Fourth Sunday of Lent: Failed Expectations

On this fourth Sunday of Lent, my text today is from the 11^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel: “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

The context of the passage in Matthew finds John the Baptist in a Roman prison, sharing a filthy cell with rats, vermin, and an overwhelming odor of feces and urine. And he had every reason to believe his life hung on a proverbial thread. It is no wonder he sent word to Jesus, asking Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

Now, please remember, Jesus and John were cousins. We learn of their familial relationship in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel. So, it would be reasonable for John to EXPECT his miracle-working relative – His Messiah – to come to his rescue.

And John’s expectation is a really important point with direct application to our lives today. Many people live lives filled with a heartrending mixture of sadness, loneliness, and unmet expectations. We hoped for comfort, but we suffered – and still suffer – adversity. We expected close relationships with family as we grew older but ended up emotionally distant – even when family lives nearby. We thought God would answer our prayers – and sometimes He did; But at other times He did not.

And so, the question before us this afternoon: What are our expectations of Jesus? And – more important – what will we do if He doesn’t meet those expectations, just as He did not meet the expectations of many in that first century.

Luke tells of the time the Lord visited His hometown of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and read this text from the prophet, Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19) He then closed the book and said, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

Those in the synagogue had heard of the miraculous works He’d done in other cities and towns. Why should they not expect Him to do the same in Nazareth, His boyhood home? After all, they were all His neighbors. He’d been to their homes, and they’d been to His. He played boyhood games with their children. Why shouldn’t they expect Him to heal their sick and hurting as He’d done for others? But they were about to learn, as we’ve all learned in life – God doesn’t always do what we want Him to do or expect Him to do.

Listen to the Lord’s response: “There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon. Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian" (Luke 4:25-27).

 

In other words, God does what He chooses, when He chooses, and for whom He chooses. And no one – not even Jesus’ neighbors and childhood friends – has a right to expect or demand He do otherwise. As He said through the prophet Isaiah many centuries earlier: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

If you remember the story, Jesus’ remark infuriated them. In a flood of rage, they drove Him out of the town and tried to throw Him over a nearby cliff. And don’t think for a moment that people have changed over the centuries.

 

Many still nurse bitterness toward God over withered dreams and crushed hopes. They rail against Him because an accident took someone they love, or their marriage crumbled, or their child wasn’t healed, or no one visits or calls, or they are in chronic pain, or – add your own disappointments.

 

And so, some who once walked with the Lord became disillusioned with Him because He had not met some of their even most desperate expectations.  And since they are unable to physically throw the Lord over a cliff, they instead throw away their faith. I’ve known more than a few in the past who did that. I suspect many of you do, also.

Listen, it’s a danger we all face, and we face it quite often during our lives as we wonder why He says no when we want so much for Him to say yes. Why does He work miracles for others, but not for us?

In my fifty-three years of walking with Christ, I’ve come to recognize these questions are truly critical questions that impact our faith – and I don’t think God will let any of us gloss over them. Our ability to mature in Christ DEPENDS on how we answer those questions, because each time we don’t receive what we ask, each time we get knocked to the ground, each time Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations, we face a choice, like those in the Nazareth synagogue faced – will we throw our faith over the cliff, or will we will persevere in our faith that God will work grace into our circumstances – regardless of how things look or feel at the present.

 

Several years ago, I talked with a woman who told me of her deep longing for a family of her own. It was something she’d always wanted, even from the time she was a little girl. But she never married and never had children. And now, because of her age, she thinks those blessings are things she will never enjoy. Then she asked, “Why am I denied something that others get as a matter of course? I think my life has been completely wasted.”

 

Who hasn’t faced a similar grief, a similar circumstance of unrealized expectation and hope? It’s true that when we’re drowning in depression it’s difficult to think rationally about our circumstances. But if we DID think clearly, we’d realize God works all things for the good of those who love Him. He works all things to draw us close and closer to Himself.

