Christ the King Church
199 Brandon Road
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
USA
tel: 925-682-2486
"Jerusalem, Our Destiny: Temptation Along the Way" - Homily of February 25, 2007 |
It begins in the desert. It always begins in the desert, not just the journey of Jesus, although Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus was first driven by the Spirit out into the desert for forty days. But the entirety, the whole of life’s journey begins in the desert. And it begins in the desert again and again and again. Whether we are talking about the journey of the Universe that begins in the immense desert-like time and silence before God explodes into creation. Or whether we are talking about the journey of our individual lives, beginning as infants surrounded by parents and love and care, but still facing a journey from darkness and silence into sound and light, or like our catecumens and candidates who are on a journey right now toward Easter baptism and reception into the Church. It begins with a need, with a want, with an “I need something. I am in the desert,” or when we have to begin again and again and again because we are running on an empty tank, because we are tired, because we are worn out, because we’re worn down or because we’ve made some mistakes and it’s time to begin again. The desert is a great sign and a great symbol of where we always have to begin, and where we begin this season of Lent with Jerusalem, our Destiny. Our goal is Jerusalem, but not the municipality and not the geographical sight, but rather the dream, the goal, the vision, set before us by our lives, by our challenges, by our situation, by our gifts and talents, and by our faith. You know, it is remarkable how many times Jerusalem is used in religious hymns, hymns named after Jerusalem which stands for, not the city, but it stands for the Kingdom of God, the presence of God, the will of God, the reign of God. There is one called “Jerusalem, my happy home.” There’s another one, “Jerusalem the Golden.” There’s a hymn “Behold, Jerusalem has descended from God.” The most famous Jerusalem song has a one-word title. It’s just called “Jerusalem.” It’s from William Blake’s short poem and it’s been often proposed to serve as the National Anthem of Great Britain in place of “God Save the Queen.” And then there’s the song we sing here, “Jerusalem, My Destiny.” It provides a slogan and a focus for our reflection and our celebration during this Lent. Jerusalem, our destiny.... and all the temptations along the way. Temptations along the way.... Even for Jesus, the temptations did not come in a single set of three or in just forty days, period! Mark’s gospel is the earliest gospel and it tells us “Jesus was tempted.” Period! Not the number of times, not for how long. “Jesus was tempted.” Luke comes along in his gospel and he uses a literary device. He gives us three temptations that parallel the three temptations of the Jewish people in their forty years in the desert and they end up with the third one. He rearranges the temptations so the final one is when he reaches his destiny in Jerusalem. But the gospels tell us that Jesus was tempted all his life, right up to his day on the cross. And that’s more like our lives. Temptations don’t go away. They come again and again. They come all along. But the trio is a good focus for us, a good warning, a good starting point for the time of Lent. There they are: temptation from hunger and starvation, temptation to power and control, temptation by miracles and magic. I think if we are tempted during Lent, it should be being tempted to do good. And I think those three temptations of Jesus are a good framework. Take the first one, temptation from hunger. What can we do during this Lent for the hungry of the world? Maybe that’s what I should do for Lent. We have Operation Rice Bowl. We have Winter Nights, this year during March, when people come and live here, the homeless. But, what I challenge you to do is use your imagination. Come up with one little thing you would do during Lent that would make this a better world for the hungry, either close at home or across the world. Use your imagination and come up with one thing. But there’s another kind of hunger. The other is spiritual hunger. I think we are all spiritually hungry but don’t always know it. You know what happens when people are starving and it gets really bad? They lose their apetites. They lose their apetites. I think, much of our lives, we lose our apetites for things of the spirit. Lent is a good time to nourish our spirits, our spiritual hunger. Maybe those little black books will help you. Maybe a brief reading of Scripture every day during Lent would help. Maybe some spiritual reading would help. Or maybe just to slow down, just to slow down.... What would help us to slow down might be a visit to Church. It might be getting a prayer corner in our houses that, when we go there, we can be left alone. I have a friend who, when he drives home every day, stops about a mile away from home. He picks a spot with a view over the Diablo Valley. He sits down and unwinds for ten minutes before he barges in and hammers his family. (Laughter here!) It’s a nice thought. We all just have to slow down, and that’s a good way to deal with our spiritual hunger. The next one is power and control. We all want to be in charge. We all want power and control. I think the best antidote for power and control is gratitude and inner peace. So what I would suggest during Lent, we might every day take a few moments to think about people that we are thankful for. It can begin very simply. Be thankful for somebody who opened the door for me today, somebody who greeted me today, somebody who let me get into the traffic lane, squeeze into the Caldecott Tunnel and didn’t block me out. Or I might think of major things, like a physician who saved my life. Or then it leaps over to my family, my friends, my career, my health, my faith, my freedom. But developing gratitude and an inner peace will really deal with the temptation for power and control. What about the third one? What about miracles and magic? There are things we pray for. We pray for people who are sick. We pray for people who are hurting. We pray for people who are grieving. We pray for people who are suffering. We pray for justice and peace in the world. Maybe, during Lent, let’s, instead of praying for God to do it, instead of praying for God to do magic, instead of praying for God to make a miracle, say “How can I be an instrument of the very thing I am praying for?” Maybe a visit to someone who is sick, maybe a phone call to someone who is lonely, maybe dropping a card to someone who is distant, maybe writing to my congressman about an issue that I think should be dealt with, maybe demonstrating for some issue that I pray for, maybe being part of the solution, part of the prayer, rather than just asking for magic, might deal with the temptation for miracles. Well, there it is. What I suggest for Lent is that we deal with hunger, with the poor and with our own spiritual hunger, that we deal with power by gratitude and an inner peace, that we deal with magic and miracles by becoming part of the answer, part of the solution ourselves. Welcome to Jerusalem, our destiny, with temptations along the way. May we all be tempted to do good. Amen.
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