March 9, 2025, Lent 1
Luke 4:1-13
Introduction
What tempts you? What is your greatest temptation? Netflix? Social Media? Shopping? Wavy Lays potato chips? Faye Hays’ chocolate chip cookies? All worthy answers. But I begin with these questions on this first Sunday of Lent because I think what we often call temptations aren’t really temptations.
Now before you start thinking, “Great! Preacher is gonna give us a ‘Lenten loophole’ for the stuff we’ve ‘given up’!” don’t get too excited because that’s not where this is going.
I’ve come to think the temptations we have are not actually a struggle between ourselves and some other thing or person. Rather what we think are temptations are probably more so bad decisions, and we should avoid them. For instance, we might say we’re “tempted” to have a second dessert. We’re “tempted” to give someone a piece of our mind. We’re “tempted” to cheat on our taxes. We’re “tempted” by an attractive person. But I’m just not convinced they’re temptations. And I am arriving at this understanding because I’ve begun to realize that my temptations aren’t a struggle between me and some other thing or person. The temptations I struggle with are between me and me. The temptations I struggle with are between the divisions and collisions and contradictions within myself. The temptations I struggle with are about clarifying who I am and the core values that orient and drive my life. The temptations I struggle with are about facing the truths and realities of my life and taking responsibility for myself, my actions, and my life. The temptations I struggle with are about showing up to my life day after day and not running away.
And while this is what I have come to think the temptations we have are, I have also come to think that the struggle with the temptations of our lives are actually necessary temptations for our waking up, our growing up, and our becoming.
Move 1
Ok, so I didn’t give you a “Lenten loophole.” But I did just throw at you a rather obtuse idea… the idea that the temptations of our lives are a necessary part of our waking up, our growing up, and our becoming? What do you think of that idea? Is there maybe some validity to it? Because here is where all this is coming from, and why I am suggesting this seemingly off base, and uncomfortable idea…
Luke tells us in verse one of our text for this first Sunday of Lent, “After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.
So based on this verse in the Gospel of Luke, I think it is pertinent to ask… Is the Spirit of God leading us in that wilderness struggle with necessary temptations of our lives? I mean… that’s what happens in today’s Gospel, right?
Move 2
Now I know this probably isn’t the most inspiring message a preacher can offer. Our temptations are not about external forces working against us, but are actually the result of our own inner conflict? No one wants to hear that.
And if that’s not bad enough, I throw in the implication that it’s God’s Spirit that is leading us straight to the place where we will face what tempts us. But facing some hard truths and hard realities is exactly what Lent invites us into. It is paradoxical—it is both one thing and another. Lent is a period of meditation, prayer, and spiritual renewal, and Lent is also a wilderness wandering, full of temptations; calls for giving up and letting go; as well as facing pieces and parts of ourselves that irritate us, annoy us, challenge us, and drive us to want to give up. That is the work of the Spirit during the season of Lent. And, again, I get no one wants to hear that second part—it’s not inspiring or comforting—it’s downright uncomfortable. But keep this in mind… The very same Spirit that leads Jesus to be tempted is: The same Spirit that descended upon him at his baptism (Luke 3:22). The same Spirit with which Jesus baptizes others (Luke 3:16). The same Spirit that guided Simeon to the temple and revealed that he would see the Lord’s Messiah (Luke 2:26-27). The same Spirit that filled Elizabeth and Zechariah so that they might bless and prophecy (Luke 1:41, 67). The same Spirit that came upon Mary so that she might conceive the Son of God (Luke 1:35). The same Spirit that, in the beginning, swept over the face of the waters when God first said, “Let there be…” (Genesis 1:1-3).
That’s comforting, right?
Wherever life and creation are happening the Spirit of God is present. And that’s true within our temptations as well. The Spirit of God knows we each have a necessity to struggle with ourselves. But the struggle isn’t about proving ourselves good or bad, right or wrong, it’s about discovering ourselves, becoming more fully alive, and giving expression to the life that only we can give expression to. Those are the necessary temptations into which the Spirit leads us because they are the same kind of necessary temptations Jesus had to struggle through too.
Move 3
Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness to be tempted for forty days, and after that Jesus knew and declared himself to be anointed by the Spirit of God “to bring good news to the poor, … to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
His temptations and struggles in the wilderness were necessary because they were about clarifying and deepening his life; about readying himself for what God was asking of him.
And that is how we are to approach the season of Lent. It is how we are to approach the temptations of our lives. It is how we are to spend the next forty days.
Lent is intended to be a time of self-reflection and examination; looking at who we are becoming, how we are living, where our life is headed. But if we make our temptations about some other thing or person, we never face or deal with who we are becoming, how we are living, where our life is headed.
