A version of a sermon I presented to All Saints Internation congregation in Nagoya, Japan.
As disciples of Jesus Christ our faith is not an escape from but an entry point into --- the joy and resurrection of Easter. But to get to Easter we are to go through the cross and tomb. It is a journey of trust, truth, and transparency.
Before we begin let us back up. On Ash Wednesday this past week (February 17) a journey began called Lent that we take with God for 40 days before Easter. The word “lent” is derived from the old English word “to lengthen,” as in the lengthening of days to Spring. Lent began on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday as the count does not include Sundays --- those are days of rest and reflection. But the most interesting part for me is the number 40.
Forty is not arbitrary. In the Bible, there are several important Biblical events that are measured in the number 40; 40 years in the journey from Egypt to the promised land for one. And of course, as we hear today, Jesus goes out into the wilderness for 40 days, where he wrestles with evil, which challenges his identity and faith. The author of Mark says he is “tempted by Satan,” evil personified. Forty days of being tested and tempted in the wilderness. At the end of those 40 days, Jesus emerges, but it does not get any easier. The greatest challenges are still to come.
In other words, these 40 days in wilderness are just the beginning. So, what can these 40 days tell us as we ourselves journey to the cross?
Let us move on to the lesson. Scholars debate how much Jesus knows at this early point in the story. I do not know if Jesus understands exactly how it will all unfold, all the details. I think he knows something. Something has begun that will test his will and resolve and faithfulness. As the passage opens, and the Gospel of Mark is so consistent this way --- no mincing of words --- we find Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin, John. A voice from heaven breaks through the sounds of the rushing water and cutting through the hubbub of a crowd, the Spirit descends on Jesus like a dove. “You are my son, the Beloved,” says the voice; “with you I am well pleased” (v. 11).
This event affirms once again that God is the one who gives Jesus his identity, marking him as someone special, someone who has God’s favor. In a very real sense, Jesus begins his ministry equipped and protected with nothing less than the full love of a divine parent. Jesus goes forth into the wilderness with a bond --- a trust --- knowing in a powerful way that he is loved. This is the first key learning for me. We are loved and that is where every day begins.
The Gospel of Mark does not expound much on the temptations that Jesus faced out in the wilderness, but the gospels of Matthew and Luke do.
Now reminded that he is fitted with God’s love, the first temptation is like a bullying kid in a school playground, coming fast and furious in the first couple of days. Satan dares Jesus to do something risky. Using Scripture as the basis for his response, Jesus does not take the leap: Satan says, “Satisfy your hunger and turn these stones to bread.” Jesus in response points to self-denial, recognizing that everything comes from God and that God provides. This is for me the second key learning; a reminder that in these 40 days not everything is about us. As important as we may be, the universe does not revolve around us, certainly God does not. Everything comes from God and God provides.
In the next temptation I have always imagined it happening later after Jesus had some time to get hungrier, thirstier, and more alone. Conceivably this second temptation came when Jesus is debating if he did the right thing. In this temptation personified evil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. “Jump off,” says the bully, “and land unharmed. If you are so great, God will protect you.” Jesus responds with common sense, knowing that people who have real power do not need to show it off or use it to suit their own ends. This is the third key learning for me, reason is not antithetical to our Christian journey these 40 days.
Then there comes the third temptation, again another large one. Perhaps after the hunger in Jesus had grown to the point of desperation when out of the haze and keenness of his hunger in this journey he hears — “All the kingdoms of the world can be yours,” says Satan, “if you’ll only worship me.” To which Jesus responds with humility --- the most difficult of the temptations for us at this point --- and says that God is the only one worth serving. An important lesson like the first temptation but important coming right after Ash Wednesday when we are reminded that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
What does all this mean for all of us? And why put this gospel at the near beginning of our own Lenten journey? Maybe you do not need a reminder. As for me it is good that we have this gospel near the beginning, for as we go out into a world fraught with so many temptations and potential pitfalls, our first line of defense begins with our own baptism; to know that God loves us. That we are “beloved” because of God’s grace. The knowledge and experience, forged through the day-to-day relationship we walk in with God, are better predictors of heart, mind, and soul protection than any memory verses. As we know that God cares for us, we can move out smartly to take on the bumps and jumps the day throws at us. The other learnings come next --- humility, that not everything is about us, and that reason is important are helpful, but they all begin with that foundation piece, I am loved.
I could end there but then we would be avoiding this harsh truth, remember Jesus is driven by the Spirit into a wilderness; a physical place where few people go. But this “wilderness” is more than physical --- if that was not enough --- it is spiritually as well, and this is even more tricky. I mean if I cannot handle missing a meal, there is always a convenience store I can stop at. Spiritual wildernesses on the other hand are those places where few of us ever want to go and many convenient exits to help us avoid it. Who wants to go where we wrestle with ourselves, and our spirit, and our relationship with God? This is the transparency in our Lenten journey.
What good is that spiritual wrestling? We cannot put it on a résumé. We cannot earn any money from it; I suppose we could write a bestseller. Spiritual wrestling with evil does not really make our lives easier; it may even make it harder. So why do it?
Because in transparency, let us admit it, we have often been in the wilderness, maybe not the Mongolian desert, but wilderness, nonetheless. The reality of our lives is that we spend a lot of time doing the best we can. We spend a lot of time facing temptation and wrestling with God, a lot of time with various demons if you will.
And in all transparency, this faith thing is hard. Thus, we have today’s gospel to recenter our journeys. In Lent we can spend wilderness days not alone but with one who has been there before, reminded daily that we are not alone. That is good news.
Whatever that spiritual and physical wilderness may include, God looks at us with nothing but compassion and love. After all, God watched God’s own child go through challenging times. There is more good news, too. Because sometimes our spiritual wilderness can do more than challenge us. They can change us for it going through the desolate places, the painful places, we can also find joy. Sometimes we cannot avoid hitting rock bottom before we can find the solid ground of our being. Lent is a season for discoveries like that.
Lent is a physical countdown certainly, but it is intended for greater depth of introspection. For 40 days we are asked to go into a wilderness places and to prepare ourselves for the journey to the cross. What will we do to quicken our pulse, remind us of our hunger? Whatever it may be in these lengthening days we are to wrestle with the hard stuff. To face temptation and to choose to follow Christ anyway.
None of us should be surprised that we would rather jump to the end --- “Easter” --- because many like celebrations; not everyone likes setting up for it. But those of us who choose to make this 40-day wilderness journey of trust, truth and transparency may discover something meaningful along the way like the fact that Christ is there, too. Amen.