First Sunday of Lent, cycle A

MATTHEW 4:1-11
WHEN THE ISRAELITES WANDERED IN THE DESERT FOR FORTY YEARS, THEY REBELLED AGAINST GOD WHEN THEY GOT HUNGRY, AND GOD GAVE THEM BREAD. WHEN JESUS WAS IN THE DESERT FOR FORTY DAYS, DESPITE HIS HUNGER, HE RESISTED THE TEMPTATION TO REBEL, AND TO USE GOD'S POWER TO TURN STONES INTO BREAD THAT HE COULD EAT.
WHEN THE ISRAELITES RELUCTANTLY FOLLOWED MOSES INTO THE DESERT, THEY LOST HEART AND WERE READY TO ABANDON HIM WHEN THE EGYPTIANS PURSUED THEM IN CHARIOTS, UNTIL GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS POWER IN A SPECTACULAR WAY, BY DIVIDING THE SEA AND THEN DESTROYING THE EGYPTIAN ARMY. WHEN JESUS WAS INVITED TO LEAP FROM THE TEMPLE TOWER INTO THE WAITING ARMS OF ANGELS, WHICH WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY IMPRESSED THE PEOPLE WHO WATCHED FROM BELOW, HE TURNED AWAY FROM THE SPECTACULAR.
WHEN MOSES WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN TO RECIEVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE ISRAELITES IMMEDIATELY MADE A GOLDEN CALF AND BEGAN TO WORSHIP IT. WHEN SATAN OFFERED JESUS THE WORLD IN RETURN FOR HIS WORSHIP, HE REFUSED.
SO MATTHEW SHOWS US THAT THE OLD ISRAEL FAILED IN THE DESERT, BUT JESUS, THE NEW ISRAEL, SUCCEEDED. HE DRIVES THE POINT HOME EVEN MORE BECAUSE HE HAS JESUS QUOTING THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY, WHICH CONTAINS THE LAWS BY WHICH THE ISRAELITES WERE SUPPOSED TO LIVE. BUT JESUS IS CLEARLY LIVING THOSE LAWS, WHEN THE ISRAELITES HAD NOT.
SO THE STORY OF THE TEMPTATIONS OF JESUS IS NOT COMPLETE WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE SIMILAR TEMPTATIONS WHICH THE WANDERING ISRAELITES FACED. AND AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT WE NEED TO CLEARLY SEE THIS CONTRAST.
THERE IS A NATURAL SORT OF RELIGION. WE SEE IT IN ITS MOST PRIMITIVE FORM IN MAGIC, AND IN THE RELIGIONS OF PEOPLE WE CONSIDER “PRIMITIVE”. BUT WE ALSO SEE IT IN MODERN RELIGIONS SUCH AS ISLAM AND BUDDHISM, AND IN FACT IN SCIENTOLOGY AND, YES, THE MORMON RELIGION. FUNDAMENTALLY, THESE RELIGIONS ALL PROMISE THAT YOU WILL BE SAVED IF YOU DO CERTAIN THINGS, IF YOU FULFILL YOUR PART OF A BARGAIN WITH GOD. AND LEST WE LOOK DOWN ON THESE OTHERS, I THINK MOST OF US CHRISTIANS AND CERTAINLY MOST OF US CATHOLICS PERIODICALLY FALL INTO THAT SAME MIND SET. WE GO TO MASS ON SUNDAY, WE CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUPPORT OF THE CHURCH, WE SAY GRACE BEFORE MEALS, WE GET TO CONFESSION ONCE IN A WHILE, AND WE TRY TO AVOID REALLY SERIOUS SINS. AND IF WE DO OUR PART, GOD WILL DO HIS. IF WE KEEP OUR NOSES CLEAN, WE WILL STAY OUT OF TROUBLE.
