Lent 1 A 2005
Genesis 2:15-17,3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
Here we are in Lent.
The churches time of waiting and watching and hearing the stories of
Jesus on his way to the cross.
We start of right after the baptism of Jesus, when Jesus is led into the wilderness for 40
days and 40 nights. Fasting and
praying. And then, when he is good and hungry the devil comes
along with those three temptations.
Turn these stones into bread…
Throw yourself of the pinnacle of the temple…
Worship me and all this will be yours…
And Jesus, does not
succumb to any of the devil’s temptations.
No sirree. Not one.
Jesus stands firm and
finally sends the devil away.
Like a boxer in a ring,
ducking and bobbing and finally knocking his opponent out, for the time being. And then the angels come and wait on
him. And strengthen him for the next
round.
Great stuff. Standing
firm, not letting the devil tempt you
with physical desires, the need to show
off, political gain…
Nice isn’t. And then
we hold up these texts and say, “Look at
Jesus, see how strong he is! See how he stands firm. Now, your turn. You can do it. Don’t give in to the devil.”
Yeah, but look, here’s the news flash. We are
not Jesus! I’m sorry folks, but I can’t go without breakfast, much less 40 days of fasting. I’d be making bagels out of rocks as fast as
I could. And who doesn’t want to do
something flashy to be noticed….think how people would flock through the doors
to see me jump of the roof and be caught by angels. And boy oh boy, a little power over the kingdoms of the
world…I have an idea about creating peace in
You can see that I don’t find it particularly helpful to be
told to stand firm like Jesus. To push
away temptations. To treat the devil
like Jesus does.
For we are human.
Caught up in the world and all that comes with it. We are dealing with sin everyday.
Sin. The big S word
that we like to avoid. On the one hand
I’m not like Jesus, but on the other
hand I’m not quite ready to take Sin seriously.
So we call failings
crime and treat it with punishment.
Or we call failings
unhealthiness and treat it with therapy.
But God still calls our brokenness sin. And treats it with grace.
Sin.
Brokenness. Missing the mark. Wanting to be God. Wanting it all for ourselves.
We live in relationship.
No getting around it. We have
families and colleagues and neighbors and friends and a town and a county. We are part of the relationship making up
the state and the nation and the world.
All part of the web of life.
But our relationships with one another and with God are not
perfect. We have all experienced
brokenness in our families, in our
community, in our world.
And this brokenness of relationship is sin. Keeping us separate, tearing us apart, causing us to fight wars.
This brokenness can be within our own self, as we seek to accept ourselves and our gifts and failings. Or between sparring spouses, quarreling neighbors, the division of this community between town
and gown, the rich verses poor, white vs. arab,
Christian vs. Muslim….
We see it everywhere.
The news is full of it, but we
also see reflections of it in the mirror in the morning. Wanting to be loved, to have control, to have some power over our lives.
The Adam lives, no
longer in the garden, close to God. But at a distance, not trusting Eve. Wondering about this God.
But it doesn’t end with sin.
We are not forever caught in a broken web of hatred, violence, mistrust, self-doubt.
For the opposite of Sin is Grace. And Grace is the acceptance of God. A God who knows we are not Jesus. We are not as strong or as confident or as
brave as Jesus.
God knows this yet continues to love us. And shower us with grace.
Not because we have earned it or deserved it. But because God, at heart, is love and healing and hope.
This grace often catches us unaware. It strikes us when we are in the midst of
despair, when we are restless and
estranged. It strikes us on that cold
winter morning when we look once again in the mirror and see not the sinner but
the saint.
It is the look in a stranger’s eye that does not judge. It is the trusting gaze of a small child.
It is the clasp of hands across the borders of hate. It is the working together of rich and poor
to solve problems that affect us all.
Grace is the
understanding of one another that
goes deeper than words. Sitting in
silence at a bedside, walking together
in the park.
Being accepted by God, warts and all.
And in that moment we are changed, transformed,
transfigured into better people.
All right. It doesn’t
last. But it does move us in a new
direction. Empower us to brush ourselves
off and try again to mend fences.
Those moments of grace also show us, for moment, the world as
God created it. Peaceful, lush,
unbroken.
Grace giving moments that see us through life. That let us say yes, to ourselves and to others. That make us whole. And give us hope.
We are not Jesus. We
fall into sin, are overcome by
temptation. Seek after personal
gain, fame and power.
But God know that about us.
And continues to call us back into right relationships. Accepting, guiding, forgiving, loving us. Then sending us back into the fray to try our
hand at accepting others.
Sin and Grace. How we
have received and continue to receive
the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness from Jesus.
Know that God accepts
and loves us and desires the best for us.
May our Lenten journey be filled with moments of grace and times of
peace.
Amen.