Dearly Beloved
How is your Lent going? Traditionally this is the season of purposefully growing closer to God through Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving.
Prayer: It seems obvious that praying more should bring you closer to God. So go to it. Set aside time for silent listening prayer. Use your Christmas Card list of friends and pray for 10 of them each day. Listen to the news but with intent to pray for the leader of that nation, for those refugees, those rescuers, the local church in that setting.
Fasting is the bit about giving things up for Lent. Perhaps you’ve given up biscuits or something for Lent. Good for you. Note the danger of success in this venture. Perhaps you get to the Resurrection and you can loudly shout ‘hosanna’ and ‘look at me I did it’! You got through Lent without eating a biscuit and now you rejoice in your self-discipline and accidentally commit the greater sin of pride and being a bit smug. Or consider what to do when you fail. You’ve had a tough day, popped the kettle on and you’re halfway through a KitKat before you realise! Oh my. Now what will you do?
My advice would be to momentarily laugh it off, finish the KitKat and enjoy your cuppa tea. But perhaps later, in prayer, you might say to God, ‘Oh dear Jesus help me! I can’t even keep the simplest of fasts. What would I be like without you and your grace to redeem me from my proper failings and sins and my great need to have you in my life’. In this way let your Lenten fast draw you closer to God.
A nurse thanked me for a throwaway remark in a recent sermon about fasting where I said ‘Do be careful before you fast, have a look at your tablets, perhaps have a chat with your doctor before you start a fuller sort of fast’.
Bear in mind that as you fast there’s tendency to feel a little hangry as they say. That’s that troubling combination of being both hungry and a little angry and in the struggle to appear holy and righteous in the eyes of others, we fail to treat them with love on account of the lack of treats that we are denying ourselves. This would be a failed fast. You would be better off having that biscuit and being a blessing. Remember that the aim of Lent is for you to draw closer to God.
Almsgiving: the spiritual discipline of reviewing your giving of money away to charity is a key part of our Lent disciplines. This brings you closer to God by you acknowledging before God in prayer that God, not money, is your God. The giving of money is a sobering moment where you acknowledge that it is God that has given you everything: your skills and passions, the opportunities, and so on, so all you are doing is giving back to God what God has already given to you. Start with a tithe, a ten percent, of what God has given you, and start the month by giving it early. I find that easier than waiting for the money to go out at the end of the month. I want my giving to happen at a time when I have more gratitude in me!
If you use the Parish Giving Scheme then consider reviewing your giving. If you don’t use it, then you’ll find a form at the back of Church. It is a wonderful way to be a blessing to your church.
Family. Let me add one more challenge. Every six years the CofE entirely deletes its Church Electoral Roll membership list. I hope that you might find in this envelope a lilac form for you to fill in. You can also find them at the back of Church. If you have already filled it in then do nudge others to get on with it. Lots of our Church family worship with us differently to how they did pre-Covid so if you still think of yourself as part of our Church family then please do fill it in and let us have it back. I use the ER to pray through not just for Lent but all through the year.
Whatever you do for Lent, do make sure that it is helping you to grow closer to God. I find this prayer of St Richard helpful.
Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ,
for all the benefits thou hast given me,
for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother,
may I know thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly, day by day.
Amen.
With love and prayer,
James and Lucy