Or…One of the Reasons that Lent is Important to Me
“Talladega
Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is one of those movies that gets a
laugh. It regales its audience with
deep, thoughtful quotes like “if you ain’t first, you’re last.” So, when I mention it in relation to the
spiritual season and practice of Lent, you may roll your eyes.
If you do,
you’re right. I don’t have any
theological education, I haven’t studied extensively, and I’m not going to make
any deep claims that I have more knowledge than anyone else. However, I did take something away from this
movie that I have applied to my own personal view of Jesus.
In
“Talladega Nights,” there is a scene in which Ricky Bobby and his shake-n-bake
sidekick, Cal Naughton, Jr. are discussing Jesus as they say the blessing over
their piecemeal family dinner of fast food items. They each discuss their “favorite Jesus” and
how they like to think of Jesus. The two
top each other as they describe how they think of him. Ricky Bobby starts out his blessing by
praying to “dear Lord baby Jesus, lying there in your ghost manger, just
looking at your Baby Einstein developmental videos, learning about shapes and
colors.” Later in the scene, Cal claims
that he likes to think of Jesus with “giant eagle wings” or in a “tuxedo
t-shirt because it says I want to be formal, but I’m here to party.” Of course, this was written solely for a
laugh, not to have any theological implications. And, honestly, I’m not saying that it does…
However, it
did remind me of something. Everyone
thinks of Jesus differently (you know, “Some children see him…”). We have to be both conscious and careful of
this. Often, we project onto Jesus who
we want him to be or what makes us the most comfortable. This can even go so far as belief that Jesus
judged or excluded people that are different from us, or who we disagree with
or who may make us uncomfortable for whatever reason. When, in reality, that couldn’t be farther
from the truth. Jesus (and God, for that
matter) is love and acceptance. Love is
the answer to it all; the resounding truth of Jesus’ story. I could go into a great deal more detail on
that, but it wasn’t exactly my point today.
That’s a thought for another day.
I can’t help but say one thing though – when we discriminate or judge or
avoid or exclude on any basis, especially in the name of Jesus, we are not
following his lead.
Ok, ok,
anyway, back to the point at hand. This reminder,
albeit given in an unlikely way, communicates to me that Jesus wasn’t
one-dimensional. Jesus had a full, but
short by our standards, life and had an unbelievably wide range of
experiences. Not all of these were happy
or easy. Often, we find it much easier
to solely concentrate on the happy times.
We show up for Christmas and Easter, to celebrate. We overlook the not-so-easy or
not-so-celebrate-y times. Lent is one of
thost times. Sometimes, it is popular to
claim that we are truly participating in Lent when we give up something for a
few weeks. I do not mean to belittle
that practice at all; it can be a true and sincere experience and is modeled
after Jesus’ forty days of fasting and going without. However, that isn’t all that this season
should be for us. Lent is a time built
in for us to reflect, to repent and to reassess our lives. Should we give something up? Should we add something to our lives? Should we change something about our outlook,
our attitude, our priorities?
This year,
we weren’t able to participate in an Ash Wednesday service, due to the extreme
cold and all of this prohibitive weather.
So, this year, I missed that physical reminder of the beginning of an
imperative season in the church. The
physical reminder was missed, but the season has not been. I urge you, whether this is a yearly practice
for you or one that’s brand new, to look into Lent. Figure out the meaning behind it and what it
can mean to you specifically. Think
about your life and how you’re using it.
Journey with Jesus (let your favorite Jesus be the real Jesus) as he
prepares for what’s coming.
