Year B, Lent Community Service
February 20, 2024
Psalm 95:1-9, Mark 1:9-15
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“Reflections Through The Wilderness:
A Lenten Journey with ‘The Screwtape Letters'”
The Very Reverend Kathleen Murray
Woodstock Ministerial Alliance Community Lent Service
A Service of Noonday Prayer
As we begin another Lenten season, I decided to revisit the great Christian classic, The Screwtape Letters,[1] by C.S. Lewis as part of my Lenten devotion.
The Screwtape Letters are all about the devil or the reality behind whatever word you choose to use for the existence of evil. Since its publication over eighty years ago, this book has been recognized as a milestone in contemporary theology. As a satiric masterpiece, it offers an ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.[2] The book takes the form of letters from the devil, Screwtape, who sends diabolical advice to his nephew, Wormwood, on capturing the human heart for evil purposes. Behind the satire is a skillfully written book that offers uncanny insights into the human soul.
The first time I read The Screwtape Letters, many years ago, I couldn’t fully appreciate the satire. As I read it now, with more life experience behind me, I get that uncomfortable feeling when you read or see something and find that you’re looking at yourself in the mirror.
In The Episcopal Church, many churches use The Great Litany to open the service on the first Sunday in Lent. It has been in every Book of Common Prayer since 1544. The significance of The Great Litany is deep. It is all-encompassing and focuses our prayers for ourselves and the world, and it is a meaningful way to keep a “Holy Lent.” Part of The Great Litany is about “the crafts and assaults of the devil.”[3]
Devil talk is something Episcopalians usually avoid. But in a world shadowed by evils like hatred and genocide, a world where we poison our enemies, we are called to resist evil not with vengeance but with the power of our faith and love. It is through steadfast compassion and unwavering moral courage that we combat darkness, not by mirroring its actions but by shining a light so bright that it transforms evil into an opportunity for grace and unity. The true path to overcoming evil is through acts of kindness and our shared humanity. Isn’t that precisely what Jesus did?
You might ask yourself in what subtle ways might we encounter temptation in our daily lives, in situations similar to the advice given by Screwtape to Wormwood? How do these moments challenge our relationship with God and with others?
In Mark’s Gospel, we are immediately thrust into the wilderness with Jesus, who, after his baptism, is led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan. This wilderness is not just a physical locale but a symbolic space of testing, confrontation, and spiritual struggle. Similarly, the imaginative series of letters from Screwtape to Wormwood unveil the subtleties of temptation and the spiritual battles waged in the human heart.
I can’t help but think that Jesus’ wilderness experience mirrors our spiritual journeys. Like Christ, we are not immune to the trials and temptations of our human existence. How does your own ‘wilderness’ experience – times of testing, confrontation, or spiritual struggle, mirror that of Jesus? What lessons can we draw from Jesus’ reliance on God’s presence in these moments?
Through Screwtape’s cunning advice to Wormwood, C.S. Lewis reveals how these temptations are often not marked by grand, moral failures but by subtle, mundane moments that pull us away from God’s love and grace. The lesson here is profound: our spiritual battles are most often fought in the daily decisions, thoughts, and attitudes that shape our relationship with God and one another.
Lent calls us to a period of self-examination and repentance. It invites us to venture into our wilderness, to confront our vulnerabilities, and to acknowledge our need for God’s transforming grace. C.S. Lewis reminds us that the enemy seeks to keep us from this very act of self-reflection, preferring that we remain unaware of our frailties and, thus, more susceptible to temptation. But it is in recognizing our weaknesses that we open ourselves to the strength and mercy of God.
In his wilderness, Jesus was not alone. Mark tells us that angels attended him, a reminder of God’s presence even amid trial. This reminder echoes a profound truth voiced by Richard Rohr, a contemporary mystic and spiritual teacher, who reminds us, “We cannot attain the presence of God because we’re already totally in the presence of God. What’s absent is awareness.”[4] Rohr often emphasizes and assures us of the transformative power of experiencing God’s love and presence beyond what we can understand.
This assurance is crucial for us. Both Rohr and C.S. Lewis subtly underscore the presence of God around and within us, even when we are least aware. The tempter’s goal is to make us forget this divine presence, but Lent reorients us to the reality of Emmanuel, God with us, who meets us in the wilderness with grace and strength.
Our Lenten journey is an invitation to seek God’s presence and awaken to it, fully enveloping us even as we walk through our own wilderness.
Remember that, emerging from the wilderness, Jesus began his ministry with a call to repentance and belief in the good news. This call is not merely a call to repentance and personal piety but a radical reorientation of our lives around the Gospel. We’re called and challenged to examine where our allegiance lies. Are we aligning ourselves with the value of God’s kingdom, or are we succumbing to the subtle temptations that seek to divert us from Christ?
The wilderness experience, with its trial and divine support, mirrors our Lenten journey. The journey of Lent reminds us that the temptations we face, the need for repentance, the assurance of God’s presence, and the call to live out the Gospel are shared aspects of our Christian faith. The Screwtape Letters, while fictional, speak to universal themes of the Christian experience, reminding us that we are united in our need for God’s grace and in our mission to embody Christ’s love in the world.
What concrete ways can we live out the Gospel during this Lenten season, embodying Christ’s love in our daily decisions, thoughts, and actions toward others?
One way is to embrace our baptismal identity and the lessons from Jesus’ baptism and his wilderness experience. Let’s live in a way that reflects God’s love and grace, turning toward Jesus and believing in the good news. May we remember to confront our temptations with God’s help and reorient our lives towards the kingdom of God. May this be a time of spiritual renewal and deepened faith for all of us.
And may we remember that the wilderness is not the end of our story. Easter awaits us with the promise of resurrection as we prepare to experience the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As we walk through the forty days of Lent, let us hold fast to the Gospel, supporting one another in prayer, fasting, and acts of kindness. May the Spirit lead us through this season, transforming our hearts and minds so that we might emerge more fully conformed to the image of Christ, our Lord, and Savior, who leads us from wilderness to the promise of new life. Amen.
[1] C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, Revised Edition (New York: Collier Books, 1982).
[2] The Screwtape Letters,” Wise Path Books, accessed February 19, 2024, https://wisepathbooks.com/collections/c-s-lewis/products/the-screwtape-letters.
[3] The Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 148.
[4] Richard Rohr, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See (Crossroad Publishing Company, 2009), 22.