Lent 1 , Year A, March 1, 2020 (full size gallery)
We had 39 in the church on a warm March 1. The Long family brought most of their family. We celebrated birthdays from Barbara and Becky. There was coffee hour with chicken wings, macaroni, string beans, rice, corn puddings and donuts for desert. The weather was warm enough for the children to play in the trees and field.
From today’s bulletin:
“Lent is the season to prepare for the journey through Holy Week and the joys of the Easter season to come. The beginning of the service provides time for solitude, to seek and find God within ourselves. The Confession of Sin and the Absolution are both part of the Penitential Order and occur at the beginning of the service. Both the Trisagion, near the beginning of the service, and the fraction anthem, which immediately follows the breaking of the bread, emphasize the merciful nature of God’s love for us.
“Lenten changes to the St Peter’s worship space– The use of purple symbolizes both the pain and suffering leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. The color purple also serves as a reminder of Jesus’ royal kingship and of his royal priesthood. The “red” Lenten cross that Helmut made is a reminder of the lifegiving blood of Jesus.
The readings are here
The sermon was in a form of a midrash – “Please listen to today’s sermon as a form of midrash—a Jewish way of prayerfully studying scripture that looks at and through the text in order to see what may not have been written down to help engage the reader or listener more deeply.” The sermon included a variation of Genesis (Garden of Eden) and Gospel readings (Tempations of Jesus). The main character was “San Pedro a Franciscan brother who devoted his life to the forgotten people; the sick, the unemployed, and those in jails in Antigua.” He straps people into the chair to bring them both to safety and healing.
Today’s readings remind us of the familiar cycle of temptation, fall, forgiveness and empowerment. Adam and Eve, who have been given all good things from God, crave more and give in to temptation. Paul announces that the gift of grace in Jesus Christ overcomes the condemnation of sin. Jesus sees through the tempter’s lures and resists, using the power of God’s word.
The Gospel story takes place at the beginning of his Ministry just after his baptism but after spending 40 days in the wilderness. So we are going back in time from our readings to date.
There are three tempations dealing, all dealing with power:
1. Turning the stones to bread
2. Proving God’ existence and power
3. Devil’s bribe to give Jesus all the power and glory the earth could offer
Tempation does not involve coercion but trying to change someone’s will.
In each case, Jesus rejects the temptation and lodges his identity, future, and fortunes on God’s character and trustworthiness and quotes scripture. He can now expand his personal ministry after dealing with the devil. He has affirmed his call – doing the will of God.
We are continually being tested and tempted. We have our spells in the wilderness. What strength do we have inside ?
But first we have to reclaim our relationship with Christ since sin separatees this.
As David Lose writes this week "Perhaps the goal of the life of faith isn’t to escape limitation but to discover God amid our needs and learn, with Paul, that God’s grace is sufficient for us."
"Today’s gospel ends with this line. “Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.” This is good news!
"God does not leave us comfortless in our sufferings. And—in addition to being with us, God also sends angels to us to wait on us when we are in those wilderness times in our lives. One example—when we’re sick and in need, doctors help us with our physical recovery, friends and family help us take care of our day to day needs. People wait on us and help us."