Reading, Sermon and Prayers for the 1st Sunday of Lent

READING: Luke Ch 4 v 1 – 13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

SERMON

A young man was sent to Spain by his company to set up a new factory. He accepted because it would enable him to earn enough money to marry his long-time girlfriend. Their plan was to pool all their resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned. As the lonely weeks went by, she began expressing doubts in her letters to him that he was being faithful to her. After all Spain is populated by beautiful women. The young man declared that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local girls. “I admit,” he wrote, “that sometimes I’m tempted. But I fight it. I’m keeping myself for you.” In the next letter, the young man received a package. It contained a note and a harmonica. “I’m sending this to you,” his girlfriend wrote, “so you can have something to take your mind off those girls.” The young man wrote back that he was practising on the harmonica every night and thinking only of her. When the young man returned home his girl was waiting at the airport. As he rushed forward to embrace her, she held up her hand and said sternly, “Hold on.. First I want to hear you play that harmonica!” The young man was crest fallen and all he could do was……….

The season of Lent starts with the story of how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil. I think that many of us are alarmed by the fact of temptation. We are alarmed because we think of ourselves as good honest, hardworking, upright people, yet there lurking inside some of us can be found anger, jealousy, envy, or even bitterness. Inside of us there can be found cravings of every sort, such as the desire to own ever more material things.

The fact of temptation, insofar as it exists in all of us, is distressing. For some people, the more vivid the sense of temptation, the more disturbed they become. They begin to question their spirituality, their ability to do good, they begin to feel inferior – weak – uncertain – and insecure. I think that at the heart of this uneasiness, at the heart of this distress, lies the thought that if we are really doing what we should be doing then we would not experience the temptations that we do experience.

But today’s gospel reading replies answers those distresses. Temptation is a part of the human condition – indeed it is so much a part of our humanity that it is when we are most connected to God that we can be even more tempted.

Look at Jesus for a minute, he was raised in righteousness by Mary and Joseph, he studies, he works, he observes the Sabbath, and sits with the teachers of the law, and finally – when the time is right he is baptised by John in the Jordan and the voice of God approves him and the spirit of God settles upon him. Then wham he is tempted in the wilderness… not once – not twice – but three times and we are told that when the devil finally leaves Jesus – he does so only to wait for another opportune time.

Some people break down temptation into categories that roughly match the experience that Jesus went through while wandering in the wilderness in the days immediately after his baptism.

There are emotional temptations to indulge one’s feelings and ego – to make oneself the centre of all things and spiritual temptations to test God – to dare God to prove his love. Personally I am not convinced because when all is said and done temptation is always a spiritual matter and because temptation rarely comes to us as a clear-cut decision between good and evil.

Temptation can come because of the circumstances that we are in and that appear to have their own logic and their own appeal. We face situation after situation every day, some of them relatively trivial, and some of major consequence, in which the choice is not between good and evil, but between what is hard and what is easy.

To be tempted is to accept what can come naturally – food when not really hungry – power when in authority – impatience when dealing with the slow, rudeness when dealing with those who are paid to serve, pride when thinking of ones’ own humility, generosity, tolerance, or faithfulness, All these things are natural – all these things are easy – and – as you know – all these things are common. They are the fruit of temptations that are hard to refuse.

Think again of the temptations set out before Jesus: You’re hungry Jesus – if you are the Son of God turn these rocks into bread. You want to change the world – to make a difference, all you have to do is simply bow down right now and worship me. Jesus – you know God loves you but your plan will sell a lot easier if people see that you are special to Him. Let God save you from certain disaster – let his angels carry you up from the ground in the presence of the priests and the teachers and everyone in Jerusalem.

Temptation is a natural thing. It appeals to our natural impulses – both for good and for bad. Temptation is also an easy thing – that is a major part of its attraction. And there is only one cure for it and that cure is faith. Faith in Christ who showed us the way, when tempted with the easy way – he drew from his heart to his mind the word of God that he had been taught: One does not live by bread alone – Worship the Lord your God and serve only him, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

Christ resisted the easy way, the natural way – by recalling God’s way – by speaking it out in the midst of his vision, his dream, his temptation. And so can we and even more so, because Christ is in us. He who won the victory over the evil one he who resisted successfully dwells within us. He knows how hard it is to walk the walk and talk the talk – he knows how easy it is to close your eyes to the troubles around you your ears to the cries of need and despair and your hearts to the hearts of those who live with you or near to you.

He knows the attraction of the quick fix and the struggle to keep on the difficult road. And he stands ready to help when we call upon him. When we touch the Christ who is in us, when we reach inside ourselves and ask of ourselves – What would Jesus do here and now? It is then that we are on the road we should be on.

At the end of our days God will not ask us if we did wrong – nor will he ask us if we have been tempted – but he will ask us if we have learned to play the tunes of love on the spiritual harmonica he has given us. He will ask if we have walked the road that Christ was on in the direction that Christ walked it.

And if we have – and in doing so we happened to stumble and fall once in a while – God will bandage the wounds and wipe the tears from our eyes – and give us a hug – for we will have done all that he expects of us. Oh I nearly forgot….as for the crestfallen young man at the airport, he reached into his back pocket, pulled out his harmonica and played a wonderful tune of love for his girlfriend. A tune that he had learnt whilst he was away and spending lonely nights in his room free from temptation. Amen.

PRAYERS

For deliverance from temptation and grace in our Lenten resolutions, let us pray to the Lord.

As we are sealed your own by baptism, grant to us the spirit of repentance for sin and resolution for good. Strengthen the Church to be a refuge from evil, open to all who will come in faith.