Letter from Aaron Kennedy – Vicar of Otley Parish Church
Lent is a time of preparation when, historically, those who had fallen from the faith could be prepared for readmittance. That’s right – in the ancient church, when one denied Christ under persecution, or fell into sin, one would have been excluded from fellowship. If one decided to repent (turn away from) their sins, this was always possible. But failures were not simply brushed under the carpet; they were acknowledged and repented of publicly, and the process of restoration was very deliberate. 40 days of fasting, prayer, and Bible study were prescribed; not as punishment, but – and this is key – for healing.
These are the words of an ancient prayer concerning Lent:
Now is the healing time decreed
For sins of heart and word and deed,
When we in humble fear record
The wrong that we have done the Lord.
(Latin, before 12th century)
However, it was not only those who had fallen away that were encouraged to keep Lent in this way – all members of the church used this time (as they say in Alcoholics Anonymous) to “take a personal inventory” of how they had been living and to ask the Lord, as David did, to “search me and know me, see if there is any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139).
It is interesting to consider that, on the one hand, we 21st century Western Christians who live without (widespread) persecution find all of this quite foreign, while on the other, the ancient Christians who were persecuted and often in fear for their lives, evolved and adopted this way of living – as an application of the Gospel to their lives. It may not surprise you to know that the ancient church was vital, alive, passionate and growing voraciously, even as many were martyred (dying at the stake, or in flames, etc). We don’t compare very favourably, on the whole, as we squirm and fret over the language of sin, holiness, repentance, etc.
The church today is of course in a time of decline. And that decline is undoubtedly a function of our compromise with the values of the world around us. We are not characterised so much by the mind of Christ, but by the values of the world we live in. Many Christians in the west are what Jesus, in Revelation, described as ‘lukewarm’, saying that he desired to spit such Christians out of his mouth (chapter 3 verse 16).
Many of us have been led to believe that notions of evil and sin are really overstated, that talk of the devil and demons and angels is all nonsense – a spiritualisation of psychological problems or mere chemical imbalances in the brain. This is, of course, a successful strategy of the Satan, rendering us undefended and helpless on the battlefield. Until we realise the truth of our circumstances, we will remain dominated and defeated by the evil one, and fail to enter into the abundant life and freedom that Jesus came into this world to give us.
My prayer for us all this Lent is that we may get “tooled up”, so to speak, with a good rule of life which includes wearing the full armour of God (see Ephesians 6:10-17) and engaging in spiritual practices like those we are exploring in our Lent study – Surprise the World. These are not only defensive, but also offensive responses to the kingdom of darkness. And when we arise as a church in the power of the Holy Spirit, fully trained, competent and ‘thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:17), the forces of darkness will begin to quake, and the Kingdom of Light, of our Lord, Jesus Christ, will advance, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Arise, O Church, this Lent!