Lockdown Lent
After Jesus was baptised, he was led into the wilderness. Luke’s gospel records that he was ‘full of the Holy Spirit’ and that he was led there ‘by the Spirit’ (Luke 2 verse 1).
After 40 days of resisting the temptations of the devil with the words of Scripture (Luke 2 verses 3-13), Jesus returns ‘…in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.’ (Luke 2 verse 14)
Lent is time in the Christian calendar where we remember, and in some way reenact, this 40 day period in the life of Jesus. It’s about simplicity, reflection, confessing our wrongdoing. This is all to ready ourselves for the climax of the year, as we remember the final moments, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the event that changes everything.
And this Lent, I sense, has particular resonance, and unusual opportunity.
Lockdown first hit the UK midway through Lent in 2020, taking us from normal life at its beginning to physical restrictions by the end. This year, however, things look set to reverse that pattern.
We start Lent 2021 in lockdown, with limited movement, and a continued need to minimise social interaction for the sake of reducing the spread of Coronavirus and the strain on our NHS. A wilderness experience is normally hard to empathise with, but this year we’ve been offered the chance to engage deeply.
And then, tentatively, we’re looking to those restrictions easing through Lent, and being able to be with others by the time it has run its course. What starts in wilderness has the potential to end in embodied community again.
How we want to reemerge from this time is the key question, and opportunity before us.
Jesus entered the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit, as all those who follow Jesus do too. Lent is a time for us to be especially attentive to Jesus, possible through his Spirit. Foregoing indulgences should not be an attempt to bolster our willpower, but renewed opportunity to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to be strong as we are weak. It’s about creating opportunities to actively and wholly rely on the Spirit, which, in a country of relative abundance and alluring self-sufficiency, are precious and to be taken advantage of.
Jesus — having navigated this time perfectly — returns in the power of the Spirit, and the impact is immediate. News spread, teaching followed, praise came, and in the next chapter of Luke’s account Jesus takes the scroll at the synagogue, reads from Isaiah and turns its fulfilment on himself, declaring his manifesto for ministry.
And so, beginning Lent in lockdown we today can empathise more fully than ever with Jesus’ time in the wilderness. And if we follow Jesus pattern — drawing on Scripture, relying on the Spirit, holding fast in the face of temptation, crying out to God — we too can emerge in the power of the Spirit.
Imagine the results if even one follower of Jesus today emerges from this Lent and this lockdown in the fullness of the power of the Spirit. Imagine what could be if they inspire others, and small communities, maybe churches, even networks get on board too.
This Lent, enter the wilderness of restriction with Jesus, and reemerge into freedom in the power of his Spirit, proclaiming good news, liberty, healing, and the Father’s favour.