The First Sunday of Lent, February 21, 2010

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Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT

The First Sunday of Lent we always get the Temptation of Christ. Matthew, Mark and Luke all give an account of it. John in his own style moves directly from the baptism of Jesus to Jesus calling the disciples to follow him.

We heard in our Gospel reading today from Luke that Jesus is “full of the Holy Spirit…and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” (4:1-2) Matthew also writes that Jesus was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” (4:1) Both Evangelists note that it was after his baptism and after the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. It is Mark, however, who I feel gives the most powerful account of these events: “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” (1:10-12)

For Mark the Spirit descends like a dove at Jesus’ baptism. But this is no dove of peace for “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” Mark is much more forceful with more active verbs. Each Evangelist notes Jesus was in the wilderness, only Matthew and Luke provide us with specifics.

It is no accident that Jesus goes into the wilderness. The Spirit is leading him – or driving – him to this time in the desert. A key point in this for me is the role of the Spirit, actively moving Jesus into this desert experience. Luke and Matthew write that Jesus was tempted by the devil or Satan, the classic Biblical metaphor of temptation outside of ourselves. My sense is that if the Spirit led Jesus there, the Spirit is with Jesus there as well.

I know that for each of us comes time when we feel we are in the wilderness. We are being tempted. We are being tried. We are being stretched to our limits by forces outside of our control. I know this is very true in my life. Yet, even in these desert, wilderness experiences the Spirit is with us if we can but pause and feel her presence.

When I pray with people in hospital rooms, nursing home rooms, jail or prison I always try to include wording that God is with them in this space, in this time, in this room. They are not alone. God has not forsaken them and God has not forsaken you in your times in the wilderness.

In each of the temptations of Christ, Satan appeals to his human ego to take the bait. “If you are the Son of God…” What a powerful word “IF” can be. In each case Jesus responds by pointing beyond himself and his ego: pointing to Scripture and pointing to God. Jesus knows it is not about him or his ego. It is about looking beyond the moment of temptation and pain to his relationship with God. I believe one of the greatest obstacles to our relationship with God is not money or greed or desire or anger or hate, but rather our own ego. Such it was in the very beginning with the story of Adam and Eve, it was about ego and getting what they wanted.

It is interesting that in both Matthew and Mark, the story ends with Satan’s departure and that angels then came and ministered to Jesus. Luke leaves us more on pins and needles, “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.” (Cue foreboding music and screen goes black.)

Herein I believe all three Evangelists have a truth to tell us. It is true that we are never free from those times of wilderness experiences. The “opportune time” for the wilderness experience with temptations and trials sometimes comes to us at the least opportune time for us.

It is also true that in our desert times, our wilderness times, our dry times of pain and temptation we are ministered to by the divine. As one writer noted, we are often visited by angels but generally only realize it after they have left. And more times than not these ministering angels have very human faces, hearts and hands.

A few weeks ago I invited each of you to take on a Lenten discipline of sharing your story with another person, even going so far as to invite another person to church with you. (“I’ll pick you up at 10:30 and then we will go out for brunch.”) On Ash Wednesday I invited you to also see Lent as a time of reconciliation between yourself and others as well as with God. A corollary to these invitations is to be truly present with your fellow parishioners, members of St. Stephen’s, especially if you have the sense that he or she is having a difficult time, is going through a hard place, is on the edge of the wilderness. Sometimes just knowing that a friend is there who cares and who is willing to listen and to share, is the type of ministering angel we all need in those times we seem alone in our own wilderness.