“So what are you giving up for Lent?” Have you been asked that yet? Have you asked someone that yet? Have you given up something for Lent? One year I gave up television. I don't recall that I did anything with my extra time other than spend more of it on the Internet. The children in my daughter's kindergarten class heard that I had given up TV. They saw me one day and said, “Hey! There's the guy who grounded himself!” I tried fasting one time. You're supposed to only eat small or no meals during the day and then maybe have a regular supper. So I didn't eat all day and then I pigged out at dinner time. It seemed kind of silly. What are you giving up for Lent and why? The purpose of Lent, brothers and sisters is NOT to deprive ourselves of things we like and enjoy just because it's the season of Lent. Lent is NOT a time to look extra gloomy and sad because we're such rotten sinners. (As if we're more sinful or more aware of our sins during Lent). Lent is NOT a time to fast and pray more and do more “church stuff” as if that will make up for all our sins of the past. No, Lent is a time of repentance. What is repentance? Repentance is being turned away by the preaching of repentance and faith from our sins to faith and trust in Jesus Christ who has gone to the cross in our place to take away those sins.
For most people, Lent is a time to show the world how serious you are about your sins. How sorry you are for what you've done. This is done by giving something up, going to church more, and acting kind of sad and gloomy so everyone else can see what a poor, miserable sinner you are. Brothers and sisters, whatever you do in Lent, don't do it for the world to see! Jesus says that such hypocrites already have their reward, that is, the praise and glory of men. Don't make Lent about YOU, dear Christian, and how much you've done wrong and what all you're going to do to make it right and overcome your sins. Don't make Lent into a season that's all about how YOU are going to do works of mercy or fast or pray and so show how really hard you're trying to get back into God's good graces. No, brothers and sisters, don't be like the hypocrites who do Lent to be seen by others and make a show of their piety and religion. Such a Lent is nothing but a way to get attention to ourselves, the very thing our sinful flesh wants! Repent, brothers and sisters of wanting a “ME Lent” instead of a Jesus Lent, a Lent in which we give more and greater attention, not to ourselves but to our Savior and the means of grace by which He rescues us from our enemies: the devil, the world and our sinful flesh.
Let us begin Lent, dear children of God, by hearing of the LORD'S repentance! That's right. God Himself has repented. It's a little blurry in our English translations but that's what the Hebrew Bible tells us about the Lord and Nineveh. The Ninevites were turned from their sins by the preaching of God's Word. And so because His Spirit had converted the hearts of those sinful people of Nineveh, the Bible says “The Lord repented of the evil He was going to do. He did not do it.” No, God did not “cut them a break” or “let them off the hook” or “turn a blind eye.” He REPENTED OF THE EVIL He was going to unleash on them because of their sin and wickedness. How can such a thing be? Brothers and sisters don't pass lightly over these words! The Lord was ready to destroy Nineveh because of its sins. Yet in His grace He sent them a preacher to deliver His call to repentance and faith in His mercy. And because they heard His Word, the Lord repented and did not destroy them. Learn from Nineveh, brothers and sisters, what our sins deserve! Our sins against God and against neighbor, our self-worship and our hatred of those around us; the things we do and the deep dark thoughts of our hearts that only we and God know—for these sins and for the sin we are born with we ought to be wiped out by God. He doesn't even need to wait until we die, but ought to blast us back into dust and ashes right now! Wear your ashes, dear Christian, as a reminder that that's all the future we deserve: to be turned back into the dirt we are made from, to be UN-made by our Maker for our sin and rebellion against Him. But do not despair, dear Christian! The Lord has repented of the evil He would do to you for your sins! He has repented in the sending of His Son Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Forty days and our sins will be punished—in Jesus!
Rejoice, brothers and sisters, that Jesus comes to do the will of His Father. Rejoice that Jesus comes to obey all that the Father says; to keep all of the commandments; to have pure and perfect trust in God the Father and perfect love for His neighbor in all things. Rejoice that Jesus, the Lamb of god has come to do His works of mercy in giving Himself into death for YOUR sins. Rejoice, brothers and sisters, that the Son of God has obeyed the Father's will and carried your iniquities to the cross of Calvary. Rejoice, brothers and sisters, that the Lord Jesus came to do battle with your enemies: to strike down the power of the devil, to nullify the religion of this world by His grace and to cleanse our sinful flesh by creating in us new hearts, hearts cleansed by His blood. Dear Christians, at the beginning of this holy season of Lent, hear the message of repentance: God's repentance! That in Christ, God has turned from the evil He would do unto you and instead, in Christ, brought you salvation.
What then shall we do? What is Lent all about then if not about us? It is about Him, about Jesus, about His suffering and death for our sins. Oh, yes indeed, brothers and sisters, in these 40 days that we contemplate our Lord's suffering, tremble at the price that was paid for your sins: the death of the Son of God! But rejoice that He was willing to pay that price. Come now more and more to receive this forgiveness in the very means by which He gives it to us. Live every day in your Baptism, signing yourself with the name and the cross and remembering that you are redeemed through water and the Word. Come often to hear the preacher, like Jonah of Nineveh, condemn your sins and then pronounce the life-giving words of Holy Absolution by which you may be certain that in Christ the Lord has repented of any evil He would have brought upon you for your sins. Come to feast at the Holy Supper upon the flesh and blood of the Lamb of God by whose death you are redeemed and your sins cast away. Live in this Lent, dear Christians, not as a gloomy person who is trying to fix their sins themselves! Live as one for whom the Lord goes to the cross and to whom He has given His gifts of salvation. Washed in baptism, don't leave here tonight disfigured and sad so that the whole world can see, but walk out NOT looking like it's Lent, knowing that your heavenly Father has given you all things in Christ.
So Lent is not about YOU. It's about Jesus FOR YOU. So what about giving something up for Lent? Well, you still can, if you want but not for YOUR sake. You are certainly free to practice Lenten disciplines. But now, free in Christ, don't do these things for yourself! Do them for God's glory and the service of your neighbor. For example, if you give up TV. Don't just waste that time in some other way, but use it to God's glory by reading and studying your Bible and Catechism with your family. If you decide you really don't need that $10 lunch each week, don't just spend the money on something else! Let it be for an increase in your offering in the church for the support and work of the ministry of the Gospel. If If you want to give up sweets, don't just do it to deprive yourself but spend some time with your family in exercising the body and being healthy. If you give up anything that frees up your time or your money, spend that time and money with someone who needs you: a family member, a brother or sister in Christ, your next-door neighbor—whoever--to help them in whatever way they may need it. So that the burdens of their daily life are lifted because of your Lent which isn't about YOU, but about Jesus who has freed you to do good works for them. Rejoice, dear Christians, because Lent is not about you but about Him who went to the cross for you, Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who with the Father and the Holy Spirit is praised forevermore. Amen.