Lent - Temptation In The Wilderness
Rebecca Clancy
Luke 4:1-13
I have been in the wilderness just once.
I was hiking in the mountainous desert of the southwest. I was alone. That you may deem foolish, but I hike and run and cycle in large part to be alone. I am a person who requires solitude. And too, I admit, I tend to imagine I’m indestructible. At any rate, I was at least well prepared – properly conditioned, appropriately attired, possessed of compass and canteen. A few hours into the hike, as I was replacing my canteen in my pack, it tumbled down the side of the mountain. I knew I had to retrieve it, that I probably could not make it back without it. It was not a case of – ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It was 90 degrees, and I was nearly ten miles from the road. So I left the path and climbed down the side of the mountain. I quickly realized it would be nearly impossible to retrieve my canteen. Once off the path the terrain was rough and indistinguishable, so much so that I lost my bearings. I climbed back up well past where the path should have been but couldn’t find it. By this time, my thirst was becoming increasingly urgent, and with increasing urgency I climbed back down to search for my canteen, but of course, to no avail. Finding myself without the strength to climb up again, I had no recourse but to follow the wadi at the bottom of the mountain hoping it would lead somewhere. As it happened, it led out into the dessert. My thirst became desperate and unbearable. My walk became a stagger. Some irrational impulse led me to cry out for help, but I found I no longer had no voice. The terms of the situation were suddenly made clear to me. This would be my last day. I would die of thirst this day in the dessert.
It was then I entered the wilderness. The wilderness is less a place of physical torment than of spiritual torment. It is hard to describe to those who have never been there. It is as if all the structures that confer meaning upon existence fall away and without them looms the dread and despair that there is no meaning, only futility. The wilderness is, I suppose, the keen and vivid experience of godlessness in the face of death.
Mercifully my time in the wilderness didn’t last long. My thoughts turned, or were led, to Jesus. “He thirsted from his cross,” I thought, and I was given to hope that by sharing in his suffering I would be purged of my sin and he would receive me home. With that thought, I was no longer in the wilderness.
I have been in the wilderness just once, but let me tell you, once is enough. I hope never to return there, but I realize it’s not my choice. For one cannot avoid the wilderness by avoiding the dessert. Some people find themselves in the wilderness even despite those structures which confer meaning upon existence, which for most hold it at bay. Friedrich Nietzsche, for instance, was one such individual, though he called the wilderness the abyss. He stared into it, made a feeble stand against it in his philosophy, and then went insane.
This is why to consider that Jesus -- having learned from the Spirit at his baptism that his vocation was to die for the sin of humankind -- was thereupon driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, is to make one shudder in revulsion and horror. It was in that place of torture and torment, of intolerable desolation, that Jesus was forced to master all doubt that indeed his death was for the sin of humankind, that his death would be the means by which the sin of humankind would be forgiven and all death the means to reconciliation with God.
But why, one wonders, why would the Spirit drive him there? Why would the Spirit add to the burden it had already placed upon him at his baptism? It was in fact because the Spirit sought to help Jesus to honor what it knew would be his intention. The Spirit knew that if Jesus could determine in the wilderness to die for the sin of humankind, he could too make good on that determination. And so the Spirit drove him there, careless even that the wilderness was the stalking ground of the devil.
And the devil indeed found him there. After all, he had his interest to protect. He could not allow Jesus to die for the sin of humankind; he could not allow Jesus’ death to be the means by which the sin of humankind would be forgiven and all death the means to reconciliation with God. Death was his greatest weapon against humankind, the means by which he held humankind captive through fear and cynicism. He intended to protect that interest, and the only way to do so was to tempt Jesus from determining to die for the sin of humankind. And the devil knew just what to do, knew to lead into Jesus’ goodness.
