WHAT ARE YOU THIRSTY FOR?

March 23, 2014

Lent 3

Exodus 17:1-7

John 4:7-15

(prayer)

It is said that about 60-70% of our human bodies are made up of water.  When we are born, fully 3/4th of our birth weight is water in some form or another. On average, we lose about 2% of our body's water per day. It will vary on your health and the climate you are in, but you cannot be expected to survive more than a few days without replenishing your inner water supply.

Both of our scripture readings touch on this reality to some degree.  Obviously, the people of Israel, wandering through the wilderness have a near-deprivation level of thirst.  There is a similar story told in the previous chapter of exodus that describes worries about having enough food.  The irony is tragically obvious: the people of Israel are on a freedom journey, but that journey might kill them.  Poor Moses, he gets to hear all of the complaints, but there's not much he can do.  He's following God's lead.

And so, after Moses gets an earful, God usually gets an earful.  We heard that in Exodus 17 today: 4Moses cried out to Yahweh, 'What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!'

As was the case with hunger in chapter 16, God instructs Moses for how to deal with the concern.  For food, Moses was told to tell the people that they were entering a region where a delicate flaky bread-like substance will appear on shrubs with the morning dew, and that migrating birds should be available to hunt in the evenings.  [Even today, certain excreted desert plant resins can be edible and appear similar to the what the Bible calls manna.]

In chapter 17, Moses is guided to a rocky area where water can be found.  The story goes that Moses smacked the rock and water sprung forth.  This could be a supernatural miracle - but not necessarily.  The flow of a natural spring may have been stopped by the calcification of minerals in the water.  God telling Moses to strike the rock may simply been a means to break away the blockage and releasing the water (THAT WAS ALREADY THERE, but unseen and unknown).

Regardless of the explanation, the people's thirsts were quenched.  It allowed them to endure and continue on their journey and quest to return to the lands where Abraham's family had once lived. 

 A quick bit of biblical history: Abraham and Sarah are the parents of origin for the Hebrew people.  As I mentioned last week, Abraham was called by God to make a permanent, but not specific move: leave your home and journey to a land that I 'will' show you - a land flowing with milk and honey (not really - that's a metaphor meaning a place that you can easily prosper).

Sarah and Abraham had a son.  Isaac had two sons, one of whom was Jacob.  Jacob had at least 13 children (that are named in the Bible: 1 daughter, 12 sons).  One of those sons, Joseph, wound up in Egypt (an interesting tale, to be sure).  Eventually, Jacob (who had garnered the nickname 'god-wrestler' or Israel) and the rest of the family moved to Egypt as well.  The family prospered for many, many generations, all the while maintaining their identity and faith in the God of Abraham.  They became a distinct segment of Egyptian society - so much so, that (as it says right a the start of the book of Exodus), a pharoah came to in Egypt who did not know about Joseph and enslaved the people of Israel.  Fast forward a few hundred years more and you catch up to the story of Moses.

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In today's reading from Exodus, we can say that not only a physical thirst was alleviated, but a spiritual one as well.

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The story from John's gospel is much more obviously about spiritual thirsts.

There are a couple of contextual details in John 4 that are important for us to notice:

1.    Jesus is in the region of Samaria - at the location of Jacob's well, in fact.  John says that he had been in the south (Judea) and was making his way back to Galilee - the road Jesus and his disciples took was the route that went through the lands that were first settled by the family of Abraham.  Jews and Samaritans are both descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  A divide between them dates back to the development of Jerusalem as the capital of all Israel under King David and the building of a permanent stone Temple in Jerusalem under King Solomon.  The people of northern Israel disliked this later move, in particular - because it discounted the value of the place where Jacob envisioned a ladder leading up to heaven - that he declared to be Bethel - "The House of God".  The Samaritans were the first century descendants of these anti-Jerusalem northerners.  In Jesus' time, Jews and Samaritans did not interact very much.  So, important context note #1 - Jesus is in Samaria, talking to a Samaritan woman.  We see this dynamic in John 4, when the woman was shocked that Jesus was willing to sharing her water jug.

