Vicar's View

Lent is Just Around the Corner   

The desert is where God called his people to make them holy. We assume the wilderness is a place of exile and isolation, and it certainly can be that. But in the story of redemption, the wilderness has always been a sacred spot for God and his beloved. In the wilderness, we detox from our false attachments and renew our bond with our loving Father. When I am on a flight that is preparing for take-off, I don’t want to do as I’m told to switch my electronic devices to Airplane Mode. I do not like it because it cuts me off from the stimulants and freedoms that I feel I need. It forces me to have an actual conversation with the person sitting next to me. 

When God calls his people into the wilderness, he puts their whole existence on Airplane Mode. I resist this and so might you. It means feeling out of control and out of the loop. Our go-to stimulants and stories are no longer on tap. We can no longer anæsthetise our emotions or avoid a conversation with our Father.

It might feel like a restrictive punishment, but it’s actually a heavenly gift. Lent is indeed a wilderness and there are several reasons why we can and should enter it. We do not go into the wilderness to find God. We enter the wilderness because God has found us. He has delivered us, blessed us and called us his own. The desolation and quiet gives us space to ponder the great salvation we have already received. In the wilderness, even our struggles and failures teach us the truth of the gospel. 

Consider the people of Israel. They journeyed into the wilderness after watching their oppressors drown in the Red Sea by the hand of God. Exodus details the song of praise that carried them out of Egypt: “The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation…Pharaoh’s chariots and his host he cast into the sea!”.The wilderness was not where Israel earned its salvation. It is where they worked out what it meant to be saved. In a desolate place, bread fell from heaven and water gushed from a rock. The multitudes were fed by faith and with thanksgiving. The Living Word was in their midst, working beautiful, wild miracles, changing slaves into sons. With each nourishing meal the tyranny and presence of Egypt lost its grip. It took Israel 40 years to realise they were the Lord’s treasured possession, not Pharaoh’s unworthy slaves. 

Consider Jesus. He entered the wilderness with his Father’s endorsement ringing in his ears after his baptism: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”. Unlike Israel, and us, he had no false attachments of which to repent. His 40-day fast made space for him to bask in his Father’s love and to draw upon the Spirit’s power. When the Devil tempted him with fantasies of dazzling self-love and godless power, Jesus was ready. He shut down the demonic chatter with the Word of God, which lived inside him. 

In the Lenten wilderness, our fantasies of glory, fear or pleasure can give way to the reality of God’s glory, love and holiness. God acts in history, and we enter the wilderness to give our imaginations a chance to catch up. But why is Lent 40 days? Practically speaking, it takes at least that long to prepare our hearts for Easter. As someone once put it: “One drop of water every five minutes won’t get you a shower. ”We need to be immersed in the reality of the kingdom of God before we start seeing its impact on our lives. The same is true for Easter Sunday and all the Sundays that follow. We need more than a Good Friday service two days before to prepare our mind and heart to celebrate Jesus’ victory. We cannot prepare for Easter over a weekend. We need a longer pilgrimage to get ready. Most importantly, the 40 days draw us into the gospel drama that Jesus lived. He went into the wilderness before us, and he goes there again with us. He knows that the struggle is real, that our frame is weak, and that we are dust. Because we are united to him, his 40 days become ours. 

Lent is not our ultimate destination. The wilderness fast is temporary, thanks be to God! The bright light of the resurrection is ahead. The word Lent derives from the old Saxon word for spring. In the Lenten Spring, winter is giving way to summer. Each day’s light is longer than the last. Lent, then, is a profound picture of the Christian journey. It stands between our deliverance and our home. It is a time of faith and longing, hope and expectation. So, no, we are not ready for Easter. Not yet. But with the world behind us and the cross before us, we go repenting and rejoicing one faltering step at a time. To paraphrase Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s faithful companion in The Lord of the Rings, this meant that everything sad was coming untrue. 

Martin