FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
5 MARCH 2017
Our
Scripture readings begin in a garden. Genesis tells us that God scooped up clay,
breathed into it, and created us in his image.
As creatures, we were meant to be in perfect unity with God and each
other, and we were meant to enjoy all the fruits of his creation. God did not forbid Adam and Eve from eating
of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he was an
authoritarian nitpicker who wanted them to watch what they ate. He wanted them to know the difference between
being a creator and being a creature. That
tree symbolizes equality with God. The
serpent told Eve that God was withholding something from them. Both of our first parents listened to that
lie and ate the fruit. In other words,
they were not satisfied with being creatures.
Instead of trusting that God is the final arbiter of what is good and
what is evil, they wanted to assume that divine prerogative for
themselves. Once they realized their
pride and arrogance, they became ashamed.
In their shame, they realized that were naked and vulnerable, and the
intended unity was destroyed. That is what happens when we try to pretend that
we are God, instead of being satisfied with being created in God’s image.
Our Scripture
readings end in a desert. Jesus has just
been baptized in the Jordan River. The
voice from heaven declared that he is God’s Beloved Son. Even though Jesus is the Son of God, he shares
in the clay of the earth in his humanity.
When the Spirit drives him into the desert, the prince of lies tries the
same tactic that had worked with Adam and Eve in the garden. He tries to get Jesus to assume for himself
the prerogatives that belong to his Father alone. If he is the Son of God, he can turn stones
into bread to satisfy his hunger after fasting for forty days. If he is the Son of God, he can throw himself
off the parapet of the temple to prove his Father’s real love for him. If he would bow down and worship the devil,
he could have all the power in the world and not have to go through the humiliation
of his passion and death. In resisting
those temptations in the desert, Jesus makes up his mind to trust in the will
of the Father and fulfill his mission as the Suffering Servant. He does not make the same mistake as our
first parents.
The Spirit
has led us into this forty day Season of Lent to test us. We resemble the people of Israel more than we
resemble the Son of God. They failed the
testing of the evil one over and over again during their forty year journey
from slavery to freedom in the desert.
When they were hungry, they could not trust in God and demanded
food. We too look for immediate fixes
from God when life gets difficult. When
they did not get immediate results, they tested God and demanded signs from
Moses. When we are afflicted with
sickness or death or failure, we tend to say the same thing. “I will believe in you, Lord, if you take
away my spouse’s cancer.” “I will get
involved in one of the parish ministries if I can get my own way.” We may not fashion a golden calf, but we
certainly give much more attention to the power of wealth or personal gain or
popularity than we give to surrendering ourselves to the will of God.
Through
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we are reminded that we are made in the image
of God and that we are creatures, not the creator. We learn that God is the ultimate decider of
good and evil. We learn that we make ourselves
naked and vulnerable when we attribute to ourselves the prerogatives of deciding
what is right and wrong. We learn the
truth that Saint Paul proclaims to the Corinthians – that sin and death entered
the world through one man, Adam. Through
Jesus Christ, the new Adam, we have been reconciled and given eternal
life. Finally, we learn that what began
in the garden will end in another garden.
On Easter Sunday, the Gospel will tell us that the risen Christ reveals himself
to Mary Magdalene in a garden and sends her to tell the good news of the
resurrection to his disciples.
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