2.    The second contextual item was not part of what was read this morning - we just heard verses 7 to 15.  The story actually is found from verses 5 to 43.  (I hope you aren't too disappointed that I only picked part of the story to be read aloud in church today.)  It turns out that there was a reason why this woman was the only one at the well when Jesus was there.  It was mid-day - a time when most people would not choose to be drawing water.  We can, fairly, ask why was she doing that?  We get a possible answer in verses 16 to 18.  It turns out that the woman had an interesting relationship history: she had been married five times.  We aren't told whether those marriages ended in divorce of by the death of a spouse;  we are told that she is not married to her current partner.  We can presume that there is some controversy surrounding her in the community that leads to her to choosing to avoid others by gathering her water at noon.  Important contextual issue #2: the woman is not only a regional outcast to Jesus, as a Jew, she is also an outcast within her community.

What does this context tell us?

That Jesus walked into a situation with many layers of stained relationships, including the long standing situation that existed between Samaritans and Jews as well as the more immediate situation of this woman's awkward connection to her community.

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In that context, we can understand that the conversation about between Jesus and the woman at the well 'about water' was not really about water - even if (like Nicodemus last week) she took him too literally at first.

Given that we all have had experience with feeling thirsty and we can imagine the dangers associated with extreme thirst, it should not be a surprise that our language has grabbed on to the sensation of thirst as a powerful metaphor for something we deeply long for - something for which we might be willing to risk our survival.

Jesus likened faith to seeking out 'living water' and in other places he spoke about having a 'thirst for righteousness'.  These images remind us that our faith sustains us and we should have a passion for justice.

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I believe that longing for Spirit is something akin to being thirsty for water.  Without the sustenance we need we feel uncomfortable - a discomfort that can distract us from the rest of life.

There may have been a time when most people came to church because it was 'what you were supposed to do'.  It was just part of what society demanded.  It was an obligation - not necessarily in a bad way, but people willingly went along with the broader expectation.

That time is no more. 

In fact, the pendulum has swung the other way.

Church - certainly organized religion in general - nowadays, is looked upon with suspicion.  The societal question is no longer 'why don't you go to church?' but 'why would you?'

Maybe part of it is a latent sense that 'we should' - but... I suspect that there is a different reason why I am not completely alone here today.

What I hear from people (in some shape or form) is that it is not out of strong religious obligation,  or out of deep denominational loyalty (I mean, really, it is a relatively small percentage of us who have been active United Church-ers all of our lives. 

We are drawn by a thirst for spirit.

We long for a sense of being part of something more than just ourselves.  Against all odds, we seek out a spiritual community because we feel some un-ease with the selfish notions that it is everyone for themselves, that it is the survival of the fittest and that to the victors go the spoils.  We want to believe that we can be more than that.

So, when we hear millennia-old accounts of Jesus challenging those very notions, it peaks our attention.

We seek the mysterious living water that can teach us that we are alone in this quest to be filled and quenched.

As some of heard a couple of Fridays ago during the Lenten video study, we are living in a time of a significant reordering of our society - including communities of faith.  Many of the assumptions of the last 500 years are beginning to crumble and we are trying to figure out what our foundational authorities are.

Religion and spirituality (and Christianity) has a place in all this, but we know that we are evolving in ways that keep us relevant to our new realities.

A perfect example of this is how the United Church of Canada is exploring the serious and radical question of how should we best organize ourselves to be vibrant communities of faith in this new time.

With the exception of some tinkering over the years, the UCC is still basically operating on a model from the late 19th century.  Now sure, in the grand history of the church, 120ish years is not that much.  But, an increasing number of us are realizing that it has become cumbersome and can actually serve to stifle the spirit rather than enliven it in our midst.

This coming Friday, for the 11:30am video study, we will be watching the Right Rev. Gary Paterson, Moderator of the United Church of Canada speak about some of these near future possibilities.

