We often think of Lent as a special time for deepening our spiritual practice
and being more self disciplined about what we know
is spiritually beneficial for us.
But consider this: Rather than thinking that during Lent
my job is to go about making myself a better me,
achieving for myself greater spiritual stature,
and possibly think instead that it is about discipleship.
Think of Lent as a time for attending more seriously
to what discipleship consists of, namely, being a disciple of Jesus.
Let us define discipleship as simply following Jesus.
And following Jesus is about taking up the cross.
That’s the way he described it;
in all four gospels it is recorded that way.
“If you would be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me.”
I would say to you that Jesus in the Gospels was letting those disciples know
that the spiritual process they were in with him
required them to let die all their own efforts
and to let go of the way they each thought
that their spiritual work was their own to be accomplished
to make themselves into good disciples.
But if those who do that will only succeed in reinforcing their own ego.
You will be trying to save yourself through your own efforts.
In the spiritual tradition of discipleship
common to Jesus in his own time and setting
and also common to all great spiritual leaders,
it is the Teacher, the Master who does the work in the disciple,
whose grace achieves transformation and reformation,
the Master is the one who saves,
NOT the disciple. Good News!
If our success as disciples rests on our own spiritual practices,
or how we carry out religious observances,
or how many good deeds we do,
then it’s shaky ground we are standing on.
But in the authentic process of discipleship
it’s not about me, what I can accomplish,
but about my devotion and dedication to the Master, the Teacher,
my love for and reliance upon Jesus,
my openness of heart to him,
my willingness to let him work the process of discipleship within me.
That is a different approach than we usually employ,
but much more effective if we faithfully hold to it.
Good advice as we begin another Lent.
Let’s look at the Gospel for today.
The first Sunday of Lent we always get the same theme:
Jesus spending forty days in the wilderness,
Jesus facing temptations.
In Mark’s Gospel we get the short version:
it only mentions being in the wilderness 40 days
and being tempted, but Mark does not list the temptations
But this account adds a new bit of information not found in Matthew or Luke:
“he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.”
Immediately after the baptism of Jesus, immediately after the heavens part
and the Spirit as a dove descends and the voice comes from heaven,
then Jesus is impelled with great force by the Spirit
out into the desert, out into the wilderness.
The desert is the place where you see wildlife, the undomesticated critters,
and you are away from the tamed environment, the cultivated fields,
subjugated by the force of human culture.
The desert has always been seen as
the place where the environment is outside our control,
but also the place of encounter with God.
The Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the desert
for retreat time to consolidate his ministry
which is about to commence
In this location, then, temptations are
significant because of their relationship to ministry.
These are not personal temptations
like being tempted to eat chocolates during Lent
or the temptation to engage in convenient moral shortcuts.
The temptations Jesus faced in the desert had to do with
how he would minister.
Temptations,
they were a part of the desert experience for Jesus,
and for us too.
There are always some temptations that come up for any congregation
and Nativity is no exception.
We might speculate about what temptations there are for Nativity.
Temptation, defined biblically, means being put to the test
The pandemic has put us all to the test,
extra pressure on top of the current big task we have embarked on
the calling of a new priest for the congregation.
Tempers flair, words are spoken, moral indignation expressed,
standards to be upheld, accountability called for, judgments expressed.
It’s not that we should try to avoid falling into these behaviors,
but that we recognize them when they happen,
and admit them and repent.
The temptations were a test for Jesus in the wilderness,
and so are the temptations we face – tests.
They are our teachers there to test us regarding our humility,
to test if we get it about our dependence on God’s grace,
and also a reminder that we are to love one another as we love ourselves,
or to put it another way,
to have love for ourselves, warts and all,
so that we can more faithfully love one another,
with their warts and all.
So Mark’s Gospel,
the shortest and most concise and efficient in wording of the gospels,
simply comments that Jesus was tempted,
but adds that he was with the wild beasts and the angels waited on him.
“…with the wild beasts…”
He was not in the cultural setting of the city or the nation
or even his religion.
He was in the primary environment of creation, nature, untamed,
as God created it.
This was the setting for the Gospel, good news, the teaching
he would bring,
and that teaching would undercut the religious culture of his time.
This has profound implications,
for the Gospel, the message and meaning of Jesus,
his life, his death, his resurrection
would go beyond his own religious tradition,
and it will not be limited to the institutional structure of any denomination
that tags itself as Christian.
Jesus, the Eternal Christ, was and is always way beyond that,
much more expansive and universal,
and our worship is a pale reflection of his spiritual presence in the world.
Jesus was out in the desert with the wild beasts “…and with the angels…”
This primary environment of creation included all things created,
seen and unseen, as we say in the creed, visible and invisible.
And Jesus would emerge from the desert walking in the will of the Father,
in full union with the Father and in harmony with all the created order
and all the created order would serve him.
Fish would swim into the net at his word, when he told
the fishermen to cast the net over the other side of the boat.
Water would support his walking on it.
Bread would expand to feed thousands.
Bodies would heal.
Eyes that had never seen would be completed in their creation
so that they could fulfill their function of vision.
Mark is saying, one could read between the lines,
“Look out, world. Here comes Jesus,
and he’s going to blow you away.”
The desert is the place away from the domesticated environment;
it is the place where the environment is outside our control,
it is the place of encounter with God.
And so, the desert is often the place where the best spiritual work is done.
Lent is a form of spiritual desert,
a season of time provided for us
to set things up for encounter with God.
It is good to be driven by the Spirit into such a conducive environment
for awakening to God at work within us.
This is the most important point to note:
it is the Spirit of Jesus who is at work within us.
Take courage, disciples here at Nativity. Your Lord, your Savior is with you.
So as the exhortation for Ash Wednesday states,
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,
to the observance of a holy Lent.
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