Change is Coming
First
Sunday of Lent
February
22, 2015
Joel 2:1-2, 12-14
Mark 1:9-15
Let
us pray; Righteous God, we come to you bringing our failure, our hesitations
and our doubts. We bring the pain we have caused others. We bring the injustice
in society of which we are a part. May the transforming power of your grace
work in us. Look with mercy on our hearts, create a new and right spirit in us
that we may declare your praise. Be with us now as we listen for your voice. In
your sons name, Amen
The
United Methodist Church defines lent as this, “Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on
Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Lent comes from the Anglo Saxon word
lencten, which means "spring." The forty days represents the time
Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing
to begin his ministry.”
This
season of Lent is one of transformation, renewal and growth. It is our
responsibility during this season to change our lives and our hearts to ones more
pleasing to God and fully attuned to Gods way. This change is not instant,
rather it is a gradual process where we discover more about self and our personal
relationship with God.
Amid
the hectic-ness of our day to day it is so easy to let the world around us
change us rather than God. Its so easy to let the world influence the way we
understand God and Gods plan for our lives. Lent is about pushing the world
aside, taking time to reconnect with God.
There
is beauty in this season, a time where we look at the divinity AND humanity of
Jesus. A time where we realize our own wilderness experiences. A time where we
recognize God working in us and through us. A time where God waits for us with
open arms, ready to welcome us when we falter and fail.
“Time’s up! God’s
kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” This charge from
Jesus, as written by Eugene Peterson in the Message bible, seems so drastic.
Time's up? Gods kingdom is here? How can this be? I'm not ready! I'm not sure I
know what to do!
But
friends during this season I am especially reminded that our charge is to live
each day in honor and praise of the Holy One. Time is up because each day may
be our last. Time is up because we cannot keep putting off making ourselves the
best we can. Our lives should continually aim to bring and carry out Gods
kindom in this world. Gods kingdom is here because Gods people are here. We
must change our lives daily to uphold and grow it.
"But
there’s
also this, it’s
not too late— God’s
personal Message!—“Come back to me and really mean it! Come fasting and
weeping, sorry for your sins!” Change your life, not just your clothes. Come
back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is
kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most
patient God, extravagant in love, always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who
knows? Maybe he’ll
do it now, maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s
said and done, there’ll be blessings full and robust
for your God!"
Eugene
Peterson again eloquently rewrites the passage from Joel. In it we are reminded
we can come back when we falter, when we doubt and we struggle to be faithful
people. God knows we are far from perfect but calls us to come back
wholeheartedly when we are ready. God calls us to come back, owning that we
were wrong, that we failed not for him but for us. We must embrace our
imperfection, our struggles, our fears because if we don’t we cant move past
any of it. We are called to change to the depths of our souls.
On Wednesday morning as I waited for
my bus I realized that many of the homeless people I passed had ashen crosses
on their heads. I knew it was Ash Wednesday, I mean I was headed here to help
with our three services. Yet I was humbled by these people; people who are
walked past daily, people who are considered the outcasts, people who are
thought of as unworthy by their fellow humans… yet God. God loves them, God
sees their value. And this is the truth of this season. God does not care about
our clothing, the cars we drive, the jobs we have, or the things we buy. God doesn’t
care about whether we gave up chocolate for lent or we took stuff on. God cares
about our hearts and when these actions don’t change our hearts they are
pointless. God calls us back to his loving arms, despite our past, our baggage,
our stuff. THAT’S the purpose of our sacrifices, that they help us return to
God.
Beloved
this season reminds us to believe in the good news, change is coming! Jesus
draws closer to Jerusalem and closer to the cross every day of this season and
while we honor this it’s not a new story to us. Rather this story should remind
us of a faithful and loving God who waits for us and cares for us. This season I promise you we will be a changed people. Open
your hearts, open your minds, open your souls-change is coming.
