Based on the Gospel: Luke 4:1-13 

A friend of mine, a meteorologist, has a phone message at this time of year that gives all the ingredients for the arrival of spring.  He explains that the earth prepares itself long before spring actually arrives.  Under the snow the earth is warming up, ready to nurture the seeds. 

Although we do not usually think of it in those terms, Lent is the springtime of the church year.  It is a time of spiritual renewal and preparedness.  It is a wilderness time in our lives when we look for direction.  Too often we think of it as a rather grim time when we should feel guilty about the things that are wrong in our lives.  We think of it in terms of giving up.  It is not simply about guilt for our sinfulness or giving up, although those are important things for us to consider in our spiritual journey.  Rather it is about the barrenness of winter giving way to the promise of spring.  Such wilderness times in our lives can be times of danger as we search for the right direction, but they are also times of growth as God makes a path through the wilderness, a path leading us home. 

Following his baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus entered a Lenten time in his life.  It was a time of preparation for leadership.  It was common practice for people to go to a desert place to prepare themselves spiritually.  It was a reminder of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, and of their hope for liberation.  So Jesus went out into the wilderness.  It was a time to prepare for what lay ahead, a journey that would ultimately lead him to the cross. 

There in that wilderness place he grappled with the devil.  “If you are the Son of God,” the devil said to him, “make bread!”  What could be the harm?  After all, God provided manna for the people of Israel when they were going hungry in the wilderness.  It was a subtle temptation, for Jesus often thought about how to feed the hungry.  It would have brought him instant popularity amongst the poor.  Jesus, however, was interested in another kind of hunger.  He knew that it would take more than bread to satisfy the deep needs of humanity. 

“If you are the Son of God, be a political leader!” the devil continued.  Many in Israel were hoping that the Messiah would be a conqueror who would deliver them from the power of Rome.  They lived in an oppressive regime; they wanted freedom.  Would not Jesus have made a great king?  Power can be a real temptation.  Jesus knew whom he served.  He knew what kind of a king he was called to be.  He knew that his throne would be a cross.

“If you are the Son of God,” the devil continued, “pull a spectacular stunt.  Get noticed!”  What harm could there be?  Would it not be for the better good?  Would it not accomplish far more in the whole scheme of things? 

The time in the wilderness is a defining moment in Jesus’ ministry.  It defines his potential.  If you are the Son of God, you do not need to prove it.  You simply need to be all you are meant to be, all that God calls you to be.  These are temptations which define who Jesus is and who he is not.  What kind of liberator is Jesus?  What kind of miracle worker?  What kind of king?  For he is not a liberator, a miracle worker or a king in the way of the world. 

One of the commentaries I read this week said that temptations are sins.  The sin is not in being tempted.  Temptations are defining moments.  At least, the way we respond to them defines us.  What kind of people are we?  Are we all that God is calling us to be?  Or do we allow ourselves to be lured away onto easier paths, in worldly directions.  Our purpose is to be all that God wants us to be.  The Lenten Season offers us the opportunity to explore who we are meant to be.  o often, I suspect, it is our role that defines us.  I certainly discovered that when I went back to school to study theology after a successful career in teaching.  People would ask, “What do you do?”  Somehow being a student was not enough.  I had to redefine who I was and what was important. 

Fulghum who wrote the book, “Everything I Know I Learned in Kindergarten” writes a very funny story about role.  He hated getting trapped on an airplane beside some talkative person.  He hated trying to explain exactly what it was he did.  So he made up stories about who he was.  One time he said that he was a neurosurgeon, only to find out that he was seated next to one.  Thinking better of his practical joking, he decided to print up a business card.  It read simply his name.  He explained, “I am, after all, called to be the best Fulghum I can be.” 

If we learn nothing else during this Lenten Season, this Springtime of the year, let us learn to be the best Ann or aye or Doreen or Jim that we can possibly be.  For that is God’s call to us.  That is what will truly prepare us for the journey ahead.