![]() ![]() If only we could have had a 100% effective vaccine immediately! Yes, of course, that is a legitimate desire. ![]() Oh, we certainly heard that taunt over and over again, didn’t we? Why can’t we get a vaccine, immediately! And, when we did get the vaccine, the temptation was “Why can’t this vaccine be absolutely 100% effective?” We were in the pandemic wilderness, and the devil came to us and said, “If you are a child of God, if you believe in prayer, command this stone to become a coronavirus vaccine!” These are the three temptations of the pandemic wilderness: Here is how I imagine the story of Jesus’s wilderness temptations in a pandemic time. And he has been here, with us, in our pandemic wilderness temptations. We were there, with Jesus, in his wilderness temptations. Here is what I offer this week: the temptations we have faced recently are the same ones that Jesus faced. We have already had Lent, forty days of wilderness temptations, for two years! This is feeling like a return, a return to nourishing community after our two year season of isolation and fasting and self-denial. Maybe, now, we are re-emerging from our wildernesses, re-entering relationships, re-engaging truly in-person relationships and communities. Well, in our own time, for two years now, we have been living in a wilderness retreat ourselves. Jesus deflects each temptation, using a citation from scripture because the devil, tempting Jesus, was using scriptural citations, too. Finally, Jesus is tempted to jump off the top of the temple, tempting God to send an angel to save him. Jesus is tempted to worship the devil and thus receive all the kingdoms of this world. Jesus is tempted to turn a stone into bread. In that wilderness, he suffers at least three described temptations. Jesus is led into the wilderness, for forty days of fasting, self-denial, and self-examination. On the First Sunday of Lent, the Church always hears a version of this story. I have a special story to tell you this week.īut, first, a word from the Bible! Most of you know that, in the Christian Church, the season of Lent begins with the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, the devil, the tempter.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |