A Tale of Two Lents

Ash Wednesday 2011
“A Tale of Two Lents”
Rev. Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church
March 9, 2011

In Charles Dickens’ famous novel A Tale of Two Cities, the book begins with the line. “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” This historical novel is very heavily dependent on Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution, which I am sure is familiar to many of you. In it, you will recall Carlyle’s description of the French revolutionary state, cut loose from the traditional moorings of the historical aristocracy and the historical church, thus running rampant
under the forces of humanism and atheistic influence. The atrocities resulting from the denouncements of the ancient French aristocratic class and the resulting simple answer, Le Guillotine, are well known.

Dickens uses a wonderful bipolarity in his novel by focusing on two cities: London and Paris. Looking at the book symbolically, one can see two views of the human condition, according to Dickens. London represents the reasonable, rational side of man, reflecting the prevailing mode of English philosophical thought, called empiricism, while Paris represents the results of human will “run riot”. Paris, in contrast to London, brims over with revolutionary fervor, producing an emotional “stew” of hatred, envy, murder, false witness and lust. This philosophical position reflects the influence of Naturalism and Determinism, schools of thought espoused by men such as Rousseau and later, Nietzsche, and Hegel. The contrast is very clear, London vs. Paris, as Dickens then weaves in the elements of a very entertaining, yet powerful and thought provoking novel.

In our own minds, we might have a somewhat similar view of the impending season of Lent, in that, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Let us consider, then, not a “Tale of Two Cities”, but “A Tale of Two Lents” as we embark upon this somber, yet beautiful season.

We are now entering into one of the most potentially meaningful seasons of the Church year, Lent. It can also be one of the most misunderstood and most ignored church seasons of the year. Thus, we too are confronted with a dichotomy, or bipolarity concerning how we view, meet and “use” the Season of Lent.

On the one hand, we can view Lent as a time of spiritual and even physical “heaviness”. That is, we can inflict severe disciplines on ourselves, as we labor under the impossibly leaden weight of the consciousness of our own sins. We can realize our sinful, fallen state and our woefully inadequate response to it, through the repeated promptings of the Holy Spirit as we trudge through Lent. In addition, we can add physical deprivation to this, as we fast and pray, bewailing our own spiritual wretchedness.

This doesn’t sound very appealing, does it? Certainly, it does not appeal to the modern mind, which obviously runs to the other direction as quickly as possible. Yet, we know that the season of Lent does call for a certain degree of self-denial and self-examination. It is good to focus, at least a bit, on the incredibly self-centered, self-serving and discomfort-avoiding way in which we all live, especially as contrasted with 100% giving aspect of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Christ gave all of Himself to us, whereas we are unable to reciprocate due to our own sinfulness. Instead, we clutch ourselves to ourselves, seeking to retain our own autonomy and the sinful desires of the same.
We seek always, in some fashion, to be our own gods. Lent helps us deal with this unhealthy aspect of our fallen natures by requiring some discipline from us, to strip away our “dross” that our gold may shine.

Yet, as is the fashion of man, we usually never get it quite “right.” Most of us, to some degree or another, usually run “into the weeds” on the right hand or the left. For example, on the right hand, we might seek an overzealous approach to Lent, where we emphasize a deleterious self-examination of the negative aspects that we all share as fallen human beings. Here, as in the Middle Ages, Lent can be a time of pure “hell” spiritually and physically, as penitents literally whipped their sinful flesh, while pondering their sinfulness. In addition, strict fasting was the rule, as the faithful denied themselves not only flesh meat, but also eggs, cheese and milk. This is discipline to the extreme and herein lurks another danger, that of unduly focusing on the “self” in a negative way. Just as it is a sin to celebrate one’s vitality, one’s self-sufficiency, one’s self-esteem without God, so it is a sin to focus on the negative aspects of self to an inordinate degree. The most healthful spiritual route to sanctification is to focus on God and to forget the self as much as possible.

