Who you are going to be?
Today is the first Sunday of Lent. It is a time where we turn inward, reflect on our own mortality and what it means to be human and why we need a Saviour. It is the period of preparation before Easter - when we celebrate and acknowledge that God has overcome the grave and death.
Reflection is a rare and precious practice. We are a people who cram our days so full of activity, and we honor productivity to such an extent that taking time to reflect and ponder is something that few do. The sound of our extroversion has diminished our appreciation for silence. To add an hour to our week that we may entitle, “Time for reflection” would appear ludicrous to those around us; an hour where we take time to think about our lives and the lives of those around us. The season of Lent is a season of reflection, of pondering.
The past few years of my life have been spent partly consumed in the raising of teenagers. They begin contemplating what they are going to do with their lives, what college might they attend, what do they want to study if they do go to college? There is intense pressure on our high school seniors especially this time of year as they are making final decisions on things. Their lives are changing and shifting and it is a time filled with uncertainty.
There is so much focus on “the doing” that not much space is given to reflection on the larger picture of things — a picture that is less consumed with the immediate and more focused on universal life questions. How much money am I going to make and what is the quickest way I can make it, are often the focus — what job can I secure? This is a necessary focus and an important one to a parent who wishes to see their child succeed, but as they make these decisions there are other things I desire that they would think about as they set out on their journey alone. It has been part of my job as a parent to encourage them to think about these things. Who do you want to be in the world and what life practices do you need to embrace to be that person?
Today’s gospel passage is commonly referred to as the temptation of Christ. It references three temptations that were brought to Jesus.
Jesus is coming from the water’s of baptism where the skies had opened up and God had thundered the affirmation that,“This is my Son, the Beloved.” He had been baptized and pronounced who he was, The Beloved.
But what does it mean? What are the practical implications of being God’s beloved?
Jesus had to determine how he was going to live his life too and what he was going to do with it.
Jesus had been lead out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. We are told that he fasted and prayed. He gained clarity during that time. The clarity that Jesus gained out in the wilderness — the decisions that he made at that time informed the rest of the journey.
We are all faced with the question of “What are the values that are going to undergird my life?” whether we consciously acknowledge it or not. Whether we take the time to deliberately choose or not. We make choices that point to our value system.
The path that we follow is the consequence of multitude of small decisions about how are going to live our life and the values that we have allowed to inform it.
While there are a multitude of directions that we could go, little by little we narrow down the direction of our life by the choices that we make.
Jesus was confronted with some choices by the devil. In our Old Testament reading, Adam and Eve were faced with some choices. The story is that they were tempted by the powers of the world, powers to be more like God, and a choice was made that affected the rest of their lives.
In some Christian theological circles, this passage has been used to oppress woman, pointing to woman as the “weaker sex” and placing blame on the woman for initiating sin. Paul in his epistles speaks of Adam - for Paul it was Adam. (Romans 5: 12-13 - For by one man death entered the world and death by sin…those who broke the command as did Adam) It doesn’t matter-
All people are Adam, creatures of the earth — all people are Eve-bearers of life. They are essentially ourselves. Humans.
Jesus, as he was faced with his temptations, chose differently than Adam and Eve. Jesus was also given some options for how he would choose to live and be in the world, whether to claim power now or not.
It is not so different for us. We are all faced; like Adam and Eve, like Jesus, with temptations. “Temptation” is a word that is no longer part of this culture’s vocabulary and thinking. If I should speak to any of my children about “temptation”; I am pretty sure I would get an eye roll and a “what are you even talking about?” We pray each Sunday “Lead us not into temptation," (though modern versions of the Lord’s Pray has substituted that wording and replaced it with, “save us from the time of trial”). As our concept of sin deteriorates, so will and does our concept of temptation.
As we increasingly live in a society where “each man does what is right in his or her own eyes," the concept of being tempted will be lost, because everything becomes permissible.
