The Call to Repentance
Prayer for the Third Sunday of Lent
Almighty God, who sees that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
From The Book of Common Prayer
The third Sunday of Lent follows a progressive line from the first and second Sundays. It brings our spiritual experience from dealing with temptation, to a denial of the power of evil over our lives, through to the place of repentance. Here is a biblical process: face our sin; say no to sin; repent of sin. A striking example is the woman of Samaria (John 4:5-26). In this interesting and compelling story we are able to see several vivid truths concerning our own repentance. First, when Jesus asks the woman of Samaria to give him a drink, we gain an insight into God’s basic attitude toward us: God wants something from us. God thirsts for something from us. God thirsts for us to turn away from sin through confession and repentance. God wants us to acknowledge our sins and to identify the nooks and crannies of our lives not turned over to the Spirit. In repentance we turn away from sin and determine with God’s power to walk in newness of life.
The story of the woman at the well also shows us that God meets us where we are. From the human perspective, the meeting between Jesus and the woman appears to be a happenstance. She went to the well to get water and Jesus just happened to be there. From a divine standpoint, though, we can see that no matter where we are or no matter where we go, Jesus is there to meet us and to touch us with his healing power. God is inescapably present in every facet of our lives. When we go shopping, to a movie, or to a business meeting, God is there. Our needs are met by God at any time and any place. God only asks that we meet Christ with an open heart and a willingness to bare all that God already knows and then to turn toward God in simple faith and trust.
In Lent we are called to once again experience the first love of faith, the breath of fresh air in the newness of our experience with Jesus. Lent is to stir up that original passion within us, to build a fire in the belly, to inspire within us the glow of first love. This can happen to us when we meditate on the story of the woman at the well, for she takes us to where we can meet Christ in the most basic and simple needs of our life experience.
Lent calls us to truly seek God, to look for God in every area of our lives, and to claim God’s presence for our sake. Lent calls us to a repentance that expresses itself in a seeking like the psalm sung by the ancient catechumens, “As a deer goes crazy looking for water in the desert, so I am going crazy looking for you my God” (Psalm 42:1, ancient translation).
Robert E. Webber, from Ancient-Future Time
Robert E. Webber (1933-2007) was a theologian and writer known for his work on worship and the life and teaching of the early church. He has been a leading force in encouraging churches to consider the ancient liturgies and practices of the church throughout history and to see how we can learn from them and implement them in our present cultural and spiritual situation. He is credited with coming up with the term “ancient-future” as a way of realizing that the future life of the church is rooted in its connection with the truths that we can glean from the past.