Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, with special emphasis on verse 15, “(and Jesus said) “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Thus far our text.
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Lent is here. The paraments are now purple. The crucifix on the altar is veiled. The hymns are now of a more somber note. Lent is here. But what does this mean? WE are supposed to be repentant, but how do we do that? If you are like many people, you do this during Lent by giving something up. Maybe you won’t eat any chocolate. Maybe you won’t watch your favorite T.V. Show. Maybe you won’t eat any red meat. Whatever the case, we do this to try and show that we are really repentant. But often times we fail horribly. I can remember the time that I tried to give up Dark Chocolate for Lent. I think I lasted until Elizabeth walked out of the room, then I ran to the kitchen shoved some in my mouth and turned around just into to say with a very full mouth, “Mwhut” to Elizabeth. Yes even in this time of repentance, our sin gets the best of us.
That is why today’s Gospel lesson is so important to this season. In today’s text, Christ calls us first to repentance, and then secondly to belief. Christ’s call reflects the entire purpose of Lent. We are to repent and the believe the Gospel.
In today’s text, we see the message of all of Christ’s ministry. Through out his entire ministry, he is calling for repentance and then belief. When he spoke to sick people He said, "Repent and believe in me. When He spoke with the apostles He told them to repent and believe in me. Repent and believe, repent and believe. But what does this mean?
To understand what Christ is preaching, we have to understand what true repentance is. Scripture and our confessions are clear about what Repentance is. It means that we are aware of our sin, and our inability to change our sinful life, and that we are in sorrow or terror of the consequences. We have to know that our sin is terrible and that because of it we cannot stand in God’s presence, and that we do not deserve his grace. Repentance is realizing that God is just in his dealing with sin, and that your own life is forfeit. It is knowing you are doomed.
How do you know that? It is entirely the work of the Holy Spirit. It is only through the examination of what scripture says and through the work of the Holy Spirit that we come to be truly repentant. It is through the preaching of the Law. St. Paul tells us that clearly in Romans 3, that "through the Law that we become aware of our sin."
Examine your own life. This Lent we are to examine our own lives and see our sin. How do we know what our sin is unless God first tells us, “You shall have no other Gods,” or “You honor your father and your mother”? So are we sinners? Yes, completely and totally. We cannot keep the law. God tells us things that we cannot do. Take for example our Lenten promises. Last year, I promised God that I would give up dark chocolate for the season of Lent. But almost as soon as I promise to do that, I fail. In my sin, I cannot do the things I ought to do.
Neither can you. Each and every one of us has fallen short of the glory of God. God’s word says “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But we fail at this. We get into petty squabbles about silly things. We complain about the way people do certain things. We shout at people’s driving habits, or when they don’t shovel their side walks. We sin. God’s word says “Don’t commit adultery.” But even when we think about someone lustfully we have already committed that sin in our heart. Promiscuity surrounds us. People on Television have sex with whomever they please whenever they please, and we like that Idea. Sex is used to sell us bubble gum and beverages. We sin in all of these things and more. We are guilty. God’s word says so.
And scripture teaches us that we don’t only sin against one another, but that we also sin against God. We often times struggle in our faith to believe that the scriptures are actually the word of God. Isn’t it easier to believe that the Bible isn’t God’s word, then it is to believe that we have done so many things wrong. Isn’t it easier to believe that all these things happen just by chance rather than to believe that we are guilty before God? It is. Even this displays our sin. At times we lack faith, and in this lack of faith, we sin. St. Paul says so in Romans 14, "All that doesn’t flow from faith is sin." God’s word is clear. Through the Holy Spirit’s work, we can see how we fail in all of these things. We can see how we are not worthy. God uses this to cause that terror and sorrow over our sin, because only then are we prepared to hear another word. Lent is the season where we recognize this. Lent is the season where we listen to God’s word and notice our own sinful selves. Lent is the season that prepares us for receiving God’s gifts.
Yes. God’s word does speak to us words about our sin. Yes God’s word does teach us that we fall short and that we are not holy within ourselves. But Scripture also tells us another word. A word of hope. A word of forgivness. A word of life.
God did not desire us to be lost forever. Instead he sent us His own Son as a sacrifice of atonement. That is what we are preparing for in Lent. You see, Lent is not only about being repentant, it is not only about feeling really bad and really sorry for our sin. No, it is a preparation for the gift of God. God makes us repentant so that we might believe.
And what do we believe in our repentance? Today’s text makes it clear. We believe the Good news. That good news is nothing other than Jesus Christ crucified for the sins of the world. Jesus, who “though he had no sin became sin for us,” as it says in 2 Corinthians came to earth to suffer. He came to earth do be beaten bloody and nailed upon a cross for you and for your sin. Jesus came so that you might eat his body and drink his blood, and thus receive life and salvation. Jesus came to rescue you, he came to die for you.
Christ has come, and taken our own sin upon himself. He took that sin to the cross and killed it there. He suffered the punishment that we deserved. Our sin has been atoned for by the shedding of his blood. The book of Hebrews tells us that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins. We are now forgiven, because we have been covered with that blood.
So this lent, we repent of our sins, because we know the price that was paid to forgive them. We repent of our sin because Christ had to suffer. We repent, because he suffered in our place. Now we no longer have the guilt associated with our sin. Instead all we have is Grace from God. Now we are given life and salvation. Now we can look ahead to that Easter Joy, knowing that just as Christ was raised from the dead, so too will we be on the last day. The Kingdom of Heaven is near, and Christ has earned us a place in it. Already we feast with him in his kingdom. Here today in repentance we will partake of the very body and blood of the Christ, the heavenly feast.
You see, repentance and forgiveness are the life cycle of the Christian. We repent of our sin at the beginning of the service, and then receive forgiveness from the lips of Pastor Naasz, when he says, “I as a called and ordained servant forgive you all your sins.” It is not from Pastor that this forgiveness comes. Instead it comes from the one who suffered and died.
This Lenten season, we remember why we are repentant. Not so we can prove that we can go with out dark chocolate, when really we can’t. Not to show off to others about how holy we are, because we aren’t. Instead we repent because Christ calls us, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near,” he says, “Repent and believe the Good news:” The good news that Christ has died for all of your sins.
Amen.