In our congregation, you will soon hear about opportunities to gather with others and look at the report called "Fishing on the Other Side", which encourages us to talk about these kind of things.  Like the experienced fishermen among Jesus' disciple, we may be sceptical of the call to try things differently than what we have know, but still we are called to cast our nets out the other side of the boat.  Who knows... a miraculous catch might be waiting just below that unknown surface.

I don't know what that might look like. That is why it is scary, but also why it is exciting.

The promise of living water is like that.  We know we are thirsty for spirit, but we aren't quite sure what being quenched will feel like.

Knowing we are thirsty is the important first step.

Let us pray:

Holy God, we are thirsty.  We are called to trust in your living water.  May we faithfully follow Jesus Way as we drink.  Amen.

#144MV "Like a Healing Stream"

FIRST BREATH

March 16, 2014

Lent 2

Genesis 12:1-4a

John 3:1-17

(prayer)

Nicodemus is a prominent person in the story of Jesus in the Gospel of John.  It is worth noting that this pharisaic member of the Sanhedrin is only mentioned in the fourth gospel - and (in John) only three times:

1.   In the encounter we read this morning in chapter 3;

2.   In chapter 7, during a Sanhedrin discussion about the popularity of Jesus, Nicodemus noted that the Law requires that people be given a hearing before the are judged.

3.   After the crucifixion (chapter 19), Nicodemus is mentioned as being among the people who helped prepare Jesus' body for burial. In fact, Nicodemus is credited with bringing the myrrh and aloe spices.

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Typically, I'm not a big fan of Hollywood attempts to tell the Jesus story - because our narrative is complex: it is an amalgam of different unique sources, written to different early churches in different contexts.  Screenplay writers usually have to pick one of these gospels as their main source - and then make the hard choices of what to add in from other gospels. For example, the Jesus Movie (which was the product distributed widely in an organized evangelical program about 20 years ago - I have a VHS copy in my desk) was primarily a Luke movie.

Godspell, although filmed in 1970s NYC, is a Matthew Movie.

Jesus Christ Superstar is based on... well, it was just cool with great music.  Actually, parts of JCS are quite biblical. I'm not sure if any movie captures the inner struggle of Judas better than JCS.

My favorite, Jésus de Montréal, wasn't really a Jesus movie at all; the updated passion play (kind of based on Mark - when it protrays bible scenes) and the controversy it caused with the archdiocese was merely a metaphor for the state of the authentic theatre scene in an increasingly commercialized arts community. Even so, the resurrection scenes in Jesus of Montreal are (for me) filled with beautiful grace in the same way that Babette's Feast is an artistic representation of communion.

And, of course, Mel Gibson's uber-violent The Passion of the Christ chose to mainly focus on only two or three days of Jesus' life and does little justice to the Jesus known by his disciples.

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Mark Burnett (Survivor) and his spouse, Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel), have made the most recent attempt at a Jesus movie, with Son of God, which is largely John based.  I found it interesting to see some of the reaction to the movie.

·        To many in the secular world, it was simply a tired old subject matter that has been done to death (so to speak).

·        To religious cynics, the movie was yet another example of an evangelical attempt to shove religion down society's throat. 

·        Interesting, the progressive Christian community seemed to have a similar cynical reaction - we worried about how theologically palatable the movie would be (especially after Mel Gibson's blood fest).

·        Even conservative Christians expressed concerns about what the movie didn't portray.  The ultra-conservatives were very disturbed by the lack of any explicit mentions of sacrificial atonement in the movie (Jesus died for sin language).  I read some reviews by some conservative bloggers (not all who had even seen the movie) proclaiming that the movie must not be seen.  //  More moderate conservatives seemed to feel that any advertising for Jesus is good advertising.  They recognized (as long as it pointed people to the Bible) that it was okay that the movie took some liberties like expanding the roles of some characters beyond their biblical prominence and combining some biblical events to help the movie flow better - for examine the scene where Jesus calls Peter to be a disciple is a combination of things Jesus is quoted in the Bible of saying to both Peter and Andrew… with a time when all the disciples were in the boat and had a miraculous catch of fish (which in one gospel doesn't even happen until after Jesus is raised from the dead): pure biblical accuracy? no - biblical? kind of.  That's nothing new, every movie condenses the script from the original source material.  The movie Field of Dreams combined the characters of Ray and his twin brother (Richard) from John Kinsella's book (Shoeless Joe) into one person played by Kevin Costner.  And the movie completely ignored the oldest-living Chicago Cub.

