Lent Reflection 1

The Church of England Ash Wednesday service begins with this invitation:

Brothers and sisters in Christ, since early days Christians have observed with great devotion the time of our Lord’s passion and resurrection and prepared for this by a season of penitence and fasting.

By carefully keeping these days, Christians take to heart the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, and so grow in faith and in devotion to our Lord.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word.

As a Christian of many years, I have heard repeatedly how Lent in today’s world is not about giving up luxuries like chocolate, cakes or watching TV but is, in fact, more about the focus of our heart. The giving up of certain treats, or even everyday changes to diet or routine, can help us to centre our thoughts on God as we become aware each day of the absence of said product or action.

While the service invitation does indeed mention fasting and self-denial, backed up by the replacement activities of reading and meditating on God’s word, it seems to me that

the call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel, is of greater importance during the season of Lent, so that we may grow in faith as we journey towards Holy Week and all it encompasses.

It was in the context of this lightbulb moment that I heard this reading and its accompanying sermon:

John 8: 2-11

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered round him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’

This woman was condemned by the law and by the religious leaders. Her punishment had been postponed merely because they had a greater battle to fight: that of catching Jesus – a Rabbi they couldn’t fathom and couldn’t work out whether to hate or fear – in an even greater sin in their eyes: the act of blasphemy.

Jesus refuses to add to her humiliation: as they force her to stand before the group, he looks away, drawing almost nonchalantly in the sand. But he is not ignoring her … or her accusers.

He gives the men time to walk away, to back down from their chosen stance; and he gives the woman chance to reflect on her lifestyle choices. Both he treats gently, with compassion but firmness.

When the men refuse to back down, Jesus simply states: ‘Let him without sin throw the first stone.’ Now they back down! What choice do they have? Instead of condemning Jesus and the woman, they have in fact revealed their own sinfulness.

And when the woman is left alone, Jesus addresses her directly and – firmly but gently, with compassion – tells her, ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’

What better example can we find proclaimed in the gospel than this particular example of the call to repentance and assurance of forgiveness? In this season of Lent, may you and I find the confidence to stand before Christ Jesus – not in humiliation, but in love – and trust in his gentleness as we acknowledge and unpack our sins in his presence; and draw strength from his enduring forgiveness.

With thanks to Fay for stirring me in these musings...