The Message from Sunday, March 6, 2022First Sunday in Lent
Scripture Readings:
Luke 4:1-13
Would you pray with me: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
Luke 4:1-13
“Journeying into the Wilderness”
Would you pray with me: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
This Lenten Season, each week, we will journey to the Holy Land as we follow Jesus to the Cross. While our Gospel lesson today takes Jesus out into the wilderness, let us first return to the Jordan River, where his journey begins.
Map of the Jordan River
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1901987
The map you see of the Jordan River shows that it runs along the border between Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank, Israel and southwestern Syria. It eventually flows into the Dead Sea. A small section just below the Sea of Gallie, for about two miles, has been kept pristine, and free of pollution. This area is used for baptisms and local tourism. But downstream, the river is polluted, and its ecosystem is almost destroyed.Many who travel to the Holy Land visit the Jordan River, as it has much religious significance as seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments. And while there may be only scattered references in the Bible to this tributary, it is the scene of several miracles. It is the place where the Israelites crossed over into the promised land. And somewhere along this stretch of the river, along the banks of the Jordan, is where John the Baptist baptized many, including our Lord.
For many who have not visited the Holy Land we have within our minds our own image of the river Jordan. What do you picture when you think about Jesus being baptized here? Many visualize the Jordan as pristine crystal-clear water flowing over a sandy bottom river as shown in this recolored postcard pictured.
Colored postcard of the Jordan River, by Karieh Abbud, circa 1925Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5107137Is this what you pictured in your mind? Yet, this place of living water is actually quite muddy.
Screen shot taken during the virtual tour of the Holy Land with my seminary class.
And because of this, many might not consider it to be clean water. Yet this muddiness is a reminder of the muddiness of our lives. It is a reminder of our sinfulness washed away, cleansed by God’s grace through the Sacrament of Baptism.
In the picture you see, the buoys restrict how far one can go out into the river. Though the water level is low in this picture, during the rainy season the river rises covering the steps and even at times the platform. The river does become much deeper and much wider, just as our understanding, as we seek to grow deeper in faith and relationship with God. The middle buoys you see mark the border between Jordan and Israel, which it is heavily guarded by border patrols on both sides. And perhaps we might see this divide between nations as a reminder of our how sin separates us from God.While muddy, this living water which brings life into the desert, to this place in the wilderness, brings forth new life in abundance. Without this tributary, the land here would be completely barren. Yet in this region there is life springing forth. There is a distinct contrast in this area of life from that of the surrounding wilderness, the surrounding barrenness of the desert.
Screen shot taken during the virtual tour of the Holy Land with my seminary class.
The strip of green you see separating the desert wilderness in this picture taken from in Israel is the Jordan river. And in the distance are mountains, which are located in the country of Jordan. These mountains are the mountains of Moab: the same mountains from which God showed Moses the promised land. And it is here that Moses died, in the Mountains of Moab. Yet no one knows where he is buried. It is Joshua who brings the people of Israel across the barren desert region you see, across the river Jordan, and beyond the desert wilderness into the promise land.
When you look closely at the desert in this picture what do you see? In this desert wilderness, there is nothingness. All the world is removed from around it. And in the air, in the nothingness of this place, in the silence of the desert, only the wind seemingly whispers to the lonely wanderer.
In my immersion experience, journeying virtually to the Holy Land, one of our Rabi guides told us that in Hebrew, the word desert could be read as “speaking.” He told us the desert is where we go to hear voices and to find our own voices. Yet how do you know when you are listening to your own voice or when you are listening to God’s voice? Or even the voice of another.
In today’s Gospel Lesson we are told “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” [1] Here is where our Lord travels to in our Gospel Lesson today: into the barren lands of the desert, and into the wilderness of nothingness, where he prays and fasts. Where “he ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” [2] And it is here that he hears the voice of another.
