Mar. 9, 2014
Rms 5:12-19, Matt
4:1-11
A father was attempting to explain to his
young son the necessity for giving up something for Lent. In fact, the father
suggested the boy give up candy.
The boy responded as to why this would be a
good idea. The father replied that
"It will improve your character. You'll be a better person on Easter
Sunday if you give up candy. After all, your mother and I have given up liquor
for Lent."
The boy then said: "That's funny Dad. I
saw you and mother having a drink before dinner last night." The father
replied, "That was wine. We gave up hard liquor."
The boy countered, "Oh, that's really
good dad, then… I'll give up hard candy."
Prayer:
We begin the Lenten
season with a new series titled… “Making Change.”
You’re probably
thinking… ok pastor we’ve been doing a lot of talking about making change…
pretty much since you’ve come! Enough already… can we talk about something
else? Before you’ll get freaked out let me explain… You are right in that we’ve
been talking a lot about change in a manner of speaking… change like how you
look at what you do and why you do it.
Change
like adding a more contemporary worship.
Like
changing the worship times.
Like
changing Sunday School to take place during worship.
Change
like discovering your core values.
This kind of change
happens all the time as a way to become more inviting and welcoming to other
people.
But our Lenten
Season series is NOT going to be about this kind of change. The change we’re
going to focus on during Lent is the change that needs to take place in our
hearts. This will be the kind of change we will focus on during the season of Lent. It's the kind of Change I believe God is really after in us. I alluded to it last week…
Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, will be
your heart.”
The type of change
I’m interested in is “Metanoia” change… meaning “To turn towards God.” We can do all the physical or outward
change in the world… but if our heart is not changed, the physical won’t last
very long. So my friends… our Lenten
Season is about Making Change in our hearts, and we begin this heart change
with having… A Change of Season.
A kindergarten teacher asked her class,
"What is the color of apples?" Most of the children answered red. A
couple said green. But one student raised her hand and said white. The teacher
tried to explain that apples could be red or green or even golden. But never
white. But the student was adamant, and finally said, "Look inside."
Our gospel story
today is quite familiar and it’s a story we reflected on a few weeks ago from
the perspective of worship.
Today I’m going to
look at this from the perspective of season.
Matt. Says, “Led by the Spirit, Jesus went
out in the desert for 40 days & 40 nights and did not eat, and he was
hungry, and the devil tempted him.”
Marks version is
quite different… It’s only 2 vs. “The Spirit made Jesus go out into the desert.
He stayed out for 40 days, and Satan tested him.” There are no details in Marks
version.
Luke’s version is
similar to Matt’s… only the sequence is different.
A couple of things
to note.
1. The Number 40 for Matt. Is Significant.
For Matt….And his Jewish audience the number 40 is symbolic of the
Exodus out of Egypt and the 40 years they will spend out in the desert or
wilderness. It was a time of soul searching and testing for the Israelites. It
is a time of repositioning of the heart… and renewing trust in God. So… for
Matt. This story is a metaphor for Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. In a
sense… it’s a time to discover oneself.
2. That of Being in the Wilderness.
There is a sense in the language used here that this may not have been
a physical desert or wilderness location, but one of a state of loneliness or
solitude. Did Jesus actually go out into a physical wilderness? Or did Jesus
experience as we sometimes experience a lost, lonely, desolate state of mind or
being? Was Jesus experiencing a seasonal
life change in Matt’s story? … I Don’t
Know…
What I do know is
that people… you & me and groups of people like this faith community go
through periods or seasons in life where times are tough. And… we go through
seasons when times are good.
They’re
times when life if good and things are going our way.
And
times when we don’t know what to do.
Times
of insecurity… and indecision.
Times
when things just go right.
Times
when nothing seems to go our way.
As Ecclesiastes 3
states… for every time there is a season.
I don’t know anyone
who likes wilderness seasons in life. But most would agree that we gain much of
our learning & understanding in life during wilderness seasons of life.
I believe the Lenten
season offers us one such opportunity to journey in the wilderness to see what
we might discover. It’s a season for each of us to make change in our hearts to
grow deeper in our love and trust of God. It’s a season for each of us to make
change in our hearts towards how we look at others… how we can soften our
selfish desires… and how we can use our circumstances both good and bad as
opportunities for growth. Can we look at our current season that we’re in as a
learning & growing time for making change in our hearts? And… can we a
faith community look at this transition season we’re in as the same opportunity
for growth and change of heart as well?
Closing:
Seasons Change… Life
Cycles Change… People Can Change… Churches Change… and Hearts Change
As we begin the
Lenten Season it’s more than just giving up some vice or habit… it’s more than
depriving ourselves of some delicacy…
The Lenten Season I
believe is really about making change in our hearts and it’s an opportunity to
use Lent as a change of season in restoring our hearts towards God.
Remember my earlier
story about the color of apples and the one girl being adamant of the color
being white… by looking on the inside…
My friends… Jesus is
interested in the inside.
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