When we make Lent about some other thing or person, we’ll do things like give up social media, or we give up dessert, or we commit to reading the Bible more, or expressing our daily gratitude’s. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s all just a distraction and a way to avoid the real temptations in our lives.
Move 4
I don’t think our greatest temptation is food, sex, money, or power. I think our greatest temptation is to turn away from ourselves and to flee from our own life; to settle for a shallow and superficial life; to not show up to our own life; to sleepwalk our way through this world. But is that really the life you want? Is that what you want to teach your children and grandchildren? Is that the legacy you want to leave this world? Are you content to skim the surface of life… or do you want to go deeper? If we want to go deep, if we want a life of meaning, if we want to begin healing our hurts and living wholeheartedly, then we have to face the temptations to avoid, deny, and run from ourselves and our life.
So ask yourself… What parts of yourself, or your life, are you avoiding, denying, or running from today? What is it about yourself you just don’t want to face or deal with? Maybe it’s embarrassment, shame, guilt, or fear. Maybe it’s wounds, or pain; self-doubt, disappointment, or unmet expectations. Maybe it’s grief, loss, or betrayal; a need for recognition, praise, or perfection. Maybe it’s despair, anger, obsession, or addictions.
Or maybe it’s the dreams and thoughts that keep showing up and asking something of you—because it’s not just the negative parts of ourselves that we avoid. Sometimes we avoid the very best of ourselves. So maybe it’s your own goodness and beauty; your gifts and abilities; or a deep longing and desire you’re avoiding, denying, or running from. Maybe it’s a calling, a dream, or a life you never thought possible so you gave up years ago.
Whatever it is you are avoiding, denying, or running from… how’s that working out for you? Because the truth is, no matter how far or fast we run we can never get away from ourselves or our life, can we? We can’t. Because that’s the persistence and faithfulness of the Spirit leading us again and again in the wilderness to face necessary temptations, to face ourselves, and to deepen and clarify our lives. Being led to that wilderness struggle with ourselves is the struggle to become more fully ourselves—just as Jesus himself did in the wilderness.
Conclusion
Every time we succumb to the temptations to turn away from ourselves, we betray and violate ourselves and the God Spirit within us. And that’s exactly what Jesus will not do. Jesus doesn’t overcome his temptations, he uses them to clarify and deepen his life. They are less a choice about what he will, or will not do, and more a choice about who he will become.
Now, before anyone starts crafting their own “Lenten loophole” by saying, “Well he’s Jesus, and I’m just me”, understand this… crafting a loophole like that is just another avoidance of, and turning away from, our necessary temptations.
Jesus doesn’t overcome the temptations before him because he’s smarter, better, or more holy. He overcomes the temptations because he is grounded in God’s Spirit, and refuses to violate or betray himself or the God Spirit within him. He will not turn away from himself, nor will he run from his life.
In the face of the necessary temptations of his life, Jesus makes a choice about who he will be, what matters most to him, and how he wants to live. Those same choices, in the face of the necessary temptations of our lives, is before each of us today. And throughout this season of Lent we are going to be asked, “In the face of these necessary temptations, what choice are you going to make?” Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, March 9, 2025, Lent 1
Lord of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, you alone rule the universe; setting times and seasons according to Your will. While nations and kings come and go, You, only, are King of kings and Lord of lords; immortal and all-knowing, never lacking power and wisdom. You are strong; and you are good.
We share this in prayer because we need to be reminded of these truths as we set out in this season of Lent, now aware that this is not just a time of quaint meditation, this is not a time of superficial sacrifice; this is not a time when we see two sets of footprints in the sand.
Rather Lent is a time of wilderness wandering, of facing the parts of ourselves we would rather leave in the dim recesses of our beings, and try to forget all about them.
But doing so would be wasteful of this holy season. It would be a betrayal of what you call us to do so that we can become those who you call us to be.
So meet us once again, and lead us with your Holy Spirit into the wilderness, keeping us aware that when we face our necessary temptations, when we face the pieces and parts of us we want to keep hidden, you will be there with your strength, your perseverance, your grace and love, blessing us in all the ways we need so that we can go deeper into this season, and faithfully grow and become.
May this season of Lent be a time of not just transformation and repentance, but may it be also a season when we prepare ourselves, through confronting ourselves and challenging ourselves, to become the followers of Christ who are sure of who we are and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus Christ.
We humbly ask that you would listen now to the prayers of our hearts as we share them in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of the one who showed us the way through the wilderness, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray saying, “Our…”