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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Lent I - Suzanne Colburn

Why Temptations?

Grace and Peace from our Lord Jesus Christ and from God our Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Good morning and thank you to everyone who helped and came and laughed and enjoyed our Mardi Gras Un-Talent Show on Tuesday. Thank you also to Lynn and Holly, altar guild, Pam and the Choir and everyone who was part of our three Ash Wednesday services.

And now, here we are, at the first Sunday of Lent.

I know you all noticed that our entrance was different this morning and I’ve written some worship notes in the bulletin, giving some background for the changes during this Lenten Season.

Our outward context has changed: the colors are different, the music is different, and the prayers are more penitent. But what about our inward context, has that changed also?

How aware are we? Do our hearts and souls know that we are being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit just the way that Jesus was led?

An old clergy friend of mine used to wear a sweatshirt that simply said, “Lent Happens,” a play on words referring to that other slogan that is similar that I will not repeat here.

The point being: Lent is not something that we have any control over, any more than anyone has control over the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Lent, like all movements of the Spirit, belongs to God.

“Lent Happens” and perhaps we could even say the first Lent happened to Jesus right after he was anointed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism. We just heard Holly proclaim:

“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.” (Luke 4:1)

Like Jesus, who gave us this same Holy Spirit, we find ourselves suddenly in a spiritual season where the Holy Spirit is the one who is in control. “Lent Happens,” and when “Lent Happens,” we, too are led by the Spirit into our own interior wilderness to face, for better or for worse, our own temptations.

Today’s Collect defines this interior landscape as we pray …”Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let us find you mighty to save…”

One might be tempted (no pun intended) to ask, “Why Temptations?” What purpose do they serve in this spiritual journey that we are on?

If you are like several friends of mine who absolutely do not like Lent at all, and, a matter of fact, give Lent up for Lent, this is a completely valid question.

Sometimes, when Lent rolls around, it feels like we haven’t “progressed” one bit in the last year. At other times it seems as though we’ve moved forward by leaps and bounds.

Regardless of our feelings, the Spirit alone reveals to us where we are, who we are and what God is calling each of us to do. That is part of being in the wilderness.

Often, in Lent (or otherwise) we are “led into temptation” even though we pray daily not to be.

Not only does Jesus teach us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” but also, he urges the disciples who are with him in the Garden of Gethsemane to pray that “they may not enter into temptation.”

Clearly, temptations are part of the human spiritual journey whether we like it or not. The answer to “Why temptations?” Lies with the fact that the same Spirit that lead Jesus into the wilderness, knew, as we need to know, that it is only through dealing with temptations that we find out who we really are.

Sometimes in the wilderness we learn that we have more faith than we thought we did. Sometimes we learn that we are much more human than we want to admit. Sometimes we find out that if it were not for Grace, we would utterly, utterly, fail.

Sometimes we find out that when we do fail, we fall with our Lord as he fell carrying the Cross in His Passion.

The other thing that we learn when we face our temptations is that no matter how horrible or offensive they may be to us, God in Christ is never sitting in judgment over us.

Are there consequences to our thoughts and feelings and actions? You bet there are. Can falling into our temptations lead us to sin; breaking down relationships, separating us from the very God we need? Absolutely.

But the paradox is that we are still not condemned by God.

Remember what Jesus said to the woman who committed adultery after everyone who was going to stone her left?

“Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:1-11)

One of the absolutely most important things we learn when the Spirit leads us into the wilderness is this paradox: we are weak and sinful, and are held accountable, on the one hand, and yet not condemned, on the other hand.

The second thing we learn when the Spirit leads us into the wilderness is that even when we do fall into temptation and sin, God is still right there with us.

We are held responsible, yes. The woman is told to “go and sin no more,” a phrase we hear Jesus use with several people. We have Confession to atone for our sins, and part of the Rite of Confession is to not only recognize our many temptations and weaknesses, but also, to choose to make an “amendment of life;” to go, “and sin no more.”

God does not condemn us, but God does hold us accountable to ourselves and one another through the gift of free will choice. We may be weak, but we all have the power to ask for the Grace to change. Being responsible for our actions means that we recognize the need to change and go about changing.

So what are temptations we face? They are the same ones Jesus encountered in his wilderness.

1. There’s the temptation to supply our own needs. 

The devil tempts Jesus to turn a stone into a loaf of bread, and Jesus was probably pretty hungry when the devil did this. How many times are we tempted to take matters into our own hands?

2. Then there’s the temptation to worship anyone or anything other than God.

The devil shows Jesus symbols of glory and power captured in the phrase “the kingdoms of the world.” But even more than power and authority over others, it’s the temptation to worship the devil- meaning to worship anything or anyone other than God that is put before Jesus just as it is put before us.

The temptation to worship people, things, the past, health, jobs, being young, money, etc is so pervasive that most of the time we are not even aware that we are doing it. The Bible is most consistently concerned with one thing: that we worship God and God alone.

3. Finally, there’s the temptation to test God. 

And of course, this is a slippery slope. The devil uses Scripture against Jesus, and how many times do we use Scripture against one another now in our time and unfortunately, since the beginning of the Christian era. Scripture has been used to justify some of the worse sins of humankind.

The forces that oppose God know how to use God’s Word against human beings and this is when Jesus draws the line with the devil saying, “It is said, Do not put God to the test.”

Like Jesus, we need to learn about ourselves in relation to temptation and our human nature. The best antidote to temptation is self-awareness and God-awareness, and if Jesus needed to go into the wilderness to learn about himself and temptation, so do we.

The Good news, however, is that we have this same Jesus with us every step of the way. The One who knows temptation but who does not sin is the same One who saves us from ourselves. On our own, we are powerless.

Paul makes it very clear in his Letter to the Romans, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Psalmist makes it very clear also: “You are my refuge and my stronghold, my God in whom I put my trust.”

The Psalmist, speaking for God, continues,

“Because he is bound to me in Love, therefore will I deliver him;
   I will protect him, because he knows my name.
 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
   I am with him in trouble, I will rescue him and bring him to honor.”

All this because we “know his name.”

These are the promises of God that Jesus stood on, and these are the promises of God that we need to stand on, too.

Sometimes, we resist temptation, and sometimes we do not. When we do not, we are accountable to God. When we are able to resist, we give thanks to God for his abiding Grace that holds us up. And when we fall, we discover that even there, in the falling, Christ is with us.

“There is no ‘is not’ with God.” God is everywhere, and even though The Son of God knew no sin, He is still able to be with us in ours. Another paradox of the Incarnation.

“Why Temptations” we asked? Because even in temptation, we discover that God is with us. It is not the devil who is in the details, it is God.

To quote Leo Buscalia:

“I will love you no matter what. I will love you if you are stupid, if you slip and fall on your face, if you do the wrong thing, if you make mistakes, if you behave like a human being- I will love you no matter what.” 1

And this is the Good News of the Gospel of God in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Amen

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1 TodaysGit@hazelden.info Thu. Feb. 14, 2013 at 2:15 am.

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