And so it begins again. Lent. Today is the first Sunday of this very sacred season. More people than usual came to the Ash Wednesday service the other night. Maybe the times have us focused on the need for the Lenten message: a time of deep introspection; a time to seek absolution for the sins that weigh heavy upon our shoulders; a time to strengthen our relationship with the triune God. Lent is the time in the story that is not all sunshine and rainbows.
As I mentioned the other night, if you count from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter, you get 46 days, not 40. That’s because you never count Sunday as part of Lent, because every Sunday is a mini-Easter. We always celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus on the Sabbath, but Lent is more about everything that led to the cross. We deny ourselves the full meaning of this season if we just worship the Risen Christ and sing “Alleluia!”
But why is it 40 days? Simple. Today’s Gospel Lesson gives us the answer. After he was baptized, and just before he started his public ministry, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. He fasted and prayed and prepared himself for this harrowing test.
This is one of the most interesting passages in all of the Bible. Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, comes face to face with the Prince of Darkness. This is one of only a few of Satan’s appearances in all of the Bible. It is very dramatic. The Devil tempts Jesus with food, power, and wealth. He quotes the Bible in his attempts. Remember, as Shakespeare writes in The Merchant of Venice, “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (I, iii, 105). But what ol’ Bill didn’t say is that Scripture can be used to refute the Devil as well. That’s what Jesus did. He withstood the wiles of the Devil by remaining rooted in the Word.
So, here we are again: starting another 40-day trek through this penitential season. We can do so by remaining fixed on
God’s Word.
First of all, we all encounter temptations now and then. They come in many forms.
- “I only had a couple of drinks. I’m okay to drive.”
- “I’m only cheating on my taxes a little bit. Who’s gonna know? Who’s it going to hurt?”
- “We were just innocently flirting. It’s not exactly infidelity.”
- “So what: I cheated on a test. No one died, did they?”
We concoct all kinds of excuses to justify the wrongs we do. One clue that you are embroiled in sin is that you are making excuses for what you are doing, what you have done, or what you are about to do. All of us do it. But we do have a compass that can guide us out of the maze of all this vile confusion.
Yes, it’s the Bible, as I’ve already mentioned. But it isn’t just reading the text. It has to do with assimilating into your life, as well as crafting a responsible interpretation. That is not an easy feat. We do this not just in the confines of a study, but with a heart that is open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
As we discussed in a recent Bible Study, we (and by “we” I meant most mainline churches), we don’t discuss the Holy Spirit that much. I had the opportunity to take two courses with the theologian S. Mark Heim while I was in seminary. He told us how he once hosted a group of Christian scholars from China. He brought them to various church services here in the United States and one of their observations was that “Americans do not talk about the Holy Spirit that much.”
Maybe it’s because we do not know how to. I think that the Holy Spirit is far too elusive a character — for lack of a better word — far too mysterious and indescribable for most mainline Christians. Scripture doesn’t make it much easier. Whenever the Holy Spirit appears in the Bible, it is either water, oil, fire, wind/breath, or a bird (typically a dove). That’s not the same as a living, breathing, human-like, personal God, is it? Pentecostals have supplemented what the rest of us lack, because their theology is heavily focused upon the Holy Spirit and the gifts it bequeaths to believers.
But whether or not your theology focuses on the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, the latter is the living manifestation of God who guides us in every moment of every day. It was with Jesus when he was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. It is with us when we are tempted to take the easy way out — when we allow our anger, or hate, or greed, or envy, or pride, or jealousy, or vanity, or wrath, or whatever is contrary to the Gospel to seduce us.
We find that strength in the Word. You can hear it if you listen hard enough. For example:
2 Corinthians 12:9
My grace is all you need, for my power is the greatest when you are weak.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Isaiah 40:31
But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Exodus 15:2
The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
And if you don’t want to read it, you can sing it.
#668: “Wonderful Words of Life”
Amen.