 

The Father sent His beloved Son to die that excruciating death for each of us for the express purpose of DRAWING us to Himself. There is nothing that God desires more than that we come closer to Him. The apostle Paul speaks of this very thing in Romans 8, but before we look at that text, it will be helpful to get a glimpse of the severe struggles he himself had to face – and that repeatedly.

 

Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Corinth: (2 Corinthians 4:8-10) “[W]e are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”

 

Earlier in that same letter he also wrote: (2 Corinthians 1:8b-9) “We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.”

 

It’s against this backdrop, this reminder of Paul’s suffering, that makes his words in Romans 8 more powerful: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things . . . . For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Paul didn’t say what I am about to say, but he could just as easily added another paragraph:  “Shall loneliness, or broken hearts, shattered dreams, destroyed hopes, unreconciled families, debilitating illness, or the death of those we love – NONE of these thing will be able to separate us from the God who loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son to die in our place so that we might share our eternity with Him.”

Hear it again – what can separate us from God’s love? What could ever happen to us that God designed to push us AWAY from Him? In all the circumstances of life –the good, the bad, the ugly – in all the circumstance of life, God’s design and desire is for us to draw close to Him, even to become conformed to the image of His Son. (See Romans 8:28-39)

 

Let’s circle back to John the Baptist for a moment. John had his own set of expectations and was disappointed when his Messiah didn’t fulfill those expectations. And the message the Lord sent back to him is a message Christ also sends to you and to me: “Yes, John – I AM the Expected One. I AM the resurrection and the life. I Am the Messiah. And I love you, even though I do not meet your expectations.”

 

Listen! Please. Life isn’t like some feel-good Hollywood movie. That’s because sin has infected and infested every facet of life. And as a result of that hard reality, we can either carry our cross, or we can fling it to the ground and go our own way. We can take the chalice of suffering God has given us, or we can spill the contents on the dirt and mix our own drink instead. May God help us to not do something we will terribly regret later.

 

So now let’s look at this theme of failed expectations from another angle. What can we do when our trust in God is just not up to some of the desperate challenges we face? What ought we do when we believe God has given us too much to bear?

 

I know what it’s like to have feeble faith that’s not up to the challenges when life’s storms thrash our little boat up and down and side to side until we feel like we are going to throw up. What can we do when our faith falters? What SHOULD we do when our faith falters?

 

It’s this: If we can’t trust Him like we want to and like we should, if our emotions overrule our faith – there is still yet one thing we can do: We can still OBEY Him. We can still obey what we know are His commandments.

 

Anyone can trust God when life floats along on warm, gentle waters. But what about when God is deafeningly silent and it seems heaven is ignoring you? Obedience is an act of the Will. It’s about what we CHOOSE to do when heaven seems brass, and we think God has turned His back on us?

 

In one hour, Job lost his ten children and his vast wealth. A short time later he lost his health to excruciating boils all over his body. But I am glad his story is in Scripture because it can encourage each of us. Listen to what he said in the midst of his agonies: “It is still my consolation, and I rejoice in unsparing pain, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.” And in the thirteenth chapter he cried out: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Job 6:10 and 13:15a

 

If Job could obey God despite his multiple tragedies – then so can we.

 

 Nancy and I know a woman living a nightmare from which she cannot seem to awaken. She recently suffered a double-mastectomy for breast cancer – and afterward learned all the cancer cells had not been removed, so she not only faced more painful and invasive procedures but also rounds of nauseating treatments. Compounding her horrible situation are the mounting financial pressures and her stark loneliness as she fights this battle nearly all alone.

 

But listen to what she told us several weeks ago: “I know better than to ask why I'm going through all of this, because as Job the Righteous learned when he questioned God, I simply don't have the standing or credentials to question. It's not up to me to understand why; It's up to me to trust him and to keep stepping forward one foot at a time with the light from his lantern that only gives me enough [light] to see the next step. It's not about understanding Him, it's about trusting Him. No matter what.”

 

In 1970 Simon and Garfunkel wrote Bridge Over Troubled Water. Here are some of the lyrics: When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all. I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough and friends just can't be found - Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down; Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.

