THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT: March 4, 2001

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“Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil.

St. Luke 4:1

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As we begin the Lenten season, the season of the Church Year that has its origin in Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness for forty days….. we once again recount those events in His life at the beginning of His ministry when He struggled…..

…..when He struggled mightily to determine how He would carry out His mission…..His ministry…..how He would be obedient to the Father’s will.

He began by being Baptized by John in the River Jordan, and in that Baptism, Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, commissioned & empowered to be God’s own chosen Messiah, the Christ of God.

After the Baptism, St. Luke reports that Jesus, still full of the Holy Spirit, was still on what we might call a spiritual high, all energized and ready to begin God’s work.

The term, full of the Spirit, is the Scriptures way of saying that Jesus did not go out into the wilderness just of His own accord or His own will…..that it was not just His idea…..

but it means…..He was directed and led by the Spirit….. and in obedience to God, He followed.

We know that is what energized Jesus…..that is what excited Him…..that is what motivated Him more that anything else………..indeed, His passion was to do His Father’s will.

Jesus proclaimed that:

“My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.”

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So, Jesus goes into the Wilderness and faces a powerful enemy…..what does Jesus meet and face?…..He faces and meets the Tempter, old Satan, one of God’s fallen angels, the Devil himself, or as Jesus called him , the Father of Lies.

There is so much for us to learn in the Temptations of Jesus in the Wilderness, first…..it tells us that when you seriously and earnestly and sincerely set out to serve God…..then prepare for temptation.

One of the Saints complained to a friend, that when he set out to serve God…..He said, “I thought he would find peace…..but instead, I found war.

St. Peter in his Epistle tells us…..”Do not be deceived my brethren, for the Devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

In other words, St. Peter is telling us…… Be on guard…..for just when you think you are really setting out to serve God……and you feel so good and you are so proud about it…..our won motives get in the way…..our own will comes into conflict with God’s will.

And sometimes, sometimes, the two become confused…..it becomes hard to tell which is God’s wiil and which is our will.

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And even more than that…..when we set out to serve God…..sometimes all Hell breaks loose and the opposition is fierce. However, we do back shrink back……or throw in the towel.

For we know that the Christian Faith is not an armchair religion…..it is not for the squeamish or weak of heart…..we are persistent, we persevere no matter what.

For the Christian Faith is not for sprinters…..

……….but it is for long distance runners.

Most anyone can be a flash in the pan…..but it’s the long haul that really counts.

So we see Jesus struggling with His own temptations. However, Jesus tested every temptation alongside God’s will…..God’s will as He knew and found in Holy Scriptures.

The scriptures not only gave Jesus strength in His temptations……but the scriptures guided Jesus…..they informed Him every step of the way throughout his ministry.

We see that Jesus rebuffed and rejected all three of the Temptations with words of Holy Scripture…..and even on the Cross He quoted scripture…..

……..thus falling back for strength and courage on the words that were dear to Him and well known to Him even from childhood.

Jesus is our Savior as we know…..but He is more than that…..He is also our example…..our example of what a holy and obedient life is like.

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The Temptations of Jesus help us to focus on our purpose…..and Lent is that time when we get back to the basics of our Faith. As someone has said…..Lent is that time when we once again remember that:

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

Or as Canon Martin reminded us…..

“For our main task is to major in the majors, (things that matter the most), and not to major in the minors, (the things that matter the least).”

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The Temptations of Jesus help us to focus on the main issues of our Faith: Faithfulness and obedience to God above all else.

Jesus said the first and the greatest of all commandment…..

…..indeed, the number one thing in all the world is to Love God with all our heart and mind and soul…..

…..and then Jesus said the second commandment is very much like the first: to love one another as we love ourselves.

In Jesus High Priestly Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before the Crucifixion…..we hear Jesus utter the most earnest prayer of His earthly ministry…..His greatest desire…..that was deep, deep down in His heart of hearts:

“Father, that they may be one, even as You and I are one.”

Three times in His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus repeated this prayer: “Father, that they may be one, even as You and I are one.”

The Scriptures tells us that His prayer was so earnest, so intense and so powerful…..that His sweat was as were drops of blood.

Jesus said…..”By this all men will know that you are my Disciples

……that you love one another as I have loved you.”

Jesus is telling us that the surest sign of our Discipleship is the love and the unity, the “Oneness” we show forth to the rest of the world.

During an Interim Period in which I served some years ago…..the Parish did a survey asking the usual questions. One question was: “What do you think is your Church’s greatest asset?”

The answer that almost a third of the Congregation replied was: “Our very beautiful & historic, Gothic Church Building.”

Wow! One would hope that the reply of most of the people would be: Our people…..our Congregation…..the wonderful Fellowship and love we have for one another.

