Year C

Luke 4:1-13

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Toolkit for the Journey of Lent

Jesus has now set his face for Jerusalem and therefore we now set our faces for Jerusalem, the events of holy week, and the hope of Easter morning. There is an old story from New England of the farmer that, in giving driving instructions to some visitors, informs them that they can’t get  there from here. The story’s humor revolves around the absurdity of such a statement. Of course, you can get there from here. As we begin our Lenten journey, each of the texts today help us to figure out how we get there. They help us begin at the right place so that we can come out at a good place and be ready to celebrate and receive the good news of Easter.

The text from Deuteronomy is a good place to start on the Lenten journey because it gives us our Jewish roots as the starting point. The text reminds us that we cannot get a grasp of what God doing now without coming to terms with what the journey has meant up to now. Paul’s letter to the Romans proclaims that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If the starting point is that Jesus is Lord , then we are invited to consider that this journey is for every one,.who call on the Lord. The Lord may not make distinctions, but we certainly do so we are in for quite a journey. Much like Jesus’ journey following his baptism of which we hear about in the gospel text today.

We barely have time to take in all that happened at Jesus’ baptism before he is plunged into the wilderness: tempted by the devil, hungry and on his own. The wilderness experience for Jesus has clear parallels to Moses and the people of Israel in the desert. Today’s text in Deuteronomy is a summary of the story of God’s promise of fulfillment for Israel after forty years of wandering in the desert or wilderness. Moses gives his farewell address to the Israelite s before they enter the promised land. He warns them of temptations as they enter the land of Canaan and he recounts the mighty acts of God on their behalf as he calls them to give thanks for God’s blessings and deliverance. 

To show that they remember God’s blessings, they are to bring offerings to God from the first fruits of every harvest that they gather. This offering acknowledges that the land and its bounty are gifts from God. This portion of Deuteronomy is also a confession of faith in the form of remembering the history of their ancestors who were wandering Arameans who settled in Egypt, becoming a mighty nation there, and then were made slaves. God heard their cries and brought them out of Egypt to this land “flowing with milk and honey.” As the people come to the end of their time of trail and wandering in the wilderness, they bring their gifts and bow down in thanksgiving to what God has done in fulfilling God’s promises in their midst.

Following the example of Moses, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. After his baptism, “full of the Holy Spirit” he was immediately led by the Spirit into the wilderness alone to discern and get ready for his ministry. This time of preparation included temptations by the devil. All three of the gospels record this time for Jesus who was given power and sustained by the holy spirit to resist the devils temptations by quoting Deuteronomy and referring to Israel’s wilderness experience as a source of strength in the struggle with evil. Jesus, by remaining strong and resisting, shows us that faith is made strong, strong enough to resist temptation, by obedience and trust in God’s promises.

Those who are filled with the Spirit of God, the words of scripture and who know what right worship is know these things are starting points for fighting temptation in their lives. The devil will return, as seen in the people brought to Jesus to be healed of demons and in the others who came to him for help. We also read that the devil returned when “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot.” Jesus is now squarely at odds with the powers of evil in this world as he goes out to begin God’s ministry. Yet, he has shown that he is resistant to earthly power by defying the devil. This theme continues and is the ultimate reason for his ending up on the cross.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, tells his fellow Christians that they can be strong in the Lord and resist the temptations of the world by remembering that Jesus is their Lord and by calling on his name. He cites Deuteronomy as a reminder that God’s word is readily available: “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.” This word is the word of faith that proclaims Jesus as Lord, with complete trust that God has raised him from the dead. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is saved. But it’s not enough to just proclaim in our heart that “Jesus is Lord.” We need to put it on our lips because this makes it real in a way that keeping it inside does not. It is now a part of  our conversation; a part of our telling others the good news that God saves in the midst of  wilderness and temptations when we call upon the name of God.

Practicing this call is our starting point and our task during this Lenten journey. This is a time not only for us to deepen our spirituality and find a faith that will direct and under gird our lives and bring us closer to the God who created us. But it also a time to tell others that we can find strength and solid ground in this chaotic and  mixed up, crazy world of ours by going back to the wondrous history that is given us through the scriptures; the good news that God saves in the midst of it all. Today, all our texts help us come out at a good place to be ready to celebrate Easter. They give us a pattern for our lives. We need to be people who are filled with God’s Spirit, have the words of scripture at hand, who know what right worship is and who practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting and alms giving. These made Jesus strong enough to resist and they will also sustain us in our wilderness journey with him.