1st Sunday of Lent 10.2.08 Setting forth
We have some young people in our community (Ruth, Aaron, Natasha) setting off for other fields. This must happen in every generation. It is a sad thing insofar as it means separation; hopeful insofar as it leads to other things, and very much in line with being ‘sent’ which is a characteristic of an apostolic church.
We must at times take risks and step out to new and unexplored territory.
Our Lord went out into unexplored territory (the desert) to pray. A kind of cleansing experience, though He did not need cleansing.
But we do. And Lent presents us with a chance to be cleansed, to clean out all the rubbish from the spare room and make a new start.
The stepping out into new territory does not mean we have to move to another city. It could mean just that we try something ‘new’, as in adopting a new attitude.
Our Christian life is essentially a battle at the interior of our souls for which vision we adopt.
How do we look at life? The question is that simple. Between what the devil offers, and Almighty God offers there could not be greater difference. They literally are the difference between heaven and hell.
The temptation scene contains the essence of the different views: The devil’s view is take as much as possible as you can for yourself.
God’s view is give as much as possible as you can from yourself.
Would you rather take or give? Jesus says (cf Acts 20,35) that it is better to give than receive.
His death on the Cross is how He put those words into practice. He gave His life. He came to serve and not be served.
He is the One we are following, thus imitating.
It is certainly easier to take than receive, so the devil has something of a head start with his view of things.
This is why temptations usually seem initially attractive, and why the good alternative can seem rather dull.
But the first horse out of the blocks is not always the winner, and we could say that temptation in general makes the early running, but is not much good in the final straight. Only later on do we see where the true strength lies. We want to develop the ability to see the end result before we start on the wrong path.
If we look at the three temptations undergone by Our Lord we can see various elements that would apply to us:
First – self-indulgence, flesh before spirit, gluttony
Second – self-assertion, wanting to be the centre of the universe
Third – greed, power, again wanting everything for self.
The sin is taking (or at least grasping for) everything for self. I want it and I want it now.
The remedy is giving, not grasping but letting go, yielding - humility, generosity, gentleness.
Give it all away. Glorious freedom. Look at the saints, many of whom left all their possessions or made them available to others. Reckless, but good.
Which vision will be ours? If we give rather than take we will be much happier and do much more good than if we just live on the surface, grabbing and snatching at whatever goes past.
The more we give the stronger we become. We are drawn more and more into Christ’s orbit, into the life of grace. We will leave behind the way we were, and go on into unexplored territory (the desert experience). Our Lord was paving the way for us.
The desert becomes a garden - of good fruit, good works, good lives.