To be tempted means to be pulled away from our Creator by substituting the temporal for the eternal.
To be pulled away from our Creator by substituting the temporal for the eternal.
We are pulled away from the purpose for which we were created: to live in God, to be one with God, to delight in God, to know the mind of God.
Temptation also means to disregard the words and commandments we have been considering during this liturgical season: to ignore the fact that the Beatitudes of Jesus are indeed addressed to us, to forget to walk humbly with our God, to forget to love mercy and to do justice, as the prophet Micah urged us.
All temptation centers at keeping us from the observance of these directions on how we should live.
Jesus had a choice. Adam and Eve had a choice. You and I have choices.
Jesus went for time alone. In native American cultures young adults often went on a vision quest, where the purpose was to spend time alone and receive guidance for their life’s direction. This is foreign concept for most of us. We spend time with our smart phone and our smart gadgets, so that we don’t have to spend time by ourselves. But Jesus headed to the wilderness (led by the Spirit it says). He sought guidance and strength.
Setting aside time for reflection, time to focus on Jesus and who He is, and what He desires for us — to be deliberately conscious about what principles and values we are going to undergird our lives with -- and setting side time to find strength and renewal for what may come is not wasted time.
You probably are aware by now that I do like country music. Aaron Tippin has a song about all of this, in which the most famous line is, “You have got to stand for something, or you will fall for anything” then it goes on… “never compromise what’s right, and uphold your family name…”
As we move into Lent, both as community and individually, how are we upholding our “family” name?
How well do others see Christ in us? What areas might we need to work on? How do we plan on working them?
The Collect for today entreated, ‘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’.
Romans 5:19 assures us that by one man’s obedience, many will be made righteous.
Jesus knows our weaknesses. He knows where we will fall short. He made it ok for us in spite of ourselves. He is with us in our weakness.
Lean into Jesus. Lean into God. Behold him this Lenten season.
Take time to reflect, to strength, to sustain. To repent of what needs to be repented of. So that you can move forward clear about who you are. And to whom you belong. And how you are going to be. So when temptations come; you know God is mighty to save.
Amen.
Reflection is a rare and precious practice. We are a people who cram our days so full of activity, and we honor productivity to such an extent that taking time to reflect and ponder is something that few do. The sound of our extroversion has diminished our appreciation for silence. To add an hour to our week that we may entitle, “Time for reflection” would appear ludicrous to those around us; an hour where we take time to think about our lives and the lives of those around us. The season of Lent is a season of reflection, of pondering.
The past few years of my life have been spent partly consumed in the raising of teenagers. They begin contemplating what they are going to do with their lives, what college might they attend, what do they want to study if they do go to college? There is intense pressure on our high school seniors especially this time of year as they are making final decisions on things. Their lives are changing and shifting and it is a time filled with uncertainty.
There is so much focus on “the doing” that not much space is given to reflection on the larger picture of things — a picture that is less consumed with the immediate and more focused on universal life questions. How much money am I going to make and what is the quickest way I can make it, are often the focus — what job can I secure? This is a necessary focus and an important one to a parent who wishes to see their child succeed, but as they make these decisions there are other things I desire that they would think about as they set out on their journey alone. It has been part of my job as a parent to encourage them to think about these things. Who do you want to be in the world and what life practices do you need to embrace to be that person?
Today’s gospel passage is commonly referred to as the temptation of Christ. It references three temptations that were brought to Jesus.
Jesus is coming from the water’s of baptism where the skies had opened up and God had thundered the affirmation that,“This is my Son, the Beloved.” He had been baptized and pronounced who he was, The Beloved.
But what does it mean? What are the practical implications of being God’s beloved?
Jesus had to determine how he was going to live his life too and what he was going to do with it.
Jesus had been lead out into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. We are told that he fasted and prayed. He gained clarity during that time. The clarity that Jesus gained out in the wilderness — the decisions that he made at that time informed the rest of the journey.
