The Prelude and its Promise - Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12

Listen to the Sermon here: 

Matthew 3:1-12

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ² "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." ³ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.' " ⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ⁹ Do not presume to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹ "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

SERMON

When Sarah and I first met, we quickly discovered our mutual affection for all things Broadway.  We both spent some time working in our local school or community theaters growing up, and musical theater was an important part of our life.   So, when we first started dating, we started a Sunday night tradition, where Sarah would come over to the apartment to watch a Broadway musical on DVD.  And we didn’t just watch the DVD, we would belt out each tune to the top of our lungs, singing along with the musical. Sarah was always partial to Little Shop of Horrors because she played Audrey in high school.  That’s the musical about Seymour, a bumbling, geeky florist who discovers a talking venus fly trap. The plant thrives off human blood and begins to grow. Ya know what, that’s irrelevant to the point of this sermon.  If you want to discuss Broadway musicals in more detail, see me after worship.     

A few weeks into our tradition, it became a running joke for our friends from upstairs to text us and guess which musical we’re watching based on our singing.  Then they would ask us to stop singing.  

Actually, one of our first dates was to the local community theater in Columbia, SC to see Les Misérables.  So good.

Our affection for broadway musicals is deep, and so naturally we feel a responsibility to pass on the joy and beauty of musicals to Bennet.   I don’t sit down at the piano at home as often as I’d like, but when I do, I try and play a lot of show tunes. Bennet requests them. 

About three weeks ago, Sarah and I started our vacation by going to the Times Union center to see Wicked.   Anyone seen Wicked? An incredible musical written by Stephen Schwartz.  

It’s the story of Elpheba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and it’s told in parallel to the classic story the Wizard of Oz.   

So, in preparation for the musical that night, as we typically do, we were listening to the soundtrack as we cooked dinner.  Bennet and I were at the table. I was working. He was eating. And when the overture started, I found myself teaching Bennet about the musical.  “Bennet,” I said, “This is the beginning of the show. It’s sort of like a prelude, but in theater we call it an overture.”  

For most folks, it’s a signal that the show has started and soon actors will appear on stage.  It may not seem all that important, but the overture is one of the most important moments of the show.”  Bennet took another bite and nodded along.  

I explained to Bennet that the overture is significant because it establishes the themes and moods of the show.  And a really good musical overture plants a seed in your ear, so that when you hear the same tunes or riffs later in the show, the music draws a red thread through the narrative.  The overture sets the mood. It presents the themes. It essentially makes you a promise about what is to come. And, if it’s a musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber, then you’ll essentially the entire show in the overture.   

And as we listened to the overture for Wicked, Bennet and I discussed the various musical themes.  The riff for “No One Mourns the Wicked.” The teaser for “Unlimited” the transition between minor and major chords and the resolutions that symbolize and preface the overarching narrative.  

Certain to say that Bennet was enamored by the conversation of overtures and preludes.

The use of preludes and overtures goes well beyond Broadway musicals, doesn’t it?  Think about some of your favorite move trilogies or sagas. The opening of Star Wars?   Indiana Jones. Jurassic Park? Home Alone. Harry Potter… Well, I guess anything by John Williams.   

In literature, we often think of the foreword and preface as a sort of prelude to the Author’s work.  They often introduce themes, moods, or motivations behind the narrative that follows. 

Certainly, one of our most common encounters with the power of preludes is in worship.  Each and every time we gather for worship, we begin with a musical offering. We commonly refer to it as a prelude.  And the final piece as a postlude. But within worship, especially here at St. Mark’s, it is so much more than that.  

We are truly blessed to have a cantor that is incredibly talented and gifted, not only with his abilities, but with musical knowledge, insight, history, and diversity as well.  Each and every time we gather for worship, we begin with an Opening Voluntary, or prelude. And I don’t mean to speak for Tony, but I’m confident to say that Tony does not pick a prelude or opening voluntary for prelude’s sake.  He doesn’t choose a piece of music haphazardly or flippantly. Each piece is selected with discernment and care because the opening voluntary, the prelude of our worship, establishes a mood. It sets a tone. It often previews musical and theological themes.  It makes a promise, and that promise becomes fulfilled throughout the course of worship. 

