{"id":679566,"date":"2025-02-17T18:56:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T23:56:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-07-16T10:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T14:08:13","slug":"trust-and-see-lent-1-c-march-9-2025","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/trust-and-see-lent-1-c-march-9-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Trust and See, Lent 1 (C) \u2013 2025"},"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=DFMS8923413700&#038;light=true\" 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\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/lent-1c\/\">[RCL] Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13<\/a><\/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\/2025\/02\/L1-2025-Cover-FB-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-329574\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe only&nbsp;way&nbsp;to get rid of a&nbsp;temptation\u201d Lord Henry advises Dorian Grey in Oscar Wilde\u2019s novel, \u201cis to yield&nbsp;to it.&nbsp;Resist&nbsp;it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We, like Lord Henry, have the sense that when a desire rises within us, we have to <em>immediately<\/em> obey the whims of our passions; that if we don\u2019t, we will be tremendously unhappy, unproductive, unstable. This is the case with all of the passions: Hunger, anger, lust, greed, the desire to impress others, the desire to buy something new. It\u2019s just too distracting not to appease the temptation, and so we give in, even if only to get rid of the longing. But the church has given us an incredible remedy for this ailment: The season of Lent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lent is a season marked by three activities: Prayer, fasting, and the giving of alms. In Lent, we don\u2019t just pick a single category \u2014 we do all three. This Lent, you might begin each day by saying Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer or the Forward Movement app, you might spend your meals fasting from meat, dairy, and alcohol, and stuff your pockets with cash, giving to all who ask of you throughout these 40 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of this <em>sounds <\/em>relatively doable, but in practice, it\u2019s challenging. What\u2019s more, it\u2019s all pointless unless we also attempt to fast from sin: Fast from giving ourselves over to anger, to greed, to lust; to any of the passions which so often control our actions. Lent is the season in which we utterly reject Lord Henry and look to an altogether different Lord instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In today\u2019s Gospel, we see Jesus in the desert. He has fasted from all food for 40 days, and we are told that he was <em>famished! <\/em>Jesus, in his human nature, is weak with hunger and exhaustion when the enemy comes to him saying, \u201cYou\u2019re hungry, you <em>have<\/em> to eat. It\u2019s all very well to be highly spiritual, to be contemplative, to be a good person, but when it comes down to it, survival is more important. You\u2019ve got to take care of number one first. Much better to dispense with all of this fasting, have a good meal, and come back to prayer when you\u2019re refreshed and can really focus on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From this perspective, loving God and neighbor are like hobbies; it\u2019s great to indulge in these after you take care of the important things in life, but ultimately, they come last. Be a Christian, but only after you take care of your work obligations, your family obligations, answer all the emails, fold all the laundry, and <em>then <\/em>see if you have a little time left for God.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Jesus looks the enemy in the face and says, \u201cNo.\u201d One does <em>not<\/em> live by bread alone. We, in the season of Lent, join our fast with that of Christ so that we can also say no to the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your passions may sometimes tell you that you just have to get angry in this moment. You have to respond to the insult, you have to shout down the crazy political ideology, you have to fight fire with fire, to give hate for hate, but in Christ, you have the freedom to say, \u201cNo. I may feel angry, but I will respond in love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The enemy may tell you that you have to hoard your wealth, to pile up money to keep yourself safe. He may whisper in your ear, \u201cIf you help one person, you\u2019ll have to help others, and pretty soon you\u2019ll have nothing left for yourself,\u201d but in Christ, you have the power to say no and simply give to all who ask of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The voice of Lord Henry may say that only pornography, only the giant meal, only the new sweater, only proving to others that you are successful, smart, and attractive will make you feel ok, will make your life livable, will bring true and lasting happiness, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, we find the strength to say no, turn away from our passions, and turn toward God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Lent, we want a little treat. We can\u2019t stop thinking about the brownie, the drink, the luxury item that an internet ad dangles before us. It seems like we will go <em>crazy<\/em> or die if we can\u2019t have it, but we stop ourselves, trust God, and wait to see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Lent, we hear the odious comment, the crack-pot idea, the insult and we feel like we will explode if we don\u2019t address it, like we will be permitting inexcusable injustice if we don\u2019t fight back, if we don\u2019t give release to our anger, but we don\u2019t; instead, we forgive, we trust God, and see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Lent, we get hungry, we get hangry, we meet our friends at a restaurant, see everyone ordering beautiful steaks and glasses of wine, and we are kicking ourselves that we even agreed to come. We are enraged that the only thing we can eat is a $30 salad! It feels like the world will come to an end if we don\u2019t just give in and do what everyone else is doing, but we don\u2019t; we trust God and we see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And at the end of our lives, we face death, and the world will be either trying to hide our death from us, telling us that everything is really fine, or will be sobbing for us, telling us that we have now lost everything. Rather than joining in the lament, we simply trust God, give ourselves to God in life and in death, and we see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For \u201cOne does <em>not<\/em> live by bread alone,\u201d continues the passage from Deuteronomy which Jesus quotes, \u201cbut by every word which comes forth from the mouth of God.\u201d We are fed by the Word of God, we live through the Word of God, and it is the living Word, Jesus, who is <em>all<\/em> that we need. When we worship not food, not wealth and power, not the devil and not ourselves, but God \u2013 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit \u2013 we have life and have it abundantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This Lent, accept the challenge of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. Trust God and see what happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Bertie Pearson<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-f6635803-d2b0-46df-94d0-825978a88210\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Lent 1 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-f6635803-d2b0-46df-94d0-825978a88210\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-d917fc54-ac21-4244-a0e5-5bff2360b656\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Lent 1 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Sermon-Lent-1-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-d917fc54-ac21-4244-a0e5-5bff2360b656\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13 \u201cThe only&nbsp;way&nbsp;to get rid of a&nbsp;temptation\u201d Lord Henry advises Dorian Grey in Oscar Wilde\u2019s novel, \u201cis to yield&nbsp;to it.&nbsp;Resist&nbsp;it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.\u201d We, like Lord Henry, have the sense that when a desire&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"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":[302],"class_list":["post-679566","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","category-lent","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-1c"],"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":302,"label":"Lent 1C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/679566","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\/679566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3474695,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/679566\/revisions\/3474695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}