St. George's Episcopal Church Roseburg, Oregon First Sunday of Lent, February 13, 2005 Go To St. George's Home Page |
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Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32:1-11
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74th General Convention of the ECUSA
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11)
When the Word Becomes Anatomical The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
Prayer. It is an important undertaking. And there are three prayers that all Episcopalians know. The first is the bedtime prayer of children. You know the one that begins, "Now I lay me down to sleep." Many of us learned this prayer when we were very young, and perhaps because it is learned early in our formative years, hearing it now brings back memories of flannel jammys, the warm, coziness of one's bed, and the feeling that all is well with the world.
The Second prayer is perhaps the most familiar one we know. It is the Lord's Prayer. Learned also at a young age, the weekly recitation of its familiar words reinforce it so deeply in our minds that it is becomes something almost anatomical, like the brain itself.
And the third prayer is the one we probably pray the most often. There are several variations, but they all begin something like, "O God, if you'll get me out of this, I'll do …." It is a prayer of desperation and urgency.
Maria is a Brazilian woman who prayed a prayer like that recently. After her husband's business suffered from an economic downturn, Maria hit the streets looking for a job. The only thing she got for her trouble was a pile of rejection letters. Finally, out of desperation, she went to a local chapel and prayed to St. Expeditus, the patron saint of urgent causes.[1] In no time at all she got a call from an import shop. They needed a salesperson, and she could start right away. Maria was convinced that her prayer had been answered, because getting any job in
Word got around, and soon Sunday mass at the chapel was full to overflowing as St. Expeditus became the object of cult like devotion for a growing number of Brazilians. During any week, there were dozens of petitions deposited on the altar of the chapel that contain needs and desires that would resonate with Christians of any denomination. One appeal asked for help with a medical procedure, and another contained the resume of a middle level executive who lost his job during the recession.
Prayer. It is an important undertaking, and it is not something I intend to trivialize. We all experience needs, and prayer is important to helping us put our needs and our self-reliance into proper perspective.
What is interesting about today's lesson is that when Jesus found himself in jam, he did not pray to St. Expeditus or call upon God or the Angels to help him. In Matthew's version of this story, after his baptism by John the Baptist, is led into the desert by the Spirit. And for forty days, he fasted and wandered in that place. It was then that the devil came to tempt him.
Jesus didn't immediately fall to his knees in prayer, or invoke the power of God to banish the devil, the tempter. Instead he relied on something else. Do you remember what it was?
The devil tempted Jesus three times with three things. One: "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Two: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you'." Three: "If you will fall down and worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms in the world and their splendor." The devil tried to use Jesus' hunger, he tried to use Scripture, and he tried to appeal to his own sense of glory to tempt him. And when tempted, Jesus turned to the Holy Word of God that was as much a part of his person as his hands, or his heart, or his brain. And at the end of the day it was Jesus 3; the devil 0.
What gave the scriptural passages power when Jesus quoted them? Is this a New Testament recording of proof texting where Jesus simply found the appropriate scriptural grenades to hurl at the devil?
Many Bibles have indices in them that will guide a reader to a verse or two. If you feel you need protection, you might read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 or Romans 8:26-28. If you feel tempted, you might read James 1:12-16. Do you need an extra dose of courage today? Try Hebrews 13:5-6 and Ephesians 6:10-18. Will reading these passages provide courage and strength, or decrease temptation. Well, maybe they will. But, maybe not. The power of scripture does not lie in the words on the page. That is just so much ink. Bible verses are not some sort of garlic to ward off Dracula.
The power of the written word resides in the person for whom the word has become anatomic. It is like an organ of the body, or a kind of tissue, or an essential fluid.
To someone like Jesus, learning scripture was like learning to walk. It was what young boys did. In time, like prayers learned in childhood, it scripture became the ground on which Jesus stood, the air he breathed, and the lamp that lit his way. To Jesus, scripture was not something outside, but something inside. It was not like a familiar pair of old sandals that easily slid onto his feet and provided familiar comfort. It was more like his feet themselves.
A couple of times when I was quite young, my maternal grandmother came to visit us; she was the daughter of Polish immigrants. Like many Polish immigrant families, she spent her childhood in Wyoming. As a little girl, she even knew William Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill of the Wild West Show. Klamath Falls reminded her of her childhood on the high plains of Wyoming.
In those days, Klamath Falls was the home of "Rattlesnake Pete." Rattlesnake Pete got his nickname from his clothing. He had a rattlesnake skin belt, rattlesnake skins and rattles on his hatband. He sounded like rattlesnake rattles when he walked. In those days, it permissible to carry a six shooter, and Rattlesnake Pete wore his. He chewed tobacco all the time, and had a permanent brown drip line from the corner of his mouth. My Grandma would find Rattlesnake Pete and the two of them would sit down on a bench along main street and recall stories from their past.
I was enthralled by those stories, even though they spoke of a time and a culture that seemed foreign to me. They were compelling stories, that had something important to tell me about my own roots. I learned something about the forces that were molding me into who I would become. The stories helped me to grapple with my town and its racially divided cultures when I was older.
The Hebrews' stories in the Bible helped bring their lives into balance.[2] The stories told the people spiritually and historically where they had been, what they had experienced, and how God had been at work in history. Their story was a confession of faith, a creed, and it defined their nation as a people set apart by God, for God. The stories my Grandma helped define me as a member of my family. They connected me to a people of the past, and grounded me in the present.
While Jesus was in the desert, he had nothing but the stories of his childhood to live on, and it was those stories passed to him in Holy Scripture that Jesus turned to when he answered the devil. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus found the stories of his ancestors intact and powerful. Jesus quoted the stories from the Hebrew scripture because they had become his story. Jesus claimed identity with them.
Jesus turned to scripture in his hour of temptation because scripture was important to his understanding of the relationship of the divine to himself. It wasn't the scripture itself that saved him in his wilderness battle with the devil. Quoting scripture is no big deal – even the devil can do that. It wasn't Jesus' genealogy that saved him either. That wasn't a response; it was just a condition of his birth.
Moses commanded the people to make a response before the Lord your God. And Jesus made his response. He could have relied on himself, on his own considerable powers, but he did not. Instead, he acknowledged God and he put his entire faith and trust in God. Doing so gave him the confidence and authority he needed to avoid the temptation of self reliance, and to trust in God's ultimate goodness.
The Old Testament tells us that the Hebrews needed to be reminded each generation of who they were. If the scripture is as familiar to you as the Lord's prayer, then perhaps this Lent you can dive into it again to remind you of the God who walks with you in the garden, and who always keeps promises. But, if scripture is something rather alien, I suggest you use Lent to become acquainted with it. It is important to an understanding of our spiritual past and present.
So, use these forty days to explore the story, to grapple with the texts. For it is in the story that we will discover who we were, who we are, and who we can become. And that is how the text becomes anatomically a part of us. And when that happens, we will no longer need our prayers of desperation to St. Expeditus.
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The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die. '" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 While I kept silence,
my body wasted awaythrough my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. [Selah]
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,"
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. [Selah]
6 Therefore let all who are faithfuloffer prayer to you;at a time of distress,
the rush of mighty watersshall not reach them.
7 You are a hiding place for me;you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. [Selah]
8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice,
O righteous,and shout for joy,
all you upright in heart.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned-- sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.