More often than not, Tony selects an opening voluntary that is arranged around a particular hymn we sing later in worship.  Or the text of the voluntary is rooted in the texts of the day. And to be sure, Tony takes special care to account for the melody, the tone, the tempo, the setting, the arrangement, etc, so that the opening piece is a precursor to the rest of worship.  

Even today, our St. Mark’s ringers played “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” and the arrangement used two different tunes for the well-known hymn.  That piece set the tone for our worship, establishing themes of longing, anticipation, movement, hope, and in the end a tension between the two settings, both conveying the same text, but with different, inter-laying melodies that ring balance to the difficult now and not yet of our Christian faith.  Celebrating the coming of the Emmanuel - God with us, while dancing with eagerness, waiting for the second coming of Christ.

Preludes are important, intentional contributions to the overall work or narrative.  In fact, by definition, a prelude serves as an introduction preceding and preparing for the principal or a more important matter.  It is essential to the overarching event and it demands our careful and reflective attention. 

Now I say all of that because I think it is the perfect lens by which we should approach the season of Advent and our text for today.  Of all the seasons of the church year, Advent is consistently one of the shortest. It’s the first season, and it comes and goes with the blink of an eye.  The world we live in and the consumerist culture does not favor a slow, intentional, and meaningful seasons of anticipation.   

Sometimes Advent feels like the opening of our favorite TV show.  We know it. We’ve heard and seen it. So, we play on our need for instant gratification, use our technology and jump ahead 10, 15, even 30 seconds to get to the good stuff.  Fast forward through the opening credits.

Advent then becomes a steppingstone to a larger, more robust and drawn out story that we breeze right past it or snooze our way through it.  And if we’re not careful or intentional, we miss the power of these texts. We’ll miss the emphasis of their proclamation. The themes they establish.  The mood and tone of their delivery. If we’re not attentive to the season of prelude and precursor then we sacrifice our experience of the whole narrative. 

Matthew’s gospel account opens with an exhaustive and complete genealogy, laying out 28 generations from Abraham, to David, the Messiah.  Then the birth of Jesus is announced, and the wise men make their journey. Joseph and his family flee to Egypt and Herod sought out and killed all of the children in and around Bethlehem.  

And today, John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of God.  John the Baptist is our prelude to the Messiah. The voice of the one crying out in the wilderness. JTB is our overture to the coming of the Kingdom of God.  John the Baptist sets the tone. Establishes the mood. Presents the themes of the overarching narrative, and there is a reason for his place in the story. There’s a purpose for his overture.  

I think we would do very well to lend a careful and attentive ear in preparation for the whole of the gospel narrative. 

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near…Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'  John’s appearance and proclamation establishes some very important themes.  

First, the kingdom of God has come near.  God’s reign is ever present. God’s love for God’s people becomes incarnated in the Emmanuel - the Christ child.  God has come down, to live among God’s people, vulnerable to the depths and fears of human emotion. God loves the people so much that God chooses to be among them and accompany them through the extremes of life, even death.  The kingdom has come near, and we do well to keep watch. To see the presence of God at hand.

Second, John proclaims that God’s kingdom will be far reaching, diverse, and more inclusive than they imagined.  Do not presume to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” 

God’s good kingdom is not and will not be exclusive to the descendants of Abraham, but rather there is a place for all people all nations.  The Kingdom of heaven is expansive and diverse. We do well to keep watch for the breadth and depth of God’s kingdom.

Third, repentance is central to the coming of God’s kingdom and the reign of the Emmanuel.  John cries out, “repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”   

This prelude is immediately realized a chapter later when Jesus begins his earthly ministry with the exact same phrase, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   

John presents an important and powerful theme that will play out again and again as Jesus encounters people throughout his ministry.  Repentance is more than an apology or an admission of wrongdoing. It’s not about dwelling our mistakes and confession of sin.  Repentance is a complete turning around.  