We are all faced with the question of “What are the values that are going to undergird my life?” whether we consciously acknowledge it or not. Whether we take the time to deliberately choose or not. We make choices that point to our value system.
The path that we follow is the consequence of multitude of small decisions about how are going to live our life and the values that we have allowed to inform it.
While there are a multitude of directions that we could go, little by little we narrow down the direction of our life by the choices that we make.
Jesus was confronted with some choices by the devil. In our Old Testament reading, Adam and Eve were faced with some choices. The story is that they were tempted by the powers of the world, powers to be more like God, and a choice was made that affected the rest of their lives.
In some Christian theological circles, this passage has been used to oppress woman, pointing to woman as the “weaker sex” and placing blame on the woman for initiating sin. Paul in his epistles speaks of Adam - for Paul it was Adam. (Romans 5: 12-13 - For by one man death entered the world and death by sin…those who broke the command as did Adam) It doesn’t matter-
All people are Adam, creatures of the earth — all people are Eve-bearers of life. They are essentially ourselves. Humans.
Jesus, as he was faced with his temptations, chose differently than Adam and Eve. Jesus was also given some options for how he would choose to live and be in the world, whether to claim power now or not.
It is not so different for us. We are all faced; like Adam and Eve, like Jesus, with temptations. “Temptation” is a word that is no longer part of this culture’s vocabulary and thinking. If I should speak to any of my children about “temptation”; I am pretty sure I would get an eye roll and a “what are you even talking about?” We pray each Sunday “Lead us not into temptation," (though modern versions of the Lord’s Pray has substituted that wording and replaced it with, “save us from the time of trial”). As our concept of sin deteriorates, so will and does our concept of temptation.
As we increasingly live in a society where “each man does what is right in his or her own eyes," the concept of being tempted will be lost, because everything becomes permissible.
To be tempted means to be pulled away from our Creator by substituting the temporal for the eternal.
To be pulled away from our Creator by substituting the temporal for the eternal.
We are pulled away from the purpose for which we were created: to live in God, to be one with God, to delight in God, to know the mind of God.
Temptation also means to disregard the words and commandments we have been considering during this liturgical season: to ignore the fact that the Beatitudes of Jesus are indeed addressed to us, to forget to walk humbly with our God, to forget to love mercy and to do justice, as the prophet Micah urged us.
All temptation centers at keeping us from the observance of these directions on how we should live.
Jesus had a choice. Adam and Eve had a choice. You and I have choices.
Jesus went for time alone. In native American cultures young adults often went on a vision quest, where the purpose was to spend time alone and receive guidance for their life’s direction. This is foreign concept for most of us. We spend time with our smart phone and our smart gadgets, so that we don’t have to spend time by ourselves. But Jesus headed to the wilderness (led by the Spirit it says). He sought guidance and strength.
Setting aside time for reflection, time to focus on Jesus and who He is, and what He desires for us — to be deliberately conscious about what principles and values we are going to undergird our lives with -- and setting side time to find strength and renewal for what may come is not wasted time.
You probably are aware by now that I do like country music. Aaron Tippin has a song about all of this, in which the most famous line is, “You have got to stand for something, or you will fall for anything” then it goes on… “never compromise what’s right, and uphold your family name…”
As we move into Lent, both as community and individually, how are we upholding our “family” name?
How well do others see Christ in us? What areas might we need to work on? How do we plan on working them?
The Collect for today entreated, ‘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’.
Romans 5:19 assures us that by one man’s obedience, many will be made righteous.
Jesus knows our weaknesses. He knows where we will fall short. He made it ok for us in spite of ourselves. He is with us in our weakness.
Lean into Jesus. Lean into God. Behold him this Lenten season.
Take time to reflect, to strength, to sustain. To repent of what needs to be repented of. So that you can move forward clear about who you are. And to whom you belong. And how you are going to be. So when temptations come; you know God is mighty to save.
Amen.