Lent 1C RCL
After his
baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led
by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the
devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was
famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Then the devil
led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the
devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority;
for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you,
then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It
is written,
'Worship
the Lord your God,
and serve only him.'"
and serve only him.'"
Then the devil
took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to
him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is
written,
'He
will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,'
to protect you,'
and
'On
their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus answered
him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When
the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune
time.
On this first Sunday of Lent we, as always, read the gospel story of
Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.
This year we read the story from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is full of the Holy
Spirit as the spirit leads him into the wilderness. And while in the wilderness it says that
Jesus was tempted by Satan, or perhaps a better translation he was tested by Satan
– and we pick up on the Satan’s last three tests at the end of the forty days.
Just a couple of weeks ago I was in the Holy Land and visited the Judean
wilderness and saw what is now called mount temptation. The wilderness is not devoid of life – like I
always pictured it. It is not like the
Saharan dessert. During the winter when
it gets enough rain there are shepherds grazing their sheep. It is perhaps like one would see in our high
desserts on the east side of the sierras. But for much of the year it is
desolate and Mount Temptation is high enough that I imagine on a clear day you
could see much of the agricultural areas of Israel. And certainly the Jordan River – the source of
much of their water!
There is a
danger in the text. And that danger is that it is perhaps far too easy for us to dismiss
the story by rationalizing it. By attributing the power of
God to Jesus. Of course Jesus could
resist the devil. After all he is
God.
But that is not the point. We
also need to remember that Jesus was fully human. He was fully hungry after 40 days of
fasting. He was fully tested. But he was filled with the Holy Spirit just
as we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
And filled with the Holy Spirit Jesus passed the test. The tests where not about choosing wealth,
power and safety. They were choices to
turn from God to Satan. They were
choices to turn inward and not to choose God.
Jesus chose God.
So what does this mean for us. If
the church has decided we need to read about the temptations – or testing – of
Jesus every first Sunday of Lent that perhaps we are supposed to take away
something for Lent. So what are we to
take away from this lesson?
Perhaps a good place to start is the nature of the test. It is too easy to trivialize this as a
temptation – after all we are tempted all the time – right? If we give up chocolate or alcohol for lent
there to seems that every time we turn around there is chocolate or alcohol
right in front of us – especially today being Valentines day –a day filled with
chocolate and other “temptations”. But does saying no to some food or drink
really make us more Holy? Is it really
like the test that we read about today?
Too often Christians have focused on all the things we shouldn’t do, instead of pointing us to the gift and grace of our identity as children of God. But the devil knows better. Notice how each of the temptations seeks to erode and undercut Jesus’ confidence in this relationship with God and therefore undermine Jesus’ identity.”[1]
Our political season is all about being tested! We hear politicians offer us food, safety and
power – if only we will worship their brand of god – but usually if we really
listen to them it is if we worship them.
The political rhetoric sounds too much like Satan tempting Jesus. If you only elect – fill in pretty much any
of the names – then you will be safe from terrorism, or you will have unlimited
wealth and health, or the others – read as the foreigners, the gays, the Muslim’s – basically
anyone who doesn’t look like us- will be put back in there places. Usually someplace where you are not… or so
the politicians would lead us to believe.
All too often politics plays on our fears and insecurities.
Looking at temptation this way changes the way I think about
temptation. And it fits with the call to
do something different for lent. It
really is not about chocolate, or alcohol, or meatless Fridays. It is about our relationship with God.
That is what we are called to do this Lenten season. We are called to see what is distracting us –
what is separating us - from the love of God.
So if some food or drink is separating you from God’s love by all means
give it up.
There is another reason to give up something. And that is a change can call us up
short. If you, like me, have the habit
of an evening glass of wine or cocktail giving it up can make us take
notice. It can call me out of my
rut. And if I take that time to
recognize the God of love in my life and to recognize all of the other calls to
worship the false gods of wealth, power and safety then it is good to give it
up.
During lent we are called to look
at what separates us from the love of God.
And to find ways to get out of our ruts and see God’s love anew. That
could well be giving something up. It
could be taking up the Bishop’s Bible challenge and meeting with folks once a
month to discuss it. It could be saying
the daily office. If could mean turning
off the political noise on the TV and reading a book or, dare I suggest,
praying.
Lent is about finding a space to see the love of God that so loves all
of us that God was and is willing to die for us. God’s love is that big. Nothing that we can do will separate God from us. We can draw away from God – try to separate
ourselves from God – that is the definition of Sin. But God never gives up on us. That is the promise of the cross. That we can always return to God and be
embraced by the Love that cannot die. No
matter how many times we try to kill the love.
I invite you this lent to find a way to turn to God. To remember that you are filled with the Holy
Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is calling
us to turn away from the temptation to worship the idolatrous gods of wealth,
safety and power – to just name a few. The
Holy Spirit is calling us to rest in the embrace of our God. A God who so loves us that God was willing to
take on human flesh and to live as one of us – and to die as one of us all for
that love. And at the other end of our journey of Lent we will remember that
the Love that we hang on the cross is not killed. But instead is a Love that is willing to
pursue us. To pursue us all the way to
death and beyond.
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