In this year's Lent message, Bishop Hugh encourages us to consider using the 40 days to commit to a specific discipline which will help us to live life more fully with God and for God.
Read a transcript of the message
Sportswomen and sportsmen, the kind of people who play at Sixways, the home of Worcester Warriors Rugby Club, put in hours and hours of practice, repeating the same drills over and over again. The same drop kick or forehand; the same penalty flick or free kick – practising and practising. And of course that takes discipline.
And they do all that disciplined training so that, when they go out on match day in front of the crowds, they haven’t got to think about what to do – they just do it instinctively. All that discipline in training means the kick, or the swing or the flick, become part of who they are.
And the same is true of musicians, and of actors, and of anyone who has to practise a skill in order to get to the point where instinct takes over – where responding to the situation doesn’t take deliberate thought – it just happens.
Being a Christian is a bit like that. We have disciplines too – not out on a training pitch, but in prayer, and in reading the bible and in worship and in service. And in case the word ‘discipline’ sounds a bit heavy, remember it’s the same word as ‘disciple’ which just means ‘learner’, ‘student’ or perhaps best of all - ‘apprentice’.
And the point of those disciplines is to help us learn how to live faithfully when we’re out and about getting on with life. Like the sportsmen and women who practise here, we pray and read the bible and worship, so that when we’re getting on with life – at work, with our families, in the community, we haven’t got to think about what to do – we just get on with working for justice, acting compassionately, introducing people to Jesus and his love.
Lent is just about to start. The gift of 40 days when we are invited to attend to our spiritual disciplines; to notice where we’re on track, and where we’re not. Lent gives us the opportunity to be honest with ourselves and with God, about where we need to go back to the training ground, back to the basics of what it is to follow Jesus – to be a disciple, and to commit to doing something about it.
So, maybe you need to get back to praying each day, or to start for the first time, or to pray with your children. Maybe your bible hasn’t been opened for a while, or regular worship has slipped. Whatever it is, Lent is offered to you as a gift. 40 days to practise the presence of God, so that you can live the whole of life more closely with him.
And you haven’t even got to do it in the rain!
So, let me encourage you to consider – what one thing could you do this Lent - what one discipline could you commit to - that will help you live life more fully with God and for God?
God bless, and I hope you have a wonderful Lent.
