Sermon for February 18, 2024: Saying No to Temptation based upon Mark 1:9-15

Mark 1:9–15

The Baptism of Jesus

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’

The Temptation of Jesus

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
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Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

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     I grew up in a place where most people didn’t celebrate Lent. My school, which is quite a bit bigger than most of the local high schools here, had no other Lutheran students and probably less than five Catholic and Episcopal students combined. The Methodists, of which there were many, seemed to know about it, but also didn’t seem to talk about it as much as my church did. And, I remember driving by a Methodist church not far from my school with my grandfather and they had the wrong liturgical color sash on the cross out front. He said derisively, “They should know better.” Though he had not grown up with Lent, when he married a Lutheran, he adopted some very clear ideas about what was appropriate in the season.
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     In the church of my youth, it also seemed clear that Lent was about one thing: suffering. If you wanted to do Lent right, you had to give up something that would make you suffer. Ideally, you had to give up something that was super hard to give up, like smoking or eating chocolate, so that you suffered extra hard. I was told that it was only by making ourselves suffer that we could begin to understand Jesus’ suffering. As a serious, well-behaved teenager, it seemed very righteous and also a little dramatic to think about what I could give up to make myself suffer the right amount. As an adult, I’ve come to see Lent as something more useful than a “who can suffer more” contest, thank goodness.

     It’s not that I don’t find fasting to be useful, because I do think it can be. Over the years, though, I’ve come to value Lent not as a time to force suffering but as a time to be intentional and reflective. Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay, in her introduction to the “Saying No” theme we’ll be exploring this Lent, speaks of Christians making use of Lenten practices, “such as fasting and other spiritual disciplines to draw disciples not only closer to Christ but also to the way of sacrificial living modeled by Jesus.” I think there’s a helpful distinction between suffering and sacrifice in her description. A life that is oriented to Christ will require sacrifice. But that sacrifice is an offering given as an investment in the well-being of our neighbors and creation. The goal is not to suffer for suffering’s sake, but to be willing to be less comfortable, to have less wealth, maybe even to have less of a good reputation in order to feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, and tend to those who mourn.

     Catherine Doherty describes the sacrifices of Lent this way: “Lent is a time of going very deeply into ourselves…What is it that stands between us and God? Between us and our brothers and sisters? Between us and life, the life of the Spirit? Whatever it is, let us relentlessly tear it out, without a moment’s hesitation.”  I agree. That sounds kind of intense. You may not know what that is if you had to name it right now. This is a place where Lent can be useful. You can experiment with fasting from something and/or adding a practice to your life. You can take these forty days to pay attention in a way that is different from your norm.

     Perhaps you say, I will make coffee at home and donate the money I usually spend on the coffee I buy every day. If you were to treat this like a worthy sacrifice, you might need to slow down and pay attention to the changes you will have to make in even such a simple act. How does the process of getting up earlier to make coffee, of learning to make a latte like the barista does, and then figuring out where to donate the money you saved teach you something about yourself and about God. You might be tempted to just make the coffee and walk out the door. And, maybe some days, you’ll need to do that. But, I will invite you to resist the temptation to rush through the season. Carve out some time to prayerfully consider what you have given up or added in this time. What is this fast or practice showing you about God and yourself?
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     In this season, you will undoubtedly have to deal with temptation. You may be tempted to wonder if, in a world in the kind of upheaval that our world is in right now, how can I even make space for the season of Lent. To be fair, if you feel like adding a lot to your plate this Lent is more suffering than sacrifice, I think it’s ok to just get through. If you do decide to have a Lenten practice, you may be tempted to forego whatever fast or practice you’ve adopted. Or, you may find that giving up something means you want it all the more. Rev. Dr. Lindsay shares in her commentary on today’s scripture, “I know of people who have given up something they only marginally cared about because they think it will be easy only to discover that the process of self-denial can make something nominally interesting become almost irresistibly appealing. That’s the power of temptation.”

     Sometimes I wish Mark told us a little more about the temptation that Jesus dealt with out in the wilderness. Verse 13 of today’s reading tells us that “he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.” But, as Dr. Lindsay points out, Mark does not take the time to spell out those temptations. Other Gospel writers do. They are temptations to use power to help curb his own suffering and also to take short-cuts in doing what he is called to do. In those versions of this stories, we can come to understand Jesus’ divinity in seeing him say no to temptation.

     Dr. Lindsay invites to consider that in being tempted, Jesus is also showing his radical commitment to humanity. She says that while other Gospels show Jesus “enter[ing] into the human condition through birth,” Mark, which has no birth narrative, shows him doing so through the communal act of baptism and through the fact that he is tempted, as we are tempted. She refers to Jesus’ temptation as “proof of his human nature.” Jesus is God right here with us, especially in the messy parts, fully participating in humanity.
In her invitation to consider “saying no” as a Lenten spiritual practice, Dr. Lindsay shared this quote by Robin S. Baker:

     “To end certain cycles in your life, you will need to say no to things you’ve once said yes to in the past. You have grown much wiser and you know better now. So dissimilar decisions will have to be made this time around. It’s time to extract expired people, energies, and situations.”

     Perhaps your work this season can be learning to say no to the temptation to continue actions that are a part of the cycle that draws you away from God and neighbor. Fortunately, in saying no to some things, you will say yes to others. I pray that you can say new yeses this season, as well. Yes to worthwhile sacrifice.
Yes to compassionate advocacy. Yes to loving your wonderfully imperfect neighbors.

     There will always be something there to tempt us into separation and destruction. May the Holy Spirit help you say no to the temptations that will destroy you. And, lead you to the yes that follows Jesus into that Kindom of God that has drawn near.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
Cheryl Lindsay:

• This is Rev. Dr. Lindsay’s commentary on the scripture: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/sermon-seeds-temptation/​
• This is Rev. Dr. Lindsay’s introduction to the “Saying No” theme, which includes the Catherine Doherty quote and the Robin S. Baker quote: https://www.ucc.org/sermon-seeds/say-no-2024-lenten-sermon-seeds-series/​