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Clearing The Stream: Lent 2023

  • Jesus begins his ministry in the wilderness, setting himself up for what is to come in the passage
    • Wilderness is often a cue for us - a thin space where God is: the burning bush, Moses upon the mountain, Jesus removing himself - all comes back to the wilderness.
    • It is in part because it is far less controllable by humans. We enter into wilderness less equipped to manage the environment.
    • Moreover, Jesus spends forty days and night fasting. Whether that's a literal 40 days or a reminder of other 40s in the Scriptures isn't important. Jesus has doubly made himself vulnerable - both in environment and in his own condition.
    • These kind of vulnerable moments can often expose a person and their deepest self.
  • Jesus is offered the tempting gifts of distraction
    • Interesting - the phrasing here is not "the devil," but instead "the one testing." This is more like a proctor, this is less sin and more test.
    • What is Jesus tested on?
      • His immediate needs - he's hungry and could be fed
      • His very existence - jump off a cliff and you'll probably be fine
      • And the appeal to his life - give up who you think you are and gain power.
    • And I don't think we could judge Jesus too much if he hadn't at least been curious about what he could have recieved.
      • Had he taken the stones to bread, he'd no longer be famished.
      • Had he jumped, he would have had a physical instance of what he had just heard a couple months earlier in his baptism: that God is well pleased with him. So much so that he would save his life.
      • Had he taken the power, well, why wouldn't you want the control of all you see?
    • And in varying capacities, all of those kinds of temptations are offered to us as well, and we often find them offered to us when we are vulnerable. And I'd argue it's because these vulnerable moments are truly difficult. It's why Lent can be something in general to be so hard to be convinced to engage in. To not only ask ourselves to enter into a wilderness each year, make ourselves vulnerable and respond to the temptations that would distract us away from the vulnerability and famishedness of it all... well, why would any of us?
  • Well, here's why: Jesus responds to each with a central theme - what matters beyond
    • Where Jesus goes back to is the core of what he believes - over and over, he responds with the text itself. And at this point, given the situation, I believe that this isn't just lip service. When you're that tired, that out of the comfort zone, this is just simply who one is.
    • We can often believe that we, too, are the sum of our distractions. Yet, we too hear God through Christ tell us that we are Beloved.
  • Lent is a chance to clear the stream, avoid the distractions, and find our center.
    • What are the things that drive us, truly? When we are vulnerable, what is in our hearts? At times, we might be fearful of that response
    • In Lent, we invite one another into that journey.
    • And we may be tested - but here's the gift of the wilderness: we are always cared for in the midst of it. Noah is cared for after the flood. Moses and the people are cared for in their wanderings. And so is Jesus after the tests.
    • God will care for us in the midst of our wilderness, our vulnerability. That's a promise. So we can enter it with more confidence.
  • What's the thing that tempts us now?
    • You have thin pieces of paper.
    • What would it be like to write that thing and drop it in the font as you head towards communion? The waters of baptism themselves a reminder of care in the midst of vulnerability.