Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday March 10, 2019
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
If you have been
following along with the Sunday readings since Christmas, it almost feels like
we have been put into a time machine that was then shaken up this week. After Christmas and the stories about young
Jesus, we read about how Jesus came to the Jordan River and was baptized by John. Then we had all sorts of stories about how
Jesus traveled around and was made known by what he did and what he taught.
Then last Sunday, we
had the story of the Transfiguration where Jesus and 3 of his disciples went up
to the top of a mountain where they encountered God. That story, the story of the Transfiguration,
marks a pivot point in the gospel narrative.
At that point, Jesus’ ministry in his home region of Galilee has ended,
and Jesus and his disciples begin their journey to Jerusalem – a journey that
will end with our celebration on Palm Sunday, a week before Easter, when Jesus
enters the city accompanied by a big parade and loud celebrations.
So… you might think
that our reading for today would have Jesus and his disciples coming down from
the mountain where they were last Sunday, and beginning their journey to
Jerusalem. But instead, the powers that
be who created the 3-year cycle of readings that we use on Sunday mornings have
put us into a time machine and sent us back to immediately after Jesus was
baptized by John. He hasn’t done any
miracles yet. He hasn’t preached any
sermons yet. He hasn’t healed anyone
yet. He hasn’t told any of his parables
yet. Jesus has been baptized in the
river. He has heard the voice of God
calling him a “Beloved Son.” But his
ministry hasn’t yet started. Before his
ministry can start, he spends 40 days in the wilderness, facing all sorts of
temptations.
Now here in Canada,
when we hear the word wilderness, we likely think of thick forests. Maybe hills and rivers. Far away from any other humans. A place where bears and moose and mosquitoes
live; a place that is striking in its beauty but one that presents challenges
to survival.
The wilderness that
Jesus went into was very different than our Canadian wilderness – it was a
desert wilderness. Rocky hills, no
vegetation or water, blazing hot during the day but frigidly cold at
night. I remember visiting that desert
where Jesus spent 40 days. It was
January – the coolest month of the year, but it felt like the middle of the
hottest summer day. There was nowhere to
find shade or protection from the sun.
And yet the people who live in that desert say that the cold at night is
actually a bigger danger than the heat of the day; and they spread out black
tarps and blankets during the day to try and trap as much heat as possible to
help them to stay warm at night.
And Jesus goes out
into this place of no water, no shelter, no food, no companionship; and there
he stays for 40 days. I can only imagine
how he must have felt by the end of that time.
Hungry. Thirsty. Tired.
Lonely.
Back at Christmas we
read that in Jesus, God’s Word became flesh.
Jesus is fully God, but he is also fully human. And there in the desert, he must have felt
every bit of his vulnerable humanity.
And into the middle of
his vulnerability, up pops the devil.
Now before you picture a little creature with a red suit, horns, and a
tail popping up to cause mischief or spread evil, the word used in Greek is diaboloV. It actually
means something more like the false accuser, the slanderer, the one who spreads
malicious gossip. The one who tempts us
to believe false things about ourselves.
The one who tempts us to doubt ourselves.
And into Jesus’
hunger, thirst, loneliness, and tiredness, he is presented with three specific
temptations.
The first temptation
says to him, “I know that you must feel hungry and thirsty, after all, your
human flesh has been suffering out here for so many days without food and
water. But if you are God, the same God
who created the heavens and the earth out of nothingness, why don’t you just
turn those stones over there into bread, and then you won’t have to be
hungry.” But Jesus resists. He knows that being true to where God has
called him, and what God has called him to do is more important than his
hunger. His ministry was going to be about
feeding others rather than feeding himself.
The second temptation then
says to him, “Look at this whole big world that you find yourself in. Why don’t you worship me, and then I will
give you power over all of the world?”
But again Jesus resists. He knows
that God, and trusting in God is more important than personal wealth or
power. His ministry was going to be
about pointing people towards God rather than towards himself.
And then finally the
third temptation says to him, “OK, we’ve left the desert now, and we’re in
Jerusalem standing at the very highest point of the very highest building that
anyone has ever imagined. Why don’t you
jump off – after all, God has called you God’s beloved Son, so surely God will
catch you.” But once more Jesus resists
the temptation. Yes God is there, and
God could catch him, but what purpose would that serve other than to show
off? His ministry would be about
building relationships and trusting God with quiet confidence.
And then after 40
days, Jesus was ready to leave the wilderness and begin his ministry, grown in
his confidence about who he was and what he was called to do.
Our season of Lent is
another season of 40 days that began last Wednesday. Between now and Easter, many people are going
to imitate Jesus in the desert by embracing their own humanity and
vulnerability. Just as Jesus lived for
40 days without food or water or shelter, many people are going to give
something up for the next six weeks – chocolate or potato chips or wine or
Facebook tend to be popular options; though in a world that is becoming more
environmentally conscious, this year I have also seen people suggesting a fast
from meat or a fast from single-use plastic for Lent. To a smaller degree, people try to imitate
Jesus’ experiences in the desert where, in his human flesh, he must have
experienced longings and cravings for that which he couldn’t have.
But you’ll notice that
Jesus’ desert experience didn’t begin or end with his cravings and
temptations. That isn’t the end of the
story. At the beginning to today’s
reading, we heard that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit out into the
wilderness. When he was there in the
desert, he wasn’t alone – he was with God.
And so I imagine that Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer – time
conversing with God, growing in relationship with God – with the other two
thirds of the Trinity. And at the end of
his forty days, Jesus was strengthened in his commitment towards the ministry
to which God had called him.
And so rather than
thinking of your Lenten commitments as something like “church-y New Year’s
Resolutions” that you only have to keep for 6 weeks rather than a full year, or
a spiritual self-improvement program, I invite you to go deeper with them. The various things that we might give up for
Lent – whether that be chocolate or single-use plastics – this is a form of
fasting, but only if you invite God to move into the space that is left by
whatever it is that you give up. Just as
Jesus left the wilderness 40 days later, with a deeper relationship with God
and strengthened for the ministry that he was called to; we too should leave
the 40 days of our Lenten fasting and practices with a deeper relationship with
God and a stronger commitment to the mission and ministry that God calls all of
us to.
And so my question to
you is, how are you going to spend your 40 wilderness days that lie ahead?
May it be so. Amen.
Negev Desert - Jesus' Wilderness
Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=206046
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