God Wins!

The First Sunday in Lent

Matthew 4:1-11

St. Matthias

March 1, 2020

           Our story this morning is about the devil.  Many tales have been told trying to explain why there is such a thing.  Sometimes its Satan other times Lucifer.  Scripture suggests that he is a fallen angel, but it’s not clear about what happened and why.  This morning we read the creation story of Adam and Eve who eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The Devil is never actually named, but we’ve decided THAT - THAT is who the serpent is - probably in large part because popular culture, TV, and the movies have made it more about Satan.  By the way, notice that an apple is not mentioned either.  Sometimes I think we believe more in Hollywood than we do in Heaven.  But, the second and third chapters from the book of Genesis are actually a story about God and God’s children – about God and US.  The serpent – the devil or whatever we want to call him is really just a bit player in this Bible story.

 

           But then in this morning’s Gospel lesson from Matthew, the devil takes on a much larger role.  We know who he is, and he comes to tempt Jesus.  First the devil wants Jesus to turn stones into bread since he has been fasting for 40 days while praying in the wilderness.  Then there is the Biblical version of the Faith fall where the devil suggests Jesus throw himself off the Temple so angels will come to catch him before he hits the ground.  Finally, the devil offers Jesus all the power over all the world if only Jesus will bow down and worship him.  That of course is not something that is going to happen - and in the end, the whole meaning is that God wins!  It is good over evil and the light shines in the darkness.

           And this is the meaning of Lent and Easter and faith for you and me.  Every day we should wake up knowing – God wins!  Early Christians used to say that because the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening then we know that God is - for such beauty could never happen without Him.  Each flower opens and every bird sings because God is!  Every breath we take happens because God lives.  It is all because God is and none of it would be without God.

           And this is also the message of the story from Matthew.  Now the key to understanding is remembering that God loves us.  Every story, every chapter, every verse of scripture tells us that God loves us.  We gather here on Sunday morning and everything we do and say proclaims this message that God loves you and me.  There is no other reason to come here and worship.  And now we begin this season of Lent and we look forward to an Easter Sunday morning when once again we will celebrate the Resurrection – God’s gift of eternal love.  And in the light of the Resurrection we hear the choirs of heaven proclaiming that God loves us – that God wins.  This is the message of Lent for us.

           And why?  Because we have such a hard time believing it.  We reach Lent and kind of turn God off.  We joke about giving this or that up for Lent.  We complain about Lent.  Church attendance goes down in Lent.  It’s a lot easier to let things get in the way of God and the Church and our faith during Lent.  Our schedules – we are too busy for God.  The weather – we’ll sit through rain, sleet, snow and hail for the Crimson Tide, but what about God?  We went last Sunday so we can take this Sunday off – after all – it’s Lent.  And I can only think of one good explanation for why we do this – we make Lent about sin.  Our sins.  You see I think we don’t like to think about how and why we fall short of the Glory of God.  If we don’t think about it then maybe it will all go away. 

           Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday.  A few of us gathered for worship.  At the 6 pm liturgy, John put the ashes on my forehead and after well over 40 years as an Episcopalian and going to Ash Wednesday services – it suddenly hit me that we make the exact same mark on our foreheads when we are baptized.  Ashes and water and oil.  It’s all about love and forgiveness and we are Christ’s own forever.  This is the real meaning of Lent.

           This morning’s Gospel lesson reminds us that Lent is the time to fix the holes in our lives.  What in your life gets in the way of God’s love?  What in our life gets in the way of God’s forgiveness?  Maybe you need to spend a little part of your day praying.  But your schedule is busy and you just don’t know when you would ever have the time.  Well give up 15 minutes of the 24 hour News Channel or Dancing with the Stars, take one of the Lenten Devotional Books we have in the Narthex and take on 15 minutes every day with God.  Make the commitment to come to Church each Sunday in Lent.  You will realize that when we stop thinking more about ourselves and start believing more in God then we can literally know and feel and celebrate God’s love for us.  We can celebrate the very fact of the Gospel that God wins and we are a part of God’s victory.  There will be no need to throw yourself off the roof or any other high places.  You will bow down and worship the Lord.  And don’t worry about the bread. John makes it and I know he leaves out the rocks. AMEN.