A Letter from Bishop Chris (February 2024B)

Will you make space for eternity during this Lenten season?

That’s really the point of Lent; to make space for eternity so that you grow in relationship with Jesus and so that you’re deeply prepared to celebrate the wonder of Easter.

For many of us, making space will involve engaging spiritual practices (disciplines) over the next 40 or so days. These spiritual practices help us open ourselves up to the work of the Holy Spirit. In our Ash Wednesday service, the Prayer Book specifically recommends the practices of penitence, fasting, prayer, giving, and Scripture study.

C. S. Lewis said that when we engage in spiritual practices or disciplines, what he called, “religious duties,” we are, “like people digging channels in a waterless land, in order that when at last the water comes, it may find them ready.” This is what spiritual practices do for us; they help make space in our lives for eternity. They are not a quick fix for trouble; nor are they formulas guaranteeing results. Disciplines are not the end but a means to a potential end which is no less than a life-altering encounter with God.

It’s no wonder then that those disciplines generally associated with Lent involve some measure of sacrifice (such as time for prayer and Scripture study), or the denial of self (through penitence), or the crucifixion of the appetites (through fasting). The hope of the discipline is to make space for something else; namely the realm of eternity, the presence of God with us.

But we must not be so naive as to believe that our Lenten practices are merely internal in their orientation. Surely, they are intended to change our hearts, but they are also intended to change our outward lives. Our spiritual practices ought to affect our relationship with God and also with our neighbors.

The prophets consistently opposed the practices of God’s people that allowed them to seek inner experiences with God while continuing to oppress those around them. Isaiah 58 is particularly clear on this as God brings a strong and outward-oriented corrective to his fasting people. The Lord says,

 ‘“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?’” (Isaiah 58:3b-7)

We must be careful, then, lest we are guilty of the same thing. It’s no use to humble ourselves before God while standing pridefully over others and bickering with our family and friends. We should not fold our hands in prayer while shrugging off the needs of those around us. We cannot turn our eyes upon Jesus while turning our eyes away from our needy neighbor. Abstaining from food is of no benefit if we don’t share our food with the hungry. Resisting consumerism is useless if we walk past the homeless man in tattered clothes. Biblically, to seek God’s blessing is to be a channel of blessing to others. If we say we have good news, we must tangibly share that good news with those who need it most.

I invite you then, dear people of God, to a holy Lent; to a season of making space for eternity so that you grow in relationship with Jesus and so that you’re deeply prepared to celebrate the wonder of Easter.

Blessings,

+Chris