Repentance, Faith, Responsibility

Goodness, we are a weird people. Can you please consider this for a moment. We gather together tonight and you weirdos allow us weirdos in these dresses to rub burnt leaves on your head. We are gathering tonight to think we need to be reminded that we are dust. And we do. But this is weird. Can we just be honest? Why do we do this? I think Isaiah 58 gets to the heart of something weirder. That is that we do all of this and actually do nothing with it. Myself, many of us, will find a way to make yet another lent to be just another thing that happens.

1. A Call to Authentic Worship (Isaiah 58:1-3)

God tells the prophet Isaiah to cry out loudly, like a trumpet, exposing the hypocrisy of Israel’s worship. The people seemed eager to seek God, fasting and praying, yet they wondered why God did not respond. The issue was not their religious practices, but their hearts. Their fasting was for show, while they oppressed others and pursued selfish gain.

Lent is not about external rituals alone. We can attend church, pray, and fast, but if our hearts remain unchanged—if we continue in selfishness, pride, and injustice—our worship is empty.

2. The Fast That God Desires (Isaiah 58:4-7)

God contrasts hollow fasting with the kind of devotion He desires:

Loosening the chains of injustice

Setting the oppressed free

Sharing food with the hungry

Providing shelter for the homeless

Clothing the naked

Caring for our own families

This passage makes it clear that true fasting is not just about abstaining from food but about engaging in acts of mercy and justice.

This Lent, we are called to more than just giving up chocolate or social media.

It would be easy to read this text and think that surrender means serving the poor. And that is mostly true. But the main focus is surrender = transformed lives = justice

Repentance, Faith, Responsibility

The most helpful framework for the movement of the believer:

Repentance

I cannot make this clear enough… repentance is not just the non-believers move of turning to Christ.

If grace is transforming the believer to be Christ like. Then repentance is removing obstacles of grace.

2. Faith

Faith is then the the movement deeper into God. If lent is an opportunity to lay down or fast from obstacles to grace, then faith is what must replace it. If nothing replaces it then man we are just challenging ourself with a late new years resolution.

3. Responsibility

When we come to Christ, the power to say yes to Christ is possible but it still requires saying yes. And saying yes to Christ continually.

3. The Promise of Renewal (Isaiah 58:8-9)

When we turn from self-centered religion to a life of compassion and justice, God promises restoration: for the text says…

Our light will break forth like the dawn.

Healing will come quickly.

God’s presence will go before us and protect us.

When we call, God will answer.

God does not desire empty rituals but transformed lives. When we live in alignment with His will, He draws near and responds to our cries.

Conclusion: As you consider the ashes on your head tonight, remember that true repentance is not just about sorrow for sin—it is about transformation. God is calling us beyond ritual to renewal, beyond performance to justice, beyond ashes to action.

This Lent, let’s fast from indifference and feast on compassion. Let’s turn from empty religion and embrace the fast that pleases God. And as we do, may His light shine through us and His grace renew us. Amen.