All Saints Lutheran Church
Pastor Raita Neely
Lent 1C - Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
February 29, 2004

Our Lenten journey begins with these words: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness." (Lk.4:1) Within these words, we sense that the wilderness experience might be important for our own growth and understanding . However, the image of "the wilderness" is not very inviting. Most of us associate it with desolation, isolation, extreme heat, and lack of resources.

The word used in the Bible for wilderness is closer to our word uninhabited. A place with no human population. So the emphasis is on the solitary quality of the landscape. It is an invitation to enter into a place of silence and solitude. It is an invitation to a tranquil place where we can quiet our spirits enough to hear God's word and know God's presence.

But it can also be a place of temptation. It can challenge us to come to terms with clarity and self-awareness with the life we are living, and the life we are creating for ourselves and those around us. It can be a time to struggle with the question, "Who are you deep down?"

Last Sunday, here at All Saints, two little boys were told "who they are" as they became God's children through baptism. At every baptism in the Lutheran church an old question is asked, a question almost as old as the church itself. Just before water is poured on the child's head in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we look at the parents and sponsors or sometimes at an adult who is being baptized and we ask, "Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?"

Some people would say that belief in evil is naive, and that evil can be rationally explained away. Others would agree with Malcolm Muggeridge, the British journalist, who converted to Christianity in mid-life after years of agnosticism.
"Personally," he wrote, "I have found the devil easier to believe in than God; for one thing, alas, I have had more to do with him."

The Bible characterizes the power of evil in the world in various ways: as tendencies within us; as a personal being outside us, sometimes it is seen as a powerful angel gone astray; a cosmic power; and organized forces arrayed against the will of God for the world. In whatever images or concepts, Scripture agrees with our experience. There is in us and among us strong opposition to love, health, wholeness, and peace.

Being committed to the way of God in the world does not exempt one from the struggle with temptation. In fact, it is those who are most engaged in the way of God who seem to experience most intensely the opposition of evil. If Jesus struggled, who can be exempt? Even the presence of the Holy Spirit didn't mean the absence of temptation; but the Holy Spirit was and continues to be the available power of God in the struggle.

Nowhere in the Bible is the appearance of the devil described. In our gospel for this morning, the devil comes as a tempter. Temptation is an indication of strength, not of weakness. We are not tempted to do what we cannot do, but what is within our power. The greater the strength, the greater the temptation. Temptation is so deceptively attractive. It was not to a malicious opponent but to his close friend and disciple Peter, that Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Our Gospel story for this morning is scary. Jesus and the devil are engaged in a verbal duel and the devil is quoting scripture like a preacher. Which reminds us that just because someone knows the Bible "chapter and verse" does not mean that person is up to any good. As Shakespeare put it, "There is no error so gross but that some sober brow will bless it with a proper text." It was Jesus' loyalty that was at stake. Would he remain faithful to God or be seduced by the devil's intriguing suggestions? The underlying question was, "Jesus, who are you deep down?"

"Jesus, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread and satisfy your hunger." Will Jesus' ministry be one of turning stones to bread? It is important to keep in mind that a real temptation beckons us to do that about which much good can be said. Stones to bread? The hungry would be delighted! Jesus had an option. He could play God or he could remain human. He could turn the desert into a gourmet bakery or he could live with the ache in the pit of his stomach, as hungry and tired as anyone would be after a six-week fast.

Jesus counters the tempter by also quoting Scripture. "It is written, One does not live by bread alone." We may want to finish that quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3 - "but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Jesus knows that his sustenance is in God's word. And so throughout his ministry he often goes to a quiet place, and encourages his followers to do likewise, in order to let the things of the world have a rest, and enjoy a heart to heart with God. It was Jesus' way of recharging for what lay ahead of him.

The next offer the devil makes is the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worshipping him. Jesus could take political control- the oppressed hoped so. But Jesus does not get caught in the devil's net. He knows where his heart rests, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him."

The last temptation is to avoid death by the display of supernatural power. So- leap from the temple, Jesus-maybe for some this will be proof of God's power and they will come to believe. But Jesus rejects the way of flaunting miracles. The way of God's response to human need is different. God's love dies for us.
In all the temptations the devil acknowledged and affirmed Jesus' power and then tried to get Jesus to use his power in ways that would turn him away from God.

