Continual Need
FROM THE RECTOR
By this time next week, the season of Lent will be upon us. I need some time to get ready. There is some irony in that because, after all, the season of Lent is supposed to be a season of preparation, but I always feel like I need some extra time to prepare for that season.
Every year, I feel a little rushed as I try to figure out what shape my Lenten observance will take. Will I give up meat? Will I give up sweets? Will I fast every day until sunset? Sometimes I even get to the first service on Ash Wednesday before I make a decision. I think it helps me to hear the words of the Invitation to a Holy Lent, which are spoken during the liturgy that day. I need to be reminded what this is all about—why it is that we give something up in the first place. Maybe spending some time during these last few days before Lent mulling that over will help everything come clear.
The words in the prayer book remind us that, over the years, a four-stage process of development got us to this point. Lenten observances began simply as an act of reverent piety: “The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting.” Soon, however, a catechetical layer was added: “This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.” Then, a juridical component developed as the church sought an official way to welcome back those who had gone astray: “It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church.”
If you combine those three, you end up with a fourth understanding of why we pursue Lenten practices now: “Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.” Lent, therefore, is not a time to prove ourselves worthy of Easter but to remind ourselves that the call to renewal through repentance never goes away.
Before you take up a particular Lenten practice, remember that this season is supposed to remind you of what is most important in this life: you belong to God; you are loved and forgiven; and you experience that love most fully through a life of constantly returning to God. Lent, therefore, is not the only time each year that we embark on a journey back to God, but it is a season to remind us that we are on that journey our whole lives. When you choose a Lenten devotion, whatever it is, let it be something that brings you closer to God not only for forty days but for the rest of your life.
During this Lent at St. Paul’s, we are paying particular attention to climate change and our care for the earth. Our Stewardship of Creation Committee is calling on us to consider a “carbon fast,” a spiritual practice of intentionally reducing the amount of carbon dioxide we contribute to the atmosphere through our daily activities. Originally begun in the Church of England fifteen years ago, this Lenten practice is designed to help us turn away from environmentally disruptive practices and embrace a more sustainable way of life. The committee will offer lots of suggestions for how you and your household can do that, but, as you would expect, forty days of carbon fasting is not the end we seek but a step in the right direction.
The need to repent and return to God through the renewal of our faith is continual. It never goes away. We will not solve climate change in forty days, but a season of daily intention—of identifying ways in which our indulgent practices are harmful to ourselves and others and a betrayal of our identity as caretakers of creation and seeking God’s help as we turn away from those ways and embrace a new way of being—has the power to reshape our lives into the image through which we were created—the divine image that God restores within each of us through Jesus Christ.
Environmental degradation is one of many ways in which sin is manifest in our lives. Lent is a time to choose a spiritual practice that will remind you for the rest of your life that God calls you to turn away from sin and return to God. Whatever you choose as your Lenten discipline, remember that the Easter which approaches is not the end of your journey but another moment of encouragement and renewal along the way. May this Lent be a holy season of preparation as you get ready not only for the celebration of the Paschal mystery but also for the journey that continues for the rest of your life.
Yours Faithfully,
Evan D. Garner