Being a non-conformist the season of Lent has hardly touched me over the years. Yes I was aware that there was some sort of religious tradition for pancake day and I do remember seeing the occasional Catholic walk round with a black mark on their forehead on Ash Wednesday. But over and above that I suppose I am a typical Methodist.
On Tuesday I expect we will have the usual pancake races in fancy dress and some Methodists may avail themselves of the bizarre advice of the Methodist Church to carry around a "credit card" urging them to "buy less and live more", mainly to reduce their carbon footprints.
Basically we don't actually do very much to observe Lent. One or two of my Catholic friends have taken to abstaining from alcohol, something I have undertaken in recent years (by the way, it is a myth that British Methodism was strictly teetotal). Some Christians I know, don't eat chocolate and donate the money they save to famine relief or development (which may have been a sensible outcome of the "buy less" creditcard).
Irrespective of whether it is Lent or not, it is good for us to occasionally deprive our bodies of food, drink and pleasures, and Christians have long combined prayer with fasting. But the point I'm trying to make is that Lent makes very light demands on most Christians - as should be the case unless we see a very good reason for taking it more seriously.
A few years ago I had my first real experiences of Islam and the month of Ramadan. Firstly I visited Jordan, Palestine and Israel during Ramadan. Co-incidentally, a year later I had to circulate a note explaining the implications for a Birmingham hospital serving a large Moslem population.
The thing that hit me was how much commitment Ramadan demanded: prayers five times a day, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. I don't know why, but for women it is extended for several days to take account of the menstrual cycle. Now this must place a massive burden on Muslims, and we know what Jesus said about the burden's placed by religion leaders, but the fact that large numbers of Muslims observe the month should give us cause to think. What is it about Islam that it can enable its followers to observe a month long daylight fast?
But now I ask other questions. As I go round Birmingham I see individual Muslims making their way to the various Mosques for prayers throughout the day. For example the Central Mosque in Highgate always has a collection of taxis outside at 3.00 pm as the drivers call in for prayer in the middle of their working day.
Compare and contrast. How many Christians in a semi-skilled job like taxi driving would call into their local church for a mid-afternoon time of prayer, that's if they could find a church that was open?
Our Muslim neighbours pray five times a day. How many Christians pray even once a day?
Drive round Birmingham at 9.00 pm in the evening. With just some exceptions, on one or two evenings a week, the Methodist buildings are in darkness, looking empty and forgotten. Go pass a Mosque (or that matter a Sikh Temple) and the lights are on and it is clear that people are around.
Our Muslim neighbours put a great deal of effort and commitment into expressing their faith. Sadly they do not know or would not acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour. However it is worth just noting their commitment, and asking why we Methodists, as a Christian denomination, now have such little enthusiasm?
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment