Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
Psalm 91

                                                Temptation 

Jesus has gone unprotected into the wilderness and there he was tempted by the devil.  He was weakened by fasting and exposure, and totally alone, or at least appeared to be.  This is a situation where one is ripe for the picking, a vulnerable and easy target for all sorts of temptations.  And in the terms and images so common to Holy Scripture, temptation was personified by Satan. It is right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and proof of the power of God to protect his chosen one from the assaults of temptation and evil.  Perhaps this was a necessary preparation for what Jesus was about to face in fulfillment of his inevitable destiny.  He will be challenged again, even on the cross, to save himself if he were indeed the Son of God.  But he never yielded to temptation.  He didn’t have to.  

The Old Testament concept of Satan was simply an “adversary”.  In time, this came to represent a prosecutor, and then evil or an evil one.  Until the Enlightenment, many people thought of Satan as a real person or type, lurking in the darkness waiting to prey on the unfaithful or unwary.  It was a frightening concept and many ordinary people must have lived their lives in terror.  Satan was the incarnation of evil, a real person to be feared and resisted. I guess evil is easier to understand in the form of a person rather than an idea.  I don’t know where the horns and tail came from.  But you will see that in medieval woodcuts and Dante’s Inferno.  And when we fear or hate someone or some group, we call it “demonization”, conferring Satanic qualities on him or them to get rid of them, to cast them out.  Name the demon and you can kill it.   

The Satan in this story is the tempter.  He offers easy relief from danger, hunger, and thirst.  And he taunts Jesus to prove his divinity and to call upon God for protection.  Jesus will not be tempted.  This is his first great test and he rejects the easy answer to a challenge clearly motivated by evil.  He did not need to call upon God for protection.  He already had it.  He had nothing to prove.  Indeed, the very fact of Satan’s challenge had already proven that Satan also knew and feared God.  That in itself was a proof, if such were needed.

 For many of us, Lent is a time when we are a little more vulnerable and exposed.  We have entered into a season of fasting and reflection.  In our prayer, we let down our guard a little, and are open not only to the voice of God but to all sorts of assaults from outside and inside.  I suspect that is why we may not always allow ourselves to be in a “Lenten” state of mind.  It takes a lot of energy to be able to resist everything that comes our way.  So maybe it is ok to set aside a special season just for this, when we can be prepared for the unexpected and able to reflect on its meaning and importance in our lives. 

So we now begin a perilous journey.  The further you go into the wilderness, the greater the exposure and risk.  It would be easy to hesitate and turn back.  But I urge you to have the courage and confidence to continue.  I will go with you.  Your fellow Christians will go with you.  You may feel like you are alone but you are not.

Hesitation is normal and easy to give in to.  Nobody intentionally wants to invite painful memories or expose flaws in relationships that seem to be going smoothly.  Why stir up trouble?  Let sleeping dogs lie.  But this is Lent.  This is when we learn about Jesus intentionally confronting Satan in the wilderness.  And Jesus prevailed.  The tempter can be overcome.  I think that you can trust God to be looking over you and that, whatever the vulnerability, you can prevail and be stronger for it. 

 You might think that ministers and priests are girded with emotional armor and can deal with suffering and pain in a professional and detached manner.  But I am still tempted to avoid these pastoral situations.  Too painful, too close to home.  In the past, I often ran away.  And I hate these church gatherings where you have to reveal information about yourself or deal one-on-one with someone you just met.  It is safer to communicate by computer and to retreat into sermonizing.  But Lent is the time to admit these inhibitions and fears and deal with them head-on.  It isn’t so hard to walk into a sickroom or to share a person’s grief. It isn’t a crime to reveal a little of oneself.  It is a demonstration of trust.  But sometimes it is easier said than done.  This is still a work in progress.

 What are your demons?  Where do they hide?  Are there things that you would rather leave alone and keep hidden, even from your own prayers?  Some of these demons are the very things that prevent one from opening up to God.  Starting to pray can create an outpouring of pent-up desires, fears, and unresolved issues long hidden away.  But this Lenten season I urge you  to take some spiritual and emotional risks.  Let down your guard and really pray.  Ask God’s help, without worrying about the possibility of rejection or indifference.  Ask for guidance in difficult situations.  Ask for relief from suffering or grief.  Ask for forgiveness.  You can’t control God and you may or may not be satisfied.  But have the confidence to ask.  Don’t hide from God.  And when you do it, you will grow stronger.  Your faith will be articulated.  And when it is named and spoken out loud, it becomes the greater reality.   It might be refreshing for you to speak openly of faith and Jesus and God.  Reintroduce it into your conversation and it will become part of your ordinary thinking. 

 When you make the Lord your refuge, he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.  You will be safe and protected no matter where this journey takes you.  I bid you a Holy and meaningful Lent with full faith in God’s protection and grace and the hope of the Resurrection.  Amen.