First Sunday In Lent (B) 2019

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Luke 4:2
Theme: The Journey

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

We’re on a journey. It’s a voyage we can’t opt out of. It’s an expedition through the prosperities and adversities of this terrestrial life. But not all who accompany us, both adversaries and advocates, are earth-bound creatures. When mortality is reached, only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, can see us across the threshold. Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is a time of special observance Christians have historically followed to help them re-appreciate and re-appropriate the passion and resurrection of Jesus. The word lent means ‘spring season’, a misnomer for those of us approaching the autumnal equinox. Nevertheless, the spiritual correlation applies. Lent is a time for renewed gratitude, recovered fidelity, and restored hope.

The 40-day temptation of Jesus is the scriptural account that initiates our journey. Undoubtedly during this span Satan attempted many persuasions and engaged in much subtlety. The length of time in the wilderness, 40 days, not only resonates with key events in biblical history, it is an analogy of the Christian’s pilgrimage throughout this temporal life. Temptation is never far away. The temptations that are noted are threefold. They involve Jesus’ human needs, His understanding of His mission, and His confidence in God the Father. Satan challenges Him to turn stone into bread, to worship him instead of God, and to test God’s patience and trustworthiness. Christ does not yield to any of the devils’ efforts and in the end, he is driven away “until an opportune time.”1

Satan is the master of creating doubt. The seed of doubt is what he sows tirelessly and prodigiously. He broadcasts it generously and generically across the breadth and width of humanity. He also plants it specifically- a single seed carefully placed in a vulnerable heart. He is not always successful. But he doesn’t give up. If the seed of doubt does not germinate, he has no growing crop of deception to tend. If it doesn’t take root, he has no hope for a harvest of unrighteousness. These seeds of doubt are not all of the same variety, but they all work toward the same goal: Separation from God.

Don’t think for a moment that the seeds of doubt the devil is sowing only relate to the bigger questions about the meaning and existence of life. Did God create the universe? Am I the maker of my own destiny? Am I accountable for my sins? Can I make my own rules? Will I be judged? Is there an afterlife? Will good prevail over evil? Does hell even exist? Does God Himself exist…and so forth. Yes, the devil is certainly happy to derail peoples’ faith through the falsification of these ‘big picture’ issues.

Yet, for those who hold a Christian worldview in whole or in part, the doubt he seeks to sow is often very practical and personal? Does my spouse love me selflessly? Do my friends or colleagues appreciate me? Will people be honest with me in business? Do people think poorly of me or gossip about me? What is my reputation in the community? Does it matter if I’m not totally honest in this or that situation? Dear friends, you are not called to pander to this doubt, but to repent of it. Victorious doubt is sin. If we don’t fear, love, and trust God above all things we’re breaking the foundational commandment. In every aspect of every relationship God wants us always moving from suspicion to certainty.

When the seed of doubt takes root, trust is immediately compromised. If the growing doubt is watered and fertilized, that is, if the matter is indulged through speculation or neglect and not resolved through clarification, then trust’s foundation begins to crack. Its fabric begins to tear. The root of a tree can crack the foundation of a house, raise a segment of the road, or obstruct the flow of a drain. A torn garment can become completely useless. The dysfunction is often not easily rectified.

God not only has the antidote to doubt, He provides the means to reconcile the brokenness it creates. Doubt can only be rectified by the triumph of certainty and brokenness corrected by the restoration of trust. Without trust no stable relationship can develop. Remember, Satan cannot read your mind, he just has a wealth of experience in dealing with human nature. He has no real power over you. Luther says in his famous hymn we just sang, “Scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none…one little world can fell him.”2 The devil cannot tolerate the divine word and he has no authority to seize it from you. What does the apostle say today, ‘“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”3

Dear friends, Jesus resisted temptation for you. He stood firm against the wiles of the devil for you. He fasted for you. He suffered for you. He sacrificed everything for you. Through His baptism He stands in solidarity with you. He descended into hell to the proclaim the victory you participate in. He overcame death to spare you from its finality. He resisted turning stone into bread so you could be fed by the holy bread. He responded to every temptation of the devil with the word of God. That’s a model for us to follow.

Sometimes lent is misunderstood as a dreary, negative, overly self-deprecating time of the church year. Solemnity is overly emphasized at the expense of expressions of joy. The pastor hides the alleluias from us and prattles on about sin more than usual. Yet, far from being dominated by tedium and misery, lent is an exciting opportunity for renewal. It’s an opportunity to refocus on those core truths that define us as God’s people.

This life is a journey. For Christians it’s a daily struggle to live in the baptismal promise and bear the crosses that are placed on us. Christian life is not a collection of ‘spiritual events’- think baptisms, confirmations, and funerals, along with Christmas and Easter services. Christianity reduced to ‘milestone’ achievements and ‘special-occasion’ observances is a ceremonial adherence to the faith and a certain indication that meaningful connection with the faith is on its way to obsolescence. We can see that all around us. The baptised and confirmed of one generation become only the baptised of the next. Thereafter all connection with the church is often lost.

Still, the Good Shepherd never stops seeking the lost sheep. The Scripture says, “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”4 And that repentance leads to the motivation and the tenacity to pursue the struggle of faithfulness in this life. Do you think there is one Olympic athlete that never spent any time or effort preparing for the games? Is there any individual so superior to all the other competitors that no training is required at all to win the gold? I would be surprised if together we could name a single example. Therefore, the apostle says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”5 Christ has run the gauntlet for us. The outcome of our race is not in doubt. We will be crowned according to the Scripture, “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”6 Christ didn’t remain in the wilderness and we won’t either. Lent is a time to contemplate such things. Amen.

+ In nomine Jesu +

First Sunday in Lent
10 March 2019
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 4:13
2 A Mighty Fortress, LH 195, stz3
3 Romans 10:8-9
4 Luke 15:10
5 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
6 Revelation 2:10