Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
Sunday March 9, 2025 – First Sunday in Lent
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Welcome to Lent! We have embarked on a
40-day journey that is going to end at the foot of the cross on Good
Friday. As we travel, we will be
lighting our Lenten candles to illuminate our path, and our map for the journey
is going to be the calls of the United Church of Canada – we believe that we
are called to Deep Spirituality, Bold Discipleship, and Daring Justice. And today, on our first Sunday of Lent, we
pass the signpost of Bold Discipleship.
In the bible, we read about Jesus’s disciples – his followers – the people who
made up his inner circle. They were
usually the first ones to hear his teachings. They had front-row seats to
witness his miracles. They were the ones
to whom Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” And they did follow Jesus, all the way to the
cross.
But Jesus’s disciples didn’t just live 2000 years ago. After Jesus died, resurrected, and ascended
in to heaven, the disciples continued.
The church of every time and every place has been made up of disciples
of Jesus. People who listen to Jesus’s
teachings. People who have witnessed the miracles that love can work over and
over and over again. People who follow
the way of Jesus, even when it is risky, carrying their crosses, that symbol of
danger and death and destruction.
And I think that is maybe where the boldness comes from in our
discipleship. We aren’t disciples of an
easy way, of a safe way, of a way without risks.
It is such a strange thing to be a disciple.
We are choosing a way that runs contrary to so much of what the world
teaches. In many ways, it would be so
much easier to just abandon this way and go the way of the world, moving
through life without kicking up a fuss, without the commandment to love God
with our whole hearts and to love our neighbours as ourselves. And yet you and I – we have chosen to be
here. We have chosen this way of
discipleship. It is 2025, and I doubt if
any of us are here because society tells us that we have to be in church on a
Sunday morning, the way it might have happened back in the 1950s or 1960s –
instead each one of us has chosen to be here this morning. We have chosen this path of discipleship.
Jesus, too, was tempted to stray from the path he was on. There, in the desert, he was offered all authority,
all power, all glory, if only he would turn his face away from God to worship
another. We may not have the devil,
Satan, the Tempter standing in front of us, but isn’t this the same thing? Turn away from the way of worshipping God,
and then we will be free to give our ultimate devotion, our ultimate worship to
making money, to pursuing fame, to focus on our appearance, our gym bod, our
lifestyle.
And yet. And yet every day we wake up,
and once again we choose to put following the Way of Jesus first. Even when this way is hard, we still choose
to follow. And it is hard. Just two weeks ago, I was talking about how
we aren’t just to love our friends, we are to love our enemies too, and pray
for those who hate and mistreat us. It
is incredibly hard to turn the other cheek, to give of ourselves in a way that
leaves us with less than we might want, to forgive and let go of the wrongs
that have been done to us. It is a hard
way that we choose, and an often uncomfortable way. And yet you and I – we have chosen to be here
– again and again we choose this way of discipleship.
Jesus, too, didn’t follow an easy way.
For forty days in the desert, he had nothing to eat or drink, and the
tempter said to him, “Go on – turn those stones into loaves of bed. You know
you can do it.” And yet Jesus doesn’t
succumb to the temptation to take the easy way out. He remembers that there is something more
important than comfort. He remembers
that we don’t live by bread alone, but by God’s word and by God’s
presence. We may not be fasting in the
desert like Jesus was, but still we are surrounded by things that want to draw
our attention away from God. We are
surrounded by social media, we are surrounded by the 24-hour news cycle, we are
surrounded by the entertainment industry and are bombarded with advertising
every time we turn around.
And yet. And yet every day we wake up,
and once again we choose to put following the Way of Jesus first. Even when we are tempted to despair, we still
chose to follow. Even when we want God
to prove their presence to us and are confronted with silence, still we choose
to pick up our cross and follow Jesus.
Jesus, who himself was also tempted to test God’s presence, knows that it isn’t
easy. It would be so comforting if God
could just send an angel to catch us when we feel like we are falling, a
literal angel to carry us through the tough times that we face. And yet even when Jesus chose not to test
God’s presence, Jesus knew that God was with him. And we too, can trust that God is with us,
surrounding us with their presence even when our senses can’t perceive it.
I think that maybe one of the toughest temptations that Jesus faced there in
the desert wilderness was the temptation to doubt his identity. If you are the Son of God, turn
this stone into bread. If
you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this high tower. I sometimes think that the biggest miracle of
this story is that Jesus remains confident in his identity as the Son of God. He didn’t require external validation – he
just knew.
And maybe that is the grounding of our own discipleship. We are grounded in our identity as beloved
children of God, and this grounding allows us to choose, again and again, the
difficult path that Jesus lays out before us.
And because we are grounded in our identity as beloved children of God,
then we really can’t choose any other way.
And just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness and
accompanied him through all of his temptations, the Holy Spirit is with us too,
on our discipleship journey, giving us strength and giving us courage and
reminding us whenever we need reminding that we are precious and beloved
children of God.
Yes, discipleship can be scary, but when we are grounded in God then it is the
only way we can follow. Like those first
disciples, we too can listen to the teachings of Jesus – all of that teaching about
loving God and loving your neighbour, all of your neighbours. Like those first disciples, we too can be
part of the miracles that love can work in the world. And like those first disciples, we too can
take up our cross to follow Jesus, knowing that the Holy Spirit is in front of
us, guiding us, beside us, accompanying us, and within us, transforming us,
every step of the way.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
If you are a child of God…
“Christ in the Wilderness”
