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St. Andrew's Church
An Anglican Church • Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
Preached by
Stuart Pike
Rector
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Lent 1 C - Wilderness Again
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
Luke 4: 1-13
St. Andrew's Church, Grimsby
Sunday, 25 February 2007
It was probably a beautiful day for a baptism. I imagine the sun to be shining - maybe just enough cloud far away, close to the horizon, to show how clear and blue the sky was; a crowd gathered on the bank of the river and the Baptist receiving them one by one. Each one of them renouncing something which has held them back in their spiritual life. Each one of them wanting to realign their lives to God's will. Each one of them driven by the hunger which touches us all at times. Can I fill that deepest lack?
And then it was Jesus' turn. He, too, goes down, under the water. He, too, knows the loss: the death of baptism as he is submerged and loses sight of the sun; can no longer breathe the air. What is it like down there?: accepting the reality of ones own death? How can you live further? - except by the strong hands of another which pull you back from death and, miracle!, you burst through the water and gasp, accepting new life into your body. And you might, just then, realize that your everlasting life starts now. You have died the big death. You are renewed.
Jesus knew that. Just before today's Gospel lesson from the Gospel of Luke, it says, "Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased." What a moment in Jesus life!
Now just at about the time when we, in our culture, would be thinking about having everyone back to the house for some cake, we get this amazing twist to the story. "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." (Luke 4: 1-2) No cake!
Just as God the Father is announcing how pleased he is with Jesus, God the Holy Spirit drives Jesus to this place of fasting and hunger! What kind of a deal is that? It appears that baptism doesn't necessarily mean living a charmed life. It certainly didn't mean so for Jesus. Instead, baptism meant, first a time of fasting and testing, and then a life of service in teaching and healing and bringing others to new life. A child of God won't be spared from suffering.
Jesus goes out on his walkabout, his Spirit Quest as he wrestles with his way. He knows he is called: how, now, will he accomplish God's purpose in his life? And so he is tested and tempted by the devil. Will he take the easy way?
Lent is, for us, a time to enter the wilderness, like Jesus did, and to wrestle with our way. We, too, are called by our baptism. How will we accomplish God's purpose in our life?
The devil starts the temptation by calling Jesus' faith into question: "If you are the Son of God...."
Are you really a child of God? Did you really feel God's call? Was your spirit really quickened that time when you were young? Were you just mistaken?
After bringing doubt into Jesus' mind the temptation is for Jesus to use his power simply for himself. Jesus' first temptation was to feed his hunger by turning a stone into bread. Now, I might be soft, but I'm thinking, the man doesn't even get a baptism party and then goes for forty days without food: he is entitled to do whatever he can to eat something as soon as possible!
I think that this is the first temptation because it is the one which we can probably most identify with. It is this temptation which drives our whole global socio-economic machine. We, too, are tempted to use our power - whatever it is - just for our own needs and wants. Our abilities belong to us, we think. It is we who developed them. What material wealth we gain in our lives is for us to use. We can do what we like with it, we think. It belongs to us.
And then we hear the voice of Moses from the Old Testament, "When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance .... you shall take some of the first fruit of the ground, which you harvest ...." We are instructed to return it God, to be used for God's purposes. The food was given to the poor: for the "Levites, the aliens, the orphans and the widows..." (Deut 26: 1-2, 12)
Earlier on in Deuteronomy 8:11 and following it says, "Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God ... when you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God. .... Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.'But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth."
Yes, we are tempted to feed only ourselves and our needs and wants.
The devil tempts Jesus by offering him all the kingdoms of the world if he would worship the devil. And he is tempted to awe the people with his show of power. We, too, can be tempted by things like this. Fame and power. Very similar to the first temptation, though, it is all about putting oneself ahead of others and ahead of God.
We are in our forty days of Lent. It is time for us to take stock of who we really are. It is time for us to remember the Lord our God and to remember that it is God who gives to us so abundantly. The test for us is about how we are going to use this bounty: our abilities, our time, our treasure. This Lent, can you wrestle with your way? What temptations draw you from God's way?
Let us remember that our Christian journey began with the waters of baptism. And that baptism is a calling to us, as it was for Jesus. It might not be easy, but it will be good. Let us open ourselves this Lent, to be swept away by the Holy Spirit and to follow her direction. For it is only by being tested in our wilderness, that we can truly experience the new life of Easter. Amen.
