February 26, 2023 — Lent 1A

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.”
Matthew 4:1-11

So, what are Jesus’ temptations and what can we learn from them? As they are presented in the Gospel text, they revolve around the interrelated dynamics of: “I need!; I can!; and I get!” In terms of “I need!”, are our wants really the things we need? Jesus may have appeared to want one thing, but the only thing he needed to keep from falling to temptation was G-d’s Word. Lent allows us to focus some intentional time on determining “what we want” as opposed to “what we need.”

In terms of “I can!”, there are a lot of things in this life that we can do. But just because we CAN do something doesn’t mean that we should. And what we learn through life is that in many instances, the things that we “ARE FREE TO DO” are not necessarily the things that we should do. We can gamble our money away, shout “fire” in a movie theater, or ignore our neighbors. We have that freedom. But what is it that G-d wants us to do? That is what Lent allows us to focus our energies – to determine what we can do, and what we should do.

Finally, in terms of “I get!”, the devil tells Jesus that if he worships him, then Jesus “gets” it all. We often make decisions in our lives based on the axiom “What is in it for me?” – “What do I get?” This is the ultimate definition of sin – turning in on ourselves and focusing in only on what meets our own needs. But life is, ultimately, not about gathering, hoarding and getting. Life should be about focusing on the blessings that come from G-d. That is what Lent allows us to focus on – appreciating that we can’t always get what we want, but that Jesus gives us all that we need.

Pastor Dave

February 25, 2023 — “Will They Stop?”

“Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37

The husband and wife were sitting in their car coming home from work this Friday evening. Traffic was a mess, mostly because it was a Friday night after work. They were the third car in line at a red light and talking about things husbands and wives talk about after work, when the husband noticed a young man trying to cross the street. It was getting dark, so it was at that point of the commute where some people have their headlights on, and some don’t – some of the street lights have come on and some have not. He had the walk sign lit indicating he was permitted to cross the street – at least according to pedestrian laws. He was about in the middle of the cross walk when the husband blurted out, “He’s going to get hit.” In an instant a car turned left at the intersection and (in what appeared like slow motion), the car hit the pedestrian knocking him to the ground. The husband, who was driving, sat there waiting for someone to go to his aid. Cars drove past and didn’t stop. The drivers of the two cars in front of the couple did not get out of their cars. Finally the husband put the car in park and told his wife “You take the wheel and find some place to pull over.” The husband ran to the man lying on the ground and was able to provide some aid and comfort until the police arrived. The driver of the car who hit him never came to his side – instead they were on the phone to police, we assume.

What kind of society have we become where we see someone who needs our help, and because of our schedules, or our turn at the red light, or the total inconvenience of the situation, we choose not to get involved. Of course we cannot save everyone, we argue. And that is true. But it is too convenient to just say “I am too busy.”

Will you get involved when presented with such a situation? One interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan says this: The Priest and Levite did not stop because they were worried about what G-d thought of the Samaritans – the Good Samaritan stopped because he was worried about what G-d would think of him, especially when G-d gave the interpretation to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Let us pray: Dear G-d, give me a heart of mercy and love. No matter the circumstances, if I can be of help to someone today, guide me to do your will. Amen.

Pastor Dave