Repentance means to turn away from poor values, unjust practices, and sinful behavior.  To deny false idols and self-righteousness. Repentance is a turn towards. A returning to God and the values of God’s good kingdom at hand.   

Repentance is an intentional first step in a new direction. A new and different path.  It’s to charter a new course, veer in a new way, set forth a new destination. We would do well to keep watch for the power of repentance and forgiveness as we go forward.   

This is the power and conviction of John the Baptist’s proclamation.  It is the power of Advent as a prelude to the rest of the liturgical year and the gospel narrative.  In Advent we set a new path, re-recognize the themes of our identity. We set the tone and establish the mood.  Advent is the gift and opportunity to reclaim the gift of repentance and turn towards God. 

Looks friends, Advent is such an important season in the year of the church.  It presents a valuable and essential foundation to the truths of faith we share.  In this season, we wait for the Lord. Not only for the Emmanuel born at Christmas, but we remember again our desperate longing to the coming again of God’s only son to reconcile all people, all nations, all times.

And we do well this brief but powerful Advent season to relish in the motifs of our faith.  To embrace the salvific themes of God’s goodness. To be attentive, intentional, and careful as we embark on the narrative of our faith and the fulfillment of God’s promise to the world once again.

The season of Advent...season of anticipation and longing...of waiting and eagerness, plays out like the brilliant overture.  This season makes us a promise...a promise of God that the kingdom is at hand. It is expansive, diverse, and inclusive. A promise the God’s kingdom will be like none-other and will not be ruled as the world expects.  The promise of Advent is God’s abiding and grace-filled presence in the Christ-child, Emmanuel. 

Let the overture play.  Let our hearts be attuned.  Let our souls be filled. Let our Spirit yearn for the story to be told.  Be present in this moment, for God’s promise will be fulfilled.

Amen.

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached by Sunday Dec. 8, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran JAX, FL

The Warm Embrace of the Kingdom - Sermon on Luke 13:31-35

Listen to the gospel lesson and sermon here.

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."³² He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!³⁵ See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "  

Well friends, We’re 10 days into the season of Lent now, and since I asked last week, I figure I’ll ask again, How is your Lenten experience going thus far?  Have you encountered, resisted, or given in to any temptations? Have you confronted any demons or experienced any release in your self-assessment and discernment?

Lent is such a unique gift for us as Christians.  We intentionally enter into a 40 day journey of exploring our faith with the grace to weed out all the noise and false hope in our lives.  I was talking with a friend the other day who has Lutheran tradition in her past, but now attends a non-denominational church. And she was lamenting that while deep in her liturgical soul she knew it was lent, but she was now in a community of faith that didn’t recognize or celebrate the liturgical calendar.

And my heart was heavy for her because even though she could certainly take on the season of Lent on her own, I could tell that she was deeply longing for a community to journey with.  A community that was willing to be vulnerable with her and intentionally take on a season of penitence and reflection. Introspection and contemplation. 

That’s what Lent is, and the beauty of it all is that it is something we choose to do.  It’s an opportunity we take on, Perhaps begrudgingly at times, but as a community of faith, rooted in our liturgical tradition, we spend a mere 40 days looking within ourselves and our lives to discern the aspects that disrupt our relationship with God.   And we do so among our siblings in Christ. A community committed to the humble and vulnerable practice of Lent, which helps us to be mutually accountable. 

Ya know, God is fully invested in us.  God abundantly and endlessly pours out grace upon grace, naming and claiming us as children of God, brining is in to the one body of Christ. 

And so it is together, as a community, as a whole that we spend time confessing and repenting that we have fallen short.  Naming the temptations that fester, disturb, and destroy our God-given relationships. 

This is why we Lent.   Starting with Ash Wednesday- a service of extended confession and an imposition of ashes.  Reminding one another that we were created by God from dust and to dust we shall return. And God does remarkable things even with dust.  And on our dusty foreheads we bear the overwhelming yet freeing witness that we are utterly and wholly dependent upon God. Everything else fades away, but God and God alone creates, empowers, sustains, and saves.  This is why take on Lent. This is why we journey through Lent together.

