by Mr. Prakash Nazareth
Wish you all a very happy “Ash Wednesday” and a wonderful season of Lent. Some of you may be saying this person is probably out of his mind; doesn’t he know that today is Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting and the next 40 days are days of abstinence. Someone tell this ‘F O O L‘ it will be 40 days before I touch the bottle again, before I smoke, before I touch non-veg or any of the Lenten abstinence that you’ll might have thought of.
But inspite of the sad or dull mood created during lent, for the church, lent remains a joyous season and rightly so, because the season of lent is a call to every child of God to return to his Father. And which child who is lost is not happy to return to his father. When I was six, I was lost near my relatives place. My brothers and cousins took me somewhere and said we will play hide and seek, and within a second they were gone. I was scared & confused, crying and wandering along till after about 15 minutes someone found me and took me back; but it was not until I saw my mother or father was I consolable. But when I saw them my fear was gone and my smile returned.
In the same way whatever may be our current relationship with God, we might have wandered or lost, our heavenly Father is giving a special invitation today to each one of us to come back Him.
And that’s the Central verse for today from Joel 2:12
“Even now, declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart with fasting, weeping & mourning”.
The first couple of words “Even now” have a lot to tell us. When John the Baptist started his ministry, he began by saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus when he began his ministry he said “The time has come; the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15)
Not only are these verses calling us to repent but, there is an urgency in these calls. You may ask “why this urgency?” Someone will say let me have some fun, let me freak out, have some goodtime before I change. The urgency is because sin is like poison, the more we delay correcting it, the more damage it causes. Because sin is like garbage, the more time we hold it, the more it stinks.
And so God is speaking to us through the prophet Joel, “Even now!”, though you have delayed your repentance, “even now!”, though you have strayed and wandered far from me, “even now!”, though you may have cheated, stolen, committed abortion, murder, or the worst of sins, “Come! Don’t hesitate; Come to me “EVEN NOW”!
Hebrew 3:15 says “TODAY, if you hear his voice harden not your heart”. Today is the time for a change. Let today be your day of repentance, not tomorrow and as the popular saying goes. “Tomorrow may never come.” Someone said “Life is short, Death is certain & Heaven is for eternity.” Life is short, anything can happen anytime. Some weeks back you might have heard 3 Christian youth riding on a bike, banged into a truck and all 3 died on the spot.
Death is certain, no one can claim to bypass death (you can do bypass surgery but you cannot bypass death) but heaven is long, for eternity, and that’s our real home. Is there anybody who doesn’t want to go to heaven? We all want to go to heaven. So it’s important that we understand this call to repentance that the Lord is making.
“Even Now! Return to me with all your heart. ”
Luke 7:36-39, 44-48
36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The woman in question was a sinful woman. Luke’s picture of the woman leaves no doubt that this woman was a prostitute. Before this incident, this woman might have heard Jesus speak to a crowd. She might have heard Jesus speaking from the edge of a big crowd. In Jesus, she might have felt the hand that could save her, that could lift her from her miserable state of life. She might have been longing and seeking for an opportunity to meet Jesus. So desperate was her need to repent and express her need to change that she entered into the house of this Pharisee without an invitation. She didn’t care about this Pharisee who might have condemned and ridiculed her actions in the past. Her whole focus was Jesus and ONLY Jesus. What is our focus when we approach the Lord in repentance? Do we humble ourselves or our status that I am a Doctor, an Engineer, a C.A, an M.B.A. or a M.D comes in the way of a genuine repentance? Does our 6 figure salary prevent us from opening our lives to Jesus? For God, whatever be your status, your income, you still remain his child.
And like a child this woman poured her affection to Jesus. She lay at his feet, weeping & weeping till His feet were wet with her tears. She then used her hair as a towel to wipe his feet.
For a Jewish woman to leave her hair open in public was immodest. This shows again that this woman was probably a prostitute who left their hair open in public. The other thing may be that she was so totally lost in her actions that she forgot everything else. She outpoured her heart by kissing Jesus’ feet. Then she lavished upon Jesus a beautiful alabaster jar of very expensive perfume.
Imagine a religious leader of today, being approached by a prostitute. What if she would have wept at his feet, wiped her tears with her hair, kissed his feet and then put expensive perfume on them. We would have people saying all sorts of things and made life miserable for him.
Jesus didn’t care what people would say about him. All that mattered to Jesus was the attitude, the love and the sincerity of this repentant woman.
