Jesus Passed His Tests

Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ

February 17, 2013

Year C: The First Sunday in Lent

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

(Romans 10:8b-13)

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus Passed His Tests

            Today’s gospel lesson ends on a very ominous note: “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.”

            Luke tells us that over the course of forty days, Jesus is tempted – Jesus is tested – by the devil. Now, usually when we think of the devil we think of evil personified – the personification of all the powers and principalities that inflict so much pain and wreak havoc in our lives and in the world.

            But, that’s not the way the devil – or Satan – is understood in the Hebrew Scriptures. There the devil is a member of the heavenly court whose job it is to test the righteous.

            Tests. We’ve all faced a lot of tests.

            Teachers spend a lot of time thinking about and creating tests. And when I was a teacher I was no exception. Now, I admit, that there were some times when I saw my task a little like a battle between good and evil – times when I really wanted to – and sometimes did - create a really hard test, hoping to shock certain classes out of laziness or complacency – or maybe even punish them a little.

            But, I think – I hope – that most of the time I wanted and tried to construct tests that were fair to my students – which was not always easy. It was challenging to create tests that would give my students, with all of their strengths and weaknesses, with their various learning styles, the chance to demonstrate what they had learned – to reveal their abilities and their potential.           

            And, that’s what’s going on between the devil and Jesus over the forty days in the wilderness. Rather than a battle between good and evil, Jesus is being tested – being given the opportunity to demonstrate what he has learned – to reveal his abilities and potential – to show that he really is full of the Holy Spirit.

            Now, Jewish readers of this story would have picked up on the fact that Jesus’ test lasted forty days. That detail links Jesus to the key event of Jewish history – the forty years of testing in the desert before they finally reached the promised land.            

            But, non-Jewish readers and hearers of this story would have probably picked up on something else. In the ancient world it was believed that the three great vices were love of pleasure, love of possessions and love of glory.

            Not much has changed, I guess.

            And so, over the course of forty days, the devil tempts Jesus with those three vices: love of pleasure, love of possessions and love of glory.

            Pleasure. The devil says to the starving Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

            Possessions. The devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth and says, “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

            Glory. The devil brings Jesus to the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” The devil urges Jesus to reveal his glory as the Son of God, saved by angels as he plunges to the earth.

            Well, Jesus passed his tests. Each time he rebuffs the devil by quoting Scripture. Jesus is so filled with the Holy Spirit – so familiar with God’s Word – that nothing the devil offered is able to trip him up.

            Jesus passed his tests – demonstrating what he had learned, revealing his abilities and potential, showing that he really is filled with the Holy Spirit.

            “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.”

            Tests. We’ve all faced a lot of tests.

            Before I was a teacher, I was a student, of course. And when I was a kid in school, there were times I’d get so nervous before a test that I couldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat and would feel physically sick. The tests – especially, yes, math tests - loomed as the scariest most important things in my life.

            Maybe you had similar experiences.

            And they were important and sometimes there was good reason to be scared.

            But, of course, there was something very artificial about those tests. And they don’t compare to the tests that we’ve faced outside of school – the test that comes when we someone betrays a trust, the test that comes when we think “why not, no one will ever know,” the test that comes when we face rejection and loss, the test that come when we feel unappreciated, the test that comes when we think, “yeah, it’s wrong, but I deserve it,” the test that come when we feel like we’ve wasted our lives.

            Tests. We’ve all faced a lot of tests.

            “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an opportune time.”

            Jesus passed his own kind of artificial tests in the wilderness – demonstrating what he had learned, revealing his abilities and potential, showing that he really is filled with the Holy Spirit.

            Those wilderness tests prepared Jesus for much harder tests yet to come – not in the wilderness but in Nazareth where Jesus is rejected by his hometown relatives and neighbors.

            There were much harder tests yet to come – not in the wilderness but in Jerusalem where Jesus is rejected by just about everyone – where Peter will give into temptation and fail his test by denying his friend and his Lord three times.

            There were much harder tests yet to come – not in the wilderness but at Calvary where Jesus dies almost alone, in shame and apparent defeat.

