Lent I (Luke 4:1-13)  02/17/2013

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A few weeks ago Carol and I went to see the movie, Lincoln. As we sat in our seats waiting for the movie to begin, we of course were required to watch several minutes of previews of coming attractions. I often use the time before the movie starts to settle into my seat, turn off my phone, and generally prepare to enjoy the movie rather than watch the previews; but in this instance the preview of the coming movie, “Oz, The Great and Powerful” really caught my attention. The possibilities of creating the magical world of Oz with all the technology that Hollywood has available today is startling…and the preview also reminded me of watching the popular movie “The Wizard of Oz,” filmed in the late 1930’s. The characters of that classic movie are familiar to many of us; and their hopes and dreams are probably familiar to us as well. The scarecrow was certain he would have a better life, “if he only had a brain.” Dorothy apparently agreed with the scarecrow, singing along, “Why, with all the thoughts you’ll be thinkin’, you could be another Lincoln, if you only had a brain.” (that was not in the Lincoln movie, by the way) The Tinman’s life would be just fine, “if he only had a heart.” And the cowardly lion, well, he would be king of the forest “if he only had the nerve.” The lion is quite sure that if he was given some nerve he would be “as brave as a blizzard;” and we all know something about blizzards, don’t we? I can relate to the small group of dreamers on the Yellow Brick Road; in fact, just a week ago I remember having a few wishes of my own: if I only had a big snow blower; if I only had a truck with a plow; if I only had a ticket to some place warm and sunny. The desire to wish for that one powerful, yet elusive thing in our life can be very tempting indeed; the hope that everything will be just right if we only had that next big thing.

Just moments after his Baptism in the River Jordan and in the days that marked the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus found himself sent into the wilderness to be tempted with some of the greatest human desires of this world. Throughout the 40 days in the wilderness Jesus had nothing to eat; we are told “Jesus was famished,” a very human reaction to such fasting. Tempted by the devil throughout these 40 days, Jesus’ condition of hunger and his continual temptation connect him very closely to us and to our human condition. Luke wants us to be very sure that Jesus’ time in the wilderness was a demanding adventure; there was real temptation…and the devil’s tempting was not done! The devil had saved the best for last. The devil suggests the famished Jesus should ease his hunger with bread made from stones, but Jesus rejects this easy way out with the reply that bread alone does not satisfy. The devil raises the stakes and offers Jesus sovereignty over all the world if he would only worship the devil, but Jesus rejects the devil’s temptation of earthly treasure and proclaims his worship of God alone. The devil’s final temptation to Jesus, throw yourself down and allow God to save you from harm, but Jesus again rejects the devil’s plot to strip Jesus of his faith in God. The exchange between Jesus and the devil is much more than a challenging game of Bible verses – the devil’s plan was to draw Jesus into the easy path of worldly power and glory, but Jesus’ responses show his steadfast faith in God and his abiding love for the eternal treasures that come only from heaven. As we listen to Luke’s account of the temptation of Jesus, we should not lose sight of the fact that Jesus is truly tempted in all the devil offers him. The devil offered temptations using every aspect of his power and Jesus truly faced a difficult trial, but Jesus succeeds in turning back every temptation, and he succeeds in ways that we often find nearly impossible.

We have entered into the holy season of Lent, a period of 40 days that offers us an opportunity to spend some time to wander and wonder in our wilderness. As we journey through this season of Lent, much of the world around us will be the same; the temptations of our daily lives will continue in the same manner. After all, the world does not slow down and simply hand us the opportunity to stop and reflect. No, the world continues to move quickly; the hectic pace of life continues abated. If we are to use this holy season of Lent as a time to wander and wonder in the wilderness, we must first overcome the temptations that keep us busy; we must find some time to slip away from the noise of daily life that holds us back from the sacred silence of the wilderness. The wilderness can appear as a place that is barren and disorienting, but the lenten wilderness is an open place that removes our distractions, removes our preoccupations, removes our worldly expectations and instead compels us to travel to a place where we come face-to-face with all that God has given us. All the distractions and temptations have been moved aside and only God remains. This holy wandering and reflection is the journey we hear in our Gospel this morning. As we begin our lenten journey the story of Jesus’ time in the wilderness gives us an example of how to put aside all the barriers that fill our time and cloud our vision of God’s pure intention for us.

After a long and challenging journey, Dorothy Gale’s search for her home in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, ended with a surprisingly simple answer: she just needed to set aside all the distractions of her life and simply ask to go home. Lent is a time for us to set aside the distractions of this world; a time to remove the temptations that create barriers to our relationship with God, a time for us to simply desire God’s attention and listen. As we journey through these 40 days of Lent, I pray that you will take the opportunity to welcome new practices of prayer and reflection into your lives and that you will experience the profound insights that come from a journey of wandering and wondering in the sacred wilderness of Lent. AMEN