Category: Michael D
Caring for people. Doing good in the world.
Not long ago, I revisited the stories of Jesus’ temptations while preparing some words for another topic. The specific temptations detailed in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 have been taught as “one off” experiences in the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. They are tests that Jesus passes on his way to living as a meditation on what it means to have faith in God. Maybe they are not “one off.” Your moral compass. Your empire claims. Your use of power. Those are always going to be Jesus’ temptations. They are never “one off.” They keep coming back. That’s the lesson. They always return in different clothing, financial instruments, power structures, political parties, slogans, policies, empires, instruments of injustice, and in the name of the Divine. Jesus dealt with it. Those first generations of disciples dealt with it. Saul, transformed to Paul certainly had his issues as did those claiming apostleship and interpreting a backstory to mean dominate the known world for Jesus. History shows how badly that interpretation coupled with politics can be. The Crusades. The Holocaust. A new PRRI survey indicates it remains a struggle in the 21st century for those that claim Christian faith, be it faith in Jesus or the faith of Jesus.
One of the differences often noted between Matthew and Luke is the order of the temptations. That’s not what caught my attention. In Luke’s version, Jesus has been in the desert forty days being tempted by the Satan. The text says “He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.” It is then that the Satan offers the big three detailed in Luke and Matthew. Famished. I think this is a way of understanding the rise of pop-Christian evangelicalism, the New Apostolic Reformation, Christian nationalism, and the religious fundamentalism that has returned in our Nation. Mainline Protestant Christianity and Catholicism became comfortably numb in its place in society having been popular post WW II and experienced righteousness during the Civil Rights era. A queasy tolerance of secularism and the expansion of rights for women, expanded gender roles, the sexual revolution, voting rights, interracial marriage, and changing cultural norms drove some to a wilderness. These emerged from the wilderness of the second half of the 20th century famished. Everyone was left behind at the turn of the millennium. Jesus didn’t return. For some the search for a purpose driven life has embraced an amoral capitalist turned political leader whose worldview is immoral. We’ve seen what being famished will do to a person, a people. We are seeing Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate moto in realtime, “Take all you can. Give nothing back.” Two characters from central casting, President Trump and Musk, play their roles well. Savior and villain. It could be understandable had they been born into poverty fighting the man and the man’s systems for their fair share. But, they were born into wealth and privilege, and protected when they failed over and over again because of that wealth. Famished. Have we as a Nation learned nothing from world history and our own history with these temptations?
The good news according to Mark gives no details of the temptations. The text simply says Jesus was driven into the wilderness, tempted by Satan, was with wild beasts and angels waited on Jesus. (Mark 1:12-13). I don’t pretend to know what the wilderness is for people, nor the metaphorical wild beasts of other’s struggles. Everyone experiences both. I don’t believe in the existence of celestial beings called angels, but I think the idea of caring, watching out for people, treating people fairly and tending to our neighbor, is a description of what people are capable of. It might be what President Lincoln meant in his first inaugural address as, “the better angels of our nature.” Based on his behavior pattern this doesn’t interest the 47th President unless the transaction benefits him somehow. Famished.
It was with great surprise last Sunday that my congregation’s minister referenced the podcast, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name.” Ted Danson is interviewing his wife, Mary, who mentions how her childhood church was important to her growing up and still is today. It just happens to be part of the little frontier movement in which I serve. She speaks as one who understands the temptations never go away, and that church can embrace the faith of Jesus in simple acts that are super intense. Care for people. Do good in the world. I don’t know if that will stop the pirates ravaging our government today as they attempted to do on January 6, 2021, but it is a place to begin locally when the temptations return. It’s not easy, but the best way to not be fooled again is to not be famished inside or outside the wilderness. Jesus didn’t fall for it. Followers of Jesus do Jesus-like things. You do your best. Persons of other faiths that may pass by this site, I suggest the parts of your holy texts that teach something like the Golden Rule. Maybe you are of no particular faith and consider yourself spiritual, agnostic, or something else. The simplicity of Zoroastrian faith is a place to begin in the wilderness or oasis: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.