On the other hand, the Pharisee is quite unmoved and stands in stark contrast to this woman.
A devout Jew would greet a distinguished guest with a kiss on his cheek. He would also anoint his head with oil. Since the Palestine roads were dusty and travel was mainly by foot, water was often poured on the guest’s feet to cleanse and soothe the guest’s feet. This Pharisee did none of these things. Further, he condemned this woman and labeled her as a sinner. He did not have the slightest hesitation to even judge Jesus’ discernment regarding this woman. The Pharisee considered himself to be a very good man and hence did not need Jesus like this sinner woman. How wrong was he?
In the story, on one side is a self righteous person. He feels he can go to heaven on his own strength. This person is IRREPAIRABLE unless he acknowledges his sin. On the other side, is a sinner woman whose entire hope is in the Lord. The woman knows the depth of her sin and therefore is able to appreciate God’s mercy & forgiveness.
Which character do we associate ourselves with? Is it like Simon, the Pharisee? Or the woman? I know it is not easy for us to say that we are like Simon, but most of the time we behave like him. We pull down people, spoil their character and spread rumors and condemn people.
Do we find ourselves to be so good that we shield our own heart and refuse to repent and in that way we don’t allow the Lord to enter? Or is our repentance total and genuine like this woman who wept & wept and cried her heart out.
I am not ashamed to say I was like Simon. I was a Christian who did all my obligations. I even read the Bible sometimes. But I had a dark side that I never exposed to Jesus. Then something happened in my life and my whole life came crumbling down and I said Jesus if you change this situation then I will make a retreat. And in a few days things changed and I returned to normal.
I went to the retreat with an open mind. The first couple of days, the Word of God touched me and tears rolled down my eyes when I encountered the Lords love and mercy. I wept bitterly as I made an honest confession. People had told me that things happened during the inner healing session and at the infilling of the Holy Spirit. But nothing spectacular happened to me. People were screaming, shouting, shaking, falling and I thought the Holy Spirit passed me. But after I returned, I realized a tremendous love for my family members, people around me, my friends, even my enemies, … … Then I realized the Holy Spirit’s presence in me because the Word says the greatest (gift) of them is ‘Love’. A sincere confession changed me, the grace of God gave me the desire to make an honest confession.
Joel 1:8 says “Mourn like a young woman in sack cloth grieving for the husband of her youth”.
Once my brother told me about a young couple who got married and within a month’s time this boy died in an accident. We can imagine the state of this young widow, crying & screaming for her beloved husband who is no more. She may have questions, “Why me? Why now?” And no one could console her at that moment.
God is telling us to feel painful about our sinfulness, like this widow crying for her husband who is dead. Let us not have a casual attitude towards sin.
On the other hand, you may not be like Simon. Agreed, but check whether you fall in any of the following categories:-
I CAN’T FORGIVE MYSELF:
Some crisis/ some tragedy has happened in your life for which you blame yourselves OR some problem / some failure has happened in someone else’ life for which you feel responsible.
For e.g you were driving a car and you lost control and banged someone and that person was handicapped or died. What ever the incident you are feeling horrible inside. You have been confessing and confessing and you still feel it’s not enough. God wants to forgive and accept you but you can’t forgive yourself.
I believe after Peter denied Jesus, he might have felt the same way. After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus asked Peter 3 times “Do you love me?” Jesus was not condemning Peter for his three denials. No, but each time Peter said “yes Lord, I love you” he felt better and Peter could then forgive himself.
Ps 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgression from us”.
I HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING WRONG: (This is exactly opposite of the first)
Am I like those who justify every wrong they do “The world does it, what’s wrong if I do it?” For e.g. I rob from the office because my boss is a bigger robber. I watch pornography (blue films) to satisfy my life partner better. Do I always have an excuse for my sins?
Many young boys & girls are having sexual relationship before marriage. And then the girl gets pregnant, four months, five months, six months and the boy & girl are still undecided on their marriage. You speak to them, “Do your parents know about it?” “Yes” is their quick reply and “what did they say?” “They are very happy for us”. There is absolutely no sense of wrong, no sense of shame. Their excuse is that everyone else is doing it. So what if everyone else is doing it. What does Gods Word tells us? Everyone is doing it; you go and do the same? Or is it saying, “Be holy as the heavenly father is holy”.
I COULD’NT HELP MYSELF (IT IS THEIR FAULT):
Am I among those who do not take responsibility for what they do? Do I always have someone else to blame.