BUT THE RELIGION THAT JESUS CHRIST BRINGS INTO THE WORLD IS NOT AT ALL LIKE A “NATURAL” RELIGION. GOD STOOPED TO BARGAIN WITH THE ISRAELITES, AND PROMISED THEM THAT HE WOULD BE THEIR GOD AND THEY WOULD BE HIS PEOPLE, PROVIDED THAT THEY KEPT THE COVENANT WITH HIM. AND THEY COULDN'T AND THEY DIDN'T, PROVING ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT YOU AND I DO NOT HAVE ANY WAY TO CONTROL GOD; WE HAVE NO WAY TO SALVATION EXCEPT THE WAY THAT CHRIST LAYS OUT, THE WAY THAT WE WILL SEE UNFOLD IN THE GOSPEL STORIES WE HEAR DURING THIS SEASON OF LENT.
NOT ON BREAD, NOT ON OUR POSSESSIONS, NOT ON OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD ARE WE TO FIND OUR LIFE, BUT RATHER, IN THE WORDS THAT GOD SPEAKS TO US. WE ARE TOLD NOT TO PUT GOD TO THE TEST, NOT TO TRY TO BARGAIN WITH HIM AS THOUGH HE WERE THERE TO SERVE US, RATHER THAN THE OPPOSITE. AND WE ARE TOLD THAT ONLY GOD IS DESERVING OF OUR ADORATION, NOT OUR LOVED ONES, NOT OUR CAREER, NOT ANYTHING THAT CONSUMES US AND GRABS OUR ATTENTION AND DEVOTION. AND GOD WILL KEEP TELLING US HIS WAY, HIS WAY WHICH STARTS IN THE DESERT PROCEEDS TO CRUCIFIXION AND DEATH, AND ENDS AND BEGINS, WITH RESURRECTION.
THE RELIGION OF JESUS CAN NEVER BE MAN WORKING OUT HIS SALVATION. THE RELIGION OF JESUS IS GOD BREAKING INTO OUR WORLD AND TURNING EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN. IT IS A WORLD WHERE THE MEEK INHERIT THE EARTH, WHERE THE SORROWING ARE COMFORTED, WHERE THE PEACEMAKERS WILL FINALLY FIND PEACE, AND WHERE THE PERSECUTED WITH ULTIMATELY BE CONQUERERS. THE RELIGION OF JESUS DOES NOT TELL US THAT WE CAN WIN OUR SALVATION, THAT WE CAN GET TO HEAVEN. IT TELLS US THAT HEAVEN HAS COME TO US, AND OUR JOB IS TO MEASURE OUR LIVES AGAINST WHAT GOD SHOWS US, AND THEN CHANGE SO THAT WE COME INTO COMPLETE CONFORMITY WITH WHAT HE SHOWS US – THEN WE WILL BE IN HEAVEN. OUR RELIGION IS NOT ABOUT MAN BECOMING GOD, BUT GOD BECOMING MAN.
I WISH FOR YOU, AND FOR MYSELF, THAT WE WILL ALL SEE HOW WONDERFUL, HOW STRANGE, HOW DIFFERENT THIS SEASON OF LENT REALLY IS; IT IS TRULY A MYSTERY THAT NEVER BECOMES EXHAUSTED. IT IS AN INVITATION TO WALK WITH JESUS THROUGH THOSE YEARS OF HIS MINISTRY, AND ESPECIALLY THROUGH THOSE LAST MOMENTS WHEN THE WORLD THOUGHT IT HAD FINALLY CONQUERED HIM, BUT IT TURNED OUT THAT HE HAD CONQUERED THE WORLD, HE HAD CONQUERED DEATH. I HOPE YOU WILL MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO COME TO THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS EVERY FRIDAY EVENING AND SPEND THAT HALF-HOUR WALKING THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM WITH JESUS CARRYING HIS CROSS. I HOPE YOU WILL STAND THERE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS WITH HIS MOTHER AS HE GIVES UP HIS LIFE FOR YOU, AND BE THERE WHEN HIS BODY IS TAKEN DOWN AND PUT IN HER ARMS. I HOPE THIS BECAUSE WE MUST ACCEPT OUR CRUCIFIXION IF WE ARE TO ACCEPT RESURRECTION, AND THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS VIVIDLY REMIND US OF THAT FACT.
PLEASE MAKE THIS LENT SPECIAL. LET US ACCEPT THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT OF OUR SINS, TO CHANGE OUR HEARTS, AND TO BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.