            Maybe in part because of the preparation in the wilderness, Jesus passes those much harder real life tests, too, revealing not just what he had learned and revealing not just his abilities and potential, but revealing God’s love for the whole world.

            The season of Lent is designed to be like Jesus’ forty days of temptation and testing in wilderness.

            By offering some kind of sacrifice, by giving generously to those in need, by taking on some new spiritual discipline, Lent gives us the opportunity to be tempted and tested – the opportunity to resist the love of pleasure, to resist the love of possessions, to resist the love of glory.

            Lent gives us the opportunity to be tested, to demonstrate what we have learned, to reveal our abilities and potential, to show that the Holy Spirit fills us, too.

            And these kind of artificial Lenten tests help prepare us for the much harder tests that are sure to come.

            Lent, of course, began a few days ago on Ash Wednesday – which is it’s own kind of test, challenging us to face some hard truths.

            In my Ash Wednesday homily I talked about how, through the ashes, God reminds us of our mortality – God reminds us that one day we will die. Through the ashes, God reminds us of our sinfulness – God reminds us that we have all let down God, let down one another, and let down ourselves. But, most important, through the ashes, God reminds us that we depend completely on God – God reminds us that we live, move and have our being in God.

            We have faced and will face many tests over the course of our lives.

            The devil will always find opportune times to test us.

            Sometimes we’ll rise to the occasion and pass our test, but there have been and there will be other times when we are like Peter denying Christ.

            There have been and will be times when we give into temptation.

            There have been and will be times when instead of loving God and one another, we love pleasure, love possessions, and love glory.

            There have been and will be times when we fail the test.

            But, the good news is that none of our failures can separate us from God’s love – none of our weaknesses can cut us off from the God we depend upon.

            The good news is that, with God, forgiveness and another chance are always available.

            The good news is that Jesus passed all of his tests - but we don’t have to.

            Amen.            

Rejection

Grace Episcopal Church, Madison NJ

February 3, 2013

Year C: The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Jeremiah 1:4-10

Psalm 71:1-6

(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Luke 4:21-30

Rejection

            So, what do you think: was that the worst homecoming ever, or what?           

            There’s a lot going on in today’s gospel lesson – Luke has arranged the story to make some important points about Jesus and Jesus’ ministry.

            In this homecoming story, Luke wants us to get that Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit – that Jesus has been anointed by God as messiah –– and that the good news of Jesus will take root among the gentiles.

            But, at its heart, this worst homecoming ever is a story of rejection.

            Jesus is rejected - rejected by the people of his hometown – rejected by the relatives and neighbors who had probably known him his whole life.

            It must have been very painful.

            But, you know, thinking about and reflecting on Jesus’ terrible homecoming has made me feel closer to him.

            After all, we’ve all had hard experiences. If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a priest it’s that people – most of us - all of us – carry around a lot of baggage: pain, fear, resentment, regret.

            And one of the hardest experiences, one of the heaviest pieces of baggage, is rejection.

            Oddly enough, it’s often hard for us to remember exactly what joy feels like, but we sure can remember that sinking feeling - that drop of the stomach - that burning in our face – the drying up of our mouth - when we’ve faced rejection.

            Our youth may be may only be a vague memory but I bet a lot of us remember working up the courage to ask someone we liked out on a date only to be told, uh, no thanks. (Not something I experienced myself, but I’ve heard about it from others…)

            Rejection.

            During our senior year in high school, we may have gotten a pile of college acceptance letters but it’s the discouragingly thin envelopes signaling rejection that we remember so clearly.

            Rejection.

            So many people across the country and here in our own community have endured the pain of losing a job or being rejected for a job we really want - or rejected for a job really need.

            Rejection.

            Yes, one of life’s hardest experiences, one of the heaviest pieces of baggage, is rejection.

            But, maybe we can learn something about facing and responding to rejection in this sad story of Jesus in his hometown synagogue.

            So, let’s back up a little and put this passage into some context. Luke tells us that, after forty days in the wilderness successfully resisting Satan, Jesus begins his work.

            Luke writes, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread throughout all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”

            So, Luke tells us, Jesus has resisted Satan and then has begun to make a name for himself in Galilee. So far, so good.

            And then Jesus returns to Nazareth for the worst homecoming ever.

