Thomas E. Myers

February 10, 2008

Matthew 4: 1 – 11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”  ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹ and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

“The Great Undone”

Jesus went into the wilderness and struggled with temptations.  The temptations of self-sufficiency, power, and pride.  This story is a metaphor of Jesus’ spiritual journey.  His hunger was an invitation for Jesus to struggle with the temptation of self-sufficiency.  Most men do.  That’s why we don’t want to stop to ask for directions.  That’s why, as a general rule, men are preoccupied with fixing things.  Turn these stones into bread and take care of your hunger, Jesus.  You can fix it.  We’ve been taught to be self-sufficient and it bothers when we are not.  In the course of our lives, we are led into the desert by the Spirit, to struggle with our temptation to be self-sufficient.

The temptation of self-sufficiency encourages us to ignore our interdependence, we imagine that we can “go it alone,” “I can do it by myself.”  We live as though we do not need the other.  We may even reach the point of living as though we do not need God.

The story doesn’t stop there, this story of what Jesus was not able to accomplish.  Jesus struggled with the temptation of power.  We begin by setting ourselves above others, and often end with oppressing them.  Jesus understood what the abuse of power was all about.  Much of his later teachings focus upon the abuse of power, parental power, religious leaders’ power, the power of men over women, the power of adults over children, and the power of the rich over the poor, and the power of the well over the sick.  The misuse of power leads to cruel or unjust actions toward others in order to keep them down.  His temptation was to use his power over the angels, to be reckless and to take unnecessary risks.  The temptation to use divine dictatorial power rather than the divine power of love.

Next Jesus confronted the temptation of pride.  He resisted the temptation of imagining himself to be better than others, the temptation of being the “top dog” in a little world, or number one with the temple cult.  He resisted the temptation of pride, the demon within that wants to be recognized, worshiped, appreciated.

In all of these temptations Jesus let go, he let go of accomplishing things for his own ego gratification.  Jesus let go of self-sufficiency, power, and pride.  Jesus left behind a lot that was left unaccomplished, and in so doing accomplished much more than he could ever image would happen.

Lent is a time to struggle with our temptations, the temptations that build up the ego but destroy relationship.  We are given, in this story of the temptation of Jesus, the opportunity to rid ourselves of the hidden corruptions that drive us to succeed for all of the wrong reasons.  Lent is a time when we can embrace the fact that there will always be “The Great Undone” in our lives and, it’s not only O.K., it’s healthy. 

Put another way, we should all learn how to let go and realize that when we die there will be a big “honey do list” in the sky that we have not accomplished.  And, not only to recognize it, but to realize that it’s O.K.  We are not loved for what we have accomplished.  We are loved because it is a gift.  We are people who celebrate Grace, God’s great unearned love.

Ash Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near-- ² a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!  Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.

 ¹² Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; ¹³ rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.  ¹⁴ Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD, your God?  ¹⁵ Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; ¹⁶ gather the people.  Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy.

¹⁷ Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep.  Let them say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations.  Why should it be said among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”

2 Corinthians 5:20–6:10

²⁰ So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

¹ As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. ² For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” 

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! ³ We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴ but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, ⁵ beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶ by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, ⁷ truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸ in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹ as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see--we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰ as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Matthew 6:1–6; 16–21

⁶ “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

⁵“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁶“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Good News and Bad News”

Joel’s vision of the day of the Lord prompted images of darkness and light and, conveyed promise and threat – good news and bad news.

The “Day of the Lord” – literally, the “Day of Yahweh” – reminds us that God intrudes into history, where God’s righteousness and justice prevail – demonstrating compassion to the poor, treating everybody justly, and living out a commitment to making peace.  The Day of the Lord is the day when the vale is dropped, it is the day when we see clearly our darkness and light.

If you are living faithfully, the Day of the Lord is the anticipation of the dawning of light.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is…

We all have our shadow…  We have events in our lives, some in the distant past, some in the not so distant past, that need to be reconciled, healed, and acknowledged; so that we might live life more fully and with joy. 

The bad news is…

We deny or refuse to recognize that there is anything deep or dark in our lives.  I’m fine… my family is fine… my job is fine… everything is fine, damn it!   It consumes us.

The good news is…

Lent is the season for soul searching.  It’s O.K. for us to look at our deep dark – forgotten.  It’s O.K.  God already knows about it and it’s not getting in God’s way.  This evening is the beginning for us, Lent is a season where we can be set free, that’s what Ash Wednesday is all about.

The good news, we’re in this together…

Everybody, in our own unique way is a basket case.  We confuse our priorities.  We let the past dictate the present.  We limit the Spirit and diminish life by our fear of the future.  We react before reflecting. 

Yes, the good news is that we are in this together, and God is in this with us.  We are not in this alone.

Now, here is the question for today.  What does Joel’s vision offer us so that our life might become more whole?

 What is here to help us?  For much of the Christian world the gospel offers a rather narrow focus on the judgment day, the second coming of Christ, the parousia, or the end time.  Joel helps us to see that we should not be preoccupied with what will happen at the end of time.  With eyes fixed on judgment day, some people define the importance of becoming a Christian not so much in terms of the joy and fulfillment, but rather in terms of escaping  judgment.  I guess their goal is to deny their shadow.  So when you stand in the presence of God’s light, and you turn around and look at the ground…  The only way to not cast a shadow is not to have a life at all.

The good new…  We have a shadow.

The good news from Joel… the LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.  The Lord relents from punishing. 

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