The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.

Welcome on this First Sunday in Lent. As many of you heard on Ash Wednesday, our theme for this Lent is struggle. 

This Lent we will consider the stories of those who have struggled to the point of giving up on God and faith in Him. We will see in these stories moments where people may have given up for a time, and who, in the end, were fortified because of their struggle. We may not see these people ever overcoming their struggles, but still committed to overcoming. 

Through these stories we will realize that our struggles are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. The Holy Spirit moves in us and because of that we struggle against the things that separate us from Christ. We are not abandoned.

We hear of Jesus’ desert journey today. He fasts and is constantly tempted – the temptations did not just come at the end. The fast and journey were a struggle for Jesus, He did not just glide through it. He was spiritually and physically hungry and tired each day of the journey, beset by the same temptations we face in struggle – you’ll never make it, you’re not strong enough, give up. That is how we know He gets us, understands what we face, and why He gives us, through the Holy Spirit, the grace of perseverance.

I have printed and left for you the poem Ithaka by Constantine Cavafy. Please take it home and read it. Use it as an opportunity for prayer.

I first encountered this poem when it was read at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ funeral by her longtime companion, Maurice Tempelsman.

Ithaka describes the journey of Odysseus, and in turn each of journeys, to our homeland. For us that homeland is heaven.

In the poem we encounter a prolonged journey. Along the way the good things in our life are increased if we keep our eye on the goal, face the struggles head on, refuse to focus on the negative, refuse to hurry, and relish each day necessary to get there. Along the way we encounter the unknown – making new discoveries about ourselves.

Each of us has their struggles on the road to our Ithaka and in Lent. In the poem’s epigram we hear: “Keep Ithaka always in your mind. / Arriving there what you’re destined for.” Let us hear that as “Keep heaven always in your mind. / Arriving there what we are destined for.”

In the end, as the poem speaks, we will understand what the struggle and journey has meant. 

Ithaka
C. P. Cavafy

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

How to Overcome.

Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.”

Thank you for joining as we continue our journey through Lent.

Over the past seven weeks we focused on the hot stoves of sin in our lives, those dangers we so often run toward. We have set to work at getting rid of them. Those old, hot, rusty, greasy, ugly things in our lives must go. 

We discussed the tools available to us that help us get rid of those sin problems. They are the tools Jesus used and exemplified for us so like He did, we might live in continuous relationship with our Heavenly Father.

We studied the fact that the Tempter tries to dissuade us, to distract us, to call us to a laziness where we give in to our hot stoves and live complacently with them. He wants us to say: ‘Yes, it is ugly and old, and awful, but I like it there.’  If we do begin to achieve, the Accuser comes forward with blame. He doesn’t want us to understand the goodness and mercy our God – a goodness and mercy that overcomes every sin, every failure. In God’s eyes the past is gone, it is absolutely forgotten in the blood of His Son, Jesus. We don’t have to worry about it, but the Accuser wants us to worry and so remain complacent with our ugly stoves.

We have been called to spend this Lenten time, and indeed our entire lives focusing our efforts, our strengths and even our weaknesses on overcoming sins blindness and in turn to praise God Who gave His all to forgive. 

There is a lot today in our scripture about blind spots and blindness.

Samuel and Jesse were into appearance, who they thought met God’s requirements for a king, but God remined Samuel: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”

Paul reminds the Ephesians to live in the light, for “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” 

God places great emphasis on seeing rightly, but we must be careful to draw a clear distinction between seeing by God’s light, by His vision for us, and our perceptions.

Perceptions are interesting. Look at our Gospel. The formerly blind man perceives the Pharisees as erudite men, studied, knowledgeable, honest and informed. Yet he encountered men who were looking out for themselves and who refused to see by God’s light. They missed the Messiah and lived in hatred of Him. The man’s parents perceived the ulterior motives of the Pharisees was more important than honesty; so rather than own up, they threw their son under the bus (or chariot at that time).

The only person who saw by the light of God was the formerly blind man. He was amazed, saying: “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes.” Of course, he was thrown out, but instead of experiencing loss he followed Jesus. 

If we perceive our hot stoves as other than what they are; if we perceive the work of the Tempter and Accuser as friendship, if we perceive darkness as light we must turn, repent, and start anew. Our opportunity to live as children of light, to see clearly, is here.

