TESTED AND . . .

Luke 4:1-13, Lent 1C
Rev. Dr. Mary Lou Howson

February 21, 2010

Barely dry from his baptism, when the heavens opened and he was full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus has returned and is immediately driven into the wilderness for 40 days of trial and temptation. The Holy Spirit had descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven saying, "You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased." Exalted, praised, named as the beloved and driven out into the wilderness.
What is going on here? What does it mean to us? How does it relate to our own journeys?
The Greed that we translate as tempt really means not so much to seduce or lure away but rather to assay, to test, to struggle, woo, solicit, or fish for. That is , to try and temple one's true metal. Given that we are in the midst of the winter Olympics, we might say it is like competing for the gold – will your center hold or will you weaken and falter?
Like an Olympic athlete, Jesus has maintained all the prayer disciplines, he knows his craft - the scriptures – he has been practicing it successfully all through out Galilee. But is he ready? Is he for real? Will he deliver God's love or his own ego? Can he truly serve others or only himself?
Now, this is not to say that at this point Jesus is not a good man. Clearly he is a good person who has already been more faithful to God in the depths of his being than the average person. But he is being remade (as we all are) for a greater mission that goodness. We can become good people largely through our own determination and our own efforts. God is interested in something more: holiness. Now without in any way implying that we are Christ, I want to suggest today that we, too, are called to this pathway of holiness – "the way, the truth, and the life," for Jesus journey is to be our journey, as well. This is the same journey of transformation that the Israelites endured in the wilderness. And Luke is clear about the similarities. Jesus here is recapitulating the history of Israel.
We all know the wilderness, don't we? That place from which God seems to have withdrawn and abandoned us to ourselves, where our own vulnerability frightens and disorients us, where we can see no way out on our own, where we are tempted to serve ourselves or to cling to our own pacifiers and addictions. Perhaps it is rage that flows from a violated compassion, or it may be great strength of intelligence that rules our hearts instead of opening them. Or maybe it is courage that enables us to refuse vulnerability. Or love to which we cling so tightly that we crush it. Our quagmires may develop from our strengths because we are so likely to put our trust in them. Like wise they may also develop from our weaknesses because we fear them and flee from them. But whether we bog down in serving our strengths or being bound to our weakness, they bog us down in serving ourselves instead of God. It was no different for Jesus. If he were to serve God, then he would first have to be tempered so that his metal would be sure – or he would turn back on himself and fall prey to the things of this world. And the tempering will include his personal life, his life in this world, and his spiritual life.
To begin with, Jesus is tempted to turn a stone into bread rather than to rely on God's provisions. Remember that he was HUNGRY and he was a man of compassion. What can be wrong with feeding our own needs and longings for comfort and happiness? But Jesus says, no, that is not the goal. We are not here to comfort ourselves.
So the devil turns to the world and our status and power within it. But, again. Jesus says, no. Status and worldly aggrandizement are not the goal of life. How many politicians do we know who have fallen into this trap and betrayed the people they were called to serve?
Finally, the devil turns to the greatest temptation for a spiritual person: spiritual glory and power. There are unimaginable powers in the spiritual realms but Jesus will not seize them either. He will not be a wandering faith healer and miracle worker, using God for his own self-glorification. He will place radical trust in God and walk that pathway no matter where it leads.
If we are honest with ourselves, we have all been to the wilderness to be tempted more than once. We know the lure of comfort and ease. It may be the primary temptation we as a nation have stumbled over in the last decade. And it was coupled with the lure of worldly prestige and power for those who abused trust in the banking industry. I'm still not sure they understand what they have done.
In the Northeast spiritual gluttony is more rare because we do not value it as much. But we certainly can see the horrible results when clergy abuse members for sexual favors. The wounds are deep and devastating and take years to heal.
Only you can know your particular wilderness and its temptations. Only you can know the devils and demons that call you by name and keep you awake at night. Only you can decide whom you will serve. And the challenge is that the devil (who almost always mimics our own ego) can be so subtle and so persuasive that we can be easily misled.
But let me give you two suggestions for your Lenten journey this year;
The wilderness is not the domain of the devil. It is the home of God. You are never alone there, even if it feels like it. Abandonment is your choice, not God's. There is always a loving hand reaching to lift you up, if only you will trust it.
There is no quick fix. There is no glory without transformation, no power to work good in the world that does not cost you your ego, and no spiritual presence without purification. And all of these require radical trust.
We are made for God, to be at home with the holy, to be at peace with joy, to be at one with the heart and soul of creation. That is where we belong. And we were made to live in harmony with all that is holy.
So if all these outer things are temporal and contingent, what remains? Meister Eckhart wrote in the 1400's That which is inborn in me remains:" my very soul, the heart of my being. That which we give birth to from our depth is that which lives on in intimacy with God and with all of creation. It resurrects us from all the tombs we have built for ourselves, all the crosses on which we have hung our enemies, all the pits of despair that afflict us, and invites us onto the road with the risen Christ – where we shall discover the deep truth of being, the life-giving powers of the Spirit, and the abiding presence of the Holy One in our midst.
So the choice is yours this Lent (as it always is): personal comfort, power, and glory or abiding in the presence of Christ in joy, freedom, and love.
As Moses said to the people at least 3,000 years ago, "Choose this day whom you will serve.

Back to list