The First Sunday in Lent ---- 14 February 2016

Luke 4:1-13

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³ The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." ⁴ Jesus answered him, "It is written, "One does not live by bread alone.' " ⁵ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.⁶ And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." ⁸ Jesus answered him, "It is written, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.' " ⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' ¹¹ and "On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.' " ¹² Jesus answered him, "It is said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " ¹³ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

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.

§  Is today’s reading about Lent? No, Lent is about today’s reading.

§  A short time ago, I met with other Lutheran pastors of our district. We do this monthly for most of the year. One pastor – a pastor I greatly respect – said that he was “giving up Lent for Lent.” He felt that Lent was the “least Lutheran” thing anyone could do, so he was not going to keep Lent.

§  Okay, fine. I respect his point of view… even if I don’t agree with it. Personally, I think that Lent is important.

§  What is Lent about? Lent is about preparation for Easter and all that Easter celebrates.

§  Where did it come from? The way we keep Lent comes from the early church’s way of preparing people for Baptism. In times long past, the church only baptized at Easter and actually at the Great Vigil of Easter, an all-night vigil of prayer, readings, and hymns culminating in Baptism and Holy Communion. Before Baptism, the candidates were not present for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper; they were dismissed after the sermon to attend teaching. The forty days just prior to their Baptism were an intense time of prayer and preparation. The forty days was set to reflect both Jesus’ time in the desert and the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert of Sinai.

§  As time went on and the Church became more “mainstream” and part of the local society, some Christians desired ways to live the Christian life more intensely. Some chose to become monks and nuns, living lives of solitude, prayer, poverty, and work in deserts or wilderness areas depending on where they lived. (For example, there are deserts in Egypt, but not in Italy, so they went up the mountains there.) Other believers stayed in their homes and took on the discipline of those preparing for Baptism – prayer, fasting, community living, voluntary poverty, and study.

§  …Which leads us to today. There’s no sense harping on what we can do or give up for Lent. Sometimes that can lead to one-upmanship among believers. “Oh, you only gave up chocolate? I gave up meat!”

§  If we keep any sort of Lent, it should lead us to this question: Does Lent lead us away from an understanding of salvation by grace? If all the attention in Lent is on what we give up, what we take on, and on what we do, what does that say about the grace of God, the grace by which we are saved? Some of this does sound like that dreaded Lutheran concept – “works righteousness” or in more modern terms “Do-it-yourself salvation.”

§  DIY is great, if you’ve got the skills and the tools and the time. It just doesn’t work for eternal life and salvation. To think we can do it ourselves actually turns us away from God.

§  Our Gospel reading is full of this DIY salvation. The Devil tempts Jesus with the full belly, the earthly power we all want, and the desire to call the shots for God. “All you have to do is worship me… or misuse your relationship with the Father… or put your belly rumbles over everything else.”

§  I’ll always remember and be grateful for the insight of a rabbi I knew. He said the first sin of all humans is against the first Commandment. The other nine on the tablets are commentary. What is the first Commandment of the Ten? “I am the Lord. You shall have no other gods.” And it’s very easy to make ourselves our own god whose will may not be denied.

§  Jesus was tempted but did not give in to those temptations. He quoted scripture and fixed his eyes elsewhere, beyond his own desires and needs.

§  So Lent can be a time of effort and works done for the wrong reasons, but I think it can also be a time in our year that reinforces our need for grace. If Lent does nothing more that remind us that we are not the author of our own salvation and that we are not the centre of the universe, its true purpose had been accomplished.

§  The only thing left then is gratitude, gratitude for the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. If we keep a Lent that reminds us that we are not gods or even angels, it’ll be a good Lent. If we keep a Lent that reminds us that we are not cattle, but heirs of the Father’s promises.

§  When Jesus went into the desert, it was after his baptism in the Jordan. He faced hunger, thirst, temptations, and God only knows what else out there. Deserts and wilderness places have a way of clearing the head and driving away common distractions. There are those who see Lent as the Christian’s time in the desert, facing temptation like Jesus or following the light of God to the Promised Land like the Israelites.

§  Whatever we might make of Lent, if it unmasks the temptations we all know, then we will also know our own need of grace. We can remember that Jesus was tempted just as we are tempted. Luke even goes on to say that the tempter left Jesus until an opportune time.

§  Whether we see it as a wilderness time, a time of temptation, or a purple-vested pain, it can be a time of grace, if we remember that we are saved by grace. And if that memory leads us to say “thank you” more often, all the better.

§  Be open to grace, and seek the Lord in all you do. You never know where God and God’s grace might be found.