Who is a bridge over troubled waters like Jesus? Who but He ever laid down His life to span the tumultuous gulf between where we were, where we are, and where we can be? To paraphrase what Jesus told us: “In this world you will have troubled waters. But be of good cheer – I have overcome the storms.”  (paraphrased John 16:33)

 

During the Last Supper, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials.” (Luke 22:28) He knew what was about to happen to Him in just a few short hours. I’m certain His voice was rich with the emotions of gratefulness, even of thanksgiving for their faithfulness.

 

But one day when I read that passage, my mind shifted direction. I imagined Jesus looking at His 21st century disciples – you and me and all who still follow Him – I imagined Him looking at us and saying with equal emotion: “You are those who have stood by Me in your trials.”

 

Please don’t miss the subtle – but important – change: “You are those who have stood by me in YOUR trials.”

I don't think it harms that Scripture if we for a moment alter that one word. Think for a moment of the emotional and physical traumas you’ve faced in life – and through which you have persevered. Those trials aren’t anything to be glossed over, are they? They represent your life, your blood, your sweat, and your tears.

 

At any time, you could have given up. You could have walked away. But you didn’t – and even if you did at one time walk away – you’ve returned. Thanks be to God – you’ve returned.

Our journeys are almost over. And here’s the thing: When we come at last to that celestial City, we know we have God’s unchanging promise – a promise which can never fail for the true child of God – we have God’s promise, the promise that rightly fuels our biblically-based expectation of being received into His eternal Home.

The season of Lent should be more than just a time of preparation for Easter Sunday. It should be a reminder that life is not about us and OUR expectations of Him; Life – around the calendar – must be about Christ, and HIS expectations of us. It’s about serving Him, living for Him, obeying His commandments. As the psalmist wrote: “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory.” (Psalm 115:1)

 

 

 

Third Sunday of Lent -- Make-Believe Jesus

 

I am about to preach something that I’m sure everyone in this sanctuary has heard before. But I preach it again today on this third Sunday of Lent because there are so many voices that every day contradict God and His Truth (with a capital T) – Truth that many of you have known since childhood.

 

So, I stand today, doing what the apostle Peter did when he wrote to his readers: 2 Peter 1:12-13 “Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.”

 

The contrary voices I refer to come from neighbors, friends, family, the media – even some pulpits. The contrary voices spew from mouths and the pens of many who have doctorate degrees and have written books on theology. Understandably, then, it is easy for many faithful Christians to be seduced by their smooth words, even though those words are laced with poison. It’s easy to be seduced if we aren’t reminded again and again of God’s truth as it’s been delivered to us in His infallible, inspired, and inerrant Word.

 

Rightly did the Psalmist say it: (Psalm 11:3) “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

 

I will say it right at the beginning of this message: Anyone – regardless of their academic degrees or popularity – anyone who tells you anything about God, about Jesus, about the Holy Spirit that is not supported by Scripture in context with the historic teaching of the Christian Church from the first centuries – then know for certain such men and women are liars, frauds, and deceivers who wittingly or unwittingly work with Satan for our destruction.

 

In those early centuries, as the Christian Church struggled against such false teachers in their day, genuine and trustworthy biblical scholars convened several ‘councils’ to differentiate truth from heresy. The 4^th century formulation of the Nicene Creed was developed to address some of those lies – specifically the Arian heresy which taught huge swaths of Christians that Jesus was a created being and not the incarnate Son of God. If that sounds like modern Jehovah’s Witnesses and original Mormonism, you’d be correct.

 

Listen to how the Nicene Council wrote of Jesus who is: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial [one essence] with the Father; Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.”

 

Unlike the damnable lies about Christ circulating today in so many churches and spewing from so many pens, each point and subpoint within the Creed was supported by God’s infallible, inerrant, and fully inspired Scripture and not by traditions, opinions, or what was then current religious philosophies. We don’t have time today to look at each of those supportive texts, but they can easily be researched and would make a good homework assignment.