So, as I asked last week and will likely ask again, how is your Lenten journey going?  10 days, are you weary or even renewed? 

In our gospel text today we meet Jesus already in the midst of his own journey.  Last week we read about Jesus’ own battle with temptation in the wilderness, as the crafty and luring devil makes several valiant attempts to lead Jesus into false power and false hope.   Since then Jesus’ has been busy with the work of the kingdom, teaching and healing, restoring lives, extending grace, and ushering in hope. 

In chapter nine, there is a definitive moment when Jesus turns and set his sights on Jerusalem.  He gathered his disciples and said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.”  And so in the 13th chapter of Luke today, Jesus is working his way to the great threes days.  He’s journeying to a final destination, a city that will reject, ignore, beat, and ultimately kill him.  

Our text today begins with a word of warning from the Pharisees.  They advise Jesus that if he stay on his current trajectory, Herod lays in wait.  And even the Pharisees, for whatever reason, advise Jesus to turn around. To go the other way, lest he risk being killed. 

Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting with a 7 year old girl and her family to talk about baptism.   And during our conversation of talking about Jesus, I mentioned that they killed him. And she looked at me stunned and said why?  Why would they want to kill Jesus? All he wanted to do was love people and be nice. Why would they kill him. And all I could think to say was, “That’s a brilliant question.”

But that’s what we do with prophets.  Those who speak with prophetic voices...Whether a message that convicts or confronts our comfortable way of life, or a message that rocks our core because deep down we know it to be true, but don’t want to face the weight of truth.  We like to rejected because the message they carry is not one we want to hear. Or at the very least ignore. Maybes it’s simply fear or ignorance, but we, and I mean our history of saints as well, tend to have an aversion to prophets and those who speak prophetically.  So Jerusalem, and us still today, like to suppress the prophet. In Jesus’ case they kill him.

But Jesus is not provoked nor is he deterred.  His journey to Jerusalem and ultimately his death is unwavered because Jesus knows something that we have yet to full learn.   That is the work of the Kingdom of God...the work of healing and justice, of releasing demons and ushering hope...the kingdom work is not conditioned or dictated by Worldly structures, political leaders, or human influence.  The work of God in Jesus Christ and the work of the Kingdom will continue and it will come to fullness on God’s time. On the third day.

So rather than turn around, Jesus looks ahead to this broken city and laments.  

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  Jesus uses such powerful imagery. How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wing.

Beautiful.  Jesus has such a gift for using incredible imagery to help the disciples and others understand what he is teaching.  This is one of the things that makes him such a great teacher. 

Just prior to today’s story, Jesus taught the disciples about the kingdom of God using images like a mustard seeds, yeast in dough, and a narrow door.  Later, in chapter 14, he describes the persistence nature of God with parables sheep, coins, and children.  Jesus has such an eloquent way of using the aspects of common day life to teach about God’s abundant grace and love and the impending kingdom of God.  And Jesus always spoke this way to help people understand what he was teaching. So as he laments over Jerusalem this morning, he does it again….How often have I desired to gather the children of Jerusalem together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wing. 

                        

The image of Jesus as a mother hen is such a beautiful image.  It’s delicate, much like the image of Jesus as a lamb, but it carries a sense of  strength, authority, and protection, like the image of Jesus as a shepherd. 

We know that feeling don’t we?  If not, I’m sure we long for it.  Who among us hasn’t experienced or desired a longing to be brooded like a chick to a hen?   Maybe you recall a time when we were younger, more innocent. Perhaps it came from our own mothers or fathers or a family friend?   An experience with someone so loving that they offer both sense of authority and security while also offering an embrace of warmth and comfort?  

I remember so fondly as a kid, I would climb on my dad’s bed and provoke him into a wrestling match that I knew I would lose.  He would bear hug me...I would struggle to break free. After only a few min, I would be so tired and body would go limp...and I would lie in the protection and comfort of my dad’s arms. 

Perhaps you know that feeling?  Or have experienced that embrace?

Story about losing my passport in Germany.  Listen to audio above.

