Lent 1 C

Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91.1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Have you ever tried fasting from food?

I have a friend who actually had to cancel a colonoscopy because he couldn’t make it through one evening and night without eating actual food. He opened the fridge, made a sandwich, and left a message to reschedule his appointment.

So we can only guess at the difficulty of the forty-day fast that Jesus was led out to by the Spirit in the wilderness. While there, our Gospel tells us that Jesus was tempted by the devil. We don’t really talk much about the devil in our religious tradition, but I bet we’ve all experienced temptation in one way or another.

In many ways, it’s true that “seeing is believing,” so, in order to tempt Jesus, the devil tries to get him to see things in a particular way.

Vision is powerful. Most world-class athletes talk about envisioning their victories before they happen. The Second Habit in Steven Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “begin with the end in mind.” Almost every successful business in recent history has had some version of a Mission or Vision statement…a future vision of the world in which that business makes a greater impact. Vision is powerful.

The devil tempts Jesus three times and for each temptation, he offers Jesus a vision — a mostly plausible vision — of the world as it could be.

When the devil tempts Jesus with bread — a free lunch — he’s really offering a vision of a world in which Jesus chooses comfort over commitment.

When the devil shows off all the kingdoms of the world, he’s offering a vision of a world where Jesus uses his power to rule over others.

And when devil tells him to jump from the temple in Jerusalem into the protecting arms of the angels, he’s offering a vision of a world where Jesus opts out of his purpose to suffer and die alongside his friends and to choose safety instead.

Powerful leaders use vision to motivate people. In this Gospel, the devil is a powerful leader. He offers Jesus not one, but three compelling visions of the world that were not yet true, but were possible, if Jesus chose them.

We’ve seen other leaders do the same. Think of Osama bin Laden. He used a false but compelling vision of the world to persuade so many passionate young people to give up their lives towards his violent purpose. Or think of any historical leader who motivated thousands or millions of people toward some evil purpose. To do it, they used a vision, and usually one that played upon the fears of their people.

And harmful visions of the world are not just cast by infamous figures…

Numerous advertisements each day offer us a vision of the world in which simply buying something will make our lives better. Talking heads on the news offer us a vision in which the rest of the world is dangerous and full of evil. The stereotypes we grew up with offer a vision of the world in which people who are different from us are not deserving of our full respect.

Whoever the devil is that Jesus meets, perhaps it’s the same force that tempts us everyday with these harmful visions.

As it turns out, Jesus is a leader with vision, too. And against the ones the devil provides, Jesus also offers a compelling vision of the world as it might be. Not one that plays upon our fears, but one that uses our God-given gifts to work together for the good of our neighbors.

When Jesus responds to the devil by quoting, “One does not live by bread alone,” he’s giving an alternate vision for life, one in which Jesus and his followers rely on God for every need.

When Jesus rejects the temptation to worship the devil who promised him power and glory, Jesus offers a vision of what it looks like to follow the First Commandment.

When Jesus refuses the easy way out, refuses the angels’ protection in Jerusalem (the future site of his crucifixion,) he is clearly working with a different vision than what the rest of the world would envision for him.

Jesus sees his path leading through pain and despair, standing beside all the children of God whom he loved, whom he would die for.

Each time, for each temptation, the devil offers Jesus one vision of life, and Jesus responds with a different one. They’re in the same god-forsaken desert. It’s the same Jesus in both visions…but Jesus sees things a different way.

If we commit in Lent to walk in the steps of Jesus — if we desire to have what 1 Corinthians calls the “mind of Christ,” it will mean also seeing this alternate vision of the world. It will mean seeing the world with different eyes.

It will mean seeing the same disappointment and evil that everyone else sees but seeing it in a different way.

It will mean living with the same things that drive others to fear and hatred and instead responding with forgiveness and love.

It will mean seeing reality with eyes wide open. Seeing things like, for example, the fact that our congregation here has been declining in numbers for at least the past 15 years. Now, in the devil’s version of the world, that’s a scary and frustrating number. It’s a number we are surely tempted to avoid or ignore. But in Jesus’ vision for our world, it means an opportunity to ask God how we might see our congregation and the community around us with new eyes…and how we might share the Gospel vision of the world with more and more of our neighbors.

Jesus’ vision for each of us is to experience healing and forgiveness so real that we let go of the old way of seeing the world. That we see the world with new eyes, and in fact become new ourselves, so that, freed and forgiven, we might share our lives and our vision with everyone around us.