Ash Wednesday: Have a Woody Allen Lent

Sermon by the Revd Dr Brutus Green
Readings: Isaiah 58.1-12, Psalm 51.1-18, 2 Corinthians 5.20b-6.10, Matthew 6.1-6, 16-21

Last night, as a forced-frivolous Shrove Tuesday activity, in preparation for the seriousness of Lent, I watched a Woody Allen romantic comedy. I was struck that, in romantic comedies, two things are happening. Firstly, the characters are all restlessly moving around, circling to find their soul mate – the person they’re meant to be with. But secondly, and partly through the various trials that go with trying to impress people and striving to be better, the characters are understanding, coming to terms with, and finding out who they really are. Romantic comedies tend to focus on young characters because they’re an education, formation – a kind of Bildungsroman. Coming of Age stories. Usually, there’s a world of opportunity ahead of someone, but they need to let something or someone go first, in order to find the new thing ahead. With love as their motivation, the characters will discover what they’re missing, or the new horizon that their soul is calling them to.

Lent is really playing the same game with us. Our souls are drawn to all sorts of things, the pretty lights of this world. We have attachments that we’ve had since Highschool, or earlier. We’re on a journey to find the one who gives our life meaning, who alone can fulfil. And this involves finding out who we really are.

So in Lent we’re asked to let go of some of our relationships. It may be eating habits, alcohol, lie-ins, television, social media, parenting – some guilty pleasure in which we seek fulfilment, that we know is not ultimately fulfilling. And through this to find our soul mate –  the one in whom is every fulfilment – With the added bonus, that along the way we may discover something more about ourselves; We may even become more ourselves, The person we’re meant to be.

The reading from 2 Corinthians is one of my favourite passages in the Bible. It captures the passion of Paul, and no one could say that Paul is not earnestly in love with Christ –  seeking him, seeking to please him. His difficulty journey could read as the plot to a romantic comedy – Endurance in affliction, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots – Okay maybe a Russian romantic comedy; Sleepless nights – very romcom –  And we see how he’s grown, been formed in virtue: Purity – these films always require a certain chastity, a sacrifice for the beloved, Knowledge, patience, kindness – holiness, genuine love,  truthful speech – Romcoms always turn at the key moment on an act of genuine honesty – finally, ‘as having nothing, and yet possessing everything’. And every Romantic comedy from Pride and Prejudice to Brigit Jones’ Diary asks the question, would you give everything, would you sacrifice your dignity, your pride, the careful protected person you are, for love - the person you have discovered and the person you might become?

That is the question. And it’s the question of Christianity. Will you follow Jesus, despite how this will turn you away from the things of the world. And it’s specifically the question of Lent: How for these 6 weeks will you turn yourself away from the world. And turn yourself towards truth, charity, holiness.

But the point is not to become more miserable. To take away what little joy is left to us in life. Especially in these days. This is what Jesus warns us about. Don’t do it for the sake of hardship itself. Don’t look miserable to show how “Christian” you are. Don’t go trying to prove something. Just as in Isaiah, the prophet proclaims that real fasting is addressing social injustice; Taking our eyes off our own navals and looking to our neighbours.

As the characters in Romantic Comedies succeed only when they have integrity, so we must find our integrity. We should look forward to Lent. Like that feeling after you’ve eaten too much at Christmas, Or had a little too much wine the night before; There’s a joy to be found in cutting back, In simplicity, In giving ourselves more time; In cutting through the flabbiness, the wooziness, the waste. We may not be able to travel to the desert this year, but there is also a desert within ourselves, if we can stop ourselves pressing the ever-near distraction button.

I read on Facebook yesterday how someone enjoyed being the designated driver because then they could not drink without feeling like a weirdo. Sometimes we need that excuse not to behave like everyone else, To follow conventional social patterns, To break-up our stale lockdown pattern of take-aways and self-medication. Lent is a gift of these few weeks to be a little bit more ourself – to give ourselves a little bit of space from the clutter of living and social pressure.

The Gospel ends ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. If we are resolved to follow our true heart – and recognise it as such – How could Lent be anything but a joy? I’m going to spend this 6 weeks getting closer to what really matters in life. I’m going to learn something about myself; I’m going to become more independent, more present; Find truth, beauty, love; Lent should be quite exciting.

Self-understanding is the key to this. Every romantic comedy begins with people who are dissatisfied with life. Something is missing or something is wrong. We may not know exactly what it is but we begin knowing that change is needed. Entering Lent, this is the Spirit of repentance. It is not about shame. Shame is the devil’s instrument, not God’s. But if we don’t believe that there’s something missing, that there’s more, we won’t look for it.

Oberon loves trains. He quite often finds himself with his hands and arms full of trains, but because he’s a very lucky little boy, there’s usually one more precious train that he desperately wants to pick up. And nine times out of ten, to do this, he will end up dropping all the other trains – which might also cause a little sadness and frustration.

Lent is a time to drop our trains, to empty our hands, To see what more there is to grasp. And it’s a time to realise that however young or old we are, we are still being formed, still discovering the person we are becoming. And as we renegotiate our relationship to the world in these six weeks, let us pray that our restless hearts will find their rest in him, our soulmate, who alone can give us the peace we are created to desire. Amen.