Dare To Become Agents Of Transformation During Lent

Sermon – Dare to Become Agents of Transformation During Lent

Scripture - Isaiah 58:1-14 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Introduction: Today, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is a forty-day span of time from now until Easter. During this time, we focus on Christ’s battle with Satan and sin, where Jesus won the victory for us and gain eternal salvation. The 40 days of Lent do not include Sundays, because each Sunday is considered a “miniature Easter,” a time of joy and celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Right after Jesus was baptized, the Bible tells us that Jesus went out into the desert to fast and to be tempted by the Devil for 40 days. For Jesus, those 40 days were a time of introspection, a time when he battled the temptations of the Devil and emerged stronger than he had been before. For us, Lent is a time when we make that journey with Christ. We think about our temptations, our sins, and we repent. After these 40 days, we should emerge stronger than we had been before.

Lent is a time to evaluate yourself in light of God’s Word. It’s a time to abandon the sins you have grown accustomed to committing in your life. It’s a time to receive God’s forgiveness and strength to lead a Christian life. It’s a time to renew your desire to serve God, and to be the Christians that God has made you to be. Lent is that time when you do some “spring cleaning” in your soul. You look deep within yourself, and acknowledge your sins. And then you look to Christ, who overcame sin and Satan. Lent is a time when you grow in your appreciation of all that Christ has done for you. Not only do you become more aware of your sins. You become more aware of just how much your Lord Jesus loves you and how much he sacrificed for us.

But what if God wants something more? What if God wants us to become agents of transformation in our world? The Lent tradition begin as 40 hours of fasting before Easter, then grew to seven days (Holy Week) of fasting and prayer before Easter until in 325 AD, the church officially made it 40 days. Representing Jesus’ 40 days of testing in the wilderness at least that is what the “Readers Digest” says about the tradition of Lent. Isaiah 58 is a reality check for God’s people. There are occasions when we, the people of God, need to carry out an audit of what is really going on in our inner world and our relationship with God.