When God asked Adam whether he had eaten the fruit of the forbidden tree. Adam said “The woman you put here with me she gave it to me …. When God gave Adam a partner in Eve, he had said “this at last is flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone”. And now when the time of owning up for what he had done came, he remarks “The woman you put here with me she gave me and I ate it.” Next was Eve’s turn. When God asked Eve, “why did do that?” she said “No! No! Not me. The serpent deceived me.”It’s the same blame game we play even now. Listen to these two lines,
When I was ONE, my mummy hid my dolly in a trunk.
And so it follows naturally that I am always drunk.
Today too, you hear people saying “I am like this, because my father is a Hitler”. “I am like this, because my mother is a loose woman”. How long will you blame someone else? Stand up! And own your sin!
EVEN GOD CAN’T FORGIVE ME:
Though it may seem to be a kind of repentance, it is the most dangerous course/thinking one can develop. But I am too bad! God will never forgive me. There is nothing you have done that can keep you away from Gods love and forgiveness. But brother, I have committed idolatry, gone to other gods, done black magic, witchcraft, gone to the babas & fakirs… God is asking you to change your ways. He still loves you and wants to forgive you. You say surely God won’t forgive what I have done I have committed incest, abortion, sold my body, murdered someone and God is saying there’s nothing you have done that has escaped my eyes. Repent and return to me, for I love you with an everlasting love.
When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, Jesus knew Judas would betray him. Yet Jesus washed Judas’ feet and I feel Jesus might have washed Judas’ feet with more love and affection then the rest of the apostles. Even at the table, Jesus showed special love by feeding Judas with his own hands. But Judas was determined to betray Jesus and the Bible says it was then that Satan entered him. After Jesus was crucified, Judas was sorry for what he did. But he did not turn back towards Jesus. Satan convinced Judas with a lie that he was beyond God’s forgiveness and so he hanged himself. Peter turned away from what he did and looked towards Jesus. And that’s exactly what repentance is turning away from your sins and turning towards God. “Even now, RE-TURN to me with all your heart”.
WHAT MUST I DO TO RECEIVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS?
I must admit and take responsibility for my sins:-
Yes, it is human nature to cover up and hide everything that is wrong. Even a person like King David tried to hide his sins of lust, adultery and murder. But that did not give him peace, nor was he at ease. Sin disturbs us and makes us restless.
David says in Ps 32:3-4 “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day & night your hand was heavy upon me, my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
It was only when David admitted his sin, did he find acceptance with himself and God.
Ps 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – “and you forgave the guilt of my sin”.
I have to repent of my sin:-
It is no use admitting that I have sinned and then be proud and boastful about it. Sad but true, some of us, do boast of the sins they have committed, they are proud of the offenses they have got away with . But, we shall not experience Gods forgiveness until we repent. Repentance brings us to the feet of Jesus, just like it did to the sinful woman. It brings us in the Fathers arms like it did to the prodigal son.
I must confess my sin: - We Catholics are privileged to have the sacrament of reconciliation where we can confess our sins and receive forgiveness.
Before I met the Lord, I had done something that I felt ashamed of. I thought what will happen if my parents come to know about it? What will my brothers and my friends think about me? One evening, with all these thoughts I sat alone at Holy family church grounds for hours. Then I felt the Lord telling me, “Go and make a confession”. It was late when I came to my parish. The priest I met took my confession immediately probably because he could see I was in distress. I confessed every wrong I did. After I finished I expected the priest to say “How could you do such a thing?” But he said, “By the authority of the Church, I absolve you of your sins in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” I was shocked ? I was struggling with this so long and within a few seconds you have completely absolved it! But this is exactly what confession does!
Recognize that forgiveness is a free gift:-
In short, there is nothing you can do to receive Gods forgiveness. Gods forgiving grace, is a free gift that you cannot merit.
Rom 6:23 says “The wages of sin is death. But the (FREE) gift of God is eternal life through Jesus”
Many people try to punish themselves so that they can pay for their sins. They hurt themselves and try and make themselves feel miserable of their sins. What they don’t realize is that Jesus has already paid the penalty of their sins, in full, on the cross.
Is 53: 5 “But he was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him”.
Yes! Jesus has paid the price of each of our sin. Sins we have committed and we shall commit. Sins of the past, sins of the present and sins of the future. All you can do is repent and receive Gods grace and forgiveness…….
WHEN I SAY I AM A CHRISTIAN.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.
When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!