This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent—the 40-day season (not counting Sundays), as we march toward Easter. Lent asks the Church to fast, representing Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness. If you ask the man-on-the street on the meaning of lent, he’d say: “A time to give up something.” How do you see this period of “giving up something”? Are you like “Dave the Disciple?”
He was the only Protestant in his large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, Dave was outside barbequing a big juicy steak. You could smell it for miles. Meanwhile, all of his Catholic neighbors, as was their tradition, gave up meat for fish on Fridays. Dave hadn’t given up a thing. So, the next Friday, the neighborhood men got together and decided to convert Dave to a Catholic. They took him to mass, and after much prayer, Dave gave in. The Priest sprinkled some water over him, and said, "You were born a Disciple, you were raised a Disciple, and now you are Catholic."
The next Friday came, and just about supper time, when the neighborhood was sitting down to their tuna fish, there came the same savory aroma of steak cooking on a grill from Dave’s place. The neighborhood men ran over and peered over his fence, to see him sprinkling some water over his steak, and saying these words: "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."
Dave missed it. He hadn’t changed. He practiced a tradition without embracing the point the purpose. For many in the church, Lent is just about giving up something without really changing. Without embracing the fullest meaning of Lent, it becomes a trivial pursuit where we relate the sacrifice of Christ to the giving up of steak, chocolate, and Twitter. Really!
Lent is more than giving up something. It is a time of reflection—a looking in; a self-examination of our old condition of sin. Second, it is a time of projection—a looking forward to gaining new possibilities in Christ. Lent is not just what you give up, but what you gain in spiritual growth.
Without looking within and looking forward, we miss the purpose of Lent: preparation for spiritual change, personally and as the church. Christ, the pastor of the church, is coming back for his Lenten church—a church committed to a life-long journey of looking within and looking forward to not just Easter Sunday, but Easter Eternity.
Christ called the Church of Ephesus to look within and to look forward. They are one of the seven churches in Revelation that Christ gave a midterm evaluation. In Revelations 2:1-6, we see His commendations, what they did well; His complaint, what they did not so well; and His command, what they needed to do to correct their shortcomings. Commendations. Complaint. Commands. It is Christ’s pattern for judging the essential requirements of the Lenten church committed to change.
For the Ephesian Church, and maybe you and I, we’ve lost something essential. If you are going to be a changed Church, we’ll have to give some things up, to gain that one thing the Righteous Brothers sang of that was “gone, gone, gone.”
First, Christ commends the working church. Christ commended the Ephesus Church, calling them to look within themselves on their good works.
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Rev. 2: 2-3
Christ approved of the work of the Ephesus Church. Ephesus, the city, was a high energy. It was the New York of the near East. It was a center of business—situated at the mouth of a busy river. It was a capitol of politics—a free city—free from the occupation of Rome. It was a religious center with the 7th wonder of the world—the temple of Diana—the goddess of fertility. The Ephesus Church matched the energy of their city.
The Ephesus Church had energetic work. They were busy. If they existed today, I imagine they would be involved in all-things ministry: radio, TV, publishing; all kinds of classes—from cooking to art. They were energetic.
The Ephesus Church also had enduring work. They did not give up. They persevered. They were subjected to lots of opposition being a Christian church in a pagan metropolis that was heavily involved in magic and sex cult worship. You remember, Paul caused a riot there, shutting down the sale of the statues of Diana. But the Ephesus Church endured.
The Ephesus Church also had orthodox work. They were true to the word of God. They were in the midst of all types of teaching of ideas about God. But they were able to discern the true word from the false teaching and teachers like the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans taught that Christian liberty was a license to do whatever you loved to do. Ephesus Church did not tolerate bad teaching. They were orthodox—true to God’s word.
Church, how would you reflect on your work? Is your work energetic, enduring and orthodox?
Is your work energetic work: the work of the church or is it church work? There is a difference. One is keeping busy. One is keeping on point the business of the church—to spread the gospel, to serve the needy, to teach the word.
Is your work enduring work, or are you quitting at the least bit of opposition? Are you staying the course when the course gets rocky?
Is your work orthodox? Does it line up with the word? Or are you tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine that is sweeping the land.
Christ commended the work of the Ephesus church: it was energetic, enduring and orthodox. He loved their work, but…
Christ had a complaint against the love-less church. Christ called the church to look within to see what they did not do well. In verse 4, we see Christ’s complaint against the Ephesus church:
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Rev. 2:4
They had lost their first love—the love for God. It had cooled. You remember how your first love—that first girl friend or boyfriend—cooled. You couldn’t eat, sleep or study. I remember my first girlfriend: she had bow legs, big brown eyes and she played tennis. Every Saturday, it was “Daddy can I borrow the car?” to go see her. We talked every day. We said sweet nothings to each other. We went out when I could get the car. But over time, a chill wind blew, especially when I went to college and discovered there were more fish in a bigger sea. I imagine that the same thing happened to Ephesus. Worldly attractions cooled down their love for Christ; the Ephesians lost that “loving feeling”.