            As we heard in church last week, Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath, “as was his custom.”

            In the synagogue, Jesus read from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.

            “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”           

            At this point we pick up with what I just read today.

            Jesus finishes reading from Isaiah and then Jesus says, “Today this prophecy has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

            Jesus boldly claims that he’s been anointed by God to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives and sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

            Some in the hometown crowd are impressed by this local boy made good. But they’re also surprised. They ask, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

            And then, things get both confusing and ugly.

            Things get confusing because Luke has left out a key piece of information. This homecoming seems to be going pretty well, so why does Jesus think the people of Nazareth might say to him, “Doctor, cure yourself”? Doesn’t make sense. Well, we know from the other gospels that the people in Nazareth didn’t believe in Jesus. And, we’re told, because of their unbelief, Jesus was not able to perform the powerful works of healing in Nazareth that he had done in places like Capernaum.

            And then, according to Luke, Jesus reminds the hometown crowd of two stories from the Jewish scriptures – stories of the prophets Elijah and Elisha – stories of prophets who took God’s love to the non-Jews, who took God’s favor to the gentiles.

            Jesus suggests that by rejecting him the hometown crowd is missing the boat.

            And they don’t like that one bit.

            In Nazareth Jesus experienced rejection – rejection of the most painful kind – rejection by the people who’ve known him his whole life.

            Of course, this wasn’t the last time Jesus would face rejection – and it probably wasn’t the first, either.

            I wonder, what was it like for Jesus to grow up in a small town like Nazareth? Although it was near a major trading route, Nazareth was so small and insignificant it’s never once mentioned in the Old Testament. How did growing up in little Nazareth shape Jesus’ later life and ministry?

            The gospels give us only one story of Jesus’ youth – the story Luke tells of Jesus staying behind at the Jerusalem Temple while everybody else headed back home to Nazareth. You remember - Mary and Joseph were frantic until they found him in the Temple. But, Jesus doesn’t understand their anxiety. He asks them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 

            Not an ordinary kid.

            And we know from the gospels that Jesus’ family didn’t support his ministry – in fact they were embarrassed by it and feared for Jesus’ sanity and safety.

            All of this tells me that Jesus didn’t have an easy time of it growing up.

            In fact, I suspect that growing up, Jesus was an outcast – ridiculed, whispered about, excluded, and betrayed.

            Like us, Jesus had to deal with life’s hardness – especially the pain of rejection. Jesus probably faced rejection growing up and we know for sure faced rejection as an adult.

            And, like us, Jesus had a choice about how to respond to these painful experiences. Rejection can consume us with anger and resentment. But rejection can also ignite in us compassion for others, especially those who have been hurt or broken by the world.

            So, I believe it’s partly because of the pain of rejection that Jesus is willing and able to do the divine work of reaching out to the despised, the unloved, the people the world treats as disposable.

            I believe it’s partly because of the pain of rejection that Jesus is ultimately willing and able to give away his life for the whole world, but most especially for the outcasts.

            So, yes, in today’s gospel lesson, Luke wants us to get that Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit – that Jesus has been anointed by God as messiah – and that the good news of Jesus will take root among among the gentiles.

            But, at its heart, this homecoming story is a story of rejection.

            Or, rather, it’s a story of how Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, responded to rejection – and how we, also filled with the Holy Spirit, can respond to rejection.

            We know that Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth is just a foreshadowing of a much worse rejection on the cross.

            Yet, despite the rejections and pain of his life, Jesus never stopped reaching out to the outcasts, the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed – never stopped reaching out to everyone.

            Jesus never stopped reaching out – even when “he stretched out his arms of love on the hard wood of the Cross.”

            But we know the story didn’t end on the cross – Jesus’ story and our story doesn’t end with rejection and death but with forgiveness and resurrection.

            Life is hard, but with God’s help, our rejections – our painful experiences –- can ignite compassion – compassion for all the people around us who carry heavy baggage – compassion for the people on line in the soup kitchen and the food pantry – compassion for the people sitting among us right now.

            Life is hard, but, with God’s help, our rejections – our painful experiences - can ignite compassion for our suffering sisters and brothers all around us.

            May it be so.

            Amen.