Our theme for Lent is discipleship. That is one of those churchy words, but literally it means living as students of the Lord. So we begin of course by looking at how Jesus lived himself, and in the gospel today we have the story of the very beginning of his ministry, when he fasted in the desert for forty days.

During that time he did some learning himself, about how to deal with temptations to abuse his power. He resisted those temptations by remembering what he had learned from the scriptures: One does not live by bread alone. Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

He tested his visions, his temptations, his dreams, by the measure of the Bible. What was not in line with the scriptures, with what he already knew of God, he dismissed as a false path.

We hear a lot of talk about vision nowadays. Everyone has to have a vision, or more usually a vision statement. We are encouraged to do blue sky thinking, or thinking outside the box, or whatever other phrase is popular at the moment. In one sense, of course, it is important to be as creative as possible, to brainstorm even the wildest notions, because we never know where a good idea is going to come from.

But the second part of this visionary thinking must be the testing of it against what we already know. In a sense our dreaming must be measured against our remembering. It’s not true, as Andrew Lloyd Webber claims, that “any dream will do”.

About ten days ago Richard Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford, was speaking in Thought for the Day on Radio 4 about reports of intelligence agents colluding in the torture of suspected terrorists. Some have argued that procuring information that might prevent terrorist attacks, even by torture, is justified because of the lives that might be saved. But Richard Harries spoke about the Christian tradition of virtue ethics: some things are just not done, because we are not the kind of people who do them, and the communities we belong to are not built on those things.

This is a foundational principle for Christian discipleship. Phillips Brooks, a nineteenth century American bishop, said that “Lent is consecrated to self-knowledge”. What kind of people are we called to be? What is a disciple of Jesus Christ like? What are the hallmarks of a community that claims to be part of the Body of Christ?

When we ask these questions, we put some framework around the visions that might arise in a brainstorming session. The discipleship questions rule out some of the dreams that we might like to dwell on. We have to discern the dreams that are Christlike from the ones that are not.

Ignatius of Loyola taught his students how to discern God’s will through the practice of holy daydreaming. When we imagine a certain course of action, and we see ourselves in a certain situation, we need to observe closely what that dreaming does to us. If it brings us life and energy and causes us to be more fruitful, if it gives us joy and delight, then it is probably a sign that we are on the right path. But if it makes us self-centred and possessive, fearful and unhappy, and perhaps especially if it simply makes us feel bored, then our dream is a false one and should be discarded.

So when we have dreams for what we can do and be as disciples of Christ here at St Mary’s, it is important to remember these guidelines. Are they supported by Biblical principles? Do they bring us to life and make us feel energized and excited? Do they cause us to look outward, living joyfully and fruitfully? Do they lead us in the steps of Christ, whose ministry was loving, thankful, healing, trusting and sacrificial? If we can honestly say yes, then our Mission Action Plan will be on the right track, and our personal rule of life, for Lent or any other time, will be healthy.

But if our dreams lead us look inward, to live suspiciously, fearfully or complacently, then we must test them carefully. If our vision for our own personal future or for St Mary’s Church leaves us cold, if it makes us bored or anxious, then we need to scrap it and start again. Or if it leads us to be boastful and competitive, then like Jesus we should quote some scripture at it.

Let’s take a few examples. What do we need to remember, here at St Mary’s? We can start by thinking not only of our calling to be Christian disciples, but our specific historic calling to share the good news in Primrose Hill. Our parish was founded as a mission to street children, to serve young people who had been failed by society. Our vision for youthwork, both church and community based, is therefore to be tested against a special charism or gift of the Holy Spirit that was given to those who founded this community. If we neglect it, we imperil our whole reason for existing, though of course the way we live out this calling will develop from generation to generation. The shape our work has taken recently has been helping young people to raise their aspirations and self-esteem and to find out how to enter various careers.

That calling to live generously for others will involve us in projects that reach out to the housebound, to the homeless, to those who experience rejection for various reasons. The PCC has agreed that next winter our church building should be opened one night a week to give shelter to people who have nowhere to sleep. When we think of Jesus’ words about the Son of Man having nowhere to lay his head, we can be confident that this is a valid dream for a Christian community. I knew it was a right vision for St Mary’s because when we discussed it at PCC, there was a ripple of excitement and positive energy. People immediately volunteered to help.

We want to develop our vision of a church that is welcoming to all, generous in hospitality and giving, beautiful and inclusive in its worship, challenging and faithful in its witness. But we also need to be careful.

For one thing, we can’t do everything. It would be arrogant and foolish to try. We must accept that like every other human community, we have to be realistic about our limitations. But if we give up at the start because our dreams are too small, then we are failing as disciples. God may have some surprising plans for us.

Another reality test is to remember that not everyone will like everything that we do. What helps one part of the community may be a stumbling block to someone else. On Sunday mornings I relish the changes from the quiet, traditional liturgy of the 8.00 holy communion to the tambourines, guitar and children’s chatter at the informal eucharist at 9.15 before switching into formal mode for the parish eucharist with choral music and incense. It’s like being three churches in one. But none of those services has much to offer our teenagers, and therefore Yejide is starting up a monthly evening service for young people with music that some of the rest of us probably wouldn’t choose for ourselves.

Ann Morisy, the well-known local theologian, often speaks of “apt” liturgy. What works for one person or group may be all wrong for someone else. If we remember our calling to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ afresh to our generation, then we will need to have a vision that is bigger than any one individual’s list of preferences. A loving family takes account of everyone.

But our vision has to be bigger than that of a family or any club or association or political party. Archbishop William Temple famously said that the Christian Church is the only organization that exists for the sake of those who don’t belong to it. Our mission statement is “To make Jesus Christ known”, and so our dreams must always be tested against the question, How are we making Jesus Christ known to those who are not already coming to church?

This question will shape our discussions throughout the season of Lent. And it will lead into a new question for each Sunday. How do we raise the money to make our vision possible? How does the gospel affect our working lives? How do we share our vision with our children? And how do we bring to life the line in our weekly leaflet: “Our worship is ended. Now our service begins”?

Each of those questions forces us to look up and outward, from the hour or two of worship and fellowship on a Sunday morning to the lives we lead outside that are resourced by that worship and fellowship. Jesus’ original disciples had, among their other advantages, the blessing of being on the road with their rabbi, carrying nothing with them. They avoided the potential pitfalls of rotas and pewsheets, vestments and furnishings, even basics like church buildings and clergy, and all the other markers of being settled in one place.
We can’t live as they did. It would be silly to try. But this Lent, as we make a serious attempt to increase our self-knowledge and consider what kind of disciples Jesus calls us to be, let’s remember the vision that Jesus gave his students, of God’s kingdom breaking in for the benefit of all. Would he recognise that vision in our life together at St Mary’s? Let’s think, pray, discuss and answer that question together.

Amen