The theme of our Lenten journey this year is waking up from our slumber, but the problem is most do not know they are sleeping. When I was younger, I used to sleepwalk. This dates me but in college, our dorm had one phone on the floor and usually someone would answer and let you know that there was a phone call for you. I had fallen asleep only to be awaken by a person laughing at me and telling me I wasn’t awake. I was offended because I was clearly awake, at least at the point he said I wasn’t awake. The fact of the matter was that I was asleep when I answered the door and he was correct in saying I was asleep, much to his amusement. I went through the motions of answering the door and briefly took part in a conversation all while asleep.
Today the church is sleeping and just going through the motions. I spoke one time at a senior’s residence and there were people definitely sleeping, which made speaking interesting. There is the account of a young man falling asleep and dying but the difference is there was power to revive him. Acts 20:9 “Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” Now for the most part if you said the congregation was sleeping, and there would be some, most would say they were not asleep but having said that most need to be revived. Most would also say everything in the church is as it should be but most are not prepared for the end to come. Paul said Romans 13:11 “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” On Sunday we talked about being prepared, but most are not. In their slumber they have set aside the armor which is needed to defeat the dark forces all around us. It should be like when Nehemiah was rebuilding the wall. Nehemiah 4:15 “When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” There will be a point when the church rises up but presently the church is in captivity. But most will say there is nothing we need saved from and will claim that Jesus died and rose for their sins, so all is good. But what they will not do is test the spirits to find out what exactly they have been saved into. This journey of repentance leads to the rebuilding of the church. Amos 9:11 “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins— and will rebuild it as it used to be.”
Today the church looks nothing like the church that was empowered at Pentecost to do as Jesus did with the same power and authority, yet most will say the church is as it should be, at least the group they belong to is. Each group will say this is the way, truth and life but looks nothing like the church Jesus started. Hosea 8:2 “Israel cries out to me, ‘Our God, we acknowledge you!’ 3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him. 4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.” Hosea 9:1 “Do not rejoice, Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God. you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.” Proverbs 30:20 “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’” Jeremiah 8:6 “I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.” The church follows many other gospels which is the same as making idols that leads to destruction. We were warned about the abomination that causes desolation and the church did not heed the warnings and now stands desolate because the church has rebelled against the word of God and has gone their own way. This is why a journey of repentance is crucial.
The church continues to go through the motions as if it were awake but like the disciples and the virgins, they are fast asleep though five of the virgins were prepared. Mark 14:37 “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? Matthew 25:10 “The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” We are called to be ready and prepared but most have settled in for a long nap.
Today is day one of our Lenten journey. The day represents a time for repentance from our sin of following wicked ways and a return to God. There will be many that go through the motions of Lent, but will still be asleep. Lent will come and go and most will still be following wicked ways. The wicked ways are the manmade ways most follow from Catholics to Baptists, from Pentecostals to Reformed. Those ways need to be turned from as there is no such thing as a Catholic or Baptist Christian or the many other groups who call themselves Christians. We are supposed to be followers of Jesus Christ, not men and women with their ideas, doctrines and theology about Jesus that all differ from one another. Most identify by the group the belong to. I am a Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal etc.
This journey is about repentance, not about food like chocolate or even pancakes which many would partake yesterday. Being prepared for Lent is not about getting your fill before it starts. What you see happening at Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday is not preparation to meet our king. This season is also Ramadan and you will also hear strange customs such as the fasting that takes place during Ramadan. This is abstaining from food and water from dawn until sunset, for a full month in the Islamic calendar.” They then can eat during the night!!! How great is that. So, like Lent, much is about the focus on food. Our focus will not be on fasting from food but on spiritual renewal / repentance so that God turns His face back to the church. John 6:35 “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” John 7:37 “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” We need to be searching for real food and drink that leads to eternal life and the power the church was meant to have at Pentecost.
