We have begun our 40 days where we follow Jesus into the desert wilderness… I have to say that I like the desert… I find it to be an incredibly beautiful landscape… but I am also aware that it is a dangerous and harsh environment that must be respected.
Today we hear Mark’s version of the baptism of Jesus… the voice from heaven proclaims that he is the beloved Son, and that God the Father is well pleased…
I find it kind of weird that immediately after his baptism by John, Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the desert. I have always thought it a bit unfair…
Temptation is a very real thing for us, and while there are some temptations that seem fairly minor there are others that we know can get us into serious trouble, and perhaps even kill us… that is perhaps one of the worst things about being a parent; trying to teach a teenager that they too are finite, fragile, people is something that falls mostly on deaf ears… I can remember being that age and believing that I was invincible…
LIfe certainly teaches us otherwise, doesn’t it? Hopefully, not in tragic ways, but we know all too often that sometimes our wrong decisions have serious, sometimes deadly consequences.
It’s hard to see it though, sometimes, isn’t it? There are situations where it seems like a no-brainer… and then there are others where the lines seem kind of fuzzy, or we somehow get caught up thinking just this once, it won’t matter…
For those of you who have given up something for Lent, well done… part of what this 40 days is about, is coming face to face with the things that tempt us, things that perhaps blur our spiritual vision… in placing our desires on hold, even for this short time, we are forced to wrestle with ourselves and where we place God in our lives… It can be a hard question to answer… Is Jesus the center of our lives every day?
When we’re honest, we know the answer is no. Life takes over; we think we know what’s best for us… we think we’ll have time later… some of my Lenten disciplines were a complete flop by Thursday of this past week… didn’t even make it to 48 hours… That’s a new record… usually I make it for at least a week. Good intentions rarely get me very far, and I am sure we can all rationalize how we prioritize our time and what we see as important on a given day…
This time in the wilderness is a time of renewal, a time to refocus and to examine our priorities… it’s also a time for us to come face to face with ourselves, something that isn’t always easy… coming face to face it is something that takes a bit of commitment and bravery, because no matter who we are, there are things we are going to discover that we don’t like or aren’t proud of…
Our prayers today, particularly the great litany that we started with today, helps to give us some framework for looking deep within us. It gives us a more specific confession than we are used to on Sunday morning and perhaps uncovers some of those hidden places we would rather not look at… pride, envy, malice… where might these be in our daily lives? Where might we instead be keepers of peace, visitors of the lonely, where might we be bearers of mercy?
Wandering in the desert, whether literally or spiritually, is a time for us to recognize who we are and who God is. There is much in our life that tempts us to be people that we might not actually like… there are the big temptations to be sure… money, power, fame… and we can often say, well, “I’m a hard working person, I will never have lots of money or power, and I’m not famous, I don’t have to worry about being tempted in those ways”… but what about the smaller or perhaps less noticeable temptations?
Maybe we gossiped about someone we don’t know very well, or we don’t like, because it made us look good… maybe we told a joke that put someone else down… maybe we flirted with that clerk who made us feel younger, prettier, stronger… maybe we continue to put people down in our lives because it helps us to feel better about our own failures… maybe there is something in our lives that we are putting in the place of God…
These are the temptations that aren’t so easy to see or to deal with, and they may be the kind that keep us up at night with that little nagging feeling that something, somewhere is wrong. They’re the temptations that maybe others don’t really know about, or don’t really seem to mind… what’s a little harmless fun between friends, right?
Temptations are a problem because contrary to what our thoughts may tell us, they don’t raise us up, rather they make us less than we are meant to be… and when we are less than we are meant to be, we aren’t honoring the God who created us…
What are those nagging temptations that we use to demean others, and demean ourselves? Why are we tempted in those ways? Attitudes matter, what we do and what we say matters… I wonder if this time of desert wilderness might be asking something of us that is different from our usual disciplines? Maybe we’re being asked to stop gossiping… maybe we are being asked to give up our fears that make us demean others, or perhaps fears that keep us from being the people that God has created us to be. Maybe, our fears are keeping us from taking the risks that help us to be in relationships with others… relationships that are based in the truth of who we are, not based in the untruths we present to make ourselves different than we are… maybe we are being asked to look at how we listen or don’t hear others… maybe we are being asked to look at the ways we over consume absolutely everything…
The good news, is we don’t face these temptations alone… one of the gifts that we receive as followers of Jesus, is knowing that he has faced the temptations of life as we do… and his strength can be ours; when we allow ourselves to be in relationship with him, through our worship, through our relationships with one another, through our study of scripture, we get what we need; we get the spiritual resources to be the people God has created us to be. We can face, and even overcome those attitudes and actions that separate us from God and from each other; that’s what the things that tempt us do… they create barriers that separate us from all that good, all that is holy… we deserve better… those affected by our sins deserve better… God deserves better…
Let us pray: Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.