Romans 4:13-18

By: Hershey Mallette

“For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” (Romans 4:13-14, emphasis added)

I am a Southern girl, and thus there are three things I love: God, my daddy and food – especially bacon! I also love Lent. It is my favorite church season, thus I devour anything related to keeping a Holy Lent. 

Yet, it is around this time of the Lenten season when the going gets tough. I think that is because exactly six weeks ago I was stuffing my face with pancakes and lots of bacon!

I digress…

One of my favorite Lenten reads is Great Lent: Journey to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann. Since reading it I keep a traditional Orthodox Lenten fast – which cuts out most foods. The first few weeks are easy, because I know what to expect: dreams of bacon-laden sandwiches, and the nightmare of declining some of my favorite Southern dishes – Daddy’s BBQ ribs and his famous fried fish.

Last year, on a Saturday around this time of year, I went to church for a funeral. The service was beautiful, and a lot of people came out to pay their respects to the deceased. Later that day, I went to visit Mama and Daddy, and they asked about the service. I told them about the beautiful lush green arrangements, the nice things people said, the music, the comforting homily, the savory pork chop, and who was in attendance – wait!

The Pork Chop…

“I can’t believe I did that!”

“Ugh!”

“I wasn’t supposed to eat that!”

Suddenly, I burst in to uncontrollable sobs. I felt so absolutely awful! I had broken my Lenten fast. (In hindsight, I think that I was crying in part from exhaustion – it’s hard to kick a bacon habit in the South in 40 days!)

For that reason Paul’s words are so comforting. “If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” Jesus, descendent of Abraham, is the very reason that breaking my fast doesn’t break my relationship with God.

So if you are like me, and things are getting tough for you right about now – maybe your desires are creeping in on you, or maybe you have already slipped up while fasting – stop crying; say to yourself, “Thank God for the promise of forgiveness known to us in Jesus!”

Believe in the promise. Experience joy in waiting for the resurrection of Jesus. Because he will be raised from the dead, we experience the gift of repentance and forgiveness, and true relationship with God our creator. Amen.