"If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Jesus was half starved; for he had been fasting forty days. Jesus felt
the deep need of all those who hunger. He could, as the devil suggested, use the miraculous power entrusted to him as the Son of God to feed the hungry. His vocation could be to provide concrete relief in the here and now. But he recalled the word of God, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
The devil next took him to the pinnacle of the temple, “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.’” The devil was at him most beguiling, for he quoted to Jesus that same word of God Jesus had turned to for fortification. “Jump,” the devil coaxed. “At God’s own word, he will protect you. Let that be the sign that you are the Son of God. Everyone will believe, and you need not die.” But Jesus knew that the devil himself can cite scripture, so resisted him again, “… it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Finally, the devil took him to the top of a mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Another lead into Jesus’ goodness. “You can rule the whole world,” the devil bargained, “and be the best ruler the world has ever known, so long as death remains under my control.” But the devil, in these repeated temptations began to reveal himself for who he was, and ironically drove Jesus from the wilderness. “Away with you Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Jesus had triumphed as the Spirit intended. He determined in the wilderness, in the face there even of the devil’s temptations, to die for the sin of humankind and it was a determination he could make good on.
And the devil had played into his hands in more ways than one. Jesus would now recognize all temptations from his determination to die for the sin of humankind as precisely the temptation of the devil – Peter’s rebuke to him that he must not die, the crowds at Palm Sunday who acknowledged and hailed him as a political messiah, his own terror at the Garden of Gethsemane, and the jeers at him on his cross, “If you are the Son of God, save yourself.”
Yet it is difficult to fathom the depth of the suffering Jesus endured in the wilderness and strength he somehow summoned there. Part of the grace I
received from my own time in the wilderness is that I can now better glimpse it. But what kind of man could endure that suffering and summon that strength? Only one kind of man, if you think about it, a man of perfect love as was his -- love for his father, love for humankind.
We are bid this first Sunday in Lent to reflect upon Jesus in the wilderness, and as we do so, to reflect too as honestly and openly as we are able about our own lives over against his; to ask ourselves questions like these: Am I mindful of what he endured for me? Do I live a life worthy of him? Am I the person he calls me to be? Do I love all those as he bids me to love? Am I loyal to him? Could I stand before him?
And we will know if we have entered the season of Lent if our reflection issues in repentance, which particularly in Lent, but in every season of the Christian year, is the practice and mark of the true Christian. Amen.
Romans 8:25 Waiting on the Lord Many years ago, almost too many to count, I had the opportunity to study the Old Testament at the University of Edinburgh. That means that I had the opportunity to live in Scotland for a time -- so I am here to tell you that there is more to Scottish culture than kilts and bagpipes. There is the Scottish national dish -- Haggis to be precise. In case you’re unfamiliar with Haggis, it is made from the liver, heart, and lungs of a sheep. They pack them into the sheep’s stomach, toss in a little oatmeal, and boil it. I only tried it once. Once was enough. Then there’s the Scottish national flower – the thistle. You see thistles everywhere -- on flags, coats of armor, dishware. They were once even featured on the currency. I would have thought that heather would have been a better contender for the Scottish national flower -- it is everywhere, and it’s much less prickly -- but no one consulted me. Then there’s the Scottish national poet, Bobby Burns. Burns wrote in Old Scottish. I actually picked up quite a bit of Old Scottish during my time in Edinburgh. I pride myself that I can recite much of his poetry by heart. Old Scottish is unintelligible to the modern ear, but the Scots still love him. I used to walk past the Scottish National Gallery of Art on the way to class. You could peer in the front door and see the famed portrait of him. If you’re unacquainted with his