Year C First Sunday in Lent 17 February 2013
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16 Romans 10: 8b-13 Luke 4: 1-13
The concept of failure has come up a lot in my life this last couple of weeks. Perhaps it is no coincidence then to note that we begin this journey into Lent with the story of Jesus temptation in the desert. Unlike us, Jesus’ story is not one of failure, but of victory.
In the last week I’ve had conversations about failure, and I’ve said that it is vulnerability that leads to failure. In the past there have been responses made to circumstances that have been less than exemplary and the main thing that I have learnt from the experience was that when there is vulnerability in our life we are way more likely to make the same mistake over and over again. Very silly, but this seems to be the way it is.
Vulnerability in our spiritual journey is inevitable while we remain in this human body, but the more that we spend time and effort in our relationship with God, this less we should be vulnerable, as we see from the example of Jesus.
Although we begin the Lenten journey with the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, the readings for this week are all very much about the victory and provision of God. The first reading describes the gift that the Israelites were to make to God in thanks for his bringing them out of the wandering and persecuted past to a land flowing with milk and honey. Jesus was 40 days in the desert and the Israelites were 40 years in the desert.
Luke 4:1-2 “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.”
Jesus had just had an amazing experience of being baptized and having God speak to him words of confirmation and assurance – “You are my beloved Son….” , and with this the Spirit of God led him out to the wilderness. Similarly, the Israelites had been rescued from Egypt through the Red Sea – a huge confirmation of God’s favour to the nation, and then they were in the wilderness….. and they were tempted and the fell to the temptation continuously and at every turn.
We would be incredibly foolish if we think for a second that we, in the same situation, would fare any differently from those Israelites – a stubborn and stiff necked people…. And so are we. In fact, our turning to God is like a Red sea miracle – we celebrate it with baptism… and then we find ourselves in very much in the wilderness….
Jesus was fully human and fully vulnerable. We read that he was famished and his first temptation is for food. We know that the Israelites in the desert cried out to God for food… actually they grumbled first and sinned. Jesus waits. Jesus knows that God had a purpose for his life and that he was not going to die there in the desert, so when he is tempted by the devil Jesus responds with scripture.
It is important to note that in the encounter with the devil in the desert, that both Jesus and the devil used scripture. Many times people might quote scripture to back their point of view, but scripture alone can be the work of the devil!
I feel I should leave some more space for thought about my last statement……
Our Psalm for this week is the scripture that the devil was quoting to Jesus:
Psalm 91:11-12 “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”
This is a Psalm that promises the protection of God. Certainly Jesus had God’s provision and protection, but it certainly didn’t always seem that way, and when we look at his life and his crucifixion as an outsider, we could logically conclude that Jesus did not have God’s protection. But we know that Jesus did have God’s protection – the crucifixion was part of the plan.
To properly and fully understand and quote scripture correctly, we need to also have the spirit of God. Without the Holy Spirit we could very well be doing the devil’s work and abusing the word of God.
There were three things with which the devil tempted Jesus; food, authority over the kingdoms of the world and supernatural protection, but underlying these temptations was a condition. The first temptation was offered that IF he was the Son of God, then he should be able to make instant food. We know that later in Jesus ministry he did just that, but this temptation was based on the implication that Jesus needed to prove who he was. The devil indicated doubt about Jesus being the Son of God. Jesus answered with scripture, and stood firm in relying on the mercy of God the father, rather than demanding what God would give him.
Many a modern Christian might claim the promises of God and I wonder if they are giving in to the temptation of the devil rather than trusting in a calm knowledge that God’s will be done. We submit our cares to God, knowing that he cares for us – we demand nothing.
God does want good things for us. When we truly know God, we can be led by the Holy Spirit and accept the wilderness knowing that ultimately God will bring about blessing, maybe not in this lifetime, but for certain the blessing will come.
Many have noted that Jesus could stand against the temptation because he knew the scripture, but I have added to this that we need more than knowing the scripture. We need to know the scripture and we need the Holy Spirit and we need to know God…. Personally.
The other temptations that Jesus faced were to do with access to authority and supernatural power. As the Son of God these belonged to Jesus, but he was operating as fully human and not as God. Therefore he did what we are to do and that is to fully rely on God. (F.R.O.G.)
Every now and then it becomes obvious to me that the Occult is rearing its head. Once upon a time I had no idea what the Occult involved and thought it was simply extreme Satan worship – through personal experience I came to realize that it involved things as every day and seemingly (but NOT) harmless as reading your horoscope. I have some lovely and spiritual friends who dabble in things, and I’m not sure how to tell them that they are playing with fire, but here we see how simply we can be enticed. Things happen in our lives and we desire control over them…. What do we do?
We can use a little “religion” and, like the devil, we can quote the scripture and demand the promise of God for protection – an example might be the wearing of a religious medal for protection. Those dabbling more in the occult might wear a charm or a crystal, or a special scent. It seems harmless and it seems like we are invoking the protection of God…. But are we???????
Romans 10:9-10 “because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’”
Becoming a Christian is a simple thing, and it comes with reassurances, but it means that we have to acknowledge that we need a savior…. Because we do not have the control… we do not have the ability to save ourselves.
We need to “confess” our faith and “believe” in our hearts (with every fiber of our being). It is in our believing that we are justified, and with our confessing that we are saved. There is no other action which can demand a blessing from God- so any good deed to earn God’s favour is just not good enough. Our good deeds need to be out of a response to His goodness, not motivated by a sense of controlling the blessings of God – it doesn’t work that way.
We are saved by God’s grace and our lives are in his hands. The early apostles were incredibly exemplary in the actions of their lives and they were often martyred. What does this tell us? No action on our part will force God’s hand. But like Jesus we need to know – KNOW – the love of God, be led by his Holy Spirit and submit to the will of God. Scripture tells us that God cares for us and wants good things for us, but submitting our desires to God and waiting for his response shows our trust and faith in him.
This is the beginning of our Lenten journey. It is a call to give our whole lives completely into the hands of God. It is only in this way that we can truly please him and not be unwittingly doing the devil’s work.
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