Lent

As we begin the season of Lent together I was drawn to a prayer of St. Augustine of Hippo, written probably 1600 years ago. 

St Augustine is rightly remembered as a genius theologian, excellent bishop and powerful rhetorician for the truth of the faith.

Yet he was much more than that. He was a deeply faithful and thoughtful Christian, conscious of his own flawed nature and of God's great love and grace for him. And it is to this aspect of him I am most drawn.

In his 'Confessions' - his powerfully moving autobiography (written many ages before "autobiography" was even a genre!) - he draws the reader into his own wrestling with faith, his own questions and his own heart struggles. I would recommend it to everyone as a must read!

He also does it in some beautiful prayers, drawn from the Psalms and worthy of entry into that canon. 
Here's one of my favourites, perfect for Lent:

'Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.'

Here is Augustine privately bringing his heart before his Father in prayer; conscious of the truth that he is a sinner. 
He says his soul is "narrower" than it could be because it isn't filled as fully with the love of God as it should be. 
He says his heart is like a ruin, needing God's Son Jesus to repair it and make it a temple of the Holy Spirit.
He knows that his sin displeases God and he confesses it all to him. 

The season of Lent is one that Christians have often used to remind ourselves of this truth -

I am a sinner. God made me to go his good and perfect way and in my sin I reject that and go a different way. This displeases God because when I do that I'm not only rejecting the way of the one who made me, I'm rejecting Him. As God is the source of life, goodness and love, all that comes from him, his way, is life, goodness and love. When we go a different way, we move away from those things. But when we confess, when we say sorry, when we move back to God, in and through Jesus who died to make that way possible, we return to the path of life and love and goodness we were made for. Our soul is opened, the house repaired to reflect the grace and glory of God.

As Augustine reflects on his sin and his soul, his prayer continues like this:

'But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?'

Like King David in Psalm 51, Augustine sees that forgiveness must come from God. But also like King David, Augustine can ask for forgiveness in the confident expectation that it will be granted. Why can Augustine believe this? Because of God's grace in Jesus.

For Augustine this grace made all the difference. He could say, 'The grace of God does not find men fit for salvation, but makes them so.' 

Here Augustine echoes the words of St Paul in his letter to the Romans: 'but God shows his love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.'

This is our confidence and hope in these 40 days. Even whilst we rightly take the time to confess our sin, to say sorry, we know that we do it already safe in the grace and love of God, because Christ has died for us.

God be with you all this season.

Rev Jack