stock and on the shelves from petite to triple XL.”
What did Jesus have to say about their wardrobe? He said, “You people have no idea what you look like to God. You think you’re covered, but you do not realize that you are naked.” Talk about embarrassment! Hans Christian Andersen wrote about an emperor who cared for nothing but his wardrobe. He hired two weavers who turned out to be swindlers. They promised him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or “just hopelessly stupid.” The Emperor could not see the cloth himself but pretended that he could for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid and marched in procession before his subjects. A child in the crowd called out, “He isn’t wearing anything at all!” The Emperor cringed, suspecting the statement was true, but continued the procession, fooling himself into thinking that only stupid people could not see the emperor’s new clothes. Imagine standing before God without so much as a fig leaf to cover your disfigured, out-of-shape, flabby soul! Do we really want to go that route? Do we really think that we can get spiritually fit without the right spiritual clothes? God’s eyes penetrate all cover-ups. His all knowing glance uncovers the bulges of self-indulgence and the birthmarks of inherited sin. Nothing we do can hide our shameful ways. How can we stand before God?
Listen to the words of God’s Yes, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation “I counsel you to buy from me white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness.” Isaiah wrote, “God has clothed me with the garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10). How do we get these white robes? Without Jesus we’re only window shopping when it comes to a connection with God. We’re on the outside looking in, just passing by, “Oh, I wish I could afford that!” with faces pressed up against the glass and tears running down our cheeks, “I can’t afford that!” You can give up something for Lent if you want, but that activity or non-activity won’t make you any cleaner in God’s sight. Only one thing will – the white robes of Jesus’ rightness, washed clean of all sin-stains by his blood. They are a gift to us from Jesus himself. We’ve got the right outfit so that we can make a commitment to spiritual fitness.
Take the right medicine
Some people live by the adage created by DuPont as an advertising slogan which that company used from 1935 to 1982, “Better living through chemistry.” Their path toward physical fitness includes dietary supplements and fistfuls of vitamins, to say nothing of the medications they take for any aches, pains, and sore muscles. There’s nothing wrong with physician-directed, moderate use of advances in chemistry and pharmaceuticals.
But what are the appropriate spiritual vitamins and medicines for spiritual fitness. The Laodiceans thought they had that covered, too. You see, Laodicea was not only a city for big business and not only known for its woolen products. It was also a medical center with an academy devoted to the Greek god of healing and known for a special ointment for eye infections. “Do we need medicine to get into a right relationship with God? All we have to do is open our medicine cabinet, and we’ll be fine.”
What did Jesus have to say about their medicines? He said, “It’s poison. You think you can pop any pill to cure what ails you. You think you’ve got such wonderful spiritual insight, but you do not realize that you are blind.” Do we really think you know better than God does? Do we think we have what it takes to heal the wounds God inflicts with the whip of his holy commands? His commands to “Do this” and “Don’t do that” can make our head spin so that we stumble around in a blind fog of disbelief, “I don’t know where to go and what to do to get rid of this guilt!” How can we see our way clear of the fog of failure, the murkiness of malaise, the smog of stagnation, the darkness of dawdling in our relationship with God? We know we need to get our act together, read our Bibles, repent of our sins, but how can we do that?
Listen to the words of God’s Yes, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation “I counsel you to buy from me salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Where do we get that medicine? Isaiah wrote, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows the punishment that brought us peace was up on him, and by his wounds we are healed”(Isaiah 53:4,5). Medicine and vitamins may serve a good purpose, but they do not guarantee healing for a sin-sick soul. In fact, some drugs, while an absolute blessing from God for which we can be ever so thankful, can become addicting and a temptation and may pull us away from God’s blessing. We need the salve of Jesus’ forgiveness to give us spiritual insight. We’ve got it and everything we need to make a commitment to spiritual fitness.
Snow shoveling brings aches in muscles we haven’t used for a while. Then comes spring. We want to go out for a walk or a bike ride or play ball, and we come home with other muscles we haven’t used in a while creaky and sore. That’s a reminder of how easy it is to get out of shape, and how hard it is to stay in shape. Lent is the perfect time for self-examination regarding our spiritual condition. Real Lenten worship has nothing to do with what we give up. It has everything to do with what Jesus gave up – his very life. Focus on that. Ponder that. Rejoice in that, and you’ll not only have all the motivation and energy you need to make a commitment for spiritual fitness. You will be spiritually fit. Amen.
Preached at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on February 17, 2010
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