My answer was pretty flippant and reflected the long week I'd had. I was tired of talking church words, thinking church thoughts, and doing church stuff. So I wasn't in the right frame of mind for the question. But it still came. "Fr Duncan, what is Lent?"
The owner of the little voice deserved a better answer than the one I gave. "That which is borrowed," I smugly replied, feeling pleased with my wit, and reassuring myself that my flippancy would go over the head of the child questioner and not be recognized for the sin it truly was. The puzzled look on the young face confirmed that I had gotten away with an inning of crass ; without anyone taking offense. I bat around .150 at that game.
Over twenty years later, I'm not sure I can give a better answer to the question “What is Lent?” An opportunity to beat yourself up? A chance to show people how holy you are? An excuse to over-indulge one appetite while comforting yourself that you're denying another? An occasion to mortify your flesh? I don't even know what that means but I'm sure I wouldn’t like it.
Well, how about taking a more positive view of Lent? What if we actually RECEIVED for 40 days and not just GAVE? Now we’re talking. This Lent I want to invite you, with passion and urgency, to receive from God. The catch? Well, you have to make a bit of an effort if you’re going to receive from these gifts. Here are a few...
1. Read the collection of daily meditations written by members of St John’s and available in print form and on Facebook each day.
2. Enjoy the return of a well-loved pre-pandemic tradition of Wednesday Lent lunchtime services and soup. We’ll be having some worship, beginning at 12pm in the middle 5 Wednesdays (ie, not Ash Wednesday or Holy Week) featuring a major sermon on the theme of “Encounters with Jesus in John’s Gospel”. We’ll then have soup, provided by the great Bazaar cooking team.
3. Attend the Lenten Suppers at 6pm every Wednesday for five weeks, beginning February 25. Our theme this year is ‘Lost For Words: making sense of US church decline and how we can do evangelism in today’s culture’ It will be a fascinating and practical analysis of how St John’s can better serve Montgomery as a Beacon. Join us at 6 p.m. for a meal together followed by the
study.
4. Make every effort to attend Sunday worship during Lent and Easter. Receive the strength and encouragement that comes from Word and Sacrament each week.