First Sunday in Lent February 29, 2004 - Preaching Helps

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Romans 10:8b-13

Luke 4:1-13

First Reading

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 sets a pattern for the modern-day giving of tithes and offerings: gathering a portion of the first fruit of the harvest, presenting it before the altar of the Lord at a local place of worship, and remembering through a creedal declaration the saving acts that God has done. These gifts are offered in gratitude for God's faithfulness in delivering the people out of slavery and for God's generosity in giving them a bountiful land flowing with milk and honey. The gifts are given in gladness, with the Levites and aliens of the land demonstrating the need to show compassion to strangers, as God showed compassion to the Israelites when they were strangers in a foreign land. No matter what generation reads these words, they are commanded to claim the Mosaic history as their own and not merely to recall what their ancestors experienced long ago. God's faithfulness is as true today as it was in the time of the exodus, and it is to be celebrated with all of the people in the land by giving back to God a portion of what God has so generously given to us all.

In the letter to the Romans, 10:8b-13, Paul offers a "formula" for salvation. Paul turns upside down the teaching of Torah by asserting that salvation comes not through the doing of the Law but by confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing with the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Confessing and believing become the operative verbs for salvation, combined with the key to Pauline theology as found in 5:9 ("... now that we have been justified by his blood, we will be saved through him from the wrath of God"). It is not enough to merely know that Jesus is Lord. It must be believed in the heart and then shared with others through a confession of faith. Paul is clear in the universality of this formula in that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. This includes both Jew and Greek; there is no distinction. God's generosity extends to all sinners who look to God for mercy.

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is driven into the wilderness and tempted by the devil immediately following his baptism. Luke slows down the action by inserting the genealogy of Jesus between the baptism and wilderness narratives, establishing Jesus as the Son of God. Luke also describes Jesus' entrance into the wilderness in gentler terms, stating that Jesus was "led" by the Spirit rather than the more aggressive Markan term "driven." Jesus uses passages from Deuteronomy to combat the devil in response to the three temptations. The devil fires back in the third temptation with his own use of Scripture, a passage from Psalm 91, originally meant to inspire trust in God rather than to be used for testing a person's faith. Though the devil tempted Jesus with food at a time when Jesus was famished, tempted Jesus with power when he was particularly weak, and tempted Jesus with vindication when he was all alone in the wilderness, Jesus prevailed over the devil. Jesus was able to do this because he was full of the Holy Spirit who accompanied him into this barren land; Jesus was armed with the Word of God, which kept him from caving in to temptation.

Pastoral Reflection

Jesus, the Son of God, does not begin his earthly ministry with a show of glory or power amidst the people. Instead, Jesus begins his ministry alone, in the wilderness, being tempted by the devil. While this is no place for a king, it is to this barren place that the Spirit leads Jesus. The words God spoke at Jesus' baptism are still ringing in his ears as he enters the wilderness, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." These words and the words from Scripture give Jesus strength as he resists the temptations of the devil.

The persons we baptize in our congregations are also sent straight into the wilderness following their baptisms with the words "child of God" still ringing in their ears. They are sent out into a lonely world full of temptation and fear, led by the Spirit and armed with the Word to resist those forces which threaten to lure them away from God. As Jesus was lured by the devil's offer of bread, we are lured by the offer of wealth and possessions. As Jesus was tempted by the offer of power over all the kingdoms of the world, we are tempted by the false security that power over others brings us. The devil tells Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple, assuring Jesus that God will protect him. We often make deals with God, if only God will give us health, intimacy with another, or a good grade on our math test. In our hunger, exhaustion, or fear it is easy to succumb to such temptations, and so we need the presence of the Spirit and God's Word to defeat the devil that tempts us.

In this first pericope of Lent, Luke offers us a clue as to how we should shape our observation of this season. Instead of focusing all of our attention on the cross that looms at the end of the forty days, we are called back to our baptism and the declaration God made on that day, "You are my son (daughter), whom I love; with you I am well pleased." As these words and the gift of the Holy Spirit gave strength to Jesus in his journey through the wilderness and helped him to resist temptation, so these same words and the same Holy Spirit give strength to us as the world constantly tries to pull our attention away from God and as the Spirit leads us to make decisions that align with God's Word.