Lent 2011 – The First Sunday in Lent, A Reflection

Lent schment, right? I mean, what is that all about?

I can recall a time in my life, not so long ago, when I felt that way. OK, it was about 20+ years ago, but it doesn’t seem so far away.  Lent was for losers! Church was for people who needed a crutch and were willing to listen to a bunch of mostly older, white men who would tell them what they could do. And perhaps more importantly, what they could not do. Sheesh, who needs that mess. I know who I am, I know what I want and I deserve what I deserve.

Now where is that darn serpent who can tell me where that tree is? The fruit does look pretty good and after all, what is God going to do about it if I eat that fruit?

In today’s readings for this First Sunday of Lent we hear a very familiar first reading,  the story of Adam and Eve, the pesky serpent and that tasty apple. It all looked so good… and it often still does.

I suspect that most of us would have made the same decision as Eve did… The lure of the shiny apple, the smooth voice of the serpent and the thought that some special knowledge or wisdom could be had. How seductive is that? Consider every single advertisement that you have ever read, heard and/or seen. Hello Serpent! Greetings Apple! Welcome Power! Whoo hoo, it is mine and victory is sweet.

Or is it?

Our Gospel from Matthew shows us a different point of view however. Jesus is out in the desert. Please think about this for a moment… He is out in the wilderness of the Judean desert. It is hot, lonely, rocky and mountainous. Hardly a stay at the Hyatt, right? He is likely really hungry, very thirsty and who knows what else.

Make no mistake, Jesus is divine, but Jesus was also human. He suffered in the desert as we might if we actually did follow him there. It is so easy to consider that this might have been easier for Jesus; I have no special knowledge, but I am guessing that it was not. That is the point, right? Jesus’ humanity is at the heart of his divinity.

So “the tempter” comes around to see if Jesus can be swayed and finds out that Jesus will not be. It is so, pardon the pun, tempting to make this story into something that is good to listen to but has nothing to do with us… After all, we’d hardly be in the blazing desert for 40 days and even if we were, we’re not Jesus!

We are not Jesus, but we can be like Jesus.

We are in the desert, symbolically, all the time. Here during Lent, we choose to enter the desert! Or at least we hope to do this!

The story has everything to do with us. We are constantly confronted with choices and each choice bears consequences. Now that is not some finger-wagging morality threat, it is simply true. Each choice that we make, not unlike the choice that Eve made, bears a consequence. And each new choice, thanks to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, offers us the chance to find new consequences, better consequences.

Here it is, we don’t just make one choice and say, “Phew, thank God that’s over!” Well, we might, but new choices are around us all the time. And God’s ever present call to us is with us all the time and the opportunity to choose God always.

The choices we make are usually about more than what is on the surface. Eve wanted the apple, but the message of the serpent was clear – it was the Tree of Knowledge! When offered the chance to be like gods, we see what choice was made. And when Jesus could have turned stones into bread it would not have simply been about food, but rather about power and thus rendering God impotent.

And that’s the real problem. We live in a time in which we all believe that we can be the master of all. Now here’s a little secret for you, the seductive allure of power has been present since, well – since forever. It’s just that we see through own myopic and provincial lens. The manifestations of power and how power is mediated varies throughout history. The allure is the same.

That is why Jesus matters. Jesus is the power and Jesus is who we are invited to choose; we are invited to choose and surrender. That is the gift of grace and offers the transforming power of love and redemption.

Today I do choose Lent, today I do choose Jesus. The things I thought before… I understand why I thought them, I just don’t feel that way anymore. I struggle with other temptations now and I remain a bit skeptical at times, critical at others.

Our choices, even when they begin with Jesus,  invite us to further choices, to choose anew, moment by moment.

It is Lent and we are invited to be aware of our choices, whatever they might be, in a special way at this time. May we find our way through the desert and may we find our way through the temptation that calls us to look away from the Lord.

Easier said than done! Will you join me? I know this much – I can never do it alone.