I’m still pondering the super bowl ad about the guy driving his Silverado through the collapse of our civilization. I’ve been wondering about that “twinkie” that was offered at the end of the ad. Why would our friend in the Silverado be offered a “twinkie” by his buddies. I am sure many of you are wondering about the symbolism of the twinkie. I might be getting a little old and “out of touch”, but I am not getting the hidden message if there is one. When I was talking about the ad with my youngest son, Kurt, he saw the twinkie as a kind of food that would last the collapse because of all the articfical perservatives. Interesting – buddies offering something to eat with “junk food” full of artifical preservatives to keep one going when there is no other food to be found.
I would like to offer three suggestions regarding the twinkie. Then I will let it go. First of all, I had forgotten that the twinkie met its demise a couple of months ago. I forget how many years we all have enjoyed twinkies. I know I did as a kid, especially in my “box lunch” and on picnics. Now twinkies are gone. So why did a twinkie appear at the end of civilization? Could it be that even though twinkies were thought to have become extinct, they actually survived the collapse of modern civilization. Could this be a sign of hope (death and resurrection)? But where is the hope associated with a twinkie to survive the collapse. I prefer “the sign of Jonah” Jesus tells us, “You’re looking for proof, but you’re looking for the wrong kind. All you want is something to titillate your curiosity, satisfy your lust for miracles. The only proof you’re going to get is what looks like the absence of proof: Jonah-evidence. Like Jonah three days and nights in the fish’s belly, the Son of Man will be gone three days and nights in a deep grave” (Matt 12:39-40 – The Message). Twinkies might have gone through death and resurrection, but I put my hope in the sign of Jonah. Jesus died for us and has been raised so that we might have real hope. “The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see” (Hebrews 11:1 – The Message).
Secondly, it is interesting that what was offered to our friend in the Silverado was some “junk food” that might be thought of as nourishment to help carry on after the collapse. After all, there was nothing else to eat. It reminds me of the words from the prophet Amos. “I’ll send a famine through the whole country. It won’t be food or water that’s lacking, but my Word. People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east. They’ll go anywhere, listen to anyone, hoping to hear God’s Word – but they won’t hear it’ (Amos 8:11-12 – The Message). Men, remember what our Lord said, “Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for all of you. This age continues until all these things take place. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out” (Matt 24:34 – The Message).
Thirdly, this might be a stretch; Jesus warned on more then one occasion about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. “Be careful…Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matt 16:5). Basically the yeast was a false, hyprocritical religious worldview of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. To be affected by this yeast was to be corrupted with a taste of a religious view that did not sustain or nurture real, lasting life. So my take – Let’s take this offer of a twinkie as a warning not to settle for what cultural religion will be offering you in a time of instability like ours. Rather, turn your heart and mind to receive the healing, creative Word of God that the Father is sending through his Son, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in your very hearts.
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