The First Sunday of Lent
Year A

Don't Tempt Me!

Readings: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Psalm 32; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:-11

What tempts you?  For me it's chocolate! No contest! I love chocolate.  I consider it to be one of the food groups.  I also have a tendency to gain weight, so I try hard to curb my appetite.  I never buy chocolates.  If I receive some I immediately put them in the freezer, although I have to say that doesn't always work.  I have discovered over the years that frozen chocolates are quite tasty. 

It is human to be tempted. The Genesis account of creation reminds us of that.  It reminds us that ever since God formed humankind from the dust and breathed life into us giving us freedom to choose we have known the power of temptation.  Choices, particularly moral choices, are a burden on us.  Our human nature will not allow us to be totally at peace with the choices we make.  The very burden of choosing is part of what brings our humanity into relationship with God. 

We’re reminded about temptation once again in the gospel passage.  Satan confronted Jesus using three very human temptations.  "You must be hungry.  Use your power to turn those stones into bread.  Throw yourself down from the temple.  You will not be harmed.  Fall down and worship me.  Everything you see will be yours."  Jesus is confronted by three basic temptations: food, religion and politics.  What could be the harm in any of them?  They are all ways for Jesus to become an influence, to become known to people.  Wouldn’t that be a good thing?  The problem with such temptations is that they all have powerful meaning in our lives, so they can all be abused.  With his deep connection to humankind, Jesus resists the temptations.  He lives by that great commandment, “Love God and love your neighbour.” 

Last weekend I watched once again a movie that speaks powerfully of how that relationship is built up through our moral choices.  It is a good, though, I will admit, a somewhat unorthodox preparation for Lent called, aptly for me, Chocolat.  It has much to teach us about our Lenten journey. 

A rootless traveller, Vianne and her child arrive in a quiet little French village.  They have quite an impact on the place, rooted in tradition as it is.  Vianne opens a chocolate shop right across the square from the church.  The Count and self- appointed mayor of the town is shocked that she is tempting the villagers with her treats, especially during Lent.  In his village it seems it is always Lent and never Easter.  He forbids anybody from entering her shop, hoping to run her out of town.  Vianne has a gift; a wonderful way of discerning exactly which chocolate will satisfy her customers’ innermost thoughts and desires.  You can well imagine the problem with that.  

Then another outsider arrives, and joins forces with Vianne to liberate the town.  A dramatic confrontation arises between those who prefer the ways of the past and those who revel in their newly discovered taste for pleasure. I  am recounting this story, not because it is a good model for how to lead a holy Lent.  Chocolat’s seductive celebration of “if it feels good, do it,” needs to be seen with a somewhat critical eye.  But it is a wonderful starting point for exploring profound issues about temptation, choices, God, the world and what it means to be human.  And that is very much what Lent is about. 

Lent is about making changes in our lives.  The person in the story who exemplifies it for me is the parish priest.  Throughout much of the story he is a puppet to the Count.  The Count even writes his sermons for him.  When he finally speaks his own mind he says something so profound.  “Listen! Here is what I think.  I think we can’t go around measuring our goodness by what we don’t do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist and who we exclude.  I think we’ve got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create, and who we include.”

In those words there are some good starting points about how to lead a holy Lent.  There are many ways that we can begin to live more responsibly, creatively and compassionately. Choices – particularly moral choices – are difficult for us to make.  Sometimes the distinctions between them are unclear.  Society constantly presents us with choices between what the world chooses and what we know as Christians to be right.  Can we live with integrity in the business world?  Should we shop on Sunday?  Is abortion right?  Should we buy lottery tickets?  Is it right to go to the Casino to gamble?  As Christians in a secular world, we very often fear making unpopular choices. We do not want to be seen as different.  Yet this is a society that very much needs us as Christians to take a stand – to be at the forefront of ethical decision-making.  If we, the church will not take an ethical stand, who will? 

Now I do not believe that any of those moral choices or any other secularizing movement in society will cause the downfall of the Church.  The Church may decline.  But it will not be because of secularization in our world.  We have a choice.  Our choices can be God's choices for us.  We can choose not to participate in activities that we know to be detrimental to society.  If we were to choose good over evil in each situation, how would our world change? 

Each of us has the power through our choices to shape and give meaning to life.  Living as a Christian is a response to a deliberate choice.  It calls for a decision to place our faith in Christ.  It is a call to commitment. 

Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and consequences of our choices.  Our life is a series of choices.  What has shaped your life?  What shape would you like it to take?  How can it take new shape during this holy season of Lent?  It is an opportunity for us to reform ourselves, to allow God's Holy Spirit to re-shape us so that our whole community is re-created.  It is said that forty days is the optimal time in which to re-shape some aspect of one's life.  Let us use this season in the church year to bring ourselves into a closer and more open relationship with our creator.  Let it be a holy and life-giving Lent for each of us. 

Lent is primarily a time for listening.  It is a reflective time for going into the sanctuary of our hearts and searching the corners and shadows for the way God wants us to live.  It is a time for choosing a unique, personal path of discipleship. 

It is not a time for self-denial unless that is what we hear within our hearts.  It is not a time for giving or self-giving unless that is what we hear within our hearts.  It is not a time for fasting unless that is what we hear within our hearts. 

What do you hear within your heart today?  Lent is a time for listening.  Let us listen to God's call to live as God wants us to live.  Let us learn to act on our convictions and change the way we live our lives to reflect our faith.  Let us trust our hearts and live in God’s way.  Let us keep a holy Lent.