Letter from St James’s Church
With the arrival of March we know that spring is inching nearer, and so is Lent, which I discovered comes from the Latin meaning ‘Spring’, or ‘lengthening’ (of daylight hours); “hooray,” I hear!
Traditionally, it has been seen as a time ‘for giving something up;’ one fascinating example being in the film Chocolat (released in 2000), where a French lady, Vianne Rocher, and her daughter, Anouk, arrive at a traditional French village in 1959 with the shocking intention of opening a chocolaterie in Lent, of all times. The stir caused is quite something (enough to make a feature film about, along with various nominations and awards), until some of the villagers discover how good the chocolate is, and succumb to its power!
Some will find Lent a good time to undo the damage done by the excesses of Christmas and others adopt it as an opportunity for self-improvement.
So, is that it?
Well, the Bible never tells us we should be observing a season of Lent.
Instead, it tells us about its roots, which is much more helpful for us. One of the writers, (Doctor) Luke recounts, at the very start of the ministry of Jesus he goes into the local desert, and for forty days lives in the wilderness preparing himself for what lies ahead. He focuses his attention by not eating (and Luke perhaps understates that at the end he was very hungry). But the account doesn’t stop there; Jesus has an enemy (from beyond this world) who desperately wants to derail his mission, using three temptations, each offering him a different pathway to the one he knows he has been called to. Interestingly with each temptation Jesus replies from his deep knowledge of the Scriptures to refute his enemy.
So, what was the mission that Jesus was so determined to follow through?
It was the greatest rescue mission ever launched. You may remember at Christmas his arrival was announced as a ‘saviour’ and here he is, Jesus is getting ready to save the people who are in deep trouble (and I don’t just mean those whose problems are obvious to us, but all of us, because we have all messed up, and are cut off from God).
Elsewhere in the Bible that is spelt out for us (by Paul in Romans chapter 5).
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
At the end of Lent we will be hearing about how Jesus did this, as he went to his death on the cross as a substitute for each of us.
This is what Jesus was about; that is why he came into this world, and it is where we see the love and power of God. It is the most important thing any of us can think about.
So, giving up chocolates (or whatever) for Lent might help you, but the bigger question for all of us this Lent is “have we accepted the rescue Jesus was so determined to provide for us”? That is the biggest question I can ask you.
I commend taking some time out over these weeks of Lent (from Pancake Day, up to Easter Sunday) to pick up a copy of the life of Jesus, which is helpfully only a click away in Luke 4 on Bible Gateway (New International Version – UK). That is Luke’s account, dropping in on the above event.
Thanks for reading,
John
One of the Lay Leaders of Worship team at St James’s Church