Homily
by The Rev. Marcia McRae
St.
John’s Episcopal Church, Bainbridge, GA
14
Feb. 2016,
Lent 1 Year C: Deuteronomy 26:1-11;
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
"If...If...If..." Satan
says to Jesus.
If
Jesus does this, then what will happen?
Notice: Satan's understanding
of Jesus is “iffy”.
“If you are the Son of God, end your
hunger.”
Jesus responds differently than Satan expects of a
starving human. When we are starving, food to survive is our focus,
notes
Katerina Whitney,1
whom
some of you recall speaking at our ECW gathering in Tifton a few
years ago.
She emphasizes that in
the wilderness, Jesus feeds on God's word that dwells within him,
words of scripture he learned attending Sabbath worship regularly, as
our Gospel three Sundays ago reminded us.
For
his next “iffy” proposal, Satan says: “I'll give you great
power IF you do what I demand.” How many humans would leap at this
offer to be in charge?2
Jesus refuses the power evil offers.
In
his last “iffy” effort with Jesus in the wilderness, Satan says
literally make a leap of faith to prove yourself: "If you are
God's Son, put yourself in harm's way.”
How ironic it is that Satan
seeks the Truth.
Notice:
Our Gospel says Jesus was tempted during the 40 days. These are not
the only temptations. How
else has Satan tempted Jesus before today's encounter?
ow subtle has
evil been in Jesus' wilderness experience?
Think of the subtle
temptation that flirts with you
on the television &
Satan's
testing, his prying into how Jesus thinks, is like a hacker trying to
get the right code to hack into your inner life & steal what is
vital to control your assets.
To
each of this wilderness hacker's “iffy” enticements Jesus relies
on what he has seen & read in God's word. Notice how the power of
evil adapts to this after Jesus' 1st
two responses. Evil uses God's words from holy scripture that we read
in Psalm 91:11-12 “...he
shall give his angels charge over you, * to
keep you in all your ways. / They shall bear you in their hands, *
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Remember:
What we hear today are evil's last temptations for
the time being.
Evil departs from Jesus “until an opportune time”. Think about
how Jesus responds to Peter in Matthew 204
when he tells the disciples he has to go to Jerusalem, suffer &
die. Peter says: “No way!” Jesus hears the tempter & says:
“Go away, Satan!”
Temptations are often subtle.
What
do you notice in Jesus' 1st
response to Satan's “iffy” offer? Jesus says: “One does not
live by bread alone.” This event in Matthew's
Gospel
includes
the rest of this quotation
from
Deuteronomy 8:3:
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of the Lord,” as
Katerina Whitley notes in her sermon.
This
2nd
part of the scripture Jesus quotes points to how vital it is for us
to delve into scripture. Delving into scripture helps guide us so
that, as
Paul says to the Romans:
"The
word is near you, on your lips & in your heart".
Temptations
come & go, AND return.
We know this from experience & from
today's Gospel. Studying scripture, knowing scripture strengthens us
to recognize & to face down temptations.
Our
dedicated adult Bible study group delves into scripture Sunday by
Sunday. These beloved children of God offer welcome & a place at
the discussion table.
I
challenge you in this Holy season of Lent to delve deeper into
scripture because temptations are not “iffy”. How we live is not
a matter of “if” temptations come but “when” they come. This
Lent let us ponder: If This, Then What do I do?
How
do we – how do you – respond
when temptation calls every so
gently with
its “iffy” proposition?
Bibliography
Bible
Gateway. Accessed: 13 Ge. 2016.
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=man+does+not+live+by+bread+alone&qs_version=NRSV
Holy
Bible with the Apocrypha.
New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press.
1989.
Juntos
en el camino con Cristo: siete meditaciones bíblicas.
Cincinnati:¡Adelante!
Forward
Movement. 2014.
Whitley,
Katerina. “Driven by the Spirit”. Accessed: 10 Feb. 2016. delante
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/01/20/driven-by-the-spirit-lent-1c-2016/
1
Whitley,
Katerina. “Driven by the Spirit”. Accessed: 10 Feb. 2016.
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw/2016/01/20/driven-by-the-spirit-lent-1c-2016/
2
Idea from Ibid.
4
Idea stated by Whitley.
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