All of this internet buzz about the Son of God was enough to peak my curiosity to go see the movie last Sunday evening.

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You know, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible - which by my expectations for Jesus Movies, is high praise.  The main actor, Diogo Morgado, portrayed a wonderful kind, hopeful, compassionate Jesus. I appreciated the focus on Jesus’ words and actions from when he was alive more than attempting to try and explain the meaning of his death - like the Bible, Jesus in the movie really doesn’t come to terms with the reality of his fate until the night of his arrest (in the garden, praying “take this cup away from me”), I loved that Mary Magdalene was by Jesus’ side in practically every scene with a word of explanation, and that she was never called a sinner or a prostitute (neither description - of course -  are biblical). 

I really liked how the context of the Roman Empire’s occupation of Galilee and Judea was shown to affect everyone - in the general population, you get the sense of frustration - hints of revolutionary passion; and to the Temple officials a real fear that the Romans would just shut down the Hebrew Religious practices if there was any serious societal unrest.

Now, the movie frustrated me with its continuation of the pattern of classic Jesus-movie errors - wisemen at the manger; a condemned Jesus forced to carry a full cross (perfectly mitered and rounded off at the edges); having the tomb sealed with a thin, perfectly round stone - ideal for rolling away - although in this movie it seems to have exploded apart. And (of course) the classic tendency to cast Jesus to look like a model - white skin, Euro-North American features, and neatly parted, sandy brown hair that (in practically every scene before his arrest) looks freshly shampooed and blow-dried.  To look at him on the screen, you almost expect him to say: “Like, ya know (shake out beautiful locks), if you are poor in spirit, you are totally blessed.  I mean, like, you’re gonna get the Kingdom of Heaven!”

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I’m not sure what theological significance to make of Judas puking up his first communion.

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Anyway, how does this relate to the topics of the day?  Well, I liked the way Son of God portrayed Nicodemus.  The bible gives us very sketchy details about him and I liked the way the movie tried to make it believable that a member of the Sanhedrin could become a follower of Jesus.

In the movie Nicodemus learns about Jesus from a Pharisaic rabbi from Galilee and so when Jesus comes to Jerusalem, he makes the effort to pay attention.  He concurs with some of the concerns that he had heard and he shares information with the high priests and the rest of the council.  Nicodemus is encouraged to continue his research and report back anything he learns (as I said earlier, to the high priest, there is perhaps more worry about how the Romans will react to the crowds than the accusations of blasphemy).

The night-time meeting with Jesus (John 3) - in the movie - was part of Nicodemus' clandestine research.

And the audience gets to see the lights start turning on in Nicodemus’ mind as Jesus starts talking about a spiritual rebirth.  After that meeting, Nicodemus is vocally opposed to the attempts to arrest Jesus quietly and try him at night (which Nicodemus claims is illegal).

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The structure of John’s gospel is less chronological than the others - The author of John seems to not care if stories are told out of sequence - for the fourth gospel, the meaning and the impact of the overall story trumps attempts to relay history.  For example, the story of Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple is usually thought of as an event between Palm Sunday and Good Friday - the commotion is often cited as one of the reasons the Romans became concerned about Jesus in his final week.  In John, Jesus clears the Temple in chapter 2: right after his first miracle (the turning of water into wine) - long before Holy Week.

The way John tells it, the next story after the wine (and a few short teaching stories) is Nicodemus’ visit.

