The Temptations
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 -- Week of Proper 20, Year Two
Philander Chase, Bishop of Ohio and of Illinois, 1852
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 985)
Psalms 119:97-120 (morning) 81, 82 (evening)
Esther 6:1-14 or Judith 10:1-23
Acts 19:1-20
Luke 4:1-13
I chose to read from Judith
Luke's story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness speaks of the temptations that face all of us.
Security: Jesus is famished after forty days of fasting. The devil tempts him to abandon his reliance upon God alone and to feed himself by an act of magic. Jesus raises his vision beyond his physical needs and his feelings of threatened security -- "One does not live by bread alone."
Esteem: The devil shows Jesus the glory of all the kingdoms of the world and offers it to Jesus. He can have the whole world at his feet if he will only give his worship to the devil -- give highest worth to something created rather than to the divine. "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him," answers Jesus, keeping his loyalty to the mysterious and free God.
Power: Throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple. You will have such power that nothing can harm you. Quoting the Bible, the devil offers Jesus the angelic powers for his command. Jesus' answer: "Do not test God." (Remember just a few days ago this was Judith's answer to her city's plan to surrender to the Assyrians if God doesn't rescue them in five days.)
God gives us divine security, divine love and esteem, divine power and control -- on God's terms. We are healthy when we trust God for these things. Our problems come when we exaggerate our needs for security, esteem and control and when we set ourselves to get these things on our terms. When we are addicted enough to our exaggerated needs for security, esteem and control, we will do damaging things, we will sell out to the devil, to get our needs met. We will seek to posses whatever passes for the symbols of security, esteem and power in our culture.
In our Servant Leadership course we offer God's antidote to our addictions. Compassion, community and co-creation. When our deepest motivation mirrors the fundamental characteristic of Jesus -- compassion -- we are motivated by God's values rather than our exaggerated selfish needs. When we see ourselves within the community of humanity rather than insisting that the world revolve around our individuality, we act with proper focus for the common good. When we join in God's work of reconciliation, peace and justice we share in the Creator's purpose and power.
These same issues play out in our other two readings.
In an extreme condition of insecurity and threat, Judith tells the leaders not to put God to the test, but to trust God completely. Then she devises a plan to act for the good of her community and aligns herself to God in trust. She is enabled to act boldly.
Paul faces threats and challenges daily as he works with the community in Ephesus, building up their faith and their spirit for two years. His power, which comes from God, is authentic. He brings healing to those who are sick and coherence to those who are oppressed. We see his authentic power contrasted with the magic tricks of the exorcists who know only the form and not the substance of Jesus.
We live in a culture that is tempted by false gods selling greed and selfishness, prejudice, and power for the price of abandoning our essential values as a peaceful, loving people of compassion, extending hospitality in order to create a society that works for liberty and justice for all.
We live in a time where fear and anger seek to bring out the worst in us -- selfishness, tribalism, and aggression.
The temptations of the wilderness cry for our allegiance. They tell us to be afraid for our security and to protect ourselves with greed and violence. They tell us to be arrogant and selfish and to raise up our own kind at the expense of others -- glory is ours and will not be shared. They tell us to exercise power in narrow, tribalistic ways and not take responsibility to pay for the powers we exercise. It is an ugly and dangerous time. Jesus help us.
Our stories from scripture tell us to put our trust in God. Our security, esteem and power comes from God, not from our selfish ways. We find life when we live with compassion, in community, joining God's work of healing, reconciliation, liberation and economic justice. It's either God's agenda or the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. Whose side will we be on?
Philander Chase, Bishop of Ohio and of Illinois, 1852
To read about our daily commemorations, go to our Holy Women, Holy Men blog:
http://liturgyandmusic.wordpress.com/category/holy-women-holy-men/
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 985)
Psalms 119:97-120 (morning) 81, 82 (evening)
Esther 6:1-14 or Judith 10:1-23
Acts 19:1-20
Luke 4:1-13
I chose to read from Judith
Luke's story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness speaks of the temptations that face all of us.
Security: Jesus is famished after forty days of fasting. The devil tempts him to abandon his reliance upon God alone and to feed himself by an act of magic. Jesus raises his vision beyond his physical needs and his feelings of threatened security -- "One does not live by bread alone."
Esteem: The devil shows Jesus the glory of all the kingdoms of the world and offers it to Jesus. He can have the whole world at his feet if he will only give his worship to the devil -- give highest worth to something created rather than to the divine. "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him," answers Jesus, keeping his loyalty to the mysterious and free God.
Power: Throw yourself from the pinnacle of the temple. You will have such power that nothing can harm you. Quoting the Bible, the devil offers Jesus the angelic powers for his command. Jesus' answer: "Do not test God." (Remember just a few days ago this was Judith's answer to her city's plan to surrender to the Assyrians if God doesn't rescue them in five days.)
God gives us divine security, divine love and esteem, divine power and control -- on God's terms. We are healthy when we trust God for these things. Our problems come when we exaggerate our needs for security, esteem and control and when we set ourselves to get these things on our terms. When we are addicted enough to our exaggerated needs for security, esteem and control, we will do damaging things, we will sell out to the devil, to get our needs met. We will seek to posses whatever passes for the symbols of security, esteem and power in our culture.
