Looking at Lent

Lent simply means length and it marks the 40 days (excluding Sundays) from Ash Wednesday until Easter day. This 40 day period which is often associated with fasting and self-denial is a preparation time for the great celebration of Easter. We can’t have the highs without experiencing the lows, otherwise there would be nothing to contrast the two. In the lectionary (Year B) we journey with Jesus through his wilderness experience to his interview before Pilate, laced with foreboding conversations along the way. This contrasts with the ‘light relief’ of the wedding at Cana on the third Sunday in Lent.
Highs and lows teach us to be grateful for the good times and help us negotiate the dark ones. Today I have taken the funeral of a full term still born baby. It is hard when grief is so raw it feels uncontainable. Families grieving can’t make sense of their emotions let alone the circumstances that have led them there. All we can do in such circumstances is to be there. Of course it is not answers they are looking for – there are none – but human contact that tells us them they are not alone. When Jesus was before Pilate he remained silent (Mark 15). Words would have got in the way. Pilate's words would come back to haunt him as he capitulated to the seething crowd. The same is true of grief. Care has to be taken not to trample with meaningful words when no answers are being asked for.
The joy of resurrection breaks into the desperation of loss, and I pray that in the fullness of time the same may be true for the grieving family today and others like them.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Taylor talks (and writes)

I found the post on Steve Taylor’s website on 18th April very helpful today. It reminded me of a remark that Martin Atkins made at the beginning of the MEC 1 lecture last October. When being thanked for coming to give the lecture he dismissed the thanks saying that to do so was cathartic for him. At the time I didn’t understand what he meant by that remark, but thinking about it now in the light of Taylor’s blog I think I see what he means - you can only take in if you are also giving out. I have struggled with this year out of ministry, because I have not found an outlet (other than writing assignments!) for all that I am learning through it. I have preached once in 10 months, through my own choice, because I needed to stand back in order to evaluate. I have also been thinking that preaching is a non-productive environment in which to communicate. It is so easy for those who listen to disengage – a habit that I have found myself falling into during my 10 months of pew-sitting . Perha...
Read more

Chronos and Kairos

Don't normally refer to Greek in sermons, but I made an exception this Sunday. Tom Stuckey's book, commented on in my last blog, has a really helpful distinction between these two Greek words. Used it as the base for a chapel anniversary service here at Wirksworth on Sunday evening. You can see the power point presentation to go with the sermon based on Acts 10. If you want to download it click here . The church is at a kairos moment as it emerges from Christendom, facing highly vocal sceptics like Richard Dawkins, yet there is a hunger for meaning in a world full of superficiality. May God give us the wisdom and hope to use this moment.
Read more

Statistics for Mission

At the Methodist Conference in a couple of weeks time there will be a debate around the Statistics for Mission report, which looks at returns churches have made with regard to activity associated with their congregation. find the report here These statistics are then compared over a ten year period to examine trends and on an annual basis to see how things have changed over the year. The report makes for uncomfortable reading. The reason I refer to the report is the way it reflects what is happening at my local Methodist church. I should add that I do not have pastoral charge of the congregation as I have full-time responsibilities as a hospital Chaplain. However, I am committed to its future as it seeks to serve God in this village. Overton is a chapel built 177 years ago with a current worshipping congregation between 18 and 25 adults, of which up to 5 are under 60. A new family came to the village last September and have started worshipping at the chapel with their 5 year old daug...
Read more