Why does John do this?  This gospel was written long after the other gospels (by some 20+ years in fact).  If we assume that the author knows that the early churches are already aware of at least some of these other narratives, we can see that this new gospel is not so much about who Jesus was and what he did, but who Jesus is for the early Christian Church near the turn of the second century and what they believed about the nature of the Risen Christ.  All of the gospels are written with Easter in mind from page one, but this is no more obvious than in the Gospel of John.

Having a member of the established religion of Jesus’ people seeing Jesus as having a legitimate place within the line of the faith makes a significant point right at the start of
the gospel narrative.  Yes, there will be political and religious opposition to Jesus as the story unfolds, but John makes the point right near the start that this will not be universal.

If a member of the Sanhedrin could see the truth of Jesus’ ministry, then anyone could.

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So let’s look at what Nicodemus learns.  The first half of what we read is the concept of following up our natural birth (which we didn’t control or choose) with a chosen re-birth in the spirit.  Nicodemus made the silly mistake of taking Jesus too literally, but after he understood that Jesus was not talking about re-experiencing a natural physical birth, he got the message.

In the Greek text of the New Testament, the word for Spirit [pneuma] is the same word for wind, and… breath (the same is true in Hebrew [ru’ah] and Aramaic [rukah]), Jesus, Nicodemus and the readers of the gospel 60+ years later would hear the word play at work - the spirit is the breath that blows life into us. 

Maybe it is an old-tale or perhaps it was standard medical practice, but we have all
likely heard stories of a baby being spanked right after it was born. This was not some form of ‘original sin corporal punishment’ performed by a doctor, but an attempt to force the child to cry – to encourage it to take its first breath. For months, the fetus’ progress towards life is nurtured as part of the child’s mother until the time comes for it to exist as a new person, unique and wonderful. 

Regardless of whether you believe that life begins at conception or not, everyone agrees that when there is a first breath life has begun, and we are sustained by a lifetime of new breaths – most of which will be so much a part of who we are that we will take in new oxygen and offer carbon dioxide back without any thought or worry.

Jesus invites Nicodemus (and us) to appreciate the gift that this life is – an expression of the love of God. We are to appreciate the new life that is always before us and to embrace it with hope and faith. 

With each new breath, we can wonder at the presence of the Spirit in our midst.

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The later part of the Nicodemus narrative is one of the most oft quoted passages in the NT - John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Unfortunately, too many people stop the quote there because what Jesus is saying continues for one more verse - Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

What a shame it is that too many Christians over the years have gone against this passage and claim to be speaking of the Love of God and yet (in the same breath) speak words of harsh judgement.  John 3:16-17 is about love and safety (salvation), not love and judgement (condemnation).

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The Spirit – the wind or breath of God – brings life and love to the whole creation (God so loved the ‘world’ not just Jesus’ disciples or even just the church that would eventually spring up in Jesus’ name; the language is inclusive enough to say not just the human species, but that God loved the whole world - many of us used to sing it in Sunday School “He’s got the whole world in his hands…”). 

The spirit brings life and love, but like the wind, it is not ours to control - it blows where it will.

When we accept the life of God as it blows through us and move with it - when we let it become our next breath and take the life it offers in this moment - we share in the love of the world, including the healing of the earth and the restoration of our relations with each other.

As we learn to trust in the movement of the Spirit, we can appreciate that we are blessed and (as importantly) we can become a blessing to others.

That brings up the $64,000 question, doesn’t it?  How do we learn to trust in the movement of the Spirit?  Perhaps, the attitude we need is the same one we use to manage the movement of air into our lungs: we let ourselves become so used to it, that for the most part, it takes no
conscious effort at all.

Like that first breath that got us going in this world - there may have been need of a little initial coaxing (or like that baby humpbacked whale who is pushed to the surface to take it's first breath) - but most people learn to allow it become so much a part of us that.  [I know it is not a perfect metaphor (there is no such thing: as Jesus found out with Nicodemus) - I acknowledge that, sometimes, we need help to draw our physical breaths - there is probably a sermon in that concept too.]

