First Sunday in Lent
February 10, 2008
The Rev. James Richardson
Matthew 4: 1-11

Have a seat. Relax. It is Lent.

That is my message for you today. Slow down, take a break for Lent. Relax.

Traditionally Lent is a time of austerity, self-denial, and bad food. But let me suggest that Lent should be something more than that. Rather than seeing Lent as an obligation, look at Lent as a gift to the heart. Look at Lent as a break.

Lent is the time of purple, and purple is a rich color, the color of royalty. So consider Lent to be a time of spiritual richness, a time when we can truly put our treasure – our lives – where we want our hearts to be. And we can do this one day at a time, starting today.

Lent should not be an ordeal, but gift – a gift to our spirit. Lent is really a 40 day Sabbath – a forty day period of slowing down and taking time to rest and pray, and do those things that really matter.

The fact that Lent comes in the middle of winter is no accident. Lent is the time of Jesus’ walk to the Cross and his walk into the night. For us, life is marked with many crosses, many small hurts and big wounds that come our way. For now, we walk through the cold and the night. We stop saying “Alleluia” for a time.

Easter is coming, but not yet. First comes the journey through Lent, and it is tempting to skip.

But don’t do that. We are asked to pay attention to what we see and experience on that walk to the Cross.

Lent can be a time of surprises. It is a time that we set aside for being just a little more intentional about our walk with God, a time set aside for looking inward at what separates us from God.

It is traditional in Lent to “give up” something. Usually it is something like meat or potato chips. But let me suggest giving up something that is really different: Give up fear for Lent. You can be afraid all you want after Lent, but this Lent, give up fear.

Or give up feeling stressed out. You can fell stressed all you want in Easter, but this Lent, give up stress. Or here is another one: Give up feeling guilty for Lent. You can feel guilty after Easter, but this Lent, give up fear, or stress, or guilt.

Hard, isn’t it? Impractical, isn’t it? It might be easier to give up chocolate.

The reason we “give up” something for Lent is to strip away that which gets in our way of noticing the living God in our lives. Fear, stress, guilt get in our way more than meat, potato chips and chocolate.

Make no mistake – this is very personal stuff. If we do a little personal work, if we rid ourselves of those things that separate us from God, even for a little while, we can catch a glimpse of the promise that is ours already before we ask – that God loves each of us, and loves us for who we are becoming.

Doing this kind of spiritual work means stepping out and taking a risk.

Today we hear the story of Jesus stepping out and taking a risk in the wilderness for 40 days. Jesus goes into the desert and fasts, and the devil tests him.

This story may sound unusual or fantastic to us, but I can tell you this kind of journey is a very common practice among people who live in the desert. The Paiute and Shoshone people of Nevada do this. The aboriginal people of Australia call this a “walk about” and that is precisely what Jesus is doing. Jesus is given three tests: first, he is tempted to break his fast by turning rocks into bread. Then he is offered safety from falling off the pinnacle of the Temple. Finally, he is offered power over the kingdoms. To each of these tests, Jesus says no.

The Dominican monk and biblical scholar, Benedict Viviano, says that this story makes the most sense if you hear it as a struggle within the inner spiritual life of Jesus.

The disciples knew Jesus had struggled mightily in his spiritual life, but they were not exactly sure how – after all, they were not there to witness Jesus’ walkabout in the desert. So, as Viviano points out, the disciples tell us about Jesus’ inner struggle in the format of a dialogue, or midrash, by a Jewish rabbi arguing scripture with Satan.

We get a short-hand version of this 40-day inner-life midrash. To get all of what is suggested, you need to read Deuteronomy chapters six through eight. What’s interesting here is that each of these inner spiritual tests is similar. Each amounts to taking the safe route – break the fast, be protected from falling, or gain power. And to each Jesus gives essentially the same reply: That to take the safe route is to violate the commandment to love God with your heart and all your soul and all your might – the highest commandment, the Jewish shema.

And Jesus gives the same words spoken by Moses as he is tested wandering in the desert.

Like Moses, Jesus chooses to risk loving God rather than take the safe route.

From this test in the wilderness, Jesus learns he has the strength to emerge from the desert, to heal people, and walk with us through the hurts and wounds of life, and ultimately, Jesus has the strength go to the cross to show us that there is more to life than death.

There are many lessons here for us, more than we can absorb in one sitting. Some of these lessons will unfold for us this Lent.

One lesson is that struggling with our inner spiritual life is at the heart of living a faithful life. If Jesus struggled, why shouldn’t we? And from the struggle, no matter how messy or painful or difficult, will come strength.

I take heart in that. It gives me courage to ask God hard questions and grapple with the hard answers. It is why in our Eucharistic prayer for Lent we proclaim that Jesus “was tempted in every as we are.” That is another way of saying Jesus was tested like we are and was never separated from God. Listen for that in short while.

The spiritual life is about taking risks – the road less traveled, as the book by that name calls it. It is risky to go into the desert, literal or figurative. It is risky to figure this stuff out because, God help us, we might have to change what we do, or change how we view the world. The certainty of our perspective and the safety of our practices could be in grave danger.

And that journey of discovery and change is the gift of Lent: We go into the desert, we take an intentional walk-about of personal introspection and we try to fast from those things that get in our way of experiencing the fullness of God’s gift of life and salvation.

It is a time for self-examination and self-denial, a time for working on our physical and spiritual health, and especially for looking into our deepest self for the God within us.

So how do we walk this walk? We can start by relaxing a little. Give up fear, stress, and guilt for Lent. Take a break, slow down, take a hard look at what is really getting in your way of what matters. Love your friends, love your family. Practice patience and kindness, and when you fall short, dust yourself off, ask for forgiveness, make amends, and move on. And be intentional and serious about bringing all of this to your prayer life.

There will be lessons, and maybe even surprises, for all of us this Lent. It is my deepest prayer that all of us will be open to this season of discovery and experience together the richness of God’s blessings for all of us.

Amen.