How to Overcome.

And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with Him.

Thank you for joining as we together journey through Lent.

We spent the weeks of Pre-Lent identifying the hot stoves of sin in our lives, those dangers we love to run toward. We planned our strategies for getting rid of them.

Those old, hot, rusty, greasy, ugly things in our lives must go. With that in mind, we discussed the tools available to us that will help us get rid of that sin problem. They are the same tools Jesus used and exemplified for us. It is why the Church recommends them.

The tools He used: prayer, studying scripture, speaking about the kingdom, fasting, communing in relationship centered on the Father. 

Seems easy enough until we set to doing them. Once we move toward that way of life, a deeper relationship with God, the Tempter enters., He comes with distractions, easy outs, and an appeal to our baser selves.

If we do stay on track, guess what? We will have the same success Jesus had. 

We know we are being successful, that our relationship with God is growing and deepening when we start feeling good, wonderful, and fulfilled. At the same time the Tempter comes again and this time as the Accuser. He will tell us just how bad we should feel, how God cannot possibly be in relationship with us, and most particularly how we have no right to feel good.

That is the true mark of success and know that the stove of sin is being removed the better we feel and the more we are accused.

St. Paul, writing to Timothy, reminds us: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God.

Paul knew that those on the road to glory in God would face hardship, especially those brought on by the Tempter and Accuser. He also knew that if we ask, God will strengthen us in ignoring both the Tempter and Accuser.

Paul knew that each of us who has come to Jesus by faith has been saved and called to a holy life because God made it so for us. He chose us. He picked us out for His team.

We need to remind ourselves of that and take strength from it. When the Accuser says: God doesn’t want you! we can respond: Yes, He does, He chose me.

It may seem odd that we read the account of glorious Transfiguration of Jesus today. This grand event that fills us with joy and confidence doesn’t seem very Lent like. But there is reason.

The glorious Jesus, our Lord and God to Whom the Law and Prophets pointed, Who the Old Testament predicts is here among us in glory. 

Jesus overcoming all things for us, from the dessert to the cross, and is how we were chosen. Paul told us we are on the road to heaven (we just got a glimpse of it) and that in using the tools available to us can overcome all hardship and opposition by a holy life wrapped in God’s glorious strength.

How to Overcome.

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

Thank you for joining as we together journey through Lent, walking humbly before God and working out our salvation.

As I mentioned Ash Wednesday, we spent the weeks of Pre-Lent identifying the hot stoves of sin in our lives, those dangers we love to run toward, and planned our strategies for getting rid of them.

Those old, hot, rusty, greasy, ugly things in our lives must go, but unfortunately, for many Christians, we spend Lent praying more, sacrificing small things, perhaps giving more, fasting, abstaining, engaging in increased prayer and scripture reading as mere curtains. We close the inner curtain on that hot stove, never really getting rid of it, never allowing Jesus and His team to take it away, so that on Easter Monday we can tear open the curtain and get right back to that hot stove of sin.

Fine Pastor, you’re right. I gave up M&Ms and one hour of TV, but that hot stove of sin remains, and even though I would prefer not to, I’ll probably go right back at it after Lent. You see Pastor, I do not know how to really get rid of that sin. Can the Church help me, give me some strategies to get rid of that sin?

Yes, and as with all the answers it begins with Jesus, looking to Him and what He faced.

We might see the temptations as something that happened at the end of Jesus’ fasting and prayer in the desert, but it was far more than that.

Jesus, as is often said, was tempted in every way we are. As soon as He began to get hungry, thirsty, tired, motivated to give it all up and go home, the Tempter came. The Tempter accused Him of being weak, unable to finish His mission, a disappointment to His Heavenly Father. We can hear that can’t we — because we face that Tempter all the time. He accuses and blames us — all directed at our giving up hope, giving up God.

The Tempter wanted Jesus to denounce His own Father. At the end of the forty days the Tempter hit Jesus with all he had.

It was not just bread for hunger, but the temptation to satisfy every craving of the body — food, drink, pleasure, quitting and being slothful. It was not just to throw oneself down from the parapet of the Temple, but to destroy oneself — quit and kill Your own body Jesus. It was not just rule over all the kingdoms of the world, but to surrender oneself and one’s true power to the ruler of the world — the Tempter.