This has always been from the very beginning of the Early Church it’s greatest asset…..The Fellowship of the Holy Spirit. For the people said of the Early Church:

“See how they love one another.”

Most Churches have any number of assets…..but without any doubt whatsoever…..our greatest asset…..the most appealing and the most attractive aspect of Church life…..

“Is the Fellowship, the sense of Community, the feeling of belonging and the love and support that is experienced in the Community of Faith.”

There are many jobs and challenges before most any Church Community…..however, Job #One…..is the “Oneness” that is felt by its people…..and is seen by the rest of the world.

For to be sure…..this is first of all “The Main Thing” before anything else can happen…..for the rest is built on this.

There is no doubt that the vitality, the energy and the success of the Early Church…..has its roots in the fact that on the Day of Pentecost…..the Holy Spirit descended upon a Community that was thoroughly united.

St. Luke says in the Book of Acts…..of that Pentecost Sunday, the Birthday of The Church…..that those who waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit…..”that they were all in one accord.”

More than ever before in the history of our Parish is it necessary, is it imperative and crucial …..that our people come together, pull together and work together…..and above all, love together!

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All in all…..the scriptures for the first Sunday in Lent assure us that evil and temptation is real…..we see it every day in so many, many ways.

And most of all…..evil is not always so dramatic…..as was portrayed in the “Exorcist”….but instead, evil is subtle…..it is elusive…..it is crafty…..

…..Evil is pictured as a cunning serpent in the Old Testament…..it tells us that evil is quite cunning, crafty, shrewd, sly, deceptive and oftentimes beguiling, appealing and even attractive…..and most of the time, extremely hard to resist.

In other words…..the scriptures today tell us that alone, we are no match for the powers of evil…..alone, by ourselves…..we don’t stand a chance.

St. Paul knew this only too well when he said:

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and spiritual powers.”

Indeed, as we wrestle against the powers of darkness…..it is only God’s grace and His power that can help us to prevail.

Evil is so insidious…..for many times…..it masquerades as something good and right…..in other words…..evil tries to hide among the good…..so as not to be found out or detected.

Scot Peck in his book, “People of the Lie,” says that: ”Evil oftentimes hides in Church…..not because the Church is inherently evil…..but because evil likes to hide itself among the good…..where you might least expect it.”

Hopefully when we leave Church today…..we leave with the certain knowledge that evil is real…..that it is powerful and more than a match for us.

As A.A. teaches…..we need a power greater than ourselves……for there is a Satanic power at work among us in this world…..even her in “River City,” that sometimes is unspeakable…..yes…..a power outside ourselves……..that constantly is on the prowl…..lurking, relentlessly on the assault.

Divide and conquer has always been the main tactic of that dark side of evil that sometimes has us in its grip.

Jesus confronted head-on, the powers of darkness…..and He taught us to pray…..”deliver us from evil,”…..or another translation reads…..”deliver us from the Evil One.”

Standing alone…..we are duck-soup for the powers of evil…..but we don’t have to stand alone…..for One stands with us who is more than a match for evil.

Here is the Good news for the First Sunday in Lent……Although temptation is real and evil is real…..Satan does not have the last word……

But thanks be to God in Christ…..as St. Paul proclaimed: “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

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The First Sunday in Lent then sounds the “battle cry” for the entire Lenten Season: “On Guard!”……Know what you are up against when you set out to serve God…..that you will be continually under assault…..

…..Be on guard …..know that alone…..we can’t contend against the powers of evil…..but only in the strength and power of God’s Grace.

Martin Luther’s hymn describes our condition:

“Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing; were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing; dost ask who that may be?…..

Christ Jesus it is He;…..and He must win the battle.”

And so as the Israelites wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years in confusion and disobedience…..so Jesus goes into the Wilderness to fast for fortdy days, however this time He does it in faithfulness.

Lent is our journey into the Wilderness with Jesus, standing firm and standing fast with him and also standing by him…..then we can come to Easter and know the joy of His resurrection.

For truth is that in Him…..We can prevail.

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For the story of Elisha is great example of God’s power against foes and challenges that seem to overwhelm us. Elisha and his servant were surrounded by an army with horses and chariots; Frightened, his servant said to him: “Master what shall we do?

Elisha answered in those words that have given hope to people of Faith for countless years:

“Do not fear…..for those who are with us…..

…..are more than those who are against us.”

Let us claim those words for our own…..let us claim that hope that God promises to all those who love Him and trust in Him.

“For those who are with us are more than those who are against us.”

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And so in this we rejoice…..and in this we give thanks…..and in this, at the beginning of Lent…..we re-commit ourselves to a life of Faithfulness and obedience to the One who calls us to His service…..and who call us to love one another.

A M E N & A M E N

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