work, he wrote, To a Mouse. To a Louse. And, I kid you not, Address to a Haggis. And then, of course, there’s Greyfriars Bobby. I guess you could call Greyfriars Bobby the Scottish national dog. Grayfriers Bobby was a good Scottish breed -- the Skye Terrior. He and his master were inseparable, and after his master’s untimely death, Greyfriars Bobby remained at his master’s graveside -- day in and day out -- for 14 years, until he himself died. Greyfriars Bobby is a testament of devotion and loyalty not just to the Scottish, but to everyone. A statue of Greyfriars Bobby stands in the heart of town. At the funeral of his master, when the casket was being lowered into its final resting place, Greyfriars Bobby gave way to grief. He whined, whimpered and pawed at the grave. Beyond his grief, however, Greyfriars Bobby settled into a daily routine. Every day, when the 1:00 gun was fired, a man by the name of William Dow, who had befriended Grayfriers Bobby, picked him up at the cemetery. They strolled together to a local coffee shop, where Grayfriers Bobby ate his daily meal. After a bit of socializing, they strolled back to the cemetery. Greyfriars Bobby settled back onto his master’s gravesite and watched the sunset. There were attempts to lure Greyfriars Bobby away from his master’s graveside, especially in inclement weather, but they were fruitless. Greyfrirs Bobby refused to leave. Greyfriars Bobby is all the proof I need that dogs go to heaven. Do you really think that he when arrived at the Pearly Gates to be reunited with his master, Peter, who Jesus entrusted with the keys to bound and to loose, turned him away on the grounds that he was a dog? That makes no sense to me. And I’m sure it made no sense to Peter. There’s a lesson we can learn this morning from Greyfriars Bobby. And lest you register skepticism that there’s a lesson we can learn from dogs -- this is the whole point of the book of Ruth – that we can learn lessons in unexpected places. Ruth was a despised foreigner. She was feared. She was suspected. She was accused. Yet there were lessons that the people of Israel learned from her. There are lessons we can learn in unexpected places. At least that’s what the Bible proclaims. And it’s not just Ruth. It’s Ruth, yes. But it’s also the Good Samaritan; it’s the Magi, it's the Roman Centurion, it’s the Canaanite woman, it’s the Ninevites, it’s the Ethiopian eunich, it’s Cornelius. And if the Bible hits you over the head with something that many times, and you still refuse to accept it, you’re just being stubborn. There are lessons we can learn in unexpected places. And the more unexpected the place, the more important the lesson. Sure, there’s a lesson we can learn from Greyfriars Bobby about loyalty and devotion, but there’s also a lesson we can learn from him about waiting for someone. Because if you think about it, we are all waiting for someone. Every one of us. It could be someone who is angry with us – someone who holds a grudge against us, someone who dislikes us, someone from whom we are estranged. It could be someone who is stationed at a far-flung corner of the earth -- someone who is called to serve and sacrifice, someone who has placed himself in harm’s way, someone we may never see again. It could be someone who has fallen prey to an addiction – someone who is facing an uphill battle, someone who has made strides only to fall back, someone whose potential and possibility are under siege. And it could be, like with Greyfriars Bobby, someone that we lost – someone who is irreplaceable, someone who enriched and defined our lives, someone who spared us from loneliness and aimlessness. We are all waiting for someone. And so, we can learn a lesson from Greyfriars Bobby, and it is this. Yes, for a time we grieve their absence. We weep. We mourn. We despair, even. We do all these things…for a time. But then we must get back to the business of living. As Langston Hughes reminds us, Life is for the living. We must get back to the business of living – of caring for others, of speaking the truth, of practicing fairness, of sacrificing for others, of sharing our abundance, of striving for peace – of doing the best we can to prove, day by day, that we have heard the upward call of Jesus Christ. While all the while we are waiting for someone. But here’s the thing. We don’t wait in vain. Because we wait, ultimately, through Jesus Christ -- so we wait for our eternal home in heaven where those for whom we wait are waiting for us. And we will know that joyous reunion that Greyfriars Bobby and his master now know. Amen.