Jesus, having faced all we face, and far more, would be tempted throughout His ministry and on the cross, yet He was loyal to His Father’s will and did not sin.

These are the tools He used: prayer, studying scripture, speaking about the kingdom, fasting, communing in relationship centered on the Father. Guess what — we can do all those things and have the same success.

Our success in getting rid of sin is that we will actually feel good, wonderful, fulfilled — and if we find we hate that feeling, know the stove is being removed.

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us, has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly differently.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be vastly different. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like this year-round, not just during Lent.

Today, Jesus presents us with a perfect example of someone who is bruised and smoldering, the youngest son of a very generous father. How is he made vastly different?

There are two key elements in Jesus’ parable, the first being the self-imposed bruising of the son. This is the way sin works for us too. 

The son, not content in the father’s house and service wants ‘what is his,’ and takes off with every intent of harming himself. 

The son did not outwardly say: I am going to go hurt myself. Certainly, he thought he was getting his way with what was his — and that very self-centeredness was at the root of his many sins. The rejection of the father’s house, the partying and the prostitutes were the expression of his self-centered life. It was the way he pulled himself out of the kingdom and put himself in the world. He bruised himself and he did it hard, full speed.

The second key is how the son was changed, healed, and reconciled.

Many have stated that the moment of turn around by the son, repentance, a change in direction back to the kingdom and away from himself and the world was his getting up amid the swine — as Jesus says: he came to his senses.  But not so fast — he was still self-centered, thinking about his father’s servants and food.  Something greater had to change within him, his life had to be made vastly different by something more powerful than just return and food.

The great change in the son was the moment of forgiveness, of full welcome back. This really spoke to his selfish heart and taught him — there is another way to live. There is a vastly different way — that of the father who gives his all not for his own pleasure — but for the sake of me. That is the way the kingdom started, by God giving His all for us, and that is the way it works today where we give our all for the purpose of reconciliation as Jesus asked, one for another who are in the kingdom. 

Lent is about return certainly, but more so about true understanding of our life in and encounter with the One whose great love and self-giving greatly changes us. Changed, we then are the vastly different of the Kingdom who self-give as the Father does to draw many to Jesus and into His Kingdom.

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed’ and a ‘smoldering wick. Jesus came, not to destroy the reed or put out the wick, but to take brokenness and the smoldering away. Jesus has healed and re-ignited us. Jesus has brought us into the Kingdom, into lives vastly differently.

As we journey through this Lenten season, we reflect and act on our call to be true citizens of the Kingdom, to live up to our call. We look at our inward selves and our outward actions and reform them through more ardent prayer, sacrifice, study, worship, and giving. We come to really connect with the fact that those in the Kingdom live like this year-round, not just during Lent.

Over the past two weeks we have been reminded of our healing from our bruises and how we have been re-ignited to passionately partake in God’s work. We live in the reality that we have been made new, whole, and on fire for the gospel, and to do each day all that this status entails. 

We have been called to continue to be different, to fully live the Kingdom life and call others to be saved, to share in this Kingdom life which is vastly different from that of the world.

Today, St. Paul speaks of what happened to many of the people of Israel as they journeyed to the promised land. Most were struck down because of their unfaithfulness, and that fact was written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.

Now here is the key element for us who were bruised and smoldering before our entry into the Kingdom life — do we wish to continue to live?

Jesus presents us with a stark reminder of our obligation as Kingdom people. We live to bear fruit. We have been healed, we have been re-ignited, we are whole and new, and the gospel path is before us. We must never lose the passion to live differently, to walk the gospel path in the footsteps of Jesus. We must not grow weary and say, no fruit today. Yes, God’s expectations are high because His promise for us is great.

Being committed as Kingdom people to be the difference that draws others into the Holy Church, the Kingdom life, being the change necessary to transform the world is our mission. Jesus has made us whole for a reason, and this is the reason — the bearing of abundant fruit. The consequences of being barren are a warning to us.

Let us then take advantage of Jesus’ mercy — this time of allowance, this Lent, for the change needed to bear fruit. As our Entrance Hymn taken from Isaiah says: Happy the just, for it will be well with them, the fruit of their works they will eat.