February 21, 2010

      (hold up ticket) “Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to
seize everything you ever wanted, one moment. Would you capture it or
just let it slip?” (Eminem). I've got my lottery ticket. I'm going to hit it big!
But before I start checking my lottery numbers, let's first try to better
understand Jesus' experience in the desert.
      Before going into the desert, Jesus realized that he was at a pivotal
moment in his life. He knew he had a big opportunity and he wanted to
make the most of it. But Jesus needed to take some time by himself to
decide what types of changes his life of public ministry required. What
kind of public figure was he called to be? How he was going to define
himself? What were people expecting of him and which issues would he
pursue? Like Jake in the movie Avatar, Jesus is trying to figure out who he
really is and more importantly who he wants to become. Lent is our
opportunity to do the same. We step back and ask who is it that the Lord is
calling us to be and what changes do we need to make to become that
person.
      In the process of wrestling with these questions, Jesus faces some
pretty big temptations. Jesus is famished and all too easily he could satisfy
his own needs by commanding the stone to become bread and yet to do so
would place his own desires above the needs of others. Jesus sees how his
friends and family were suffering under oppression from the Roman
authorities. Jesus feels called to make a difference. He knows that he could
grasp at political power to start a revolution; however, that means building
up an earthly kingdom rather than helping to build God's Kingdom. The
Kingdom that Jesus preaches is one based on loving service rather than one
of domination. Political power alone is incapable of building the Kingdom
that Jesus envisions. Jesus senses that he has some special gifts, yet does
not use those to claim a place of privilege and thus make others feel smaller
or less significant. He does not arrogantly use them to show off. Instead,
Jesus embraces humility and chooses to heal others and build them up.
      As Jesus turns away from the temptations in the desert, so too we are
called to turn away from sin and to draw nearer to the Lord. Lent is an
opportunity for us to change and re-define ourselves. Let this Lent be a
time of renewed hope. Let this Lent be a time for us to follow Jesus in
putting others' needs in front of our own, in building God's Kingdom
through increased prayer, and using our talents to serve others.
       This Lent, ask yourself if your hopes are big enough. In the face of the
tragedies in Haiti, are your hopes big enough to believe that God is
working through the generosity of many to bring them out of the misery
“with his strong hand and outstretched arm ... to a land flowing with milk
and honey”? Are your hopes big enough to believe that the Lord will “tread
upon the asp and the viper” of sin in your lives and help you to resist
temptation? Are your hopes big enough to believe that those caught up in
the midst of despair who have fallen into alcoholism or drug abuse will
hear the Lord calling them, in fact calling each of us in the midst of our
own brokenness, to hope that that which appears to be dead will be saved?
       Just as Jesus was tempted, so too we are tempted. These temptations
are far from trivial. I'm not going to blow this Lent by giving up something
trivial when the Lord is calling me to radically change my life. Jesus'
response to the temptations in the desert helped prepare the path his life
would take. Do we have the courage to do the same by allowing our prayer,
our alms giving, and deeds of charity to change and orient our lives more
clearly toward Christ? The challenge we face this Lent, our biggest
temptation, is a lack of hope.
       (Show ticket) Are our hopes big enough? Lent is our opportunity to
rediscover and reaffirm that the Lord is indeed our “refuge and fortress, the
God in whom we trust”. This Lent, I'm really hoping to hit the jackpot. I've
got my hopes up, I can feel it. This is my opportunity and I'm not going to
let it slip by (tear ticket). I'm not going to blow this Lent by hoping for too
little. Like Jesus, I'm not going to blow it by hoping for a piece of bread,
when the Lord desires to fill me with the Words of Life. I'm not going to
blow it by seeking my own power and glory to make myself feel big at the
expense of making others feel small when the Lord desires to save all of us.
I'm not going to blow this Lent by using my talents arrogantly when I am
called to build up God's Kingdom.
       We are hoping for something bigger than the lottery – something more
than all the powers of the world. We are hoping for a new life free from all
that is not life-giving. We are hoping in Jesus. May that hope transforms us
and the world.