Day 19: Mar. 27

Fast Food

from Rolf Svanoe, Bread for the Journey

Zvanoe tells the story of picking up his daughter from high school and going out for lunch. He says, "Since we didn't have much time, we decided to get fast food. While we were eating, she told me that they had watched the film Supersize Me in one of her classes that morning. It was part of a weeklong emphasis at school on healthy eating and the problems of obesity. For thirty days, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but fast food from McDonald's—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If he was asked whether or not he wanted his order supersized, he was obligated to say "yes"—hence the film's name. He gained 25 pounds during the month, and his cholesterol jumped 60 points. His doctors were shocked by the negative impact of his diet and two weeks into his experiment, they asked him to stop. My daughter told me all this while we were wolfing down our burgers and fries. ‘Sixty percent of Americans are obese,’ she said. As we sat in the restaurant, I suggested giving up fast food for Lent. She made me pinky swear.”

In Exodus, we have the original fast food. God's people were enslaved in Egypt, and they cried out to God to deliver them. God heard their prayers and used a series of plagues to change the minds of their oppressors. Before the last plague, God commanded his people to eat a special meal. They were to kill a sheep or goat, put its blood on the doorposts, roast it, and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. "This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord." (Exodus 12:11)

Fast Food! God was about to deliver them, and they needed to be ready to go instantly. Since there was no time, they were to take bread with them made without yeast. There was no time to allow the bread to rise; thus, the bread was unleavened.

There was another reason for the unleavened bread. It symbolized a break from the past. People would use a pot of starter to make their bread, a piece of fermented dough from the bread made the day before. A piece of that new fermented dough would then be stored away and used as starter for the next loaf of bread.

God's people demonstrated their break from the past by making unleavened bread. It wasn't just bread they left behind. They had lived in Egypt for hundreds of years and had learned the Egyptian language, culture, and religion. If God was going to create a new people with new laws, they needed a clean break from their past.

Unleavened is the "bread of affliction," the bread of those in need of rescue and deliverance. Unleavened is the bread of those who need changes in their lives because life isn't working, it's for all who yearn for freedom. Ever wondered why we often eat those awful tasting little wafers for communion? It is a reminder of our desire to be forgiven and loved by God. Like unleavened bread, Lent is a season of the church year that unsettles us. We are not in bondage to Egypt, but we are indeed slaves.

Jesus said, "Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34). Lent is the season that reminds us of our daily struggle against sin and temptation, and prayer, fasting, and charity are the disciplines of Lent. As we approach Easter, we celebrate God's deliverance through Jesus Christ. We are truly free as we celebrate the gift of new life in Jesus Christ.