And so Jesus leaves for Galilee, but the trials are not left forever in the desert; our gospel lesson leaves us in suspense, we know the tempter will watch and wait for the "opportune time." The Holy Spirit led Jesus in the wilderness where he was tested, and he passed the test. His test was hard because he had received no specific instructions from God about what to do or what not to do. Yet somehow Jesus managed to say no to three tantalizing possibilities and came out of the desert the same person he had gone in, the beloved Son of God. Each temptation assaulted Jesus not at a place of weakness and vulnerability, but at the point of his greatest strength-his compassion for the hungry, his commitment to God, his faith. Jesus was able to respond to each of the tempter's offers with a strong sense of knowing his call and being true to his identity.

For us the struggle with evil in the world begins with the struggle with evil within ourselves, and that struggle depends upon self-knowledge through the lenses of God's word. We need to know and acknowledge our limitations and our capacities. We need to take time to be introspective at all times, but Lent is that particular time in the church year when we pay attention to God's word spoken to us. Times and places of solitude are exactly where God can be most present to us. In allowing ourselves to be alone, we discover that we are not alone.

As Jesus prepared himself for the discipline of his ministry by his time in the wilderness, we prepare ourselves once again for the ultimate renewal that comes to us and to the earth in Easter. There are many routes to Easter, but none of them escapes the shadow of the cross, that point where our time and God's love converge. At that same point stands Christ, who makes it all possible. In the shadow of his cross we make our way, acknowledging who and what we are. We are sinners who stand in need of God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of our brothers and sisters - this we all know. At the same time we are God's children, wearing the cross on our foreheads, made whole by God, loved by God, we are as Fred Buechner puts it, "God's Peculiar Treasures." It seems we all need to be reminded to remember both of those things about ourselves, all the same, and Lent is an opportune time for that.

On Ash Wednesday many of you were marked with a cross of ashes on your foreheads. You were reminded that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. It is not meant to depress or frighten us, but simply to remind us who we are: human beings, mortals, not God. But as we live this very human life, Jesus walks with us and through the Holy Spirit offers to breathe new life in us time and time again. And we also have access to God's Word that gives us a story to live by. Scripture tells us all we need to know how to live as God's own people.

This Lent I hope you will take some time for solitude and prayer, to reconnect with yourself and God. I also hope you will take time every day to read the Bible and let God's love and mercy through God's word wash over you and embrace you as you journey to Good Friday and the cross, and then on to the wonderful news of Christ's resurrection on Easter. Amen.All Saints Lutheran Church Pastor Raita Neely Lent 1C - Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13 February 29, 2004

Our Lenten journey begins with these words: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness." (Lk.4:1) Within these words, we sense that the wilderness experience might be important for our own growth and understanding . However, the image of "the wilderness" is not very inviting. Most of us associate it with desolation, isolation, extreme heat, and lack of resources.

The word used in the Bible for wilderness is closer to our word uninhabited. A place with no human population. So the emphasis is on the solitary quality of the landscape. It is an invitation to enter into a place of silence and solitude. It is an invitation to a tranquil place where we can quiet our spirits enough to hear God's word and know God's presence.

But it can also be a place of temptation. It can challenge us to come to terms with clarity and self-awareness with the life we are living, and the life we are creating for ourselves and those around us. It can be a time to struggle with the question, "Who are you deep down?"

Last Sunday, here at All Saints, two little boys were told "who they are" as they became God's children through baptism. At every baptism in the Lutheran church an old question is asked, a question almost as old as the church itself. Just before water is poured on the child's head in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we look at the parents and sponsors or sometimes at an adult who is being baptized and we ask, "Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?"

Some people would say that belief in evil is naive, and that evil can be rationally explained away. Others would agree with Malcolm Muggeridge, the British journalist, who converted to Christianity in mid-life after years of agnosticism.
"Personally," he wrote, "I have found the devil easier to believe in than God; for one thing, alas, I have had more to do with him."

The Bible characterizes the power of evil in the world in various ways: as tendencies within us; as a personal being outside us, sometimes it is seen as a powerful angel gone astray; a cosmic power; and organized forces arrayed against the will of God for the world. In whatever images or concepts, Scripture agrees with our experience. There is in us and among us strong opposition to love, health, wholeness, and peace.

Being committed to the way of God in the world does not exempt one from the struggle with temptation. In fact, it is those who are most engaged in the way of God who seem to experience most intensely the opposition of evil. If Jesus struggled, who can be exempt? Even the presence of the Holy Spirit didn't mean the absence of temptation; but the Holy Spirit was and continues to be the available power of God in the struggle.

