Put On Your Spiritual Sackcloth

Jonah 3: 8-9 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."

Sometimes we can get things so wrong as Christians. We can think that this life is always supposed to be about our comfort and happiness. Prosperity doctrine teaches us that money is how to gauge our happiness. Material possessions over spiritual maturity. I know too many Christians who pursue the things of this world over God. The result is what James described:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. James 1: 5-8

Christians who make unwise decisions; never consulting with the Holy Spirit within them. Christians who walk powerless in the world, tossed about by every new fad doctrine. Christians who are even unsure of their own salvation! New age Christianity is all the rage, as many are caught up in pursuing the wisdom of man. Just enough Christ to provide the illusion that it is a Christian venture but enough poison to kill you. Nothing but fine sounding arguments beloved:

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. Colossians 2: 2-4

The full riches of complete understanding are ours! All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are ours! We do not need any fine sounding arguments we just need to get back to the basics sometimes. The Christian walk is not always sunshine and rainbows. There will be times of trouble. There will be times of mourning. There will be times when we need to put on our spiritual sackcloth and get before God to seek the understanding and wisdom we are lacking.

Sackcloth is generally considered a rough, itchy material. It has no aesthetic value and is generally used for carrying things such as potatoes; not meant for a fashion statement. The Bible teaches us that there were three primary reasons why someone would put on sackcloth. The first would be for mourning:

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. Genesis 37:34

It was an outward sign of an inward catastrophe. Perhaps a death or disaster in one's life. Perhaps a serious hindrance. The sackcloth told others that things were not going well and the fabric itself reminded the wearer of the seriousness of the trial they were facing. We face such trials in our walk as Christians. A real loss of a loved one. A failed marriage. Rebellious children. Jesus warned us:

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

In this world we will have trouble indeed but how we react to it as Christians is important. When we lack the peace in our lives we so desperately desire, Jesus is saying to take heart because He has overcome the world and the problems you face in it. Too often however, we tend to react as "super-Christians." Someone asks how we are doing and we answer, "Blessed and highly favored!" While we are mourning on the inside. Are we blessed? Absolutely! Are we highly favored? Absolutely! But the Christian walk is not an exercise in the denial of feelings. The emotions we face are quite real. The mountains we have to climb are quite real. It is ok to be just as real as the crisis we are facing is. It is ok to put on our spiritual sackcloth.

The itchiness and uncomfortable nature of our spiritual sackcloth will be a reminder to us that while we are blessed and highly favored in general, we are hurting at this moment and are in need of the one true comforter:

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me: - John 15: 26 (ASV)

The Holy Spirit within each of us is our comforter. He will bear witness to us of the goodness of God the Father. He will testify to the lies the enemy whispers at our most vulnerable times. When the enemy whispers that God does not love us the comforter will bear witness to the great love the Father has given us:

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1John 3:1

Realize that it is at our weakest moments that the enemy will try his hardest to talk us out of what we already know. Most people will leave the church or faith during times of severe testing. During times of severe strife. During times when they are hurt personally. The enemy will stop at nothing to derail the plan of God for your life. Do not even entertain the conversation. Sit in your spiritual sackcloth and reflect to the comforter. He will guide you to remain in the truth you already know.

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

A wise proverb reminding us that the amount of friends we may have does not necessarily equal wisdom. It depends on what they are telling you. The Comforter will always tell you the truth of Jesus Christ and direct you back to God. He sticks closer than a brother. That is what we need to rely on when we are mourning.

The second use for sackcloth in the Bible was when prophets wished to convey a deep sense of worry or distress.

When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. Esther 4:1

Reverend James McDonald described this as a message from the prophet saying: "I want you listening to my voice! What I look like is nothing but what I am saying is everything!" In modern western Christianity, the office of prophet is abused. People want the title without the sacrifice. Read the prophets from the Bible and you will not aspire to this office. Their message was usually not received well. It was a message to the people of God and it usually required their repentance. Just as we would put on our spiritual sackcloth for challenges within our own walk, we also need to do so for challenges facing the people of God the body of Christ. My Pastor likes to remind us that it is not all about us! Christianity can become very selfish if we are not careful. Sometimes it seems that some people feel as if they are doing a favor for the church by attending. Others will make decisions about where to attend based upon matters of convenience such as making sure their service times do not conflict with the football game or what the parking situation is. It should not be so.

Just as the first reason for putting on our spiritual sackcloth was related to our personal walk, this reason is related to the church as a whole. We are not alone in our walk beloved. We are part of the body of Christ:

so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1Corinthians 12: 25-26

Our spiritual sackcloth will remind us of the needs within the body. To keep in prayer our leaders that God has put in authority over us. It will remind us to keep the needs of the flock ahead of our own personal pride. It will remind us that our service within the church is an offering to God not to be seen or approved by man. Too many people are hurt in ministry because they lose sight of whom they are serving.

Lastly, the third reason for using sackcloth in the bible is when someone was repenting. The sackcloth delivered the message that appearances no longer mattered to the person. They no longer cared what others thought they only wished to be where God wanted them to be.

This is also directly related to the church today. Too many of us walk around with our church faces on. The face we show the world however can be completely different. We can raise our hands on Sunday and find our backs against the wall on Wednesday. Serving in ministry on Sunday but dancing in the club on Friday. The Bible warns:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. James 1: 22-25

Not just listening but doing. In the course of our walk, God expects us to fall. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But He also expects us to repent. Repentance is not merely acknowledging what you have done is wrong but it is a turning away from that sin or behavior. Too often we can think that sin is somehow permissible because we can always repent and God provides the grace to forgive. True repentance however requires something of us. It requires a sacrifice of our flesh to the Spirit of God living within us. The sin should become as uncomfortable as the spiritual sackcloth we sit in. It should itch us and irritate us. It should be as unattractive as the sackcloth. It should grate against us forcing a desire to change and to change is to truly repent.

It was common when someone in the Bible would be putting on sackcloth that they would first tear the garment they were wearing. An outward expression of inward grief, warning or repentance. God looks inside though. He wants to see if we are tearing our hearts:

"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Joel 2: 12-13

When we face the trials of life, let us put on our spiritual sackcloth and remember that we have the comforter inside of us all to testify to us about how good God truly is. When our church or the body of Christ is hurting, let us put on our spiritual sackcloth and remember it is our responsibility to intercede. When we realize that we must repent, let us put on our spiritual sackcloth to remember that God sees through our church faces. He does not desire religion, but relationship. He understands that we will fail but expects us to rend our hearts before Him knowing that He will relent. Trusting that He is working out all things for our good. Believing that He who started a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Reverend Anthony Wade June 22, 2010