Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.1MB)
When you think about Yom Kippur, I am sure several different images come to mind. But a strong image for me are zombies. Yes, you heard me right, I did say zombies. Those human creatures that move around hurting themselves and others. I think about zombies during Yom Kippur, because I am reminded of them during my favorite prayer. A prayer from Maimonides that we recite called “You Who Are Asleep Wake Up!”
This prayer, which we will recite shortly, encourages everyone mindlessly moving through their lives to wake up! We are commanded to change our ways and then we will become truly alive. So, this evening I would like to spend a few minutes talking about change and how to avoid ending up a zombie.
When I use the term zombie, I am referring to many people who refuse to ever change unless they forced. Instead, they just move through their lives mostly unaware of the emotional or spiritual issues around them. In a trance they mostly mindlessly go through the motions of their lives. Like zombies in a horror movie, they move towards whatever is loud, shiny, or satisfies them. They are only motivated by the most basic of needs and desires, obsessed with self-satisfaction and refuse to change. Physical zombies are not real, but spiritual zombies are, and it leads to real-life horror. Our lives in this world will be terrible and we may lose out on eternal life with our Messiah.
So, to avoid ending up as zombies, all of us need to be committed to changing, personal transformation. In a general sense this is doing a better job of following the Lord’s will more and our sinful wills less. Should the Lord tarry, we will hopefully greet the next Yom Kippur with much less we need to atone for. This is something we cannot do for ourselves and requires the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. A power exclusively available for those who have placed their faith in Messiah Yeshua, the perfect Yom Kippur sacrifice.
More specifically, change requires that we take a long look inside ourselves and address what we find. Something we have hopefully done in this season but can still do now. To look at the areas we fell short this last year, and more than just asking forgiveness, doing the hard work of changing to deal with these issues. We need to deal with our anger, jealously, greed, pride, etc. not just by confessing, but also by confronting these problems.
Very easily, we give excuses or rationalizations, so we do not have to change. One of the most popular is saying we are too old, or it is too late now to change. This leads to a life where remorse and agony are repeated, only to end up at despair in the end. Saying we cannot change is a lie we tell ourselves and others.
Through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the help of trusted people around us we can and must break the sinful patterns in our lives. We must break free of the sins that so easily entangle and chain us, so we can experience the good blessings of the Lord and the freedom He alone provides.
It is my prayer this Yom Kippur that all of us would take the repentance and reflections of this season forward with action into the new year. May the whole world wake up from its slumber and begin to experience the life only found in Messiah Yeshua. May we all experience the transforming power of the Holy Spirit as He changes us to be more like our wonderful Messiah.