by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York
Stories take us out of ourselves.
It’s not that stories give us an escape. In fact, the best stories are ones we find ourselves in, as they tell of relating and loving, suffering and hoping, facing dangers and difficulties, holding out for change.
As Christians we have been given the most wonderful story of all. A story which on the one hand is like our own - it’s about people like us. But, on the other hand, it tells us about a God we can hardly grasp.
The invitation of this year’s #LiveLent to all of us is to participate in God’s story. To make it so much part of our own stories that our own lives become impossible to understand without it.
And then to be tellers of this story, and the change it has brought to us, to those who fear all they will ever have is their own drama.
Archbishop Justin Welby & Archbishop Stephen Cottrell
Contents
The Greatest Story of all Time
Everybody has a story.
Your story includes the things you have done, the places you have lived your life, the experiences which have made you who you are, the people who have been most important to you.
Your story is not yours alone, but is also part of lots of other stories - the story of your family, your group of friends, your town or village, your church, even your country.
God has a story too. This is the story of God’s loving and creative engagement with the world, which finds its high point in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. From one perspective, to be a Christian is to be someone who lives their story in the light of God’s story.
Story is an important concept in these Lent reflections. So is witness, which for our purposes is the joyful call to each of us to share our own story of God. So too is evangelism, which is the particular ability God gives to some of us to be able to tell the story of God in a way that stirs faith in those who might not call themselves Christians. All of this will become clearer over the next few weeks.
You have a story to tell, and so do I. Your story is unique, and it is powerful, because it authentic, because it is yours, because it is God’s. So let’s dive in.
Each day, Monday to Saturday, try to find 8 to 10 minutes. Read the short Bible passage, perhaps more than once. Sometimes the reflections will encourage you to read a longer passage of the Bible if you have time, to get the full context. Then read the reflection and have a think about what is said. Finally, say your own prayers, using the brief prayer which is given at the end of each day’s reflection.
At the start of each week, there is a brief introduction to set the scene for the whole week, with an action for the week. Don’t neglect the action! That’s how all of this becomes real.
If you would like to dig a bit deeper, there are also resources for small groups, available via: churchofengland.org/livelent.
I would also encourage you to consider reading the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent book for 2021, Living His Story by Hannah Steele, on which these reflections are based.
Church House Publishing and I would like to express warmest thanks to Hannah and to SPCK Publishing for allowing me to develop these reflections and to include short extracts from the book in several of them.
Stephen Hance
The Revd Dr Stephen Hance is Evangelism and Discipleship Lead for the Church of England.
