{"id":631355,"date":"2023-01-28T14:11:30","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T19:11:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:10:27","slug":"surrender-lent-1-a-february-26-2023","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/surrender-lent-1-a-february-26-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrender, Lent 1 (A) \u2013 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=DFMS5736754110&#038;light=true&#038;artwork=false\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/L1-2023-Cover-FB-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-281357\" style=\"width:512px;height:268px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seldom does our lectionary give us such richness in Scripture\u2014two of the most powerful and evocative stories in the Bible on the same day. And when it comes to stories about temptation, these readings just about cover the waterfront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First is that wonderful account of Adam and Eve and their problems in the garden. Here they are, in paradise; everything\u2019s going just great, and along comes this lousy snake with a smooth line and some new ideas. Next thing you know, temptation triumphs, paradise is history, all is lost, and the man and the woman are left with fig leaves, regrets, and a sour after-taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then, in a powerful contrast, Jesus is driven from his baptism into the wilderness\u2014which is just about as far from paradise as you can get. There, unlike Adam and Eve who were surrounded by ease and plenty, Jesus is exhausted, starving, and alone as he struggles with <em>his <\/em>time of temptation and challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The two stories form such an obvious contrast that it\u2019s impossible not to compare them, and to look for what emerges when they are taken together. On one level, it looks simple enough\u2014Jesus is the winner, and Adam and Eve are the losers; they are weak and he is strong. So, it\u2019s better to be like Jesus than like Adam and Eve. What\u2019s more, since today is the First Sunday in Lent, there is the added point that Lent is supposed to make us stronger so we will be more like Jesus than like Adam and Eve, at least as far as such things as temptations are concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And all of this is <em>almost<\/em> right. There really is such a thing as being more or less in shape spiritually\u2014as being more or less able to handle the demands of a serious Christian life. This has to do with character and with the development of virtues or habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s more, doing this has some real parallels with getting into shape physically or intellectually. Doubtless, the disciplined rigor of a holy Lent can take us several important steps in the right direction, and the spiritual muscles or habits (or virtues) we develop with disciplines like a Lenten rule are exactly the same ones we use in real life\u2014when the decisions we make can have vastly more important and immediate consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t forget: What makes the story of Adam and Eve a true story is not that it describes accurately something that happened somewhere else a long time ago\u2014that\u2019s not what\u2019s at issue here. What makes the story of Adam and Eve a true story is that it describes exactly what life is like here and now\u2014it tells the truth, not just about them, but about us. Over and over, we find ourselves just like them\u2014forced to decide what to do with something which, on the one hand, looks really good, seems useful and popular, and that just might teach us a thing or two\u2014but which, on the other hand, we strongly suspect is not what God thinks best for us. And we have to choose. When that happens, it\u2019s better to be stronger and to have developed some of our spiritual habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, there is a real value to the notion that we need to buff up a bit, and that Lent is a good opportunity to do a bit more of this \u2013 or to begin doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, there are also some risks to coming at things this way, as valuable as it can be. For one thing, all of this talk of getting into shape can lead to the sort of macho spirituality exemplified by the young monk who bragged that he could fast any man in the monastery right under the table. Which sort of misses the point of spiritual growth. For another, we can get a mistaken idea of what getting it right is really all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notice again what\u2019s going on in Jesus\u2019 temptation. He has fasted and prayed for a long time\u2014for as long as it takes\u2014that\u2019s what \u201c40 days\u201d means\u2014and he\u2019s famished. He\u2019s exhausted, worn out, and beat up from the weather and the loneliness and the effort it takes to sustain something like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s not at his best. He\u2019s not bursting with physical or spiritual or any other sort of strength. He\u2019s used all that up in just making it to where he is\u2014in just being faithful to the fast. <em>This <\/em>is when the temptations hit Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, I suspect that if the tempter had caught him on a good day, Jesus would have had all sorts of swell answers <em>of his own<\/em> to the questions\u2014to the temptations\u2014he was given. He might have told wonderful parables or asked clever and insightful questions right back at him\u2014and put the devil on the spot. But strength and energy and cleverness were all gone\u2014there weren\u2019t any left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We know about this, too\u2014this is a different sort of temptation from the one Adam and Eve faced. This is when we face strong, or compelling, or addicting, or beautiful, or just plain hard, temptations and we have flat run out of resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No matter how strong we were to start with, we simply can\u2019t any longer move in the direction we have chosen to move, and we are pulled instead along lines that are against our will but defined by our appetites and our ego. It\u2019s not just a matter of not being strong enough; it\u2019s a matter of being empty. That\u2019s where Jesus was\u2014he was famished; he was out of gas and he was tempted, really tempted. He\u2019s nobody\u2019s puppet, not even God\u2019s. Jesus\u2019 temptations are hard, there is nothing automatic here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Look at what happens: Jesus does not say one word of his own. Instead, he quotes scripture in a simple and straightforward way that is unlike how he uses scripture virtually anywhere else in the Gospels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus has no words, no resistance, no strength of his own\u2014he\u2019s simply holding on to the Father, and letting the Father\u2019s words and the Father\u2019s mind come through him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus\u2019 response to the tempter is not a victory of personal, spiritual strength in some sort of holy temptation-lifting Olympics. Instead, his victory is the gift that comes from surrender. (Now, think again about Adam and Eve.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Doubtless, his time in the wilderness gave Jesus a stronger and more disciplined relationship with the Father; and as a fully-human being, he had to pay attention to such matters, just like we do. But it also gave him something else, something more, something we see in his story of temptations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His time in the wilderness gave Jesus the insight and the courage to surrender, and so to depend, not on his own best efforts, but on an emptiness that can only be filled by the Father, and that can only be filled by a gift of grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several months after this all happened, Jesus said to his disciples: when you are handed over to your enemies, \u201cDo not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time.\u201d Imagine that Jesus could taste the dust of the desert and hear again the voice of the tempter and remember that hunger that reached out even to the stones around him. He knew what he was talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end of the day, the spiritual life is never about us, about what we can and cannot do. At the end of the day, it is always about God, and about God\u2019s gifts\u2014gifts of grace, gifts that do not fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-79312d45-03a8-43b0-9db4-4d282ca17abb\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Lent 1 (A) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-79312d45-03a8-43b0-9db4-4d282ca17abb\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-8b775558-4642-41ff-af58-ff52899c26dd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Lent 1 (A) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-8b775558-4642-41ff-af58-ff52899c26dd\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 Seldom does our lectionary give us such richness in Scripture\u2014two of the most powerful and evocative stories in the Bible on the same day. And when it comes to stories about temptation, these readings just about cover the waterfront. First is that wonderful account of&#8230;<\/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-631355","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\/631355","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\/631355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477271,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/631355\/revisions\/3477271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}