First Sunday in Lent (Matthew 4:1-11)  3/09/2014

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Several years ago I attended a dinner party at the home of a friend, an interesting man who has traveled the world during his service in the Navy and had collected many fascinating objects and pieces of art. Wandering through his home was always an adventure. As I passed through his dining room I noticed a beautiful print hanging on the wall, a picture of a woman looking out over the water with a bright and turbulent red sky above. The print was not a simple picture, but was filled with many curious discontinuities. As my friend passed by I asked him to explain the print; he said the print was by Salvador Dali and the name was “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea”…and, oh yes, it’s also a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”^[i] And then he disappeared into the kitchen to prepare dinner! A portrait of Abraham Lincoln? This beautiful print was both a woman looking over the blue water of the Mediterranean and a curiously hidden portrait of the 16th American President. I looked at this print from every angle and used every ounce of my imagination, but the hidden portrait simply refused to reveal itself. Throughout the evening the print created a constant temptation to solve the mysterious whereabouts of Honest Abe. I would have given anything to unlock the mystery. If there was a bowl of fruit on the table, perhaps an apple that might open my eyes, it would have been very tempting indeed!

As we begin this season of Lent, we waste no time in being reminded of the temptations of our lives. As if the delicious desserts from this past Tuesday night were not temptation enough, we hear all sorts and manners of temptations in our lessons today. In our Gospel lesson this morning, Matthew presents us with the familiar temptations of the devil to a famished and fatigued Jesus. We begin our season of Lent every year with the temptations of Jesus and in hearing this familiar story we risk looking past Matthew’s dramatic lesson; or perhaps we are tempted to believe this is a story given to us only to establish the righteousness of Jesus. But the story of the devil’s temptations is much more than a religious fable meant to establish the identity of Jesus. Our Gospel lesson this morning is an honest and earthy look at the humanity of Jesus…anything short of that makes this story a simplistic attempt to prove Jesus is an upright man.

We should not be surprised that the first temptation is food – what could be more important than the basic need to overcome great hunger, a need we see throughout our world today! The devil offers the easy and obvious solution, “turn this stone into bread.” We hear Jesus reply immediately to the devil, but I imagine in real life there was a pause…stomach growling, weakened body shaking, mouth watering at the thought of a warm piece of bread: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” said Jesus. (Matt 4:4)

Enough with the basic needs of life, enough with your humanity, thought the devil. Let’s establish your divine presence, tempted the devil; let’s be clear about who you are, Jesus, the Son of God! The devil tempts Jesus to confirm his sacred identity, “throw yourself down from the pinnacle of your Father’s house and let him save you;” don’t you really want to know how special you are, how much God cares for you? This is a powerful temptation…don’t we all want to hold a special place among those we love? “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” replied Jesus. (Matt 4:7)

The final temptation was perhaps the most dangerous, for Jesus and for us as well: the temptation of power. Jesus was sent on a mission by his Father, a mission to the people of the world, God’s children. Jesus, at this point still early in his ministry, has already become aware of the many challenges that are before him. In the days ahead, people will dismiss him (saying his words are too hard to live by), people will hate him (he is a trouble-maker after all, he eats with sinners), and people will kill him! The devil offers him control over every aspect of his mission field. Everyone throughout the world will listen and obey. He will be worshipped near and far and his message will be proclaimed in the market places, in every newspaper, every TV channel throughout the land, countless friends on Facebook and millions of followers on Twitter (#theGoodNews)! Imagine the progress that could be made with so many people listening to every word. The thought of that power must have been a great temptation! “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him,'” said Jesus. (Matt 4:10) Famished and fatigued, Jesus would follow the hard road that led to the hard wood of the cross.

Our Gospel lesson is not a simple story of the righteousness of Jesus, our lesson is a powerfully real and earthy lesson of courage, obedience and love…and that is not easy! The season of Lent is an extended time for us to consider and practice the disciplines of our spiritual lives. These disciplines inform and direct us in the development of faith and the practice of the various virtues we claim to be part of that faith, as Christians. The author C.S. Lewis has some insightful words for us if we are to be serious about this faith; Lewis wrote, “make some serious attempt to practice the Christian virtues. A week is not enough. Things often go swimmingly for the first week. Try six weeks. By that time…one will have discovered some truths about oneself…[Because] only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is…You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down…We never find out the strength of the [selfish] impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only one who never yielded to temptation, is also the only one who knows to the full what temptation means.”^[ii] Perhaps Lewis is right when he says that only Jesus knows to the full what temptation means, but I imagine most of us have a good sense of what temptation feels like, at least an inkling of temptation in our daily lives: food, the love and approval of those around us, the power to accomplish the things we desire or expect of ourselves…these are the temptations that stood before Jesus and these are just a few of our temptations as well.

My personal temptation for discovering the mysterious whereabouts of Abraham Lincoln never subsided throughout the dinner party. The night had ended and I stood at the door, ready to leave without a trace of Honest Abe. I turned around for one last look and squinted my eyes as I glared at the print…and from the distance of the front foyer I could finally see Abraham Lincoln’s portrait. A different perspective, a different approach, a new understanding of an old picture unlocked the mysterious illusion. Lent is a time to move in a different direction; a time to stretch our spiritual muscles in a different way; a time to move in a way that may feel a bit odd or perhaps travel a path that runs counter to our familiar and expedient solutions. As Lewis noted, “A week is not enough. Things often go swimmingly for the first week. Try six weeks.” Fortunately for us, Lent is six weeks! And in six weeks, you might discover some truths about yourself. So, for six weeks try something new: wake up a few minutes early and read the Bible or say Morning Prayer; when you’re at a stop light, give thanks for the day or say a prayer for the person across the intersection; call Janet and teach Sunday School, or learn to knit and make your first Prayer Shawl – the possibilities are endless. I pray, may you approach the world in some small and different way throughout this season of Lent. The temptations of the world will always be waiting for you, but be steadfast and know that God is with you: with you in your life, with you in your spiritual practice, and with you throughout these forty days of Lent. AMEN.