This image of a hen is so powerful. Jesus wants an intimate connection with the people of Jerusalem.   Like a hen with her chicks - and if you’ve ever seen a picture of this or actually seen a hen covering her chicks with her wings, it’s something very special.  The hen puffs out her feathers and ushers them all in and the chicks almost disappear completely beneath her wings. The chicks are so absorbed in the hen that it’s hard to see where the hen ends and the chicks begin.  So what Jesus is saying with this image is that he wants the children of Jerusalem to come and be protected and intimately connected to him - absorbed into him and his ministry. He wants to offer them protection through salvation. He wants them to see and encounter the kingdom of God that he is proclaiming. 

And maybe it would seem a bit ironic that this is how he wants the people of Jerusalem to feel.  Ironic that Jesus wants to gather these people up and protect them.  Jerusalem, this supposed holy city, that continues to turn against God and against the prophets and messengers that God sends to them - this city that Jesus grieves over.  Jerusalem is the city that will, in just a few weeks, turn Jesus over to the authorities and cry out for his crucifixion.   This is the city that, even after Jesus’ death, refuses to turn toward God and follow Jesus’ disciples.  

Jerusalem, the city that is unwelcoming and unkind to prophets, the very city that will reject, deny, punish, and kill Jesus...these are the people Jesus longingly desires to pull in, comfort, protect, and envelop in his love.

And maybe that’s not simply ironic...But rather the epitome of the gospel.  God’s unwavering and unconditioned love for the world. The the gospel in one image.

This kind of unity, this kind of brooding is what Jesus calls us to when he calls us under his wings. He desires for Jerusalem to come under his wings and participate in his work with him, going along as he goes, healing as he heals.  Jesus wants to pull people into himself so intimately that they are a part of him, participating in the work that God has called him to do. He longs for all people to be brought into the kingdom of God. As we say now, becoming the body of Christ. 

Jesus wants us - you and me - to be caught up in this kind of work too. Like a mother hen endless offering embrace, Jesus is constantly coming after us.  Relentless pursuing us for participation with the kingdom work he is doing in the world. Like the children of Jerusalem, Jesus longs for us to witness and participate in the kingdom of God today. It is in our baptism that we are first called into the body of Christ and every time we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are renewed and sustained in the body of Christ. It is these two practices that keep us in synch, that keep us nestled under the protective wings of Christ. 

In this season of Lent, when we are called to examine ourselves and examine our lives, we hear something calming, reassuring, warm - as if we are being nestled under the wings of our savior.  We hear of Jesus’ relentless love. We hear of a God so loving that God would send God’s son to heal the sick, bind up the broken, give sight to the blind, and raise the dead to new life. We hear of a savior that wishes to save and comfort the very people who have denied him and so many prophets before him. We hear of a savior so heartbroken for his children that even as they put him on the cross, he asks his father in heaven to forgive them. We hear of Christ’s relentless love that never fails, even when it is crucified. 

So despite all of our fears and failures...despite how your lenten journey may or may not be going...despite that we too often deny the voice of the prophet, just like Jerusalem, Jesus still desires to gather us in, like chicks under his motherly wings, so that we might come to know, to taste, and see the power of relentless love.  So that we might participate and join others to nestle within the kingdom of God. Amen.

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached March 17, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran, Jacksonville, FL.

Confronting Temptation - Sermon on Luke 4:1-16

Listen to the gospel lesson and sermon here.

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. 

Welcome, everyone, again to the season of Lent.  If this is your first time experiencing Lent within the context of the Christian or even the protestant church, welcome.  We’re glad you’re joining us. I deeply enjoy the season of Lent, and I often envy folks who get to experience it all for the first time.  From Ash Wednesday, through the next 40 days. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil. Oh man, I don’t recall my first ever experience with Lent, outside of giving up soda as a kid….but could you imagine if you were new to Christianity and experiencing the Protestant season of Lent for the first time.    

Well, if that’s you, welcome.  I pray that the next forty days of Lent is meaningful, pleasantly penintial, contemplative, enlightening, and above all full of personal and spiritual growth. 