It is here that the devil says to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” It is here that he is offered all that is of this world, its kingdoms and riches, its power and authority over all peoples and lands. “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” And to receive it, all Jesus has to do is to bow down and worship the devil, and the things of this world will become his. Then Jesus is led to Jerusalem by the devil, where he is tempted to give up, told “to throw yourself down from here,” down from the highest point of the temple. And “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time;” until another opportunity would arise where Jesus would once again be tested. A time when Jesus is made to suffer and taunted by “those who passed by” [3] hurdling insults at him, saying: “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” [4]
This first Sunday of Lent begins forty-days of prayer, fasting, and giving alms. It is a time when we are meant to follow Jesus: to follow him into the wilderness, where we too may be tested. Make no mistake for temptation does exist. It is real, and it is all around us in this world. A spiritual battle rages: a battle for our very souls: a battle of good and evil, of our higher angles and depraved human nature.
In today’s Gospel Lesson, we heard how our Lord resisted the temptations of the devil. God Incarnate, God without sin, in taking on flesh experienced the temptations we as human beings face. He is able “to empathize with our weaknesses” for he has “been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.” [5] He resisted all temptation which can lead to sin. He rejected all that the devil offered. He responded to the devil saying: “Man shall not live on bread alone.” [6] “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” [7] And “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” [8] Words for us to heed in this time of journeying into the desert of our souls, searching the barren regions of our hearts, resisting the temptations of this world, and of this life on earth.
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” [9] Jesus prayed to his Father. And filled with the Holy Spirit his human nature was given strength. Here in this desert wilderness, we find the Holy Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit present and active, always relational, and loving, in submission and sharing all power, co-eternal and inseparable, and always faithful.
And we, being reborn in Christ, born of the Spirit, through our baptism and by our repentance, have God’s Word written upon our hearts. It is our love and honoring of God’s laws which restrict us from crossing over to the side of sin and death, restrained like the buoys we saw in the Jordan River that separate two lands. Though we walk in the shadowy world of fallenness, pushed and pulled between the physical and spiritual realms, our God is always with us. And while we may be tempted, God grace gives us strength to withstand temptations from turning into desires, from turning into sin that will separate us from God presence. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to withstand, when we with fervent cries and tears offer up prayers and petitions to the Father, surrendering ourselves to Christ who is the one who can save us from sin and death.
Let us recognize, that sin occurs when our hearts know that we have willfully gone against that which is written upon our hearts, be it internally in our minds and hearts, or externally through actions. Though in our daily lives we may sometimes slip and fall back from our onward journey towards Christian Perfection, toward becoming more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Love and living, know that we can repent, and we will be forgiven. All sin is forgiven in Christ except if one were to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. For in blaspheming the Spirit of God which resides within us, in all of us, perhaps even if only as a dim light in some, is completely snuffed out. When completely snuffed out, there is no hope or escape from eternal damnation. The Spirit who breathes life into all of us, places within us that spark, that light, that grace that allows us to acknowledge God, to receive God, to be in relationship with God. And it is what gives us Free Grace, the human freedom to choose to accept Christ or not. Born of human flesh, there will always be temptation; there will always be desire. Yet given spiritual strength through the grace of God we can resist. We can overcome. And we can love. Love of God and love of neighbor has the power to overcomes all that is evil in this world. And it is God’s grace and love that helps us to focus our eyes on higher things, where the things of this earth fade away, and we are truly set free.
Would you pray with me: Eternal God, Spirit of life who guides and leads us, as you led Jesus into the wilderness, lead us during these forty-days of Lent, that we find within the wilderness, the barren places of our hearts, the resolve to be submissive to do your will over ours. Let your light spark new hope, and new understanding in our hearts and souls, so that we may be strengthened by your gift of grace and come to know your love in a way that truly sets us free. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] Luke 4:1-2a, NIV
[2] Luke 4:2b, NIV
[3] Matthew 27:39, NIV
[4] Matthew 27:40, NIV
[5] Hebrews 4:15, NIV
[6] Luke 4:4, NIV
[7] Luke 4:8, NIV
[8] Luke 4:12, NIV
[9] Hebrews 5:7, NIV
This Lenten Season, each week, we will journey to the Holy Land as we follow Jesus to the Cross. While our Gospel lesson today takes Jesus out into the wilderness, let us first return to the Jordan River, where his journey begins.