John 20:1-18 But why? Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? There is, of course, the easy answer. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb because, arriving at the tomb, she discovered that Jesus’ body had been stolen. But that’s the easy answer. Easy answers are, as often as not, simplifications; and simplifications are, as often as not, distortions. So, let us look beyond the easy answer and ask again, Why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? Mary was one of those people whom nature had favored. And nature does play favorites -- that much is undeniable. Mary was tenacious, discerning, steadfast, spontaneous, courageous – not to mention brimming with natural affections. Yes, she was one of those people whom nature had favored, but sometimes that is not enough. Mary had a bad start in life, and that tends to temper even nature’s most generous gifts. When Jesus first encountered Mary, she was not of sound spirit. She was afflicted and tormented. But Jesus performed a miracle that recalled her to life. She became his passionate and devoted follower. It would seem that her past was behind her. Like with so many others Jesus encountered, Mary had been lost and now was found. But this only led her to the foot of his cross. She had endured the entire spectacle. Dark men – petty, jealous, and scheming -- closed in on him. They subjected him to a farce of a trial, and this only as a formality. They intended to see him executed from the very beginning. The disciples, for their part, panicked and scattered. What if they were next to be targeted? But not Mary. She abided with him those endless hours as he hung on the cross right through to his death agony. She watched from a distance as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus deposed his body from the cross and laid it in a tomb. Mary was shattered. She was traumatized. She was devastated. She was forced to endure the unthinkable – the death of one deeply beloved, and to malicious violence. But Mary was not entirely bereft. She still had his body. She could cleanse and anoint it, bestow upon it what loving care she could. And going forward she could become that person – the one who visits the graveside, the one who keeps memories alive, the one whose tears are never exhausted. In time she would achieve a sort of notoriety for it, but it’s the kind of notoriety no one wants. But she arrived at his tomb only to discover that his body had been stolen. So why did Mary stand weeping outside the tomb? She stood weeping outside the tomb because she had hit rock bottom. I have never hit rock bottom. If dread keeps it at bay, dread has done that much for me. But I have seen others who have. It’s a terrible thing to witness, much less to experience. A kind of derangement takes hold. They aren’t recognizable. They aren’t themselves. This is why Mary couldn’t add up two and two. She peered into the tomb and saw two angels robed in white raiment. Why are you weeping? They asked. Now they didn’t ask because they wanted to hear her theory about the graverobbers. This was not the sense of their question. Woman, why are you weeping? They were asking to convey that there was nothing to weep about. And it was the same thing when the resurrected Jesus asked the same question. Woman, why are you weeping? There’s nothing to weep about. I am alive. I am here. I am with you. Dry your tears. But Mary had hit rock bottom, so it didn’t add up. But then Jesus said something. Something cataclysmic. Something earth shattering. Something beyond description and explanation. And something right under our noses. If there’s one trait we all share, one thing we are all good at, one thing we are all GREAT at, it’s not seeing what’s right under our noses. Jesus called her by name. Mary! he said. And suddenly the truth broke in on her. Dimly, but at the same time, and paradoxically, with crystal clarity. She knew. She knew how we know most deeply – in our bones, in our guts, in our hearts. This man so beloved by her – her teacher, healer, leader, friend….he was much more than that. He was the one that time could not bind, the one that darkness could not thwart. He was the one over whom death had no dominion. He was the one she declared him to be. He was the Lord. And he called her by name . Rock bottom? There was no rock bottom. There was only hope, consolation, meaning, purpose, direction, relief, and rejoicing. From his height to her depth, he called her by name. Rock bottom? She now had good news to proclaim, and she proclaimed it for all she was worth. Friends in Christ, her good news is our good news. No matter what you’ve done, what you are doing, or what you will do. No matter how low you fall. No matter how deep you sink. No matter how bad you’re stuck. His deliverance has your name on it. His triumph has your name on it. His love has your name on it. So let us call him by name – Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