But think about how, when things are working well, we renew our breath millions and millions of times over our life times - without worrying about whether the next breath will be there: we simply accept the breath's gift of life as a wonder of our existence.

So, it is with the Spirit, when we let go into the grace and love of God.

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Let us pray:

Creating God, you are the divine energy who brought order from chaos, mountains from the depths, living things from the dust of the earth. In the darkness, hidden and unseen, it was you who gave us life and made us flesh, and by the breath of your Spirit brought us to birth.  Amen.

#333VU  “Love Divine”

JUST A LITTLE LONGER

March 9, 2014

Lent 1

Psalm 32

Matthew 4:1-11

(prayer)

You’ve got to pick your battles.

Is this the hill you want to die on?

Not every other issue warrants our fullest dedication, when compared to the realities of a finite supply of time and energy.

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Sometimes it comes down to ‘principles’ versus ‘practicality’.

For me, this is a lesson I have learned through the experience of parenting.

I love the scene in the Ron Howard's movie, Parenthood, where the parents are in the principal's office discussing the needs of their oldest son - their theory was that (as the first born) he was likely overly coddled by nervous rookie parents.  Mary Steenburgen's character then says, "by the fourth one, you let them juggle knives."

True... in practice, if not specifics.

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There are lots of things that might go a certain way - if everything could be at it’s ideal level, all the time.  But, more often, we have to choose what is really important - what is truly beyond
compromise - and the other things will need be flexible.  And moreover, we often discover that it is actually 'okay' that they are flexible - the world still rotates, the universe still expands even if every situation does not live up to it's ideal.

Think of Reb Tevye from Fiddler On the Roof , he believes that the specifics of the inherited tradition must be followed without question or compromise.  Why?  Well… because, it's TRADITION.

That is until his eldest daughter expresses her desire to marry Motel Komzoil, the poor
tailor, whom she loves, and not Lazar Wolf, the wealthy butcher, whom the matchmaker has picked for her. 

"On the other hand", Tevye says, as he argues with himself.  He has at least three hands before he decides to break tradition... if he can figure out a way to convince Golde (his wife).

This scene repeats two more times as Tevye and Golde's next oldest daughters wish to break with the marrying traditions.  After looking at the other hands, he agrees that Hodel will marry Perchik. 

But Tevye hits a wall when asked to agree to Chave's betrothal to a young Orthodox Christian peasant-farmer named Fyedka.  "There is no other hand!" Tevye dis-owns his third daughter at that point. 

Later, although Tevye cannot bring himself to look at her as she comes to say goodbye to the family, he audibly whispers "and God be with you" - clearly, even the immutable tradition has some room for compromise. We see hope of that at the end of the movie.

So, you might think that Tevye is wishy-washy; he doesn’t stand for anything; he cannot be
true to his beliefs and he crumbles when pushed. 

But… I think, in the end, the message of this tale of a Jewish-Ukranian milkman is that he will hang on to the bonds of family - he won't compromise that, even if it is at odds with long held traditions.

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In each of the three years of the Revised Common Lectionary, the gospel reading for the First Sunday in Lent is the story of Jesus time in the wilderness following his baptism.  It is a story that is told in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), so a different version is read each year.  We’re in ‘Year A’ so we read from Matthew.  In two years (in ‘Year C’) we will read from Luke - whose version is very similar to what we heard today (coming from the “Q” source). 

Next year, all we will have is Mark’s unique two verse version: “1^:12And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ¹³He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”

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As it said in the Seasons of the Spirit biblical background sheet, the context of our gospel reading this morning is that Jesus has just experienced a spiritual high point. He has been baptized by John and confirmed as the beloved child of God. How does Jesus respond to that affirmation? We are told that he is led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness to be tested. Wilderness is a time of seeking, journeying, and struggling with the possibilities. It is a powerful
image in the Hebrew Scriptures: the people of Israel and the prophets Elijah and Elisha all had wilderness experiences that forced them into choices and decisions. It is as if Jesus is faced with the same tests as the people of Israel when Moses led them out of Egypt. The role of the devil here is much like the role of Satan in the book of Job –in Matthew Jesus faces an accuser, a tester, rather than an inherently evil being. In fact, Jesus addresses the devil as Satan which in Hebrew means “accuser”. 
In this longer Matthew-Luke (Q) version, which we heard today, Jesus faces not just the rigors of a forty-day fast, but at the end of that Jesus faces some specific temptations to challenge the resolve of his faith and his trust in God.

