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.
In Isaiah 58, God, through the prophet, challenges the Israelites to do just that – to determine what is real and what is fake in their faith. At first glance of our text, we see what appears to be a devout people committed to worshipping God. We could be tempted to ask why God would be so unhappy with what He sees? The people appeared to be frequent and consistent with their worship and prayers, desiring to do what is right before God and to be close to God. Listen to the text again,
“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.”
After reading this, it becomes apparent that God sees beneath the surface to the motives of their hearts, and here lies the problem. Is our faith an empty show or does it reflect a heart in tune with God? God reveals a wide gap between their heart worship and everyday living. “Why have we fasted,” they say, “and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” ‘Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?’
God desires an Ash Wednesday observance that leads us to become agents of transformation. Do our religious reflections translate to our relational lifestyles? The Israelites in our text fail to understand that honest worship should result in transformed behavior. Worship is not a ritual or act, it has to be personal and relational – a daily decision to walk humbly with Christ and with others.
Romans 12:1-2 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”
True Worship isn’t an act. It’s a way of life. If your worship has become empty, how can you change that? Isaiah shows that properly motivated worship results in two major behavioral changes – overcoming personal spiritual struggles and actively seeking to meet the needs of others. God desires more than lip service; he calls us to live in relationship with him. God calls us not to an empty show, but to life in all its fullness. As believers we should pray, in the name of Jesus, that God would open our eyes that we might see and repent of the sin we tolerate in our own lives so we can pursuit scriptural holiness. Then we should pray that God would open our eyes that we might see and respond to meet the needs around us as we seek to live in relational love for his glory. Our faith should cause us to meet the needs of others! Isaiah promises two types of blessings in the text: personal blessings of God’s ongoing care and guidance for those who follow him. God will strengthen us; and community blessings – we will be like an oasis for others. When worship transforms us, we become agents for transformation in others and become part of rebuilding and restoring what was broken by sin.
True Worship isn’t an act. It springs for Pure Motives. Pure motives are essential because they define the true value of actions, ensuring they are rooted in integrity, love, and sincerity rather than selfish gain or applause. Operating with pure intentions fosters deeper, positive relationships, aligns personal actions with divine will, and leads to internal peace. If our motives are impure, misplaced or misguided, not only will God be displeased with us, but we will also struggle during difficult times. While our religious practices may appear perfect and acceptable, the reality is that they become hollow, God feels distant and we struggle to feel committed to the Christian community. When our worship is superficial and only a surface act, it becomes easier to fall away. The call of Isaiah is to reflect and consider where we stand with God. God desires more than lip service; he calls us to live in relationship with him. God calls us not to an empty show, but to life in all its fullness. Jesus gives us a similar invitation: ‘Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life’ (Matthew 11:28 The Message). Prayerfully consider your motives for your religious actions and practices. Making necessary adjustments will bring out the best in your life and will help you join God in his mission of rebuilding and restoring broken lives.
True Worship isn’t an act. It is a gateway to Salvation and wholeness. “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.”
The very thing that the people were fastings and praying for without success was offered by God. God could not receive their empty rituals and vain worship, but if they would become agents of transformation, He would give them the desires of their heart. In Christian theology, Jesus Christ is identified as the "gate" or "door" that serves as the exclusive pathway to salvation, offering a transition from spiritual death to life. Entering through this gate provides not only eternal salvation but also "wholeness"—a state of being made complete, healed, and restored in spirit, soul, and body. John 10:7-9, “so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.”
So as we begin our journey to Easter Sunday, through 40 days of pause and reflection, fasting, prayer and repentance, Dare to Become Agents For Transformation. Please remember True Worship isn’t an act, an observance or a ritual, it’s a way of life. Acceptable Worship must springs from a heart of Pure Motives. Finally, True Worship is the gateway to God’s blessed salvation and wholeness. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Him. Amen.