I Samuel 16:4-5 Matthew 5:9 To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It was because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And let’s not pretend that it doesn’t. The hold outs among us might stick their chests out and assert that conflict has no effect on them -- that they are immune from conflict. But personally, I’m a bit skeptical. As I’ve mentioned before, in my various vocations and avocations, I have been subjected to psychological tests. And not just a few of them. And one of the areas that is tested is how you react to conflict – whether you are conflict tolerant or conflict intolerant. According to the tests, I am conflict tolerant, as conflict tolerant as one can be. According to the tests, there is nothing that makes me more comfortable, and more relaxed, and more at ease than conflict. Conflict? Bring it on. There’s nothing I relish more. At least according to the tests. But why is it that in the face of conflict, I become preoccupied. I can’t get it off my mind. I become sleepless. I toss and turn at night. And I feel an enormous sense of relief when the conflict is resolved. So, in my own experience at least, conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And that leads us back to our Old Testament Lesson. Talk about conflict! But to understand it, we must back up a bit. In fact, we must back up quite a bit. We all know that Moses received the Ten Commandments atop Mt. Sinai. We all know that with the Ten Commandments in hand, Moses wandered with the people in the wilderness for forty years toward the Promised Land. But we might not all know what happened next. What happened next is that Moses died. Moses was succeeded by Joshua, who conquered the Promised land. And after that? The people settled onto the Promised Land. Since the people were comprised of twelve tribes they settled into the Promised Land accordingly. Each tribe deployed itself on a parcel of land. And they all lived happily ever after. Or not. Problems emerged in short order. The tribes did not get along. Surprise, surprise, the strong tribes picked on the weak ones. Why is it that at all times, and in all places, the strong pick on the weak? But that’s another question. Bottom line, there was disunity among the tribes. Beyond that, they were twelve tribes who each deployed itself on a parcel of land. But they were surrounded by enemies, enemies that had not been wandering around in the wilderness for the past 40 years. Enemies who were trained to fight. So, the people were threatened from within and from without. The closest thing that they had to a leader was Samuel, so they demanded of Samuel a king, a king to unify them and protect them from their enemies. Samuel listened to their demand and anointed King Saul. King Saul was the man of the hour. He was a standout. He stood head and shoulders above all others, was strikingly handsome, and teamed with charisma. He was clearly meant to be. So once again, they all lived happily ever after. Or not. There was something wrong with Saul. Now sometimes when there is something wrong with someone it’s obvious, it’s easy to name – as in the case with addiction, or physically abuse, or mental illness. But sometimes it’s not obvious. Ask twelve scholars what was wrong with Saul, you’ll get twelve different answers. For whatever reason, he proved not to be the stuff of it. He had some fatal flaw. Was it his temper? Was it his jealousy? Was it his paranoia? Was it his anger? Was it his desperation? Because all those things can prove to be fatal flaws. In that last analysis, it doesn’t matter what was wrong with King Saul – simply that there was something wrong with him. Predictably, those closest to him saw it first. But no one else was inclined to believe them. They believed what they wanted to believe, what was easiest to believe. And this is how it goes. The ones closest see it first, and no one is inclined to believe them. Moveover, they didn’t want to face the fact that King Saul was one big false start. But King Saul had some fatal flaw. And fatal flaws are fatal. King Saul deteriorated. It became increasingly difficult to deny. Conflict was brewing. It was not yet open conflict. Soon it would be and in terms too horrific to describe. But rumors were circulating. The atmosphere became charged, and not in a good way. Not one knew just how the thing would play out, but everyone sensed that it would not end well. And that brings us to our Old Testament Lesson. Samuel arrived in Bethlehem, unannounced, unexpected -- in full vestment and with full retinue. What did he want? Why did he single them out? What had they done wrong? Was he there to exact vengeance? In a spark would they all be dead? To set the scene for our Old Testament lesson -- Tension was rife. Anxiety was rife. Dread was rife. And why? It is because there was conflict, and conflict produces tension. Conflict produces anxiety. Conflict produces dread. And so, the people approached Samuel with a question. It was the right question. It was the key question. It was the decisive question. It was this question: Do you come in peace? If you remember one thing about this passage, if you remember one thing about the whole book of Samuel, remember this question. Do you come in peace? Because the people’s question to Samuel is the people’s question to us. Do we come in peace? In the face of conflict do we come in peace? Do we come in peace, or do we come bearing blame for things for which we know we are full well complicit? Do we come in peace, or do we come exacting retribution demanding an eye for an eye? Do we come in peace, or do we come rehearsing old grievances, resentments, jealousies, and grudges? Do we come in peace, or do we come pressing our advantage -- power up, poised to defeat? Because the people’s question to us is also Christ’s question to us? Do we come in peace? Have we gone that extra mile for the one who has burdened us? Have we turned the other cheek? Have we declined to let the sun set on our anger? Have we made peace with our accusers? Do we come in peace? For Christ declares that the peacemakers would be blest, and that through them, but only through them, would his kingdom grow. Amen.
