Giving up Brussel Sprouts

Lent 1C

Luke 4:1-13

St. Matthias

March 10, 2019

           I can resist anything except temptation!  Oscar Wilde wrote that in one of his plays and every Lent I remember it.  I can give up many things in the first days of Lent with great success.  But isn’t it funny how you think about what you give up far more than what you didn’t?  If I give up chocolate – all I think about is chocolate.  The same goes for dessert, red meat, and television.  I used to give up Brussel Sprouts for Lent even though I had never eaten a Brussel Sprout in my life.  They didn’t look like something I would like.  All that ended a couple of weeks ago.  I ate 4 Brussel Sprouts, I didn’t like them. 

          

No one likes temptation.  It’s what’s at the end of the rainbow that is so appealing.  Or at least it seems so.  That’s the problem – I have never actually found that there is anything that good when I follow temptation.  So why do I?  This is part of the question answered in our Gospel reading this morning.  We traditionally call this passage, The Temptations of Christ.”  You may remember the famous book by Kazantzakis that was made into the famous movie.  I didn’t read or see either.  Instead, I like the way Luke tells the story.  After Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, he goes into the wilderness to pray and fast. This is where the whole thing about giving up something for Lent probably got started.  Luke tells us that Jesus was tempted all during the 40 days, but its afterward that the final 3 temptations – the ones we know the most about – happen.  First – Jesus is hungry after 40 days with no food and the devil suggests turning a stone into a loaf of bread.  We know the answer – Man does not live by bread alone. 

Next Satan offers Jesus all the power in the world.  Finally, Satan tells Jesus to throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem.  The idea is to show that Jesus is the Son of God for everyone to see.  Angels would swoop down to save the Savior which would certainly prove his divinity.  Everyone would believe and then live happily ever after.  Tempting I must admit, but it just doesn’t work that way.  The devil tempts Jesus 3 times and 3 times Jesus doesn’t give in.  Wouldn’t that be nice for us too? 

Oh, but Jesus is perfect and the Son of God and this is the scriptures and it is supposed to work that way.  We are not perfect and not God and it doesn’t seem to ever work that way except when I give up Brussel Sprouts.  I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.  Mae West said that. 

 There are at least 40 Temptations paintings hanging in famous art museums around the world.  My favorite is Botticelli’s Temptations of Christ in the Sistine Chapel.  There are 3 panels for 3 temptations.  And I think the reason I like it is because, in 2 of the panels, the devil appears as a monk.  Temptations always come in things we know – in something familiar and they often first don’t look all that bad.  I lose my temper because things around me aren’t the way I want them.  People don’t act like I want them to.  Temptation is usually all about me and I don’t want to admit that.  So we blame the devil and others.  Sometimes we even blame God.  Probably too much.  Sam Levenson, the American Humorist, once said – Lead us not into temptation.  Just tell us where it is – we’ll find it.  

But notice when Jesus is tempted – he answers with Good.  Turn rocks into bread.  God feeds us.  You can have all the power in the world.  God cares for us.  Make God prove God is God – We BELIEVE.  Have you ever thought that the answer to temptation is God?  In Lent, we give up one or more of those temptations that separate us from God so that we can take on something that brings us closer to our Savior.  When someone does something you don’t like – pray for them that they will know God’s love and grace.  Want to blame everything on someone or something else – ask God for the  Peace that passes all understanding for you.  Tempted to be angry – give thanks.  Meister Eckhart once said, If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is THANK YOU, that will be enough!

Today we dedicate our new patens and chalices made by Carol Lammon to the Glory of God and our use.  Yesterday she sent me an email and said, “They were challenging to make and are not perfect (like me) but are my best effort.”  We come this morning to this altar rail and receive bread and wine, and God will make these vessels and each one of us perfect.  Temptation is the opportunity for forgiveness – for God to work in us – and we shall be made perfect.  So perhaps the title of our Gospel today is not The Temptations of Christ but The Goodness of God. When you are tempted, look for forgiveness.  Say THANK YOU often.  Now I just have to decide what spiritual thing to add to my life now that I have given up again this year – Brussel Sprouts.  AMEN.