First Sunday in Lent, February 14, 2016

Collect for the Day

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Reflections: This prayer poses a strong contrast to the prosperity gospel, which promises worldly status, goods, and comfort! The gospel as we understand it means not only being baptized into Christ, but following him into the desert. How else can we face the sin that vies for our loyalties?

          Lent gives us a whole season to take stock, become aware of the temptations that plague us and to admit our weaknesses. But more, it is a season to take comfort and strength in the knowledge that we are supported through this painful process by a community that understands rather than one that blames, and a God who woos and loves and forgives.

 

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”

You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house. 

Reflections: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor.” This sacred story, recited each year at the Passover Seder, reminds the Jewish people who they are. It affirms the continuity of their past into their present, and their present into their future. It stands against division and isolation that threaten to destroy the best in humanity.

The wandering Aramean is the ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We all look to Abraham, and we all honor Jesus—though his significance differs in each tradition.

For us, the story includes the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. The story reminds us of who we are, as well, and affirms our continuity with the past and the future. Through Christ we are members of the Abrahamic family, cousins of both Jews and Muslims. 

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Qui habitat

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, * abides under the shadow of the Almighty.

He shall say to the Lord, "You are my refuge and my stronghold, * my God in whom I put my trust."

Because you have made the Lord your refuge, * and the Most High your habitation,

There shall no evil happen to you, * neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over you, * to keep you in all your ways.

They shall bear you in their hands, * lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the lion and adder; * you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

Because he is bound to me in love, therefore will I deliver him; * I will protect him, because he knows my Name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; * I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honor.

With long life will I satisfy him,* and show him my salvation.  

Reflections: Yes, Christianity is diverse enough that there are brothers and sisters in the faith who handle snakes in church. But I suspect you are no more moved than I am to “test God” by treading on serpents.

          As I read it, the psalmist’s assurance that God will rescue us and be with us in trouble does not mean an end to trouble. After all, Jesus was crucified. . . But remarkably, he did not seize on God’s protection by jumping from the temple—even though Satan tempted him with sacred scripture itself.

          There is always trouble (whether we believe in Christ or not)—from mere nuisances to the bona fide perils of illness, want, violence, and death. We want liberation from all of it. But God’s companionship and deliverance serves the Divine Purpose—not our own. 

Epistle: Romans 10:8b-13 

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 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.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

Reflections: St. Paul cites Deuteronomy 30:14, one of my favorite passages from the Hebrew Bible. The context is Moses’ address to the people at Moab, to renew their covenant with God:

Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?”  Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it.

God has written it in the heart of each of us, however substantial the divisions between us or the misfortunes that beset us.  

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13 

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 him only.’ ”

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,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, 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.

Reflections: Until today, I have remembered the temptations of Jesus as occurring over his 40-day sojourn in the desert. But I’ve been wrong. The story takes place at the end of his long period privation in the wilderness.

          We cannot know what temptations plagued him over those 40 days. But we do know that he has successfully navigated them. Curiously, the devil enters the story as Jesus’ fast ends. He can eat freely—so the nature of the temptation isn’t to eat, but to use his power for his own comfort and advantage.

          We can also imagine that Jesus is also at his weakest psychologically. He has triumphed over extended trial. Who wouldn’t be proud of that? Who would begrudge him just the slightest sense entitlement?

          And what about spiritual vulnerability? Jesus exercised impressive spiritual strength over his 40 days. The theophany at his baptism revealed his special relationship with the Father. Moreover, it was the Spirit of God herself that drove him into the wilderness experience that ended in triumph. Surely, a miraculous demonstration of Jesus’ specialness could only make his mission easier.

          Yes, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, but perhaps the 40 days were not the important part (Luke skips over them completely). Maybe the aftermath mattered most. Jesus’ experience in the desert may have been the preparation for the real temptations, not the temptations he was prepared for, but the ones that came when he had let his guard down: the temptation to be concerned with his own will, instead of the will of the Father. St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians helps us out. Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be exploited.”

          Temptations come to us in much the same way: when we are not looking, when we would be justified to cut ourselves some slack. In short, those moments when we have forgotten the need for God to be “mighty to save.”