A Plague of Locusts!

Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Baptism, is our entry into Christ… into the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is another name for what we call the Church. That’s one of the reasons our Baptismal font is way back there… because way back there, it’s by the entrance of our Church! Baptism isn’t a destination, but rather, the very beginning of a life long journey.  Because of that, the Church in its ancient wisdom, thought that before a person set out on that sort of life-long journey it would be smart to take some time to help them get ready. How much time? Well, the PERFECT amount of time of course! And that… in Biblical figuring means FORTY. Forty days and nights for Noah and the flood. Forty years for the people of Israel going from Egypt to the Promised Land. Forty days of fasting before Moses received the ten commandments. Forty days for Jesus in the wilderness and Forty days for the season of Lent. Forty is Biblical shorthand for the time God takes to prepare something amazing! And because this is God’s time we’re talking about, it hardly ever ends up being exactly forty by our human ways of counting. That’s why the Season of Lent, is forty days long… as long as you don’t count the Sundays! 

So Baptism is where we all start.  In the water washing of Baptism, God promises us abundant life... a life filled with purpose and meaning and also salvation... a promise that this abundant life God gives us as a gift goes on beyond time itself. Baptism, you see, is God’s work, not ours, so it goes well beyond our ability to fully comprehend.  That’s why we talk about it in so many different ways, trying to get a handle on something that is way too big for us to ever fully grasp.  It’s God giving us a Cleansing Bath, it’s a New Birth, it’s citizenship in God’s Kingdom, it’s being clothed in Christ, it’s being brought Out of Chaos and Death, it is our Adoption as a Child of God, it is God grafting us into Christ and joining us with Christ’s death and resurrection. 

Our second lesson today says we “believe with the heart” and “confess with the mouth.” Notice, it doesn’t say “believe with our heads.” That’s because believing is not so much a decision we make in our heads as it is a step by step journey following the One we have come to love, because we have come to realize that One we love has been loving us all along! At the beginning of the service today we recognized how Peter has begun noticing God’s love working in his life and we welcomed him to join us as a community... a community doing our best to “believe with our hearts” just like him.  In just a moment, we’ll all have the opportunity to bless him and equip him for this forty day journey… Together, we’ll give him the sign of the cross on his eyes, ears, lips, heart, shoulders, hands and feet so that he knows that all of us are walking with every part of him on this journey… both his journey through Lent and his journey through all of life! At the Great Easter Vigil, we’ll all continue with him on this journey and together we’ll “confess with our mouths” and then, in some mysterious way, God will grab hold of him with Water and with God’s Word, binding him together with all of us... a part of the Body of Christ and promise to never let him go, no matter what, from then, to the end of time and to beyond time itself!  

Now all of that might make you think that after you’re Baptized every day will be magically filled only with unicorns, gumdrops and rainbows!  But since Jesus himself was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit after his Baptism, only to run into the Devil and all those temptations, it’s pretty much a sure thing that we’re in for the same.  What Jesus ran into after his Baptism was not a question about whether or not he was God’s Child. That was a done deal and even the Devil agreed with that!  What he ran into, were questions about HOW he was going to be God’s Son. Since in our Baptisms we’ve are adopted as Children of God, the questions Jesus faced are inevitably the questions we face in our wilderness times too.

The first question: Bread for me, myself and I, or bread for US, OURSELVES AND WE? Jesus was hungry and we all get hungry!  The question is will we use the gifts we’ve been given to satisfy me, myself and I, or will we use what God has given us for US, OURSELVES and WE?  Jesus chose not to make bread in the wilderness then, but held off and instead made fish sandwiches for thousands a little later!  

The second question: Arm muscles or heart muscles? Jesus was sent by God to make things right in the world, and so are we!  But HOW do we do that? Do we use the world’s ways of violence, intimidation and manipulation… OR do we do like Jesus did and instead use the power of self-sacrificial LOVE to transform the world to work the way God wants it to work?

The third question: Cheat death or defeat death? Jesus had the power to get the angels to save him after jumping off a tower and cheating death in a spectacular way. That would have brought him millions of adoring fans!  Instead he chose not to Cheat Death, but DEFEAT death, once and for all for all of creation through his own death and resurrection.  Will we avoid the hard things in life or will we dare to go through them, trusting God’s promise of new life on the other side?

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to begin his forty day journey.   You and me, along with Peter are being led by that same Holy Spirit into our shared forty day journey through the wilderness of Lent. We too will wrestle with those same old temptations… Will we live for others or will we live for ourselves? Will we work in the world by "might makes right” or by self-giving love? Will we do everything to avoid what we fear, or will we dive deeply through it, toward the promise of light and life?  

I feel incredibly thankful that Peter has asked us... this beautiful gathering of the Body of Christ... to journey with him this Lent.  I hope that you too can see in these forty days, the blessing and the great honor it is to walk with one another, sharing with each other the joys and the difficulties of this season of life as we walk together toward the Great Easter Vigil and Peter’s Baptism. Peter, thank you for the trust you have placed in all of us and the incredible gift you’ve given us by allowing us to share your journey with you. Come now and let us bless you for the journey we are all about to take together!  Amen.