 

As I’ve said before, Lent was designed by the same 4^th century scholars to draw us closer to Christ. But the question facing EVERY Christian throughout Church history, to this present moment is this: Which Christ are we being drawn to? Is it to the Christ of Scripture, or is it to the make-believe Christ proposed by atheists, humanists, and wolves in clerical clothing who received training in some seminaries and churches?

 

The warning Jude gave to his first century readers is just as appropriate and necessary in 2026: “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4)

 

Make no mistake, every heresy that has ever gotten off the ground and inserted its serpentine seduction through the Church in every era – including ours today – every heresy got its strength by rejecting the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and divine inspiration of the entire Bible.

 

What do we mean by biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and divine inspiration? Briefly, it is this: Biblical inerrancy states that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is without error in anything it teaches. This includes history, doctrine, moral dictates, and anything else found in the Scripture.

 

Biblical infallibility means the Bible is incapable of error. It is never wrong about history, doctrine, morality, or anything else the Bible affirms.

 

Divine inspiration means the Scriptures, in their original manuscripts, are “God-breathed.” In other words, God supernaturally guided (not ‘dictated’) the authors of the Bible to write exactly what He wanted to communicate. Every WORD of the original texts is God-breathed. Every word. Every ‘jot and tittle’ is God’s intended message.

 

That’s why every heresy got and gets its strength by rejecting the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, infallibility, and divine inspiration. No wonder the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Galatia: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” (Galatians 1:8-9)

 

So, which Jesus? That’s an extraordinarily serious question on this the third Sunday of Lent because how we answer that question determines the health, the soundness, and the genuineness of our relationship with Christ.

 

To answer that question, we now look once again to the Bible where God answers that question with such clarity that even a child can come to true faith if he will believe the message. For the sake of time, we will look briefly at only a scant few Biblical texts.

 

Which Jesus? Scripture tells us Jesus is Almighty God in the Flesh (called the ‘incarnation’). (John 1:1) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:14) “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  (Philippians 2:6–7) “Although He existed in the form of God . . . [He] emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

 

It is necessary to now remind ourselves that after the Lord told the lame man his sins were forgiven, the Doctors of the Law correctly said to themselves, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7) They were correct because all sins are ultimately sins against God – and therefore only God can forgive sins. The reason Jesus was and can now forgive sins – yours and mine – is because He IS God.

 

That point then leads us to the next. Scripture tells us Jesus is the promised Messiah (Christ), fulfilling the Old Testament promises God made to Israel and to humanity, promises to save anyone who WANTS to be saved from the eternal penalty their sins deserve. Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53, Jeremiah 31, Micah 5 are only a few of the HUNDREDS of Old Testament promises fulfilled in Jesus.

 

That’s why – and this is point number three in answer to the question, ‘Who is Jesus?’ – That’s why He is the only and unique Savior. Only the incarnate God can save sinners from the Father’s wrath against sin committed against Him – as is every sin we commit.

 

Listen again to only a sample of such Scriptures:  “Jesus said . . .“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6. Peter proclaimed: “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12); Paul told the Thessalonians: (1 Thessalonians 5:9) “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

It is because of who Jesus is that this next point about Him must also be true: Jesus is the ONLY mediator between us and God. There can be no other. (1 Timothy 2:5) “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

 

A mediator. That was Job’s complaint: “How can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times. . . . For He is not a man as I am, that I should answer Him and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any mediator between us who might lay his hand upon us both.” (Job 9:2-3, 32-33)

 

That was Job’s cry. He didn’t have a mediator. It would not be until many more centuries passed that God-incarnate would enter humanity as our one and only Mediator between us and the Farther. I am grateful Job’s complaint does not need to be ours.