The Sacred Steps this Sunday
Some time ago my companion and I created Sacred Steps: Children’s Sermon Journal. It is designed to help the person who will think about, prepare, offer the children’s sermon (message, moment) during worship each week. It contains thoughts, commentary, and ideas for this mainline moment in worship. Initially, it was a subscription service. Some subscribers used SSCSJ for adult Sunday school discussion. Some used it for youth bible study. After completing the three year cycle of the lectionary, we turned it into eBooks that contain the ideas for a small fee ($10). I think those are still on Apple books somewhere. If interested in receiving this pdf eBook, leave a comment and I’ll get in touch with you. If you have my email address, please email me. Along with the ideas, The Sacred Steps ebook contains what I think are best practices for the children’s sermon and information about the liturgical seasons of the Christian calendar. Though not designed as such, it could be a devotional. We do make some decisions about which weekly lectionary readings to explore, thus sometimes it is not specifically aligned with the calendar. I return to these ideas in my own study when preparing to preach or keynote. I trust they will be helpful to you.
Beginning on Ash Wednesday, I’ll post ideas for the lectionary texts weekly (Wednesday morning) as part of my lenten discipline. Here is a sample for this week’s readings.
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about prayer. This psalm is asking God to do or be many things. How often do the children do the same?
- If you created an “Images of God” list to use with the children, get it out and see if there are some to add from this psalm. God rescues, is a refuge, and a rock. What do those mean? How do we, you, or the children, experience God as refuge, rescuer, or rock?
- How are the children already a prodigy or marvel of God? What do they do that helps indicate that God’s love is happening in their lives or in the world?
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about the prophetic writings in the First Testament, and why we continue to read the prophets today. Be ready to offer a simple definition for the word “prophet” for the children. Remember, prophets for the Jewish community are not future tellers or predictors of Jesus specifically. They are cultural and religious critics who told the people what they needed to hear, even when and especially when it was not what they wanted to hear. One might choose to create a list of the major and minor prophets in the First Testament and use it with the children each time you talk with them about one of the prophets.
- Jeremiah argued that he was only a boy. This scripture provides the opportunity to help the children understand their importance to the community of faith. They, too, have important words to share with, and can be leaders for, the community, just like Jeremiah. How might the children show your congregation God’s compassion, love, or justice?
- Children have had the experience of being chosen to read in class or to join a team at school, or they probably have divided up for a game on the playground. Rather than competing with the other children to be “picked” or “chosen”, this text would be a good way to help the children think about God’s choosing all of us.
- Verse 5 is an opportunity to talk to the children about God’s intimate knowledge of creation and of humanity as a religious confession rather than scientific fact.
- If you have an older group verse 9 is a good place to begin a conversation about how to know when the community of faith, or an individual, is “speaking for God.”
- This scripture could provide several weeks of conversation with the children if one chooses to talk about these different aspects of love. Are any of the characteristics of love more important to the community than others?
- Talk with the children about the aspects of love that are the easiest for humanity? Which are harder?
- Help the children understand that there is nothing wrong with being a child. Children have something to offer your community of faith. Pick one or two of these “childish” ways and highlight their importance to the community.
- This is an opportunity to talk with the children about how some of the stories about Jesus make us feel. Some of what Jesus teaches is hard for us to hear or understand, but if we study, talk, and listen to one another, we might come to a better understanding of what Jesus meant.
- One could focus on what it means to be accepted in your community of faith. Jesus spoke of not being accepted because he would not “perform” for the people. Are there times when the children have not felt accepted? How does your congregation accept people?
- If you have an older group, one could talk about the teachings of Jesus that upset us, or make us mad, because they are hard to understand and hard to follow. What do we do with the teachings about praying for our enemies or turning the other cheek?