1.     Food - if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.

2.     Safety - if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the top of the Temple and prove that God’s angels will save you.

3.     Power - you can have dominion over all of the rulers of the earth, if you give your allegiance to me and not God.

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After this month and a half spirit quest, Jesus is physically and mentally vulnerable - a time when he would be most susceptible to temptation.

I think we all know that there are times when we are in a better position to resist temptation than others: if we are physically tired or mentally drained - if we come to the conclusion that we have fought long enough and there is no shame in giving up at some point.

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Jesus was especially vulnerable after his forty days in the wilderness - come on, Jesus - you have suffered enough - you deserve to take it easy for a while.  No one will think any less
of you.  You have earned this!

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Jesus is tempted with three things that would make his life easier:

           Have his own needs met, without effort;

           Provide unequivocal proof that he is especially blessed by God - he can gain a
following without saying a word;

           Grab power and control over others - no need to gain support, just take it.

The promise of effortless reward - it is a tempting offer.  Of course, effortless does not mean free.  There is a cost for Jesus to giving into these temptations.  He has to figure out of the cost is worth it.  And as I said before, the more vulnerable you are the lower your price will likely be.

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So, what does Jesus say?  He finds his resolve in the words of Scripture:

FOOD - Deuteronomy 8:³ - one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

SAFETY - Deuteronomy 6:¹³ - Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

POWER - Deuteronomy 8:3 - The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.

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Jesus came to John the Baptist and chose to focus his life on a ministry for God - he chose to spend time alone to discover the nature of this ministry - he is resolved to be faithful to God - to be prepared to make the efforts to sustain himself and his ministry and NOT give into the temptation for a quick fix; to show God’s love and compassion by touch and word, and NOT give into the temptation for a show filled with mind boggling tricks; to be true to the God of love, NOT one who only seeks to distract and oppress.  Jesus resolves to earn his authority among people, not force himself upon them.  Later he will tell his followers: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, [just] shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.”(Mt 10:¹³)

A wise person told me recently that “there are only two things that someone cannot take away from you:  your faith and your integrity.  Only you can give those away.”

It seems that Jesus - in spite of his vulnerability - was able to hand on to both.

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The temptations that come our way may not be as dramatic as what Jesus is said to have faced.  We each has our own ‘times in the wilderness’ where our resolve is tested - when we know that it is a time not to compromise.  
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Wilderness times come to us in many ways. The place of testing and self-exploration may be physical or spiritual. When we are taken to the places of our vulnerability, we can find deserts, mountains and oceans of the soul even in crowded cities.

On Friday, during the World Day of Prayer service, we were reminded that there are streams in the desert that bring life and hope.

But when those streams are distant we do well to ask: Who am I as a beloved son or daughter of God? What are my rights and responsibilities? What are my limits and choices? Where do I put my trust?  These stretching and testing times strengthen us on our faith journeys

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Wilderness times are times of challenge and possibility, where we may be stretched to our limits or need to make far-reaching decisions. Knowing who to trust and having clear guidelines help us make wise choices.

During the baptism earlier we said words together that reminded us that we are not alone that God is with us.  The psalm (which we sang and spoke this morning) called us blessed - in
the knowledge that God is trustworthy and forgiving - that God does not abandon us in the desert.

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May this be something we can believe in, as we continue our Lenten journeys - as we await the Risen Christ in our midst.

Let us pray:

God of the journey, you meet us in the wilderness places of our lives, where we are stretched and tested. Walk with us and hold us on the pathway. Grant us wisdom and flexibility that we may grow in grace and love. Amen.

#614VU “In Suffering Love”