SERMON
ST. HILARY'S EPISCOPAL
CHURCH
REV. Cynthia H. Montooth
February 25th, 2007
Audio
not available yet.
Music
not available yet.
As we
arrive at the 1st Sunday of Lent this morning,
Luke’s
Gospel invites us to come out to the wilderness and
look into the
Temptation of Christ. The same Spirit who came down
as a dove
At Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan has lead Him
right away
to this place of solitude. Mark uses a stronger
word-that the Spirit
drove Jesus to the desert wilderness. The 40 days
was to be a time
of fasting, for Jesus to prepare for His ministry on
earth. We can
draw a parallel with Elijah and Moses fasting for 40
days and
nights, as described in the OT, and also with the
testing of the
nation of Israel for 40 days in the desert. It is
believed
that the site for Jesus’ 40 days was the rocky and
uninhabited area
between Jerusalem and Jericho, with Mt. Quarantania
being the
exact location. [Kind of sounds like the word
quarantine!] The
region was considered to be outside of society, and
said to be
inhabited by demons. Satan the slanderer was out
there lurking.
There, Jesus confronted and actively faced into the
spiritual
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
wrestling and struggle of discerning the
alternatives that he would
face in His ministry. There, the first temptation by
Satan was the
temptation to change stones into bread, with a
deeper meaning of
Jesus displaying his power to show that he could
provide food for
not only himself, but for all the hungry of the
world.The context of the Scripture as read in the three
Synoptic Gospels
places the time of the first temptation as being
near the end of His
time of fasting, when His body would be weakened and
worn down by the fast. Satan seized the opportunity
to point out
“this stone”, tempting Jesus to turn the stone into
a loaf of bread. I
find it interesting to the imagery of this moment
that the explorer
Stanley found crystallizations of round stones on
Mt. Carmel
called Elijah’s melons, shaped and sized like loaves
of bread.
Jesus was not only hungry himself, but mindful of
the poverty and
hunger of his people. He would teach his faithful to
pray “give us
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
this day our daily bread.” His acceptance of the
role as provider of
bread would have fulfilled some messianic
expectations. Jesus
responded to Satan with his chosen alternative-
bread for the soul.
He fires back the verse from Deuteronomy 8:3 “man
does not live
by bread alone.” In Matthew’s Gospel the quote
continues; “man
does not live on bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds
from the mouth of God.” As we prepare for Eucharist
today we
know through Jesus that we are being offered the
bread of heaven,
bread that will last forever.
In the second temptation the altitude supernaturally
rises, to a
place where the whole world can be seen, seemingly
somewhere
up in the air. In a moment of time, Satan offers the
power over his
whole world and all its kingdoms to Jesus. This trap
relates to
another Messianic concept of Jesus held by the
people of Israel.
Some in Israel held the expectation Jesus would
become a
conqueror Messiah, a warrior of deliverance, who
would lead the
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
way to crush Rome and its oppression. In John 6:15
it is written
that that the Zealots would have liked “to come and
take him by
force to make him king.“ The devil offers Jesus this
bribe: all the
power in the world will be given to Jesus if he
would bow down
and worship Satan. In fact the Greek word in this
passage can be
translated to “just bow your knee down once up here
in my
presence.” Just once-no- never! Jesus blasts Satan
with the truth
from Deuteronomy 6:13 “it is written, worship only
the Lord
your God, and serve only him.” Jesus would be a
conqueror- he
would conquer death upon the cross.
Young children often will dare each other to attempt
feats that can
be dangerous. When our son David was 3, his little
friend dared
him to jump off a 4 foot retaining wall in our
driveway. Eager to
impress her, David jumped, and broke his foot on
impact! We
know of all sorts of daredevils in any age.
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
Now back on the Biblical scale. The third temptation
of Christ
takes place in Jerusalem, and is likely to have been
at the pinnacle
of the Temple. Pinnacle and parapet have a very
similar translation
in the Greek, so biblical scholars place this
encounter between
Jesus and Satan as being either on one the towers,
180 feet up, or
on top of the high gate of the Temple. In any case
the pair would
have been easily visible to the crowds below. Satan
launches a
futile dare at Jesus to throw himself down, to prove
by this
spectacular feat that he is the Son of God,
protected by angels
from harm. The devil tries to deliver a false twist
on Psalm 91:11-
12. The true intent of these verses is that God
protects those who
fall into accidental harm, not deliberate flings
into danger. The
character Antonio in Shakespeare’s Merchant of
Venice says “ the
devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.”
The devil’s deeper core plan in this temptation is
to force Jesus to
say that he is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus
will have none of
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
this. He blasts back right between the devil’s horns
with
Deuteronomy 6:16 “you shall not put the Lord your
God to the
test.” Jesus has already been named by God as his
Son, in the
moment of his Baptism. He will be clearly seen as
the Son of God
in God’s time, by his miraculous works on earth, his
death on the
cross as Christ the King, and his glorious
resurrection.
We can be led by the Spirit into our own 40 days,
the season of
Lent. We can find our own best way to keep a holy
Lent.
Since the early Church, Lent has been a traditional
time to
prepare for baptism, usually celebrated on Easter
Saturday or on
Pentecost. Lent might be a good time to read over
and review our
own vows in the Baptismal Covenant, found in the BCP.
The Lenten season is solemn, a time to reflect on
the stories of
Christ’s life and death on the cross. The Lenten
season doesn’t
need to be gloomy, though. We know the end of the
story aheadSermon
preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H. Montooth
Easter morning and the empty tomb.
The words Lenten and retreat go together. Even
though it is
difficult to find the luxury of time for a full
Lenten retreat, we can
take some time to add some new colors to our
spiritual palette.
Lenten fasting is a classic Lenten discipline, and
can be very
cleansing. I have practiced fasting my whole adult
life. During the
fast, I become more mindful of Jesus’ suffering, and
the suffering
of the millions in the world who have little or no
food.
The Office of Noonday Prayer in the BCP takes only a
few
minutes to read, and makes a good companion to that
Cup-o-
Soup. The Order of Compline, the last monastic hour,
also in the
BCP, can be a prayerful and peaceful way to end the
day and
prepare for sleep.
We can see our 40 days not only as Lenten denial,
but as an
enrichment to our spiritual life. Perhaps if we are
normally very
introverted and quiet, we can take just a few
moments to reach
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
out and talk to one new person at the Coffee Hour.
If we always
talk a blue streak, perhaps we can listen!
If we have never tried intercessory prayer, or
centering prayer, this
can be a good time to make a beginning.
St. Hilary’s offers Stations at the Cross during
Lent each
Wednesday night at 6:00. Each Station powerfully
commemorates
a time and event in Jesus’ last day on earth.
All four of our priests at St. Hilary’s offer
Confession, the
Sacrament of Reconciliation of a Penitent. Holy
Saturday is a
typical time for confession, in preparation for
Easter.
As we close this Lenten devotion on the Temptation
of Christ, I
would invite you to pick up your small bulletin
insert with this
morning’s Scriptures. At the top of the first page
is the Collect for
The First Sunday in Lent. Let us read this collect
together:
The Lord be with you: and also with you.
Sermon preached Feb. 25, 2007 The Rev. Cynthia H.
Montooth
Let us pray:
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the
Spirit to be
tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are
assaulted by
many temptations;, and, as you know the weaknesses
of each of
us, let each one find you mighty to save; through
Jesus Christ your
Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
|
|
