February 21, 2010
First Sunday of Lent
- Luke 4:1-13
- Dr. Teri Thomas
I understand there is a new theme park in Orlando, Fl called “The Holy Land Experience”. You can see Jesus crucified, watch the disciples dance and sing, and check out a model of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. For just $31 per adult and $16 per child, you get to experience everything you read about in the Bible without any of the hassles of international travel, tours, wars, or other inconveniences. You can buy a Shofar, or a scroll or a DVD of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Kids can walk through Noah’s ark or knock down the wall of Jericho. If you get hungry you can grab a Goliath burger at the Oasis Palm Café, or get a coffee and a pastry at the Sycamore Tree.
What there isn’t at the theme park is anything really resembling a wilderness.
I guess wilderness is not a big draw for families on vacation. The Israelites wandered through it for forty years. Jesus spent 40 days in it. But we really would rather avoid it. There is also no mention of Satan, or the tempter, or evil, or whatever you want to call the power Jesus encountered in his wilderness experience. Probably not a big draw either. Can you imagine-
“Where are you going for spring break this year. We are going to see the devil in Orlando?”
Whatever you want to call that power outside of the theme parks, we know it exists.
Not sure?
Think about your own life. You know that person who is so trying? And every day you say you are going to be nicer, more patient, more loving and just how many times have you failed to keep that good thought? What about those things you swear you are going to stop doing? Or the ones you are set on starting? And yet we can’t seem to make the change. There is another power in our lives. Call it temptation, or evil or Satan, it is there.
And then there is the wilderness- the place where we often meet this power. Maybe you are going through a moral challenge, trying desperately to determine the better path. Maybe it is a fear- a fear of tomorrow- a fear of change or a fear of death. Maybe you are just discouraged and worn out.
We all experience these wilderness times. They may be different for each of us but there are some things they all have in common.
• The wilderness is always a lonely place. Even when we know others have walked this way we feel alone with our feelings and our fears.
• The wilderness is not a place we would choose to go. We usually find ourselves there against our will and despite our attempts to avoid it.
• The wilderness is a place where we feel out of control. That other power is present and we feel inadequate to stand up to it.
Jesus could have been distracted by the things offered to him. He could have turned toward them
because he was hungry after fasting for 40 days. Who wouldn’t do almost anything for food after that? He could satisfy his hunger and feed all the hungry people. And who would not want dignity, power, respect, empowerment, safety and security or any of the other things the tempter offered?
But, Jesus doesn’t get tempted or distracted by these offers. Instead, he remembers where he came from, a child of God, claimed by God in baptism, and called by God into this ministry.
He remembers what sustains him. He can turn down the bread because he is still full to the brim with the Spirit of God and that is ultimately what gives him nourishment and strength.
He remembers what he has been called to do. Jesus refuses the power, security that could keep him temporarily satisfied while deterring him from his real purpose in life.
In order to do stand against the tempter Jesus had to know where he came from, what would sustain him, and what his true purpose really was.
The same questions confront each of us every single day.
Who are you? A child of God? The top salesperson in the company? A teacher or a learner?
A master or a servant? A doer or a lover?
What sustains you? Money? Adventure? A new house or bigger car? Love? Power? Faith?
What is our purpose here on earth? Success? Wealth? Comfort? Fame? Service?
These choices face each of us as individuals. They also face all of us together. As a congregation we have to ask-
Who are we? What will sustain us? What are we really called to do?
Northminster went through a time when we were known as the largest church in Indiana.
Then we went through the time when we were the church where the tragedy happened.
Then we became the church with the crazy woman pastor. Now we could be the church with that beautiful new building that was just finished, or the church that hosts Blue Grass Bands.
We can be tempted to rest on what others see in us or we can resist the temptation and struggle to be what God is calling us to be.
This is what our mission statement says about us-
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, we celebrate God's love and follow Christ's teachings to seek, serve and embrace.
Seeking God’s spirit is part of our daily lives. We study together, pray together, sing together,
worship together, watch movies and read books together. Then we talk and question and wonder
in an effort to know who we really are.
Serving God and our world in a variety of ways is how we nourish our growing faith. Working with School 55, teaching in a small church in Cancun, feeding lunch to school children in Kenya
while providing food for people in Indianapolis, and supporting the mission of our denomination
locally and globally are just some of the ways we feed our faith and strengthen our life together.
Embracing friends and strangers is central to our life as a community. We share one another’s joys and sorrows in worship and in fellowship. Burdens and joys are carried and celebrated together through our deacons and our Stephen Ministers. We all embrace the lonely, the outcast, the child, the family and the person who has given up on church. Because that is what God calls us to do.
If we possess clarity about our mission, we will not be distracted or tempted to look elsewhere. We will know our identity and purpose, and live into it. It is not about the building, it is not about the pastor, it is not about the size.
It is remembering we are children of God- loved and claimed.
It is being confident in the sustenance that comes only from God.
It is knowing we are here to seek, to serve and to embrace others.
Who are you? What gives you life? What is God asking you to do?
These are the questions of Lent.
The answers will determine our life.
Amen.