Luke 4:1-13
Lent 1 February 14, 2016
Here we are on the first Sunday in Lent. If you have given up chocolate for Lent, you might think of Lent as a time of temptation. Personally, giving up chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, or cookies, or cookies with chocolate in them, for Lent has never been an effective spiritual discipline for me. The practice of doing without or of adding something is meant to turn us toward God, and strengthen our relationship with God and others. My lack of chocolate seems to result in making people want to stay away from me.
All kidding aside, while it is true that I no longer give up chocolate for Lent, giving up other things for Lent, such as gossip and exclusivism, can help to turn us back to God. Adding spiritual practices such as keeping a gratitude journal or practicing generosity are also ways to observe Lent. Traditional Lenten disciplines include fasting, prayer and giving to those in need. Whatever you choose, it should be meaningful to you, and something that will draw you closer to God.
Lent began this past Wednesday with our receiving ashes on our foreheads. Ashes are a reminder of the cycle of life, that God created us from dust, and when we die, our bodies will decompose into dust. Ashes are also a Biblical symbol of repentance. You might remember reading that when people were sorry for their sins, they put on sackcloth, or scratchy clothing, and put ashes on their head. On Wednesday night, the ashes were put onto our foreheads in the shape of a cross. This ashen cross is put on top of the cross made at our baptism. When we recognize our need for repentance, remember that in our baptism, God has promised that nothing will ever separate us from God’s love. The ashen cross on top of our baptismal cross is a fitting reminder that God’s claim on us encompasses both our living and our dying. Lent is a time of turning and returning to God. It lasts for forty days, just as Jesus’ time of testing in the wilderness was forty days.
The telling of Jesus’ temptation by the devil always occurs on the first Sunday in Lent. It begins with the Holy Spirit leading him into the wilderness, a place with which we are all familiar. The wilderness is a fierce land, where you cannot see when, and even if, life will return to normal. The wilderness is a hospital waiting room, or an unemployment office. It’s a place of extreme isolation and loneliness. You are in the wilderness when your hands shake from withdrawal, and when you discover the one who promised forever love for you has broken your trust. Fill in your own experience of wilderness; we have all been there. It’s the place where we pray to hear a word from God.
Jesus’ testing in the wilderness came from the devil. Jesus had not yet preached a sermon, cast out a demon, or healed a sick person. Quoting from Psalm 91, the devil puts forth three temptations for Jesus.[1] When Jesus had not eaten for 40 days, the devil said, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread. Then, pointing to all the kingdoms of the world, the devil told Jesus he would give it to him. Lastly, he tempted Jesus to prove the God would save him if he jumped off of the highest point on the temple. Jesus’ temptations were social, political and religious. The devil’s premises and promises are false, of course, but to someone in the wilderness for forty days, they sound temptingly true.
This is how the serpent was with Adam and Eve in the garden. Theirs is another story of temptation. “Even though God told you that you would die if you eat the apple, you won’t,” the serpent told them. “God just said that because he knows that if you eat from the tree in the garden that you will know good and evil and then be like God.” When God discovers this and confronts the couple, the man accusingly said, “That woman you made for me, she did it! It’s her fault!” Thus the first wimp was made.
This story is more about insecurity and mistrust than it is about power.[2] What the serpent did was to foster suspicion between the couple and God. That led to relationship problems not only with God, but with each other and with the rest of creation. How easily we are seduced! We are seduced by power, and money, by good looks, and by chocolate. These things can bring us into the wilderness, and then we look to them again to get us out. But that never works.
When Jesus faces the devil, he responds with both his dependence upon and his trust in God. It is all in God’s hands. We, on the other hand, so easily slip into thinking that our lives are all up to us. We begin our 40 days of Lent in the wilderness because in the wilderness, we are reminded we need help. Lent is the time for us to engage in spiritual disciplines that strengthen our relationship with God so that we turn to God to help us through. Lent is the time for us to practice trust in God so that the temptations and seductions of this world have no power over us.
David Lose suggests this exercise to help us do that.[3] Think of something that is important to you for which you feel certain of God’s support. This could be love of your partner, children, or your relationship with God. These things should be things that matter to you, that you do worry about, yet still trust God with them.
Next, think of something that is difficult to trust God with right now. What is it that might keep you up at night? This might be a relationship, a decision you have to make, or uncertainty in your career path or job. Maybe your mistrust is that the devils in your life can be defeated.
Think about the things that you are able to trust God to care for, and those things that are more challenging for you to give to God. What makes them different? Why is one easier than the other?
During this coming week, and during the next 40 days, I invite you to give thanks daily for those things that you entrust to God, and to pray for those things which are difficult for you to place in God’s care. I invite you to join with one or more persons in these prayers. My door is always open. Lose reminds us the support of our Christian community helps us “to grow in our ability to trust and live out of a sense of abundance and courage rather than scarcity and fear.”[4]
In the moment of silence that follows, reflect on your joys that God holds and your challenges that you need to give to God. Remember your baptism, and God’s claim on you in the shape of the cross.
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] Many people quote scripture, and sometimes it is out of context or is not a word from God. God’s word is meant to create, sustain and redeem. Ask yourself if what you are hearing or reading comes from a place of love.
[2] This assessment is put forth by David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=2089.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.