There is a hope that does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5.) And Lent is the celebration of that hope. This holy season is a time we deny ourselves, embrace our limitations, and place ourselves on the road to Calvary. But the journey does not end at the dark hour of brokenness and death - it leads us to the glory of the Resurrection! Lent reminds us of what hope is. "In this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope... But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:24-25)

"Awake, O Sleeper, And Arise From The Dead, And Christ Shall Give You Light" (Ephesians 5:14)
We are living in the age of the cynic. The culture demands that we don the sackcloth of despair. Fact is everyone dismisses the option of hope because in reality no one dares to hope anymore. There is a certain air of hopelessness thickening in and around us. This poisonous air of despair and gloom suffocates and even stifles the lives of well-meaning people. They recognize that everything seems to be going out of control. Emotions, longings and desires are not in check anymore. As a result, we are dragged into ways of thinking and styles of living that we do not choose. Right from our childhood, we may be familiar with the higher values. But as we live life in the world, the loud offers of sin orient us to evil and we do the very evil we do not want to. There is a silent cry of fear and hopelessness in the heart of man, "Where am I being led to?" The sinful fantasies that crowd the mind without one even opting for these frightens us. The desires that take hold of my mind seem too powerful to be resisted. We look at ourselves and realize that we are playing out our lives as slaves of the unholy compulsions and sinful forces. As we traverse this dark valley of despair and helplessness, the holy season of Lent comes as a fresh wind of hope to all of us. The message of Lent challenges us to lift up our heads, hope in pure goodness again and clear our hearts to receive the grand glory of heaven.

In this season, the Scriptures repeatedly and clearly declare to us - "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) This was the first proclamation of Jesus as He began His public ministry. For this proclamation, He walked into every town and village, declaring it aloud in the synagogues and marketplaces, whispering it in the homes and to the hearts of the sinners. This call of Jesus is both an invitation and a promise – an invitation to turn to God and the promise is that God is waiting to usher in the heavenly rule on earth in the hearts of human beings. The word used for repent is ‘metanoia’ which literally means change of heart. It is a call to reverse one’s direction of life - walking towards God and walking away from the ways of the world. In fact, this was the message of all the prophets sent by God down the centuries. They invited the people to turn to God and wait on Him to receive their salvation. The Saviour will come, they assured the people. We hear the prophet Joel calling out to the people "Yet even now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." (Joel 2:12-13) The last prophet in the line, John the Baptist, echoing this proclamation, said, "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight... After me comes He who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:3,7-8)

"Behold, Now Is The Day Of Salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2)
When Jesus came with salvation, He gave the same call to repentance but in His invitation there was a clear tone of urgency. The people were invited to turn to God because the reign of God was already beginning, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15) This urgency is because the saving action of God had already broken through to the earth in Jesus Christ. Therefore it was crucial that every man and woman should without any delay open their hearts to the reign of God. When Jesus spoke in the synagogue of Nazareth, He claimed the promise of salvation prophesied by Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19) And then He looked at the people who looked at Him intently and asserted, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4: 21) The prophecy of salvation given by Isaiah is being fulfilled in the person and activity of Jesus.

The season of Lent comes every year to convey to us this urgency of opening our hearts to the salvation of the Lord. In our day-to-day living, because of the powerful influences around us, we are tarnished by sin in our thoughts and styles of living. Even unconsciously, we are being moulded by the patterns of the thinking around us. Our value system gets eroded in the process. Our relationships get strained and our orientation to God fades away. Prayer becomes a boring exercise. We realize we are very much men and women of the world. That is when we are able to identify ourselves with the sad predicament described by St. Paul, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15) The powers of sin have invaded the sanctuary of our hearts, dwelling therein holding us captives. It is at this unfortunate juncture that the proclamation comes as our shining hope. The reign of God is at hand! This really means God is waiting to take charge of our lives. He will take authority over the movements of our heart and the ways of our living. When God takes authority, He will defeat the powers of evil dwelling in us. Where I have failed, God will come out victorious saving me. He assures us, "Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

"If The Son Makes You Free, You Will Be Free Indeed" (John 8:36)
In Mark’s Gospel, we read the miraculous transformation that comes upon a paralytic when Jesus took authority over him. The paralyzed person was brought to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "My son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:5) A murmur ripples through the crowd, "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7) That is when Jesus stood up and asserted, "But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins." (Mark 2:10) That authority not only rooted out the power of sin in this man but also raised him up from the misery of being crippled on the mat. Indeed it is this authority that Jesus is waiting to exercise this holy season on everyone feeling helpless about their impossible conditions of life and embarrassed by the shame of slavery to the powers of evil. When we turn to God, He takes authority on everything that has gone wrong in our lives.

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus though he was a man lost to the forces of evil (Luke Chapter 19) . His turning to God gave Jesus the opportunity to take authority over the powers of evil that held him captive. This greedy tax collector’s heart was transformed to uncalculating generosity. In great freedom, he was able to declare that he was returning all the money amassed through unjust ways and more than that. It was the same freedom that the Samaritan woman experienced when she left the water jar, the symbol of her sinful life at the foot of Jesus, to go and proclaim boldly that Jesus is the Saviour! A woman enslaved to a life of shameful sin was now freed and exalted to be the prophetess to declare Jesus as the Messiah to all.