Sermon for Feb 10

I wrote out my sermon for this week--thought I'd try something different. It's more than an outline, but less than a manuscript. And, I'm posting it BEFORE I preach it on Sunday. So it's a sneek preview or sorts. Enjoy.

In addition to writing a sermon, we went to an Ethiopian adoptive family get together in Indy. Very fun to meet other families in process who live near us. We were spoiled in MN with so many people next door. But, it looks like we're going to be making some new friends with cute ET babies in Indiana!!

At work one afternoon, I was skimming through an old copy of a magazine called Chatter, an addictions recovery magazine. The magazine is a resource for those who have struggled with chemical dependency and working to stay sober. One of the articles was entitled “How to survive the holidays” and explained how people struggle to remain sober during the season. It advised readers to HALT: Avoid getting to Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Don’t over-commit during holidays and remember to turn to your higher power to maintain yourself. The magazine talked of addictions, but perhaps this applies to more than just addictions—the article basically states you should stop temptation before it starts. We can ward off temptation by keeping ourselves from being vulnerable—keep from being to hungry, tired and lonely.
In our Gospel for today, it appears that Jesus did not HALT. Jesus goes into the desert too fast for 40 days, alone, hungry, tired and lonely. He is set up for every temptation around Him. Jesus felt called by the Spirit, right after His baptism to go into the desert and face these temptations. Throughout his time, He turns to His higher power, God, in prayer and reflection, but the temptation is still present. As God, He can certainly overcome any temptation, but as man, and in order to fully understand what it means to be human, Christ allows Himself to be vulnerable—to be hungry, tired and lonely. It makes one wonder—what nourished, replenished and accompanied Christ on this journey and why did He choose to endure such suffering?
Through the reading, Christ is certainly not alone—the devil is with Him at every turn, tempting him. We begin by hearing the devil taunt His hunger saying “turn these rocks into bread” But Christ knows this bread won’t fill Him, He can only be satisfied by the Word of God. If we stop and think, this would be a huge temptation. One of my favorite places to eat is the Macaroni Grill. They bring out loaves of hot, fresh bread with just a bit of olive oil on top. We’ve been known to go through more than one loaf before our meal comes. But, even when I leave stuffed, this bread doesn’t sustain me for long. In a few hours I’m hungry again. Even when we hunger and receive food, our bodies need to eat again. But, when we receive the bread of life from heaven, our hunger is satisfied. Christ knew this as well, and resisted the temptation.
But there are more temptations to endure. Remember, Jesus did not HALT: He was not only hungry, he was tired. After 40 days in the desert, we all would want a good place to rest. Fear of animals, experiencing extreme temps day and night, He would not be at all rested. Allowing himself to be tempted again, Jesus encounters the devil as he tempts Him to cast himself down and receive protection from the angels. Yes, Jesus would survive such an event, that His exhaustion would end and He would be cared for. But instead, He resists this temptation and allows Himself to experience the truly human feelings of exhaustion.
But it doesn’t stop with hunger or exhaustion. Christ is truly alone. Certainly, He can pray to God and knows He will be protected. His Higher power was present. The lack of human contact would lead to despair and make temptation easier. During this time, satin used every means available to provoke sin and lead to Christ’s fall. But Jesus endured these temptations, hunger, exhaustion, loneliness, in order for us to be nourished, replenished and accompanied by the saving and redeeming, always present Greatest power.
We are nourished by the living bread we receive in Communion. This bread isn’t the hot and airy bread we find at Macaroni Grill. It isn’t stones turned into bread, but BREAD TURNED INTO THE LIVING WORD. This Lenten season, we are examining the writings and life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran scholar who was killed in a Nazi death camp during World War II. In Bonhoeffer’s book “Life Together” we hear that this living bread and the entire DAY in which we receive the Lord’s Supper is “an occasion of joy for the Christian community. We are reconciled in our hearts with God and each other. We receive the gift of body and blood of Jesus Christ, and receiving that, we receive the promise of forgiveness, new life and salvation.” This is an nourishment beyond any we find here on earth.
But our HALT continues and we are no longer tired because of God’s promise to us. Right before Christ went into the desert, He was baptized and the Spirit descended upon Him. Jesus is Lead by the spirit and is transformed. Through the living waters of our Baptism and the replenishing gift of grace given to us, we to are transformed, replenished, and refreshed.
The promise of a new replenished and nourished life does not end with communion and baptism. Christ’s temptation ensures that we are accompanied throughout our lives, in the midst of every temptation and lonely day we meet. And there are many lonely days. It’s ironic that we can live and work and experience life among people, and still be lonely. We don’t need to go to the desert for 40 days to be alone. CNN reporter Anderson Cooper writes about this in his book “dispatches from the edge” He says, as he speaks about NYC on New Year’s Eve “there aren’t many opportunities in this city to feel part of a community. We scuttle about the streets each day, individual atoms, occasionally running into one another, but rarely coalescing to form a whole. It Times Squre, as the ball descends and the crowd cheers, NY becomes a different place, a place of pure feeling. But it doesn’t last long. By 12:30, it’s over. The broadcast ends, the lights, go out. The crowds have already dispersed, pushed along by tired police and armies of street sweepers. A few minutes later, I walk home, ALONE. I feel like and astronaut, floating in space.”
A multimillionaire, adored by millions, the heir to the Vanderbilt fortune in one of the world’s largest, most glamorous metropolitan cities in the world can still feel alone. Christ knew this, He knew that population did not equal companionship. What we long for, what we hunger for, what we ach for in our exhaustion is to be in fellowship with God and with other disciples. The fellowship of the Lord’s Supper is the fulfillment of Christian fellowship, explains Bonhoeffer. As members of the congregation are united in body and blood at the table of the Lord, we receive hope, knowing we will be united with God forever. Community has reached it’s goal. Companionship is transformed into fellowship and Christ’s community is complete. Our life together under the Word has reached perfection.
These words are not a promise that while on earth, Christians will never be hungry, tired or lonely. Christ didn’t go into the desert, experience temptation to free us from all trouble and loss. But, we can receive comfort knowing Christ was hungry tired, and lonely. HE was tempted. We will be tempted. He was alone, and we will feel alone, but because Christ was hungry, tired, and lonely we have hope, knowing no matter our sin, no matter our temptation, we can be nourished, replenished and accompanied through the Body and Blood of Christ our eternal and always present GREATEST power.