Map of the Jordan River
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1901987
http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/israel.pdf, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1901987
The map you see of the Jordan River shows that it runs along the border between Jordan, the Palestinian West Bank, Israel and southwestern Syria. It eventually flows into the Dead Sea. A small section just below the Sea of Gallie, for about two miles, has been kept pristine, and free of pollution. This area is used for baptisms and local tourism. But downstream, the river is polluted, and its ecosystem is almost destroyed.
Many who travel to the Holy Land visit the Jordan River, as it has much religious significance as seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments. And while there may be only scattered references in the Bible to this tributary, it is the scene of several miracles. It is the place where the Israelites crossed over into the promised land. And somewhere along this stretch of the river, along the banks of the Jordan, is where John the Baptist baptized many, including our Lord.
For many who have not visited the Holy Land we have within our minds our own image of the river Jordan. What do you picture when you think about Jesus being baptized here? Many visualize the Jordan as pristine crystal-clear water flowing over a sandy bottom river as shown in this recolored postcard pictured.
Colored postcard of the Jordan River, by Karieh Abbud, circa 1925Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5107137
Is this what you pictured in your mind? Yet, this place of living water is actually quite muddy.
Screen shot taken during the virtual tour of the Holy Land with my seminary class.
And because of this, many might not consider it to be clean water. Yet this muddiness is a reminder of the muddiness of our lives. It is a reminder of our sinfulness washed away, cleansed by God’s grace through the Sacrament of Baptism.
In the picture you see, the buoys restrict how far one can go out into the river. Though the water level is low in this picture, during the rainy season the river rises covering the steps and even at times the platform. The river does become much deeper and much wider, just as our understanding, as we seek to grow deeper in faith and relationship with God. The middle buoys you see mark the border between Jordan and Israel, which it is heavily guarded by border patrols on both sides. And perhaps we might see this divide between nations as a reminder of our how sin separates us from God.
While muddy, this living water which brings life into the desert, to this place in the wilderness, brings forth new life in abundance. Without this tributary, the land here would be completely barren. Yet in this region there is life springing forth. There is a distinct contrast in this area of life from that of the surrounding wilderness, the surrounding barrenness of the desert.
Screen shot taken during the virtual tour of the Holy Land with my seminary class.
The strip of green you see separating the desert wilderness in this picture taken from in Israel is the Jordan river. And in the distance are mountains, which are located in the country of Jordan. These mountains are the mountains of Moab: the same mountains from which God showed Moses the promised land. And it is here that Moses died, in the Mountains of Moab. Yet no one knows where he is buried. It is Joshua who brings the people of Israel across the barren desert region you see, across the river Jordan, and beyond the desert wilderness into the promise land.
When you look closely at the desert in this picture what do you see? In this desert wilderness, there is nothingness. All the world is removed from around it. And in the air, in the nothingness of this place, in the silence of the desert, only the wind seemingly whispers to the lonely wanderer.
In my immersion experience, journeying virtually to the Holy Land, one of our Rabi guides told us that in Hebrew, the word desert could be read as “speaking.” He told us the desert is where we go to hear voices and to find our own voices. Yet how do you know when you are listening to your own voice or when you are listening to God’s voice? Or even the voice of another.
In today’s Gospel Lesson we are told “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” [1] Here is where our Lord travels to in our Gospel Lesson today: into the barren lands of the desert, and into the wilderness of nothingness, where he prays and fasts. Where “he ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” [2] And it is here that he hears the voice of another.