 

What else does Scripture tell us about Jesus? It tells us He died on Calvary’s cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins. Listen to Isaiah: Isaiah 53:5-6 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”

 

And Scripture again: “[Christ] bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

 

And what else does Scripture tell us of Jesus? That He physically rose from the grave on the third day. When the grieving women came to His tomb, Matthew records: “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.” (Matthew 28:5-7b)

 

After Mary and the others reported to the disciples the empty tomb, John tells us that he and Peter raced to the tomb. When they stepped inside they “saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the facecloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself . . . For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” (John 20:5-7, 9)

 

And finally, for our purposes today, Scripture reveals the genuine Jesus to be humanity’s final Judge: “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father . . . . “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:22ff)

 

The full acceptance of the Biblical record of Jesus’ unique role as humanity’s ONLY door to eternal life, the record of His virgin birth, sinless life, full deity and simultaneous humanity, of His atoning sacrifice for our sins, His resurrection, ascension to heaven, and His promised return for His faithful followers – belief in these biblical doctrines are essential for salvation. Jesus said to the theologians of His day: “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24)

 

But as I said earlier in this message and many times in the past, not every person who stands in the pulpit or in front of a seminary classroom believes or teaches God’s truths. It is about those whom Jude warned in his short letter – and his warning carries equal weight today: “Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs . . . caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1:11-13)

 

If we succumb to Satan’s lies about the Scriptures, then we can end up following men like popular spiritual author Richard Rohr, who teaches a New Age heretical Christ. We stand with heretical pastors, theologians, and authors like the recently deceased Episcopal priest, John Shelby Spong, who rejected the historical truth of the Virgin Birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, as well as Scripture’s commandments regarding human sexuality.

 

If we let ourselves be seduced by Satan’s evangelists, we will blindly follow wolves in clerical garb, even like those I’ve heard here in churches in this and nearby towns where some pastors preach a form of pantheism and Hinduism, or who tell their congregations that homosexuality is a legitimate sexual expression, or who won’t speak about the demonic evils of abortion so as to not offend their congregation.

 

When the apostle Paul stood before King Agrippa at his trial, he asked the king: “Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?” Acts 26:8)

 

Likewise, the question can equally be asked, “Why is it considered incredible if God ensured that the Bible we hold in our hands today is essentially identical to the original manuscripts penned thousands of years ago? Think of the irrational and deranged hubris of people who claim that the omnipotent and omniscient Creator is unable to communicate with humanity inerrantly and infallibly! Think of how insane it is to believe that God, who spoke everything in existence INTO existence  and SUSTAINS everything in existence – why is it so unreasonable to believe this same Almighty God couldn’t ensure an accurate copying and transmission of His words across the millennia to us in 2026?

 

Satan’s most often used strategy to lead people into moral and theological error has always been to convince them that the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, is not God’s very word to us in printed form. Through his witting and unwitting servants, Satan seduces humanity into believing the Scriptures are full of error, myths, archaic philosophies, and culturally assigned attitudes.

 

Please! Pay attention. To imbibe such lies from his workers is to find ourselves outside the Body of Christ.

 

The season of Lent is another opportunity for the Christian – and I’d also say for the unbeliever in Christ – Lent is another opportunity to open our Bibles with humble hearts, to seek God’s truth, and to be drawn by Him closer to His wounded side.

 

As Matthew records in God’s inerrant, infallible, and divinely inspired word – Jesus appeals to us: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

 

 

Second Sunday of Lent - Saints by Calling

 

 

Sermon Lent Second Sunday

March 1, 2026

Saints by Calling

 

Today is the second Sunday of Lent which is a Christian observance whose origins can be traced back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. It was that same council that formulated what is known as the Nicene Creed – a response to the Arian heresy, claiming Jesus was a created being and not God in the form of a man. And, as an aside, Jehovah’s Witnesses are the theological descendants of the Arian heresy. Mormons and Judaism also deny the full deity of Jesus, who is coeternal, coequal, and coexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

As I said last week, Lent is a season within the Church liturgical calendar intended to bring Christians into a deeper relationship with Christ. I’ll speak to that point again in a few moments, but first I want to address a misconception that Lent is simply a time to ‘fast,’ a time to give up something enjoyable during the 40 days of Lent.

 

A simplistic example is how some give up chocolate or ice cream during Lent. But ‘fasting’ something just for the sake of a religious performance was never the intent of the men who first initiated the celebration of Lent back in that 4^th century.

