February 13, 2005 As Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Genesis 2:7-9;3:1-7 + Romans 5:12-19 + Matthew 4:1-11
Remember, Matthew has the Jewish people in mind when he writes.
We are always working our way through Jewish images and history.
It is important to keep this in mind
when looking for message and meaning in the Matthew Gospel.
For people steeped in the history or the Hebrew people,
a story about temptation in the desert is going to evoke powerful memories.
The temptations Matthew uses are the temptations to which the Israelites
fell victim: hunger in the wilderness, demand for a demonstration of divine power, and worship of a false god.
Where the Israelites failed, Jesus remains faithful.
With that point established, Matthew will refine the identity of Jesus
who will satisfy spiritual hunger, not just physical hunger.
He will refrain from using divine power simply to attract followers,
and he will be submissive to God’s will, not his own.
In the weeks to come, we shall continue this unfolding of the Gospel from within the Old Testament as we are led through this season by Adam (today), Abraham, Moses, David, and Ezekiel.
It can be a most fruitful Lent if you choose to be led by these towering figures whose shadows we find in the Jesus of Matthew’s Gospel.
So it is Adam today whose story reveals something of Jesus.
What Adam lost, paradise, “the holy ground” where life was lived in the presence of and in constant communion with God; Jesus shall reclaim.
What Adam did was become self-conscious rather than remain God-conscious.
The temptation Adam and Eve faced and failed was the temptation to put themselves at he center of their lives rather than God. Instead of talking to God, they talked to themselves, and it got them in trouble. They hid because they were self conscious, conscious of their sinfulness rather than conscious of God’s love.
They did not listen to the voice of God.
Instead of listening to the voice of life, they listened to the voice of death.
The one who will lead us back to the promised land, to the paradise
where life not death prevails,
and where God is our constant companion is led by the Spirit
to teach us about temptation and victory.
The temptation he meets in that desert is really the temptation of Adam
and of every man and woman in every age:
The temptation to use one’s gifts for one’s self.
This one called the “beloved”, the chosen one, God’s own son as he was called just verses earlier at his baptism has many gifts and a privileged place in creation.
Ultimately what he is tempted to do by this devil is use those gifts for himself.
Will he use his power to satisfy his own needs, or will he rely on God’s Word?
Will he dare to prove himself. that God cares for him with special love,
or is he willing simply to rely quietly on his relationship with God?
Will he compromise a bit to enjoy the power and the rush
of controlling his own destiny, or will he bend his will to God’s?
This is not just a story about Jesus.
This is also a story about us,
about the Israelites before us,
and about all human kind.
It is also a story about God
and God’s relentless desire to have us back on that holy ground,
in that holy place where again God will walk with us and all will be well.
Jesus tells the story of his own struggle today to strengthen us in our own.
The story comes around again because of the willingness of Jesus
to be led by the spirit in the desert of our lives;
and once again we have the choice to choose between life and death;
a self-conscious life or a God-conscious life;
the will of God or our own self-willed, self-motivated, self-centered existence.
The choice is ultimately to be with God or to be alone,
to be in communion or to be isolated emptiness.
This season is not about “making up for sin.”
That is not our task.
That has been done by God in and through Jesus.
Our task is to avoid sin in the first place,
to live in the grace of the life of the Spirit of Jesus.
This season is our time to sharpen our wits and strengthen our wills
to live every day in the Spirit of Him who died and rose to life with God.
So the “mantra” heard in this church
more than a thousand times on Wednesday still bears repeating:
“Turn away from sin, and be faithful to the Gospel.”