Luke 4:1-13

It will not have escaped your notice that today is the first Sunday of Lent.  Although the Easter eggs seem to have been in the shops since about Boxing Day!  The lectionary readings today remind us both of the temptations of Adam in the Garden of Eden and of Jesus in the wilderness.

To be tempted is to desire to do something, especially something unwise.  The words of both of today’s readings are so familiar to us, the contrast between the fall and submission to temptation of Adam and Eve and Jesus’s failing to yield to the testing of the devil.  Towards the end of this 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread.  The temptation would have been great, Jesus’s hunger must have be gnawing at his very soul.  The devil baits Jesus recounting the manna given by God to Israelites in the wilderness.  As God’s own Son surely he would not want Jesus to experience such suffering.  Next, Jesus is challenged to throw himself from the temple as surely as the Son of God, God will come to save him.  And finally the devil offers Jesus power over all the kingdoms of the world, if he turned to worship Satan.  The Israelites were tested by God in the wilderness and gave into temptation.  The disobedience of Israel is compared with Jesus’s perfect obedience to his Father’s will.  It is only in wholly submitting unquestioning to the will of his Father that Jesus can become the ‘light to the nations’ and the source of our salvation.

Lent is of course the period of time in the Church year when we traditionally think of repentance, fasting and prayer.  The readings today help us remember the time of Jesus’s temptation and encourages us to consider what tempts and test us as individuals.  I was reminded also that I had recently heard Lent described as the season for giving up, giving in and giving to.   And that set me thinking…..

If we begin with ‘Giving Up’….

This is often what we associate most with Lent.  There are those that give up chocolate, meat, wine, shopping, eating out year after year.  And when the 40 days are over, we return to our poison just as before, nothing has in fact changed at all.  Making the choice to give something up is not just a way of scoring points, a way of proving you have a strong faith or are more holy than those around you.  The point is to make more space in your life to experience God more fully.  I am not sure that stopping eating chocolate is going to help me go deeper.   

I wonder if giving something up to God might be a better approach.  By wholeheartedly and completely handing what troubles us the most to God, be it our grief, sadness, loneliness, lack of self-worth or pain.  That would enable us to connect more deeply to God this Lenten season, to give up what controls and preoccupies us and make the space for God to break through to lighten our load and share our burdens

Then perhaps the second most popular choice is giving to….

To give to those less fortunate than ourselves, is very much part of our Christian faith.  Sally so helpfully sends us the items most needed by the Dorking foodbank each week, just a fortnight ago we gave our support to Lucy and Rosie as they fundraise for their trip to support the work of Peace in Uganda.  Many of us support a child through the charity Compassion and hope that in some way we can change the lives of those young people growing up in such difficult circumstances.  But is simply transferring some money from our bank accounts or buying a few extra items really giving to.  Jesus himself gave so freely of his time, his energy and his talents to all that he encountered.  He walked alongside people, he fed their souls not just their bodies, he healed the sick, he comforted the grieving and he gave hope to those who were living in the darkness. 

Is giving to more that just handing over wealth.  For so many of us living in relative financial security in the safe, peaceful villages around Leith Hill it is but a fleeting gesture, something we think of ‘in the moment ’pat ourselves on the back, and swiftly move on with out busy lives.  Would giving to be more meaningful and Christ like if we gave of ourselves fully for an hour or two each week.  To visit a lonely neighbour or friend, to schedule a regular telephone call with an elderly relative, to volunteer our time to support the work of a charity or school.  These moments of encounter are what touched the lives of those who met Jesus and it changed their lives.  What joy, hope and blessing could we bring if this Lent we gave to and committed to giving to week in week out, what difference would that make to us as individuals and to those we intentionally gave to? 

And lastly to giving in…

We often use the words “I give in in” our daily lives.  Perhaps to a child or grandchild pleading for a toy, to be allowed sweets or more time on their games console.  But giving in is more than that, it is the act of surrender and letting go.  More frighteningly to those of us like me are control freaks, it is the act of completely letting go of the idea that we have power or influence over our lives or the lives of those around us.  What would it mean to give in to God this Lent and pray with more connection, focus and surrender. 

Prayer opens our hearts to a power far greater than ourselves and challenges us to give in to the way and will of God.  And that place might feel vulnerable and uncertain but it is rightly so, it has the power to change us and direct us to what we could become.  The Christian author Gerard Hughes considers that most of us live our lives in a state of ‘quiet desperation’ seeking our purpose in life but inevitably the circumstances of our lives get in the way.  If we interpret our lives through the lens of God’s unending love, a love that is so great we cannot comprehend the height or depth or breadth of it we can interpret the challenges of our lives differently.  The circumstance of our lives do not change but we can see the nudges of God urging us to change direction on our journey.  The Greek for this change or perception is metanoia, it means penance a true change of heart and mind.  Lent is when we could take the time to recall the nudges that God has been giving us on the journey of life in the last few months.  If we took the time to pause and reflect on the nudges, persistent or new, hard or gentle that we have experienced what might God be speaking to us and how might we respond ‘yes’?