I think too often we take not just Lent, but the whole Christian liturgical calendar for granted.  For those of us who have been in the Protestant or Lutheran church for our entire lives, we know it’s coming.  We know what to expect...and we know the routine. I think that is both good...and unfortunate. Good because we embody the seasons.  Our lives ...hearts, bodies, minds, and souls sync to an internal liturgical pattern that empowers and sustains. A Liturgical pattern that never disappoints.  It’s stable and reliable.

But it’s a bit unfortunate because embodying the ebbs and flows of the liturgical calendar shares a fine boundary with complacency and apathy.  We risk taking it for granted. 

Our lectionary calendar technically has six seasons - Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.  These season have a natural flow to them - 1st, a season of reflection and contemplation, then a day or season of celebration, and then a season of Growth.   So, in the winter we have Advent, Christmas, and Epipany. A pattern of Waiting and reflection, a season of celebration at Christmas, and then a season of growth - Epiphany.  This is why the color of the Epiphany season is green.

Today we start the pattern over again.  Reflection and contemplation, celebration, and growth.  Lent, Easter, and the time after Pentecost, which is also green.

Lent is a season of penitence and reflection.  Introspect and contemplation. For 40 days we look within ourselves and our lives discern the aspects that disrupt our relationship with God.  God is fully invested in us. God named and claimed us. God abundantly and endlessly pours out grace upon grace. And for these short 40 days we acknowledge and confess that we have fallen short of God’s gift for us.  We identify all the temptations of our life that fester, disturb, and destroy God’s relationship with us. 

This is why we start Lent with Ash Wednesday.  A service of extended confession and an imposition of ashes.  Reminding one another that we were created by God from dust and to dust we shall return.  And God does incredible things through the dust. Ash Wednesday ushers us into the season of Lent with a humble and powerful reminder that we are utterly dependent upon God.  Everything else fades away, but God and God alone creates, empowers, sustains, and saves. 

We’re 4 days into Lent now, and I’m curious, how is your Lenten experience going thus far?  I suspect for some of us, we might be thinking...Oh shoot, did I miss ash wed. I completely forgot it was even Lent.  I forgot to give something up...or take something on...oh well too late. 

Let me say, not true!  Lent is not like new years.  You know...how you promise yourself that you’ll join a gym on Jan 1 and before you know it it’s March and you think...eh, next year.  No, Lent is an intentional 40 day journey, with each and everyday to self-assess, confront the temptations in your life, repent, and try again.  If you completely missed the Lent train, jump on today.

Plus, you’re likely in good company.  How many of us have every “given something up for lent or promised ourselves we’d commit to some new spiritual practice or exercise of self care..and then once we miss or forget a day we say, oh well?!?!   I promised myself I would read 30 min everyday for Lent. May I confess, I haven’t made it past the title. 

But for those of you who did make a personal decision to improve, correct, or challenge yourself for 40 days….we’re on day 4, and this is probably about the moment you’re starting to get jittery.  Jonesing for that chocolate bar or adult beverage. Craving that diet coke or cigarette. Maybe you're tired of passing up your fiction vampire novel for the Bible. This is probably about the moment that you’re famished and starting to gasp for air.  Reaching for a way out or an excuse to have a cheat day. You’re about ready to say oh well, next year. Anybody reach that point?! 

You’re fighting temptation.  And every time we fight temptation we grow.  It’s like committing to running on the treadmill for 20 min only to look up and see that you’re 2 min away from the next mile marker.  Gasping for air you could be done and walk away. Or you could you push forward, finish that mile and know you had every reason to quit but didn’t.

Life is an endless cycle of fighting temptations.  Temptations that lure you into believing you’re not capable or powerful.  Taunting you to believe that you’re important, strong, smart, or beautiful.  Temptation mocks, laughs, teases, taunts, and destroys our sense of self-worth and self value.  Of who and whose we are. Temptation promises to fill and fulfill us in all sorts of empty ways.  And Lent...Lent is 40 days of intentionally acknowledging and fighting the temptations. Even if it is a mountain dew or Milkshake...red meat or netflix.  For forty days we choose to acknowledge and fight the lure of temptation itself, to confront our own personal temptations, and they’re different for each of us….but we fight them and we grow...and as we grow we are reminded that we are not dependent upon the things...the stuff...the power or status...the false ideals and temptations…we are reminded that we are only truly and wholly dependent upon God. 