Nowhere in the Bible is the appearance of the devil described. In our gospel for this morning, the devil comes as a tempter. Temptation is an indication of strength, not of weakness. We are not tempted to do what we cannot do, but what is within our power. The greater the strength, the greater the temptation. Temptation is so deceptively attractive. It was not to a malicious opponent but to his close friend and disciple Peter, that Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan!"

Our Gospel story for this morning is scary. Jesus and the devil are engaged in a verbal duel and the devil is quoting scripture like a preacher. Which reminds us that just because someone knows the Bible "chapter and verse" does not mean that person is up to any good. As Shakespeare put it, "There is no error so gross but that some sober brow will bless it with a proper text." It was Jesus' loyalty that was at stake. Would he remain faithful to God or be seduced by the devil's intriguing suggestions? The underlying question was, "Jesus, who are you deep down?"

"Jesus, if you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread and satisfy your hunger." Will Jesus' ministry be one of turning stones to bread? It is important to keep in mind that a real temptation beckons us to do that about which much good can be said. Stones to bread? The hungry would be delighted! Jesus had an option. He could play God or he could remain human. He could turn the desert into a gourmet bakery or he could live with the ache in the pit of his stomach, as hungry and tired as anyone would be after a six-week fast.

Jesus counters the tempter by also quoting Scripture. "It is written, One does not live by bread alone." We may want to finish that quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3 - "but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." Jesus knows that his sustenance is in God's word. And so throughout his ministry he often goes to a quiet place, and encourages his followers to do likewise, in order to let the things of the world have a rest, and enjoy a heart to heart with God. It was Jesus' way of recharging for what lay ahead of him.

The next offer the devil makes is the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worshipping him. Jesus could take political control- the oppressed hoped so. But Jesus does not get caught in the devil's net. He knows where his heart rests, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him."

The last temptation is to avoid death by the display of supernatural power. So- leap from the temple, Jesus-maybe for some this will be proof of God's power and they will come to believe. But Jesus rejects the way of flaunting miracles. The way of God's response to human need is different. God's love dies for us.
In all the temptations the devil acknowledged and affirmed Jesus' power and then tried to get Jesus to use his power in ways that would turn him away from God.

And so Jesus leaves for Galilee, but the trials are not left forever in the desert; our gospel lesson leaves us in suspense, we know the tempter will watch and wait for the "opportune time." The Holy Spirit led Jesus in the wilderness where he was tested, and he passed the test. His test was hard because he had received no specific instructions from God about what to do or what not to do. Yet somehow Jesus managed to say no to three tantalizing possibilities and came out of the desert the same person he had gone in, the beloved Son of God. Each temptation assaulted Jesus not at a place of weakness and vulnerability, but at the point of his greatest strength-his compassion for the hungry, his commitment to God, his faith. Jesus was able to respond to each of the tempter's offers with a strong sense of knowing his call and being true to his identity.

For us the struggle with evil in the world begins with the struggle with evil within ourselves, and that struggle depends upon self-knowledge through the lenses of God's word. We need to know and acknowledge our limitations and our capacities. We need to take time to be introspective at all times, but Lent is that particular time in the church year when we pay attention to God's word spoken to us. Times and places of solitude are exactly where God can be most present to us. In allowing ourselves to be alone, we discover that we are not alone.

As Jesus prepared himself for the discipline of his ministry by his time in the wilderness, we prepare ourselves once again for the ultimate renewal that comes to us and to the earth in Easter. There are many routes to Easter, but none of them escapes the shadow of the cross, that point where our time and God's love converge. At that same point stands Christ, who makes it all possible. In the shadow of his cross we make our way, acknowledging who and what we are. We are sinners who stand in need of God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of our brothers and sisters - this we all know. At the same time we are God's children, wearing the cross on our foreheads, made whole by God, loved by God, we are as Fred Buechner puts it, "God's Peculiar Treasures." It seems we all need to be reminded to remember both of those things about ourselves, all the same, and Lent is an opportune time for that.

On Ash Wednesday many of you were marked with a cross of ashes on your foreheads. You were reminded that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. It is not meant to depress or frighten us, but simply to remind us who we are: human beings, mortals, not God. But as we live this very human life, Jesus walks with us and through the Holy Spirit offers to breathe new life in us time and time again. And we also have access to God's Word that gives us a story to live by. Scripture tells us all we need to know how to live as God's own people.

This Lent I hope you will take some time for solitude and prayer, to reconnect with yourself and God. I also hope you will take time every day to read the Bible and let God's love and mercy through God's word wash over you and embrace you as you journey to Good Friday and the cross, and then on to the wonderful news of Christ's resurrection on Easter. Amen.