Of course, the modern world and modern man will not do this. They will not subject themselves to any degree of spiritual discipline, at least not Christian discipline. Like the Galatian Church with whom the Apostle Paul labored for so long, which then fell into grave danger by embracing another gospel, we in this age usually turn to other things for our spiritual health, rather than to the One, the Great Physician Jesus Christ, for our spiritual healing and health. We will not weary you by a catalogue of the familiar substitutes for true fulfillment, namely psychotherapy, group therapy, yoga, Eastern religions, alcohol, drugs, erotica, etc. We all know and are familiar with someone or somebody who has sought one or more of these things in endeavor for real spiritual nourishment.
No, the modern world will not submit to discipline like this. Instead, many folks, Christian or not, take a “middle way” to Lent, they simply ignore the whole thing. As society pushes Christianity to the outer limits of relevancy, this trend will likely continue. Many of us, even in the Church, just want to “get through” this whole Lent thing and “move on” to the joys and festivities of Easter. For example, how many of the revelers in New Orleans or Galveston really understand the reason for the party on Mardi Gras, “Fat Tuesday?” Likewise, even we in the Church may be tempted to “turn our heads” spiritually and just wish the whole thing were over.

Beloved in the Lord, this is a grave mistake. If we seek to deaden ourselves to the rigors and discomforts of Lent, to whatever extent we do indeed open ourselves up to them, it is not profitable for our souls. Just as Satan seeks to draw us away from God with all the enticements, pleasures and problems of life, we must take great care that we do not intentionally or unintentionally ignore the formation of Christ in our lives. Recalling that just as man reaps what he sows, so will we reap our spiritual harvest on the Last Great Day. Those who have sought to love Christ with their whole heat, mind and soul will be welcomed to the eternal Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Those who have ignored Him will hear those chilling words from Mat 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Praise God that we in this room will never hear those words. Your very presence here today is evidence that the Holy Spirit is working in your life, not only to begin a holy and blessed Lent, but also to seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to continue your growth in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, we have already begun a good Lent today.

This leads us to the last and best way to observe Lent. We have seen that one can be overly severe, thus defeating the positive side of Lent through obsessive personal meditation on one’s sins, to the point of self-absorption. We have also noted that one can simply ignore Lent, hoping that it will just “go away”, or worse yet, be so far outside the Christian experience that one doesn’t even know that Lent is occurring. This is the sad state of affairs for many, many people today.

There is a better way to observe this valuable and holy season. This is to embrace and celebrate the solemn joy of this season. Let me reiterate that. First, this is a solemn season; one is which we move carefully through the spiritual recesses of our souls. We look, we see, and we even marvel at the fallen-ness that exists within us, yet not in an unhealthy or morbid way, but in the clean mode of self-examination that exposes our sins to the Light of Christ. Just as pure sunlight has a dissipating effect on bacteria, the Light of Christ cleanses the decay in our souls.

In opening ourselves up to the light of Christ in healthy examination, we also experience the joy of Lent. Just as an injury may itch occasionally while it heals, so we will feel the slightly painful “tearing away” of the obsessive attachment to ourselves and our sinful impulses and desires. Here is where the joy arrives, for we know that as we grow less and less attached to ourselves, we are growing more and more attached to Him, He who is capable of granting us eternal health. Yes, our flesh grows more troublesome and our bodies experience a sort of entropy, as they wind down to their determined state, but our souls do not. Fed by the new life of Jesus Christ, they become springs of living water, gushing joyfully into eternity. Cleansed continually by the Light of Christ, they become reflectors of the Light that has no end.

How do we obtain this “solemn joy?” How do we allow ourselves to be bathed with and cleansed by the Light of Christ? Well the good new is that we have already started. Together, we have begun to make this Lent a holy, blessed and quietly joyful one. Today, we begin to ask the Great Healer to purify the decay in our souls, wherever it may exist. Now, we must continue our spiritual journey by continuing to meet together in holy worship. We must continue our spiritual feeding by daily reading and ingesting of the Word of God. Taking the Scriptures as our cue, we also need to engage in healthy spiritual self-examination.

These are the keys to a fulfilling and wonderful Lent, just as they are to a fulfilling and wonderful Christian life. The “recipe” never changes; it’s just how the cooks (us) put the ingredients together. Thank God, we have the Church to guide us and to carry us, Thank God, we have the Scriptures to feed us, and Thank God, we have each other for fellowship and support. This triune approach to Lent, in worship, in study of the Word of God and in godly fellowship, is a guarantor of spiritual progress during this holy and blessed season.

With the right attitude, we have begun again one of the most important spiritual journeys of our earthly sojourn. Let us embrace and celebrate the solemn joy of this season.

This is the promise of Lent. This is the promise of our salvation.

1Ch 29:11
“Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.”