First Sunday in Lent
- Deuteronomy 26:1-11
- Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
- Romans 10:8b-13
- Luke 4:1-13
Passages like these are in the
Bible for times like this. They bolster
our faith, hope, and love in the face of devastating adversity. They give us
direction in the midst of global confusion. They invite us to center ourselves
spiritually in preparation for whatever challenges we may face in the coming
days and weeks.
After Jesus was Baptized
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (Luke 4:1 KJV)
·
Into the Wilderness
o
Eremos [air’ ay moss] (per Strong’s
Lexicon) among the definitions of wilderness are:
§ solitary,
lonely, desolate, uninhabited
§ deprived
of the aid and protection of others,
· Think
of over 82 million refugees around the world and growing daily, even before the
invasion of Ukraine
· Think
of victims of war, oppression, natural disasters, and any number of issues that
bring suffering and destruction to individuals and communities
· Think
about the hardships experienced every day by individuals and families with
inadequate incomes, health care issues, violence, and a whole range of
socio-economic disparities and injustices.
o
Wilderness can be more about a state of
existence in addition to a geographic location
o
In wilderness circumstances, the
temptation to twist or abandon our faith when we are in our wilderness
times is much like what Jesus faced in his wilderness time:
§ People
are tempted to apply the promises of God in self-serving ways
· But:
“It is written,” [we] “shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”
(vs 4)
§ People
are tempted to make up their own interpretations of God’s promises and then
expect God to abide by whatever distortions they produce at any given time
· But:
”Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (vs 12)
§ People
are tempted to doubt the promises of God and put their trust elsewhere
· But:
“It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve.” (vs 8)
·
Led by the Spirit
· Full of the Holy Ghost
Universal Salvation
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13 KJV)
·
Whosoever
o
Invitation extended to everyone at all
times
·
Call on the name of the Lord
·
Shall be saved
o
One dimension of salvation is our
justification, when we placed our trust in God
§ Began
our own personal spiritual transformation
§ Entered
into spiritual relationship with God and each other
§ Our
spiritual senses were awakened to realities beyond our physical existence
o
Another dimension of salvation is our
sanctification, when we felt ourselves enveloped by God’s eternal and
unconditional love
§ We
are drawn to a sacramental life of prayer, Bible study, worship, &
fellowship
§ We
strive to love others as profoundly and freely as God in Christ has loved us
§ We
examine our own lives to identify ways we can improve the love we are offering
to be more like the love we are receiving
o
Divine Grace encompasses every aspect of
salvation
§ God
extends wholeness and love to all humanity
§ As
we realize how much we are benefiting from God’s goodness, we extend the same
encouragement and support to everyone else around us, as we are able,
§ We
honor the Image of God in each person, sharing faith and spiritual conversation
in ways that enable us to nurture each other in God’s Love.
Trust God for Safety
You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
spend the night in Shaddai’s
shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!” (Psalm 91:1 MSG)
·
Those who “Dwelleth in the secret place
of the most High
o
Shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty
·
God is our refuge and fortress
o
Difficult to comprehend when so many who
are “abiding under the shadow of the almighty” are anything but safe at this moment.
o
For he shall give his angels charge over
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. (Psalm
91:11 KJV)
§ No evil will befall thee (vs 10)
§ Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling (vs
10)
§ Several other verses with promises that seem to say
nothing bad will happen
o
For
interpretation: Look to the cross… look to Jesus
§ Jesus went through temptation “at every point we do
but without sin”
§ Jesus experienced the cross, praying “not my will
but Thine be done”
§ All of the apostles and countless faithful
believers since have experienced unspeakable hardships
·
Yet with them, we continue to affirm “In
God We Trust”
o
We trust our prayers to be effective in
not just pleading for help but also
§ In
providing spiritual girding and assistance and direction and strength when we
are unable to participate more directly and substantively in offering relief
§ Our
spirits are connected in prayer with each other throughout the body of Christ
§ We
grow deeper in self discovery and in our relationship with our Creator
o
We trust God to show us our part in
contributing to the solutions to the problems and issues we face in our own
lives and around the world
o
We trust God’s over-arching Grace to overcome
evil with good and deliver suffering humanity into a re-created world of justice
and peace and perfect love.
Trust God for Deliverance
And God took us out of Egypt
with his strong hand and long
arm, terrible and great,
with signs and
miracle-wonders.
And he brought us to this
place,
gave us this land flowing
with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy
26:8-9 MSG)
·
In the wilderness, pray
o
for Deliverance from oppression
o
for the Outstretched arm of Almighty God
to provide “great power, signs and wonders”
o
for those who are suffering will be Brought
to a place “flowing with milk and honey”
·
For those going through suffering and
injustice, its harder to claim these promises so we who are suffering less must
claim these promises for those who are suffering more.
·
After Jesus went through these
temptations, Matthew’s Gospel says, “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him.” (vs 11)
May this season of
Lent be a time of spiritual renewal for each of us, and may the outward physical
realm be transformed to reflect the inward spiritual realm.
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