It is here that the devil says to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” It is here that he is offered all that is of this world, its kingdoms and riches, its power and authority over all peoples and lands. “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” And to receive it, all Jesus has to do is to bow down and worship the devil, and the things of this world will become his. Then Jesus is led to Jerusalem by the devil, where he is tempted to give up, told “to throw yourself down from here,” down from the highest point of the temple. And “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time;” until another opportunity would arise where Jesus would once again be tested. A time when Jesus is made to suffer and taunted by “those who passed by” [3] hurdling insults at him, saying: “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” [4]
This first Sunday of Lent begins forty-days of prayer, fasting, and giving alms. It is a time when we are meant to follow Jesus: to follow him into the wilderness, where we too may be tested. Make no mistake for temptation does exist. It is real, and it is all around us in this world. A spiritual battle rages: a battle for our very souls: a battle of good and evil, of our higher angles and depraved human nature.
In today’s Gospel Lesson, we heard how our Lord resisted the temptations of the devil. God Incarnate, God without sin, in taking on flesh experienced the temptations we as human beings face. He is able “to empathize with our weaknesses” for he has “been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.” [5] He resisted all temptation which can lead to sin. He rejected all that the devil offered. He responded to the devil saying: “Man shall not live on bread alone.” [6] “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” [7] And “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” [8] Words for us to heed in this time of journeying into the desert of our souls, searching the barren regions of our hearts, resisting the temptations of this world, and of this life on earth.
“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” [9] Jesus prayed to his Father. And filled with the Holy Spirit his human nature was given strength. Here in this desert wilderness, we find the Holy Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit present and active, always relational, and loving, in submission and sharing all power, co-eternal and inseparable, and always faithful.
And we, being reborn in Christ, born of the Spirit, through our baptism and by our repentance, have God’s Word written upon our hearts. It is our love and honoring of God’s laws which restrict us from crossing over to the side of sin and death, restrained like the buoys we saw in the Jordan River that separate two lands. Though we walk in the shadowy world of fallenness, pushed and pulled between the physical and spiritual realms, our God is always with us. And while we may be tempted, God grace gives us strength to withstand temptations from turning into desires, from turning into sin that will separate us from God presence. The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to withstand, when we with fervent cries and tears offer up prayers and petitions to the Father, surrendering ourselves to Christ who is the one who can save us from sin and death.
Let us recognize, that sin occurs when our hearts know that we have willfully gone against that which is written upon our hearts, be it internally in our minds and hearts, or externally through actions. Though in our daily lives we may sometimes slip and fall back from our onward journey towards Christian Perfection, toward becoming more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Love and living, know that we can repent, and we will be forgiven. All sin is forgiven in Christ except if one were to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. For in blaspheming the Spirit of God which resides within us, in all of us, perhaps even if only as a dim light in some, is completely snuffed out. When completely snuffed out, there is no hope or escape from eternal damnation. The Spirit who breathes life into all of us, places within us that spark, that light, that grace that allows us to acknowledge God, to receive God, to be in relationship with God. And it is what gives us Free Grace, the human freedom to choose to accept Christ or not. Born of human flesh, there will always be temptation; there will always be desire. Yet given spiritual strength through the grace of God we can resist. We can overcome. And we can love. Love of God and love of neighbor has the power to overcomes all that is evil in this world. And it is God’s grace and love that helps us to focus our eyes on higher things, where the things of this earth fade away, and we are truly set free.
Would you pray with me: Eternal God, Spirit of life who guides and leads us, as you led Jesus into the wilderness, lead us during these forty-days of Lent, that we find within the wilderness, the barren places of our hearts, the resolve to be submissive to do your will over ours. Let your light spark new hope, and new understanding in our hearts and souls, so that we may be strengthened by your gift of grace and come to know your love in a way that truly sets us free. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] Luke 4:1-2a, NIV
[2] Luke 4:2b, NIV
[3] Matthew 27:39, NIV
[4] Matthew 27:40, NIV
[5] Hebrews 4:15, NIV
[6] Luke 4:4, NIV
[7] Luke 4:8, NIV
[8] Luke 4:12, NIV
[9] Hebrews 5:7, NIV
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