In our Servant Leadership course we offer God's antidote to our addictions. Compassion, community and co-creation. When our deepest motivation mirrors the fundamental characteristic of Jesus -- compassion -- we are motivated by God's values rather than our exaggerated selfish needs. When we see ourselves within the community of humanity rather than insisting that the world revolve around our individuality, we act with proper focus for the common good. When we join in God's work of reconciliation, peace and justice we share in the Creator's purpose and power.
These same issues play out in our other two readings.
In an extreme condition of insecurity and threat, Judith tells the leaders not to put God to the test, but to trust God completely. Then she devises a plan to act for the good of her community and aligns herself to God in trust. She is enabled to act boldly.
Paul faces threats and challenges daily as he works with the community in Ephesus, building up their faith and their spirit for two years. His power, which comes from God, is authentic. He brings healing to those who are sick and coherence to those who are oppressed. We see his authentic power contrasted with the magic tricks of the exorcists who know only the form and not the substance of Jesus.
We live in a culture that is tempted by false gods selling greed and selfishness, prejudice, and power for the price of abandoning our essential values as a peaceful, loving people of compassion, extending hospitality in order to create a society that works for liberty and justice for all.
We live in a time where fear and anger seek to bring out the worst in us -- selfishness, tribalism, and aggression.
The temptations of the wilderness cry for our allegiance. They tell us to be afraid for our security and to protect ourselves with greed and violence. They tell us to be arrogant and selfish and to raise up our own kind at the expense of others -- glory is ours and will not be shared. They tell us to exercise power in narrow, tribalistic ways and not take responsibility to pay for the powers we exercise. It is an ugly and dangerous time. Jesus help us.
Our stories from scripture tell us to put our trust in God. Our security, esteem and power comes from God, not from our selfish ways. We find life when we live with compassion, in community, joining God's work of healing, reconciliation, liberation and economic justice. It's either God's agenda or the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. Whose side will we be on?
Lowell
__________________
| Audio podcast: Listen to an audio podcast of the most recent Morning Reflections from today and the past week. Click the following link: -- Morning Reflection Podcasts About Morning Reflections "Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer. Evening Prayer begins on p. 117 An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at missionstclare.com -- Click for online Daily Office Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html -- Click for Divine Hours Discussion Blog: To comment on today's reflection or readings, go to http://lowellsblog.blogspot.com, or click here for Lowell's blog find today's reading, click "comment" at the bottom of the reading, and post your thoughts. |
| The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love. See our Web site at www.stpaulsfay.org Our Rule of Life: We aspire to... worship weekly pray daily learn constantly serve joyfully live generously. Lowell Grisham, Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church Fayetteville, Arkansas |
posted by Lowell @ 8:36 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I wish that I could feel the way that you do. I don't quite understand what you are saying when you talk about exaggerating our needs. I believe that our fundamental needs (those of Maslow's hierarchy) are either met or they aren't. When they aren't, those are the things we are going to be looking for. It could be that you can believe and trust in God more easily than I can because you obviously have a level of security that I do not have. But I have to wonder if you lost a lot of the things that have existed for you that provide you a feeling of security how easy then would it be to put total faith in God? You might even feel abandoned by God. Or punished like Job felt.
Many of the things that give us security cannot be obtained on our own and I don't think we can conjure them up out of extreme belief or extreme need. And I don't think that we can convince ourselves to feel secure if we haven't been provided w/ the building blocks for that. If I repress or pretend or ignore that I have needs that aren't being met it will not change the basic void. I do what I can to live w/ this feeling and I actively participate in this world and give what I can. I've done all that I know to do on my own and I have tried to trust God but that's a hard thing to do--to trust in an abstract when the your trust in people and concrete connections have failed.
Dear Anonymous,
You've said a heart-full. You are so right. It is a desperate feeling when you are not finding your needs met at a low place on the Maslow hierarchy.
I think of Etty Hillesum's diary "An Interrupted Life" -- how a young woman lived in the dark of the Holocaust. I've not lived a life deprived of the basics for survival. I've known a few who have. Some of their stories inspire me. Some just horrify me.
I don't know if I would trust God to the end. I've known people who have met their limits. We can be fragile. It helps me to think about people who have survived things greater than my trials, and done so with inspiring grace. Maybe if I must face the "time of trial" as the Lord's Prayer says, their example can give me courage.
But I also know I can be broken. I've seen that too.
Life is hard. It is not fair. Justice doesn't always win out. We can end up like Jesus, trusting God -- and getting crucified.
Lowell
Trust in God - living a life of faith - is simply a way of being in the world. And I rather admire those who have much and still choose to live a life of faith. For me, that is also the miracle and the grace filled example. To have much, or more than enough, and still know that one must rely on God is inspiring to one who has little and knows that God is home in the truest sense of that word. I don't think we should take anything from those with a strong faith who are also very generous with all they have been given. Lots of inspiration around, I guess. Peace, Janet
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