 

In fact, fasting from something enjoyable simply for the sake of doing something ‘religious’ misses the entire purpose of the season. Anyone can give up something enjoyable to demonstrate how religious they are – and yet, in their heart, displease God.

 

The idea of performing some external action without an accompanying internal change of heart is – well, ‘nothing new.’ Solomon said it well: “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages which were before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10.

 

The prophet Amos lived several centuries before Jesus was born. Listen to God’s rebuke of Israel through that prophet: “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:21-24 

 

Isaiah, a contemporary of Amos said similarly: “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? “Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him?” Isaiah 58:5-7.

 

So, what good is fasting from chocolate if we continue to lie and cheat and gossip?  What good is giving up ice cream or television if we are unwilling to forgive those who have offended us? Lent is not about simply the fasting of pleasures. If our heart remains unchanged, the fasts are worthless.

 

For those who celebrate the season, the observance of Lent ought to be about where our heart is. As must ALSO be true of every other day around the calendar, the forty days of Lent are about whose we are, and to whom we belong.

 

And such questions provide a good segue into our examination of our text for today. Listen to the beginning of St Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome. “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . . among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1,6-7

 

Above all things, Paul considered himself a ‘bondservant’ of Christ Jesus. But let’s pause a moment and examine the Greek word Paul used here, doulos, and is translated in some bibles as ‘bondservant.” But in the ancient Greek and Roman world, doulos was a person owned by a master. A slave. One who had absolutely no legal autonomy, who was kept in lifelong service to his or her master.

 

The apostle Paul deliberately applied the word to himself to amplify the point of Christ’s sovereignty, rule, and ownership over his life. He was willingly a ‘slave’ of Jesus Christ, owned by Christ and kept in lifelong service to his Master.

 

However, because modern English speakers often associate “slave” with race-based bondage and brutality, some Bibles soften the word by translating doulos as ‘servant.’ But, as theologian Douglas Moo correctly acknowledges, translating the Greek word as servant instead of slave simply “diminishes the radical claim of belonging to Christ.” (ChatGPT)

 

So, let’s go back to the text: “Paul, a bond-servant [slave] of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . .

 

As many of you know, the word ‘apostle’ is a person ‘sent’ by someone as a messenger. In the New Testament the word is properly associated with the twelve apostles of Christ. But the word also has a broader sense in the Scriptures as one who is ‘sent’ to others with the message of the gospel. For example, Barnabas and James, the brother of the Lord, are both called apostles (see Acts 14:14, 1 Corinthians 15:7, and Galatians 1:19).

 

The point? Do you know that you are sent by Christ with His message? We know this to be true simply from the Lord’s commandment to us in that last chapter of Matthew’s gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

 

That commandment is not only to the paid clergy. That commandment is to you. And to me. And to every other man or women who calls Jesus their Master and Lord. And this season of Lent is a perfect time to take that Biblical view into account. God has sent us into our world here at Ashwood Meadows with a message of hope and promise – and yes, of warning to repent and believe the gospel.

 

But – and this is important – there can be no ‘being sent’ for effective ministry without our first being a slave of Jesus Christ. There can be no ‘being sent’ for effective ministry without our willful and purposeful subordinating ourselves as a slave to the full and final authority of Jesus Christ in lifelong service.

That means, no bus driver can be sent by God into fruitful work among his coworkers apart from first being Christ’s slave. No CEO can be sent by God into fruitful work among his subordinates apart from first being Christ’s slave. No doctor can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave. No lab technician, no hotel employee, no businessman or woman can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave.

 

I’ll bring that point closer to home, no one can be fruitful for Jesus Christ as an aunt or uncle or grandparent apart from first being a slave of Jesus Christ. And now, let me drive the point even closer: no retiree can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave.

 

The season of Lent, like every other season of the year, ought to be spent in some personal introspection, taking time to reflect on the integrity of our walk with Christ, including our willingness to not only hear His voice when we sin, but to also immediately repent and turn from that sin.

