Lent – Time To Repent – Sermon 17 February, 2013

Lent – Time to Repent

According to the church calendar the forty days preceding the Easter Sunday, are known to us as Lent. The season starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. These forty days are days of soul-searching, self-examination and renewing of our covenant with God. In this period of preparation for the glorious resurrection of Jesus, the believers fast, following in the steps of Jesus as He did in the wilderness for forty days to prepare himself before He commenced His ministry.

How can we use the days of Lent to prepare our hearts for holiest day of celebration?  What do we do during the forty days to live a life which gives us a feeling of spiritual renewal? Let us consider the following three points.

1. Forty days of self-denial

The real Christian life is a life that imitates the life of Christ. But people try to imitate Christ in the way that suits them. They choose those things that are desirable and give them the feeling of satisfaction. Some people think that charity work is important, and if they make plans to feed the hungry, they believe that they are imitating and obeying Christ. But Jesus did not open centres to feed people. He fed people on two occasions, when the people came to Him to listen to Him. Jesus prayed during His ministry seeking the help of the Father as He was getting ready to give His life. He denied Himself and sacrificed everything. He could have spared His life, but rather He chose to be a sacrifice for our sins. Are we ready to move away from our comfort zone to imitate Christ more and do as He did? How we prepare and how deep we go in our spirituality? It is something to think about.

2. Forty days of self-examination

As we spend time for our leisure, we ought to spare some time for self-examination and spent more time with God. Christianity is more than outward appearance; it is not a dress that we put on or take off depending on the situations we are in. Christianity is a condition of heart; a heart which is clear, pure and full of love and compassion. As Christians we have to prepare our hearts as we examine ourselves; even to repent and be changed. How we examine ourselves and how much deepen our faith? It is something to think about.

3. Forty days of self-giving

Lord Jesus wants us to give ourselves for prayer as well as to others. He said: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it”. It should matter to us that how much are we ready to give ourselves for others for the sake of Jesus. But we will not be able to give ourselves to others if we have not committed to God. It is something to think about.

During this season of Lent it is worth to think about these things and decide to examine ourselves, be self-denying and be ready to give ourselves with total commitment by the grace of God. Let these thoughts lead us to complete dedication.

As we have said earlier these days of Lent are days of self-examination, repentance and prayer. Repentance and remorse means to turn back from the wrong path of life, get away from the worldly life and come nearer to God. The proof and the outcome of this change will be the change in our lives and it will be demonstrated by not conforming to the pattern of this world and transformed by the renewing of the mind. This is a total transformation.

The apostle Paul wrote about this in a wonderful letter addressed to the Romans: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. This renewing means to seek God’s perfect, pleasing and holy will and live accordingly. These meaningful words should be our measure of life.

The believer who lives in this world should have his/her unique character, which is set in the word of God, with holy principles exemplifying Godly life. We cannot confess and believe that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour and still live a life which does not honour Him. The direction that the world gives us is totally different than what God gives. Following and going in the direction that the world gives means conforming to the world. While following Jesus means total renewal and changing to the good.

God requires from us to be a good examples for the people around us. People examine us with critical eyes and try to see in us a different personality. If we are not different from others, it means that we have not done our best as the true witnesses of Christ. Every believer is called to be a witness for Christ. To be a witness for Christ it is required from us to be changed totally. It is important to give to the world the Word of God and live life accordingly. The requirement is total transformation in our daily life in the following two aspects.

1. Our relationship with God

It is a privilege to be saved by Christ and faithfully to walk with Him daily. This faithfulness will have its practical expression if we personally convinced that He is the almighty God. By reading His word and prayer we can totally renew our lives with His grace. It is time to renew our relationship with God.

2. Our relationship with others

In Christian life there is another dimension, which is our relationship with the people around us. We cannot say that having a good relationship with God is enough. We cannot be in good relationship with God and hate the people who are around us. Therefore it is also time to renew our relationship with others.

Doing this means resigning from the conformation that the world presents and to put on the image of God. This also means renewing of the mind. In the Sermon of the Mount Jesus said: “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world”.

During this season of Lent we should repent, self-examine, re-commit ourselves to God and have a total renewal of the mind. In the second reading Peter said to the people: “Repent and return to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”.  Renewal and repentance will refresh us; our faith, commitment and dedication.

Let the next forty days be a special time for us to reflect, renew and recommit our lives to Christ who died for us to give hope for eternity.

Krikor Youmshajekian