St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
March 1, 2015
Year B: The Second
Sunday in Lent
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:22-30
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38
“The More We Share, The More We Have”
The
death of Leonard Nimoy on Friday morning hit me a little harder than I had
expected.
For
the past year or so he had been very open about his declining health, repeatedly
urging people not to smoke or to quit right away.
Yet,
on some level I think I imagined that somehow he and his buddy William Shatner really
would find a way to cheat death like they did so often on Star Trek.
So,
even with the advance warning it still shocked me a little and certainly made
me sad to face the passing of one of the towering figures of my childhood, the
actor who played the half-Vulcan, half-human Mr. Spock.
At
the same time, it was very moving on Friday to read all the tributes to Nimoy
from his co-stars and other celebrities, as well as his many fans including
President Obama, who admitted, “I loved Spock.”
Some
of you know each day I try to post a Scripture passage or some kind of
inspirational quote on my Facebook page.
Yesterday
morning I looked for a quote from Leonard Nimoy and found what I think is a
really beautiful quote that may not be logical but happens to be true:
“The
miracle is this: The more we share, the more we have.”
“The
more we share, the more we have.”
If
you were in church last week you may remember that we heard Mark’s account of
Jesus’ Baptism.
We’re
told that Jesus comes up out of the Jordan, out of the water of Baptism, the
Spirit descended upon him like a dove and a voice from heaven declares, “You
are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Last
week I didn’t say much about the second part of the reading.
Mark,
Matthew, and Luke all tell us that immediately after his baptism, the Spirit
drove Jesus into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan.
Mark
doesn’t tell us the nature of those temptations but Matthew and Luke flesh out
more details.
Out
in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted to demonstrate supernatural power by
turning stones into bread.
Satan
offers worldly glory to Jesus – all the kingdoms of the world – if he’ll only
worship the devil.
Finally,
Satan tempts Jesus to test God by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the
Temple.
Jesus
manages to resist those temptations, and more, I suppose, over the forty days
and nights in the wilderness.
We
can easily get the idea that’s the end of the story when it comes to Jesus and
temptation.
Not
so.
The
great Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis in his book The Last Temptation of Christ imagines the devil tempting Jesus to
the end of his life, even as he hangs on the cross, offering the chance not
only to live but to live as an ordinary man, married to Mary of Bethany, with
children, and a little carpentry shop in Nazareth.
But,
actually, we don’t have to imagine other temptations because we heard a big one
in today’s gospel reading.
The
temptation comes from perhaps an unlikely source: Peter.
After
Jesus makes his first prediction about the suffering and death he will endure,
we’re told, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.”
A
strong word – rebuke – but notice
that Peter did take Jesus aside rather than rebuking Jesus in front of
everyone.
But
then, Jesus has a remarkably harsh reaction – in front of everyone:
He
says, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things
but on human things.”
Jesus
then goes on to teach not just his disciples, but the crowd, what it’s going to
cost them to follow Jesus:
“If
any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their
cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and
those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will
save it.”
The
great temptation for Jesus – and the great temptation for us – is to not give
ourselves away in loving service to God and to one another.
The
great temptation is to forget – or reject - the miracle that “the more we
share, the more we have.”
Ultimately,
Jesus shared - gave away - his life – he never did have a wife and kids and a
little carpentry shop in Nazareth – and by giving it all away Jesus gave
himself and gives us more -
more than we could have ever expected or imagined – Jesus gives us all the glory
of Easter morning, the joy of love and life conquering hatred and death.
Still,
like Jesus, you and I face temptations all the time.
But,
one of the biggest temptations we face is fear that causes us to close
ourselves up – fear that prevents us from sharing – fear that prevents us from giving
ourselves away in loving service to God and to one another.
Fortunately,
Lent gives us the opportunity to practice sharing more.
Maybe
that means giving away more money to those in need – maybe it means dropping
cash or coins – something – into our mite box every day.
Maybe
that means bringing a donation to the food pantry.
Maybe
that means really taking the time to be with the people we care about – to not
just texting but actually calling – or, even, if you can imagine, actually spending
time together in person!
Maybe
that means reaching out to people we know who are suffering or who are lonely –
maybe that means spending time with people we don’t particularly like but we
know could use the company, really need a friend.
I’m
sure we can all come up with ways that we can resist the powerful temptations
we face to close ourselves up and instead take up our cross and share ourselves
– give ourselves away – in loving service to God and to one another – giving us
all more than we could have ever expected or imagined.
As
an old friend once said, “The miracle is this: The more we share, the more we
have.”
Amen.
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