Our 40-day Lenten journey began on Ash Wednesday. In many churches, the people of God were marked with ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality. In words, we are told, \u201cRemember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.\u201d (BCP, p. 265) And forever mindful of the horror of September 11, 2001, we should require no further token of the finite state of our being, and furthermore, that whenever we personally or corporately fall into the hands of sin, we are called to repent and seek forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the matter of our spiritual nature, of our soul, which is the essence of life. It is to this aspect of our human nature, which marks our relationship with our Creator, the Eternal One, that we honor and strive to keep alive. But there will be many occasions when body and soul make a journey into the wilderness. From birth to the time of our return to God, we will have ample opportunities to experience a journey that will lead us into and, hopefully, out of life\u2019s wilderness. We should view our journeys into the wilderness, or wilderness wanderings, as times of testing, as times in which God prepares us for a task. We may also view the wilderness as a place where the spiritual strength and stamina of our souls is refined and strengthened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In particular, life\u2019s wilderness experiences test our faith. We are exhorted to resist temptation from the power of sin and evil forces that seek to dominate our lives. More to the point, our faith is tested to see if we are anchored in God\u2019s authority and ultimate power. And as Christians, in the wilderness, we recognize the triumph of Jesus Christ over the power of sin and death-Jesus Christ who in human form experienced times of testing and temptation just like us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his play Lady Windermere\u2019s Fan, Oscar Wilde wrote, \u201cI can resist everything except temptation.\u201d There is a cartoon that has two characters saying: \u201cHow come opportunity knocks only once, but temptation beats down the door every day?\u201d St. Augustine of Hippo, an African Doctor of the Church, knew something about temptation, too. In his autobiography entitled Confessions, a young Augustine was in the wilderness struggling with life\u2019s carnal temptations. St. Augustine wrote, \u201cGive me chastity and continence, but not just now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s face it, temptation is part of everyone\u2019s life. The test to overcome temptation toward evil will always be an inescapable part of our earthly sojourn. Throughout this particular dance with life, we may be strengthened by St. Paul\u2019s words in 1 Corinthians 10:13: \u201cNo testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and [God] will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing [God] will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.\u201d Today, our Old and New Testament readings provide a golden window of opportunity toward our finding a way out of the wilderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Old Testament Book of Genesis, we witness how temptation toward evil led Adam and Eve to an act of faithlessness and sin. In contrast, our Gospel from St. Matthew shows how Jesus Christ relied on faith in God\u2019s Word and authority. And we witness Christ\u2019s deliverance from the evil temptations that lead to sin. At the root of today\u2019s readings is our willingness to be faithful and obedient to God. The question before us today is this: What kind of Christians are we going to be \u2014 faithful or faithless?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now life for Adam and Eve would have been \u201ca piece of cake\u201d if God had planted only one tree in the Garden of Eden. Why did God plant two? Why did God give Adam and Eve a choice between one, over and against the other? It was God\u2019s way of testing them. God needed to see if they were willing and able to be responsible tenants and trustees of God\u2019s vineyard. The choice was simple. Adam and Eve had to choose between God\u2019s authority and their own, self-appointed authority. What God offered is what theologians call \u201cfree will.\u201d They could choose freely between life and death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, they chose poorly \u2014 they chose a life that led to death. Furthermore, because Adam and Eve symbolize the way in which God has entrusted the earth to our care, we are expected to make wise management decisions rooted in God\u2019s Word. The two trees are metaphors representing faithfulness versus faithlessness, conservation versus exploitation, saying \u201cyes\u201d to God versus saying \u201cno\u201d to God, affirming a life of relationship with God versus a life estranged from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This lesson also teaches us that evil and sin are primordial, which means that they have been with us since the beginning of time. And the atrocity of September 11, the scandalous collapse of the Enron corporation (or should we say \u201cEnd-Run\u201d), the subsequent financial loss incurred by so many people who had invested their employment years and their life savings in the corporation, the admission by State Troopers of racial profiling, the notion of offering \u201cconcierge\u201d medical care to the rich, instead of affordable healthcare for all, continue to remind us that we struggle with an evil nature and an impulse to oppose the divine will. Carl Gustav Jung, the great psychoanalyst and philosopher, once said, \u201cAll the old primitive sins are not dead, but are crouching in the\u2026corners of our modern hearts.\u201d For the contemporary mind, the story of Adam and Eve symbolizes the belief that God\u2019s authority will overrule any authority we choose to bestow upon ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So in wilderness moments, what do we do? During our Lenten journeys \u2014 and for the rest of our lives \u2014 how do we prepare ourselves to overcome any inclination toward sinfulness and selfishness? How do we find our way out of the wilderness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus\u2019 experience in the wilderness is the key. Our Lord\u2019s experience demonstrates that there are three spiritual tools required for finding our way out of the wilderness. These tools are prayer, fasting, and faith in the Word of God. First of all, Jesus prayed. We need to remember that whenever we enter into life\u2019s wilderness we need to be in conversation with God. Prayer and meditative reflection \u2014 listening for God\u2019s voice \u2014 will always guide us through life\u2019s most difficult moments. Secondly, Jesus fasted. Like a foundry worker purifying metal in the refining fire of the smelter, he purified himself \u2014 body, mind, and soul \u2014 of everything that obscured his life-link to God. In other words. Jesus fasted from the world and feasted on the Word of God. Third, Jesus relied on the foundation of faith. Standing on the promises of God, Jesus relied on the promise that his Heavenly Parent would save him, would deliver him from the time of trial, from the snare and pit of Satan\u2019s cunning allure. We need to understand these tools for our own wilderness journeys in life and for the righteousness the world expects from us as we witness for our Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, during our Lenten journey and for the rest of our lives, may prayer, fasting, and faith be the hallmarks of our earthly journey. Let us view trial and temptation as useful. Temptation is not meant to make us sin. It is meant to raise us to a clearer vision of God\u2019s eternal goodness. Temptation is not meant to weaken or enfeeble us. It is meant to empower and strengthen us for service. Temptation is not a penalty we receive from a mysterious or mischievous god. It is a privilege we receive from a gracious God to see if we are prepared to tell others the story of God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Immediately after Jesus came out of the wilderness, he began his ministry. Whenever we emerge from our wilderness experience, we are called to do the same. Finding our way out of the wilderness means that we have accomplished our trial, leaning on the Lord. And we have passed the test of trial and temptation through faith in him who died and rose from the grave on Easter Day. To God be the Glory! through Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Have a blessed Lenten journey. AMEN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by Gerald S. Collins<\/strong>.<\/em> Our 40-day Lenten journey began on Ash Wednesday. In many churches, the people of God were marked with ashes as a sign of penitence and mortality. In words, we are told, \u201cRemember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.\u201d (BCP, p. 265) And forever mindful of the horror of September 11, 2001,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[51,43,52,3],"tags":[150],"class_list":["post-511321","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lent","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-1a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":51,"label":"Lent"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":150,"label":"Lent 1A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3476360,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511321\/revisions\/3476360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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