I bet that everyone here has been on one side or both sides of a conversation that goes something like this, “Mom, Dad, I need a new…” phone, car, dress. It can be anything.
In my house, on a nightly basis, the need I am asked about is the need to have dessert after dinner. I despise dessert. I know I’m a monster, but the idea that you would save room dessert, when you can have your fill on the main course, is insane to me. The rest of my family loves dessert. There are some days, however, that we do not have any dessert in the house, or because of behavior, dessert is not an option. Can you guess what we hear? Mommy, Daddy, I NEED dessert!
All of us use words that we think mean one thing, but we actually mean something else. Many times, when we say we need something, what we really mean is that we want it, and I am as guilty of this as anyone.
Our Gospel today is the famous account of Jesus going into the wilderness for forty days. After those forty days, Satan tempts him three times. First, he says, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” He hits Jesus right off the bat with pride. It is as if Satan is saying to Jesus, “OK, I see your job title; let’s see what you can do! Show me how powerful you are.” Jesus answers that man does not live on bread alone. Jesus combats the temptation to be prideful by showing total obedience. He is entirely reliant on God, and he has absolute trust in God to care for him.
The second temptation, almost as if it is a response to Jesus not succumbing to the first, is to have Jesus throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple and see if angels will save him. It’s like Satan is trying to corrupt Jesus’s reliance on God, the Father: This is how sin works, isn’t it? You prevent yourself from giving in to temptation, and you are tempted to think too highly of yourself, and then you find yourself in trouble. Jesus responds to Satan that one should not test God.
The third temptation, I think is the greatest temptation: Satan offers Jesus being king of the world. All he must do is bow down and worship his tempter. Satan unknowingly is offering Jesus something Jesus already owns. He is offering those kingdoms to the one by whom all were created. Jesus angrily responds, “Be gone, Satan! You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”
All these temptations are why Jesus has such compassion for each of us, because he has been through the same, and felt the struggle of the flesh to give in to temptation. Besides being God, what is it that sets Jesus apart from us, so that he lived a sinless life?
To answer that, let’s take a detour to our Old Testament reading today.
We go from the man who was sinless, to the women and man who committed the first sin. The stark contrast of Jesus’ temptation and that of Adam and Eve is astounding. Adam and Eve live in paradise. God permits them to eat of any tree in the garden but one. They need nothing, because God provides for them. Yet when the serpent tempts them, they give in, and they give in quickly. Even though Adam and Eve have all they need, they choose what they want. Want trumps need in the case of the first humans to disobey the will of God. Want trumps need in every case of sinful behavior ever since. Jesus, in stark contrast, spends forty days in the wilderness and does not give in to the temptation to place the will of self before the will of God.
When it comes to having our needs met, those of us in America have it pretty darn good. Most of us have what we need. I know many do not, but the vast majority do. Yet we live in a society that is continuously fighting for what we want. We are not content to have what we need, and just like Adam and Eve, it’s what we want that does us in. Often, it’s what we want and can’t have that makes us depressed. What we want that makes us compare ourselves to others. What we want that makes us selfish and controlling.
This completely normal condition that we all find ourselves in is why we have the season of Lent. It is a time to look deeply into our behavior, into our thoughts, and into our prayer life. It’s a time to consider giving something up that we want, but do not need. It’s time to consider doing something more with the time we want to keep to ourselves. It’s a time to give of our means with the money we do not want to part with. It’s time to consider what we need and what we want. It’s a time to give thanks for having what we need, and for helping those in need. As we all give something up, or take something on, or give more of self this Lent, always do so remembering Our Lord praying for each of us while he was in the wilderness.
So, what is it that sets Jesus apart from us? It’s that he knows the Father, and he trusts that all he needs will be provided for him by The Father, and I don’t only mean food and shelter. The focus on what we need isn’t always about what our physical bodies need, but what our spiritual needs are. We all are so easily tempted because we have not yet seen the endgame.
Jesus, at his temptation, knows the endgame. He knows all he is about to accomplish on the cross, as his road toward Calvary begins. The season of Lent is the church’s attempt at a recapitulation of Jesus’s journey toward the salvation of the world. Take time this season to re-consider your needs and wants. Strengthen your relationship with God and seek to forgive those you have not forgiven. Meet those with whom you disagree with love and compassion. And always remember that Jesus loves, and Jesus saves.
If you are struggling or if you hold a great burden, go to Jesus, because he is all we need.
Sermon preached by the Rev. Christian M. Wood
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
1 Lent
Sunday 1 March 202