First Sunday in Lent: February 25, 2007.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Romans 10:8b-13

Luke 4:1-13

First Reading

The temptation of Jesus, beautifully narrated by Luke's Gospel, sets before us two major themes that deftly set a trajectory for the season of Lent. First, in the appearance of Satan, the conflict that will pervade the narrative and lead ultimately to the cross is laid before us. The figure of Satan is the personification of the powers and principalities that will be confronted ultimately on the cross. Second, we are introduced to the means by which this battle will be waged--the Word of God. Beyond any sense of mere incantations, the Word of God is the very presence of God in the conflict. These two themes find expression in all of the readings for this day.

Certainly, as Luke sets the scene of Jesus' temptation, we are intended to recall the events of Moses on Sinai, Elijah on Horeb, and the people in the wilderness. To connect Jesus' forty days to just one of these (or other) times of trial diminishes the archetypal treatment of such a journey in scripture.

The trouble with an ancient text's use of Satan to embody the temptations is that, for us who consider ourselves beyond such "mythology," the "guy in the red suit" distances us from the reality of these temptations in our own world and lives. Literalism and a sense of modern superiority rob the image of its power. Ancients (and folks like Martin Luther) were not so afflicted and could recognize how "Satan" attacked us all. At work here are "the powers" that try to contravene the Word of Life with a sentence of death--and do so with such subtlety that we fall unaware.

Charles Campbell offers an excellent insight into the reality of the powers in Luke's presentation. (1) The first temptation is to use one's own power for self-preservation or survival. The second is to use that power for political gain or social power. The third is to claim God's favor for one's own purpose. We need only look around the world to see these struggles constantly raging around us. In that light, the triumph of Jesus is cause for true celebration. He does do what we so often, if ever, cannot.

Paul's opening quote from Deuteronomy (30:11-14) brings God's Word close in the confrontation with the powers. The powers in question are implicit to some extent. The clue is in v. 11, where Paul announces "No one will be put to shame." Roman culture is a culture of honor and shame. Most of Paul's hearers probably either lived in shame or spent their time trying to shame others to receive honor. The confession of faith in Jesus Christ--one who is most shamed--frees us from that power. Verses 9-10 seem to imply an "if, then" structure that some might see as an opportunity to call for everything to be up to us. Just confess and believe rightly and you'll be saved. We know that Paul would choke on that thinking. The ability to confess and believe in Christ is a gift. To act in faith is to embrace his power over the powers that be.

The powers are also implied in the passage from Deuteronomy. False idols and rejection of God lurk throughout the whole of this book. The temptations of Jesus in the wilderness are here in Israel, too. This cultic act of remembrance and response is a means of enacting the nearness of God's Word. Faced with prosperity they could claim as their own, the people are to remember the story. Then they are to act, grafting the act of gratitude onto the whole story of their ancestors. Their offering and life are now part of the great promise.

Pastoral Reflection

Perhaps the biggest temptation for preachers this Sunday is to deal with temptation too lightly. It is all too easy to make the theme of temptation a self-help presentation. It is also easy to lift up Jesus' victory over temptation so high it becomes inaccessible to our lives and struggles. The temptations that are dealt with in these texts are serious and universal.

We live in a culture of affluence, a land of plenty. The opening verses of the text from Deuteronomy, describing what the people will find in the Promised Land, mirror the prosperity of our own culture. The temptation for the people as they go from the scarcity and dependence of the wilderness to the abundance and seeming self-sufficiency of the Promised Land is simply to believe that it all has come by the sweat of their own brow, not God's gracious hand. The instructions for offering that follow aim the Word of God, in the form of the remembrance of the Exodus, at the heart of the temptation, that it might be exposed and defeated. The temptation to claim for ourselves all within our grasp sets us on a course that destroys neighbor and planet. It ultimately leads to self-destruction.

In the 1998 movie A Simple Plan, two brothers find a downed plane in the woods. The pilot is dead, and a bag with $4 million is inside. Their "simple plan" is to claim the money for themselves. The trouble is that the plan leads to ever more complex problems and ever more villainous outcomes: marital strife, alienation, and several murders. Loving people are destroyed by the "simple plan" to claim what does not belong to them.

Jesus' confrontation with Satan is a confrontation with powers that prowl around us every day. Prodded by the powers of Madison Avenue and the media, we are encouraged at every turn to a life of self-preservation. We are tempted to believe that the definition of daily bread, or the essentials of life, grows all the time. Once we "turn stones to bread" and abandon the relationship to the one whom we ask for such provision, we become slaves to the bread. Our appetite for things grows beyond bread, and we begin to see ourselves as "like God," supplying our own needs at the expense of everything.

It is not just politicians and corporate bosses who are tempted to take power over others. Every relationship in life creates an opportunity for us to try to lord it over the other. A coworker is making a costly mistake. Do you tell her so that she can avoid a career-ending blunder? or keep quiet and ensure one less competitor for the next step on the ladder? We act "like God" as we pretend to control our own fate and the fate of others.

The temptation to use God for our own purposes is also pervasive. Politicians claim moral authority by calling on the name of the Lord. White supremacists and fanatical terrorists inflict death and hate in God's name. One Christian calls another "unfaithful." We argue as if God is really on our side. All along God weeps.

To combat these temptations we need more than piety and personal strength. We need God to fight our battles. God is manifest in this battle through the Word of God and is then as close to us as our lips. Speaking of the powers as personified in Satan, Luther says, in his classic hymn, "One little word subdues him." The good news is that one who can stand against the powers is with us and for us and has already triumphed. TVO 

1. Charles Campbell, "First Sunday in Lent, Year C," in The Lectionary Commentary: The Gospels (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001), 320.