And when we’re committed to the season of lent and the beauty of repentance, we can hear the voice of our tempters...dismiss them...and turn to God.  Lent can be a rough but rewarding 40 days of spiritual growth. And admittedly, it’s not something that we would typically bring upon ourselves. 

It seems appropriate then that our Lenten journey today starts not only within scripture, but with the familiar story of Jesus own experience of temptation in the wilderness. 

In today’s story, Jesus who is full of the Spirit and likely still dripping wet from his baptism is led into the wilderness, 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.

And it’s then, famished, tired, and alone that the devil mocks Jesus and makes three final attempts at temptation.

First, the devil asks Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”  It should be noted that the devil isn’t question if Jesus is the son of God.  In the original language the answer is implied within the question. So, the devil says, if you really are the son of God, and I know that you are….command this stone to become bread.”  The devil preys on Jesus being famished and tempts Jesus to convert stone into food. But Jesus fires back without hesitation that One does not live by alone. That is to say that while bread would be delicious for a famished stomach...it would only provide simple, temporary satisfaction.  Rather it is trust in God and God alone that nourishes and sustains life.

Next the devil tempts Jesus with power and authority over all the kingdoms of the world if he but worship the devil.  But again, Jesus is quick to quote scripture and say, “It is written, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”  

The devil offers Jesus the power to impose his control and dominion over all people, and while that sort of power may be tempting, God has a greater kingdom in mind.  A kingdom that reaches far beyond the earthly, political realm. The kingdom of God is one that is equitable and fair...one that empowers its people rather than reward status.

Finally, the devil tries a new tactic by quoting scripture himself.  He says, “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.”  But Jesus, truly knowing scripture as opposed to memorizing it says, "It is said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Jesus faces significant temptation.  Temptation that looks nice. Sounds wonderful.  Even tastes good. But these temptations, while shiny and luring, are empty promises.  Promises that only leave the fleeting feeling of power, satisfaction, or fullness. But Jesus, famished, tired, and alone denies the devil’s lure...and resists with an utter and complete dependence upon God.  

Now to be clear, it is not my intention to suggest that our own experience with temptation is anything close to Jesus’.  After all, Jesus definitively resist all temptation, whereas we fall short endlessly. I think Jesus is a model and witness by which we all strive to match, but continuously fail to achieve.  This is what sets Jesus apart, and he’ll ultimately go so far as to defeat the devil through the cross in the resurrection.

In fact, it’s the resurrection of Christ that even empowers us to choose the discipline of Lent in the first place.  It’s the power of Christ and the promise of God to abide beyond sin death and the devil, the we approach lent with penitence and intentional self-reflection. 

I think today’s story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, which is perfectly placed at the start of Lent is not simply a lesson or tutorial for fending off satan’s lure, but I think Jesus’ experience in the wilderness is a lesson about just how tempting the devil can be.  And it’s different for each of us. Everyone experiences and confronts their own breadth of temptations. 

And Lent invites us, if only for 40 days to recognize and acknowledge temptation.  Knowing full and well that we will not always be faithful or successful in dismissing the lure.  And that’s what we call a wilderness journey. A time of wandering and wondering. Of self-assessment and discernment.   Of mirage and false hope. These 40 days are a voluntary trip into the wilderness to face the devils in our life, the very things that destroy or disrupt our relationship with God.   And and as we journey, we grow. We confront the all the things that cannot save us, losing our appetite for fleeting power, false wealth, and temporary worth. 

And most of all, we grown in our faith, learning and re-learning to trust the Holy Spirit.  Trusting that it is God and God alone who saves. Because at the end of our 40 days, at the end of our introspection and repentance, Christ rises from the dead.  Amen.