FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
1 MARCH 2020
The
first two chapters of Genesis make it clear that the world God created was
filled with peace, harmony, and perfect order.
God had given everything to our first parents, including free access to
every tree, except for one: the tree in
the middle of the garden. Satan took
advantage of this one prohibition and told Eve that God could not be
trusted. God was withholding something
from them. Eve saw that the fruit was
good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. Both she and Adam fell for Satan’s lies and
committed the original sin: the sin of
pride. They saw themselves as creators,
not as God’s beloved children.
Today, the
Spirit leads Jesus into the desert to be tested. Satan tries to convince Jesus that God cannot
be trusted. He tempts Jesus to turn
stone into bread to satisfy his physical cravings. Jesus refuses, trusting that his Father will
provide for all his needs. Next, Satan
tempts Jesus to throw himself off the parapet of the Temple as a showy
demonstration of his power. Jesus
refuses to put God to the test. Finally,
Satan takes Jesus to a high mountain and promises to give him all the kingdoms
of the world if he would worship him.
Jesus refuses to accept this shortcut to attain a glory that will pass
away. He trusts in the power of the
Spirit to raise him to new life. He trusts
that his passion and death on the cross will end in everlasting glory.
Satan does
the same with us. Satan constantly
tempts us to satisfy our bodily needs in any way we choose. Satan tempts us to believe that we can only
be happy if we purchase lots of stuff.
Satan tempts us to keep up with our neighbors in order for success. Satan tempts us to put ourselves and our
priorities first, before the needs of anyone else. That is why the Spirit has
led us into this desert of Lent. We are
God’s sons and daughters. Through the
disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we join Jesus in the desert to
strengthen our wills to resist Satan’s lies.
One of
Satan’s lies has to do with generosity. Satan
wants us to believe that we have earned our treasure and must keep it for
ourselves. Satan wants us to believe that God cannot be trusted. He argues that putting aside a generous first
portion will keep us from meeting our own needs. To be perfectly honest, Satan had me
convinced for my first ten years as a priest. I had given everything to the Church. Why should I give any money? I didn’t have much anyway! But, when I became pastor for the first time,
it finally occurred to me that I needed to do what I was urging my parishioners
to do. So, I set aside 1% of my
income. Every year, I took another step
in faith and committed myself to giving a little more. To my amazement, the Lord continued to
provide for me, even when I started making intentional and more sacrificial
gifts.
As a
parish, we have been taking similar steps in sharing a portion of our income
with those in need. We tithe 5% to our
sister parish of Saint Adalbert and another 3 ½ % to those who come to us
asking for help. In the last few years,
we could not take another step in increasing our tithe, because we were in the
midst of a capital campaign. But, we
continued to trust that God would provide and did not reduce it. We hope to reach our goal of giving 10%
away.
I was working on my taxes a couple
of weeks ago and calculated that I am now giving away 8% of my income. I also realized that I had set up my online
giving several years ago and had not increased it since. The Lord is telling me that it is time to
take another step in faith. I trust that
you have read the materials we sent home and prayed over your response. Don’t listen to Satan, who might be telling
you that you will not be able to afford your standard of living if you make a
generous, intentional sacrificial gift.
He is lying if he tells you that the parish does not need your help, or
that others will take care of it. As the
ministers of hospitality pass out the pledge cards, I will walk you through the
process of making a commitment.
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