Perhaps their prayer life cooled. They didn’t talk to God as often. Remember your first love, how you texted and talked every minute?
Perhaps their praise cooled off. They didn’t talk to God as sweet. Remember how you used to say the sweetest, silly stuff when you were in first love: “I love you more than a bee loves honey, a banker loves money. I love you more than Grandma loves snuff (and she loves the stuff)”. I’m talking silly, but sweet.
Perhaps their dating cooled off. They weren’t seen out with God as much. Their witness waned. Remember how you went out with your girl all the time; wasn’t afraid to be seen with her. Maybe the Ephesians had become closet Christians?
Christ was looking for that first love, that “incorruptible” love Ephesians 6:24 speaks of:
An incorruptible love is an available love. God doesn’t want an energetic church that’s too busy to love.
An incorruptible love is an enduring love. God doesn’t want a “hit the road church” when the road gets bumby.
An incorruptible love is a passionate love. You love what God loves. God doesn’t want a political party. He loves a “faithful to the word” church where the Bible speaks, you speak.
How would Christ reflect on your love as His Lenten church? How is your prayer life? Do you talk to God as often as you use to? Do you text more than talk to God? Do you still have prayer meeting?
Look inside, Church. How is your prayer life? Do you talk to God as often as you use to? Do you text more than pray? Do you still have prayer meeting?
Look inside. How is your praise life? Do you still whisper sweet nothings in God’s hear like you use to, or do you need a praise team to praise God? Or do you speak to God only as an ATM. “I need this, I need that.”
Look inside. When was the last time you’ve had a date night with Jesus, seen in public with him, witnessing as a “great commission church”, or are you a down-low Church?
Roberta Flack put to music, this morning’s question that Christ asked a repentant Peter on a beach one morning after Peter denied him three times: “Where is the love, You said was mine all mine, Till the end of time, or was it just a lie?Where is the love?
When Christ looked within the Ephesus Church, he saw something major was missing. Church, look inside. Is your love MIA. Fall in love again like the first time.
Finally, Christ commands the church to correct what’s missing so His Lenten church can look forward to real change. Christ commanded the church to do three r’s to get back that loving feeling: remember, repent and resume. Look at verse 5:
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do (resume) the things you did at first.
Remember: Recall what Christ has done for you to clean you up when you were a hot mess. Remember when you were in that doctor’s office; that judge’s chamber; that principal’s office, and God made a way out of no way. When you were not very loving or lovable, God loved you and picked you up when you had fallen like the prodigal son who remembered, who came to himself. Come to yourself. Remember.
Repent: Change directions. We are eager to respond to an altar call but not so much to a call to a-l-t-e-r. Repentance requires some fruit of repentance, some evidence according to Matthew 3:8. You say you want out of that bad relationship. The next time there is an altar call, before you leave the altar, take out your cell phone and press delete, the number to the one who is standing in the way of your love of Christ.
Finally, resume. Do again what you use to do when you first fell in love with Christ. There is an old saying in marriage counseling: What you did to get ‘um, will work to get to ‘um back.
• Pray more: Blow God’s phone up.
• Praise more: Get His praise on, not your praise on.
• Date more. Plan a date night with Jesus. Plan to go to the diner with Christ, the movies with Christ, to the office party. Make him a visible part of public life. Don’t be afraid to be seen as an Acts 1:8 witness: in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the utter most parts of wherever you dwell.
Do again what you once did when you first fell in love with the best thing you ever had.
Christ called the Ephesus Church to be a Lenten church—to look within. He did and commended them for their energetic, enduring, orthodox works. But He had a complaint. His exam also revealed a problem: they had lost their first love—the love of Christ. But Christ also commanded them to look forward to get it back if they only if they remember, repent and resume their loving work.
Did they? Perhaps they didn’t. The only thing left of where Ephesus used to be is a rubble of stones. But the church is not a building. Brick and mortar won’t make it in. Spirit will. Let this be a warning. You can lose that loving feeling if you’re not Lenten.
This Lent, give up what you decide to give up: no meat, no chocolate, no twitter, whatever. What you give up is not as important as why. Remember David the disciple. It will take more than a sprinkle of water and a special incantation recitation over your steak, “You once were a cow and now you’re a fish,” to change things. Neither will lip-service affect real change over your spiritual life.
Looking inside and looking forward will. And if you just have to have an incantation recitation, say this over your 40 days of Lent: “I was reborn by a Gospel love. I was raised by a Resurrection love. And now I am forever a new creature in Christ by His Everlasting love for me.
You’ll eventually find that loving feel, again.
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