Don Friesen
In recent years the Mennonite Church has offered worship guides for the seasons of Advent and Lent. I applaud the effort, and while it may be difficult to define a Mennonite liturgy, it's helpful to have a dedicated group of people visit the Scripture lessons beforehand and provide suggestions for observing these important seasons of worship. Their efforts appear to meet a need, and I'm surprised, given our independence and obstinacy of spirit, how many Mennonite churches follow these guides.
I've tried to use these guides, but each year they get a little stranger, and the bulletins designed to accompany these worship plans are just plain weird! This year the bulletin covers for Lent are so ugly I refuse to use them, and the themes suggested for Lent were so upbeat and starry-eyed that any Lenten tendency to confession and self-examination would be purely accidental!
I'm not saying that these budding Mennonite liturgists drove me to it, but I've decided, as an alternative, to wade through the medieval swamp of deadly sin, and to invite you to wade with me, as each Sunday, starting next week, we acknowledge the sins of pride, wrath, sloth, envy, greed, lechery, and gluttony.
Today's Scripture readings set the tone, and if at times we are tempted to take temptation less than seriously, today's readings offer us both of the classic biblical temptation stories--two heavy stories that present a picture of the human struggle with good and evil.
Do not Underestimate the Power of Sin
Today begins our Lenten journey, a journey from one garden to another, from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane, from a garden of temptation to a garden of surrender, a journey from a paradise impaired by sin, to a garden of single-minded devotion to God's will. And I invite you to reflect on two things as we set out on this Lenten journey, and the first is: Never underestimate the power of sin.
Someone has pointed out that about the most useless thing you could ever do with the Adam and Eve story is to spend time thinking about what life would have been like for us if they hadn't eaten the fruit. This isn't a "what-if" story; this is a story full of profound truth revealing a human race well acquainted with both good and evil. Why is it that creatures who have been made in the image of God have such a fatal fascination with things that are off-limits? We may like to think that there was an idyllic time when human beings had no concept of evil, but the Scriptures boldly assert, right from the beginning, that our awareness of evil, in its whole spectrum from subtle deceit to calculated genocide, is quite simply a part of who we are. One of the reasons that the story of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden is such a powerful and enduring story is because it holds up a mirror and enables us to recognise and know ourselves.
Sometimes it's hard to take Jesus' temptations seriously. We flinch at mention of the tempter, especially when he or she is called the devil. There have been groups in Christian history who denied that Jesus was really tempted; for them he was too god-like to be in any danger of being tainted by human sin. The New Testament, however, is quite serious about Jesus' temptations. Matthew tells us plainly that "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4:1) Matthew doesn't say that Jesus wondered about temptation, or that he was just "considering his options" or sorting out a few priorities! He tells us that Jesus was tempted. Mark tells us that Jesus "was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan" (Mark 1:13), and then throws in a few "wild beasts" lest we think this was a comfortable spiritual retreat of some sort. Luke too tells us that Jesus "was tempted by the devil," and lest we think this be little more than an extended period of reverie, Luke adds that during these six weeks Jesus had absolutely nothing to eat! (Luke 4:2)
No picnic, this! And lest we be tempted in any way to diminish Jesus' wilderness experience, the book of Hebrews tells us that in Jesus we have "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are...." (Hebrews 4:15, RSV)
Keep the Wilderness in Perspective
Lent offers us a spiritual wilderness in which to examine ourselves. A wilderness offers no shelters in which to hide from our shadowy side, our anxieties and fears, our sin. The New Testament book of James says that "one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it; (and) then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15) We may wish to avoid the wilderness within, afraid to see what condition our condition is in.
It's a sober season into which we now enter, but while the caution not to underestimate the power of sin is sound advice, it's also important to keep this wilderness experience in perspective. If this is a journey through the wilderness, it's important to remember the destination of our journey. Christianity is not so much about what Jesus has set us free from, as it is about what Jesus has set us free for!
Many temptations, taken in isolation, don't seem that bad. Rarely is one tempted to choose evil; more often than not we're tempted to do good--a partial good, a short-term good, something that at least looks good. That's why temptations are difficult; they usually provide a way to justify the choice. Jesus' temptations were temptations related to his purpose. The devil tempted Jesus with something dear to him--the opportunity to have an immediate impact on the world. Jesus wanted to have an impact, and his temptations had to do with the wrong way to go about it: the wrong use of power; the wrong way to popular acclaim; the wrong kind of partnership.
The point is to get through the wilderness, not to take up permanent residence in it. Our destination is the Promised Land, and from that perspective our time in the wilderness becomes an opportunity to test our spiritual mettle. When temptations are viewed from the perspective of our intended destination, then the wilderness becomes a staging ground for strength and joy, such as that expressed by our ancient witness, Job, who said, "My foot...held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside." (Job 23:11) And when the time of testing is over, says Job, "I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10) Similarly James, a New Testament witness, wrote, "My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy," (James 1:2), for "the testing of your faith produces endurance...." (1:3) Let that "endurance have its full effect,' says James, "so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing." (1:4)
The journey through the wilderness of temptation may be a daunting one, but we have the promise of a companion for the journey. The New Testament tells us that "...because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." (Hebrews 2:18) We can lean on him. Thanks be to God!
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.