 

And Lent ought also to be a time of extrospection – taking time to turn our attention outward to the needs of others. As Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

 

There are perhaps dozens of ways the Christian can demonstrate kindness toward others – both here at Ashwood and those outside this facility. Listen to Paul’s words to the Christians at Rome: For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment . . . [and] Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness . . . devoted to prayer,  contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” (See Romans 12)

 

Some of you attended the service a few weeks ago when I included in your handout some ministries you might consider for financial support – whether with a lot of money or a little. I have other copies if you would like one.

 

And now, let’s turn our attention to the remainder of today’s text in verses six and seven: “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . . among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1,6-7

 

We’ve already examined verse six, concluding that every Christian is called by Christ to bring His message of salvation, righteousness, and judgment to others. But now I focus our attention on verse seven – a key text in our understanding of how God looks at each of His adopted children, born into His family through our faith in Christ. Paul writes in verse seven: “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints.

 

The Greek word hagios means “A most holy thing; Sacred.”  It’s the same word used of the Holy Spirit (e.g. Matthew 1:20); It’s used of Jesus (Acts 4:27); and it’s used of the Scriptures (Romans 1:2).

 

I want us to get that idea in our hearts. The Holy Spirit, through the writers of the New Testament, calls every true Christian ‘holy.’ ‘Sacred.’

 

In his commentary on the book of Romans, James Montgomery Boice, writes, “A saint is not a person who has achieved a certain level of holiness. A saint is one whom God has set apart for himself. It is what God has done, not what we have done, that makes us saints.”

 

Other commentators stress the point that ‘sainthood’ is state of being before it is our behavior. Our godly transformation flows from what we already ARE because of what God has done for us in Christ.

 

The church at Rome was comprised of sinners, just like the church at Ashwood Meadows. But – and this is a CRITICAL ‘But’ – many of you know the research that tells us of the well-established psychological principle which suggests that we often become – at least in part – what others think of us.

 

In his book, Human Nature and the Social Order, sociologist Charles Horton Cooley postulated that people develop their self-concept based on their perception of how others view them. In other words, Cooley believed that we form our self-image according to how we think others think of us.

 

Now let’s make some personal application of Cooley’s point:

 

God thinks of you as a SAINT. That’s what He calls you because that is not only what He THINKS of you, but also it is what you ARE. You are a saint, washed and purified from sin through your faith in the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus.

 

Does that mean we no longer sin? Of course not. Our sin nature remains in us, but it no longer reigns over us. Knowing God’s assessment of us ought to change our self-concept. Knowing God’s assessment of us as saints ought to work its work in us to say no to sin.

 

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians – a church plagued by a wide array of damnable sins: “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9b-11

 

Our godly transformation, slow as it may be for most of us, our godly transformation will inevitably conform us into the image of Christ, because the Father says it will. Listen again to Paul:

 

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

 

Notice the verb tenses. Predestined. Called. Justified. Glorified. All past tense. In other words, in God’s eternal view, it’s a fait accompli. It’s already accomplished.

 

In one of my recent messages, I reminded us that saints are just the sinners who fall down – and get up.

 

So? Look at yourself in the mirror later today and remember how often you’ve fallen in your life – AND how often you’ve gotten up. That’s why you’re here today, and each Sunday, isn’t it? You got up.

 

Some of you have faced terrible disappointments and unmet expectations in life. Some of you struggle with chronic pain that often takes over your thoughts. Others grapple with loss, loneliness and fractured families. On and on, the trials go.

 

But you’re here, in this sanctuary, still seeking Him. Still serving Him. Still following Him.

 

The Season of Lent reminds us of the path to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is pitted with the same setbacks and thorns, and blood, sweat, and tears that every saint of God has experienced to one degree or another in their journey toward that Celestial City.

 

I prepared this message hoping to stimulate our hearts to steadily continue to mature into the saint God not only calls us, but also knows us to be. I hope that each of us are encouraged to work day by day in His Vineyard – not only here at Ashwood Meadows, but wherever He will yet lead us. And I hope that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will always be acceptable and pleasing to Him to loves us. May God make is so.

 

Amen