Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13
____________________________________________________________
Today Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit. And
He’s being tempted by the devil in the desert, seduced by three temptations: pleasure,
power and prestige.
Jesus is tested -- all the way to the Cross.
And, as we know, He passes the tests.
The antidotes to the temptations of pleasure, power
and prestige are the three pillars of our Lenten journey: fasting, prayer and almsgiving.
These are the firstfruits of our relationship with God.
Fasting helps us to conquer the sin of pleasure.
Prayer to God helps us to conquer the sin of desiring power or control. Almsigiving
(without anyone noticing) helps us to conquer the sin of prestige. Lent is a
time to call us back to these disciplines and enter our own desert.
Jesus is fasting and praying as he walks in the
desert, facing the devil’s temptations, and all the while discerning a new ministry: a total focus on serving (giving alms) to the poor, the outcast, the despised,
the disposed.
In Luke’s Gospel
we see a bunch of scenes of Satan trying to regain control of the world by taking
away the word of God from people’s hearts.
Luke’s Gospel ties
nicely to today’s first reading from Deuteronomy. Each of His temptations was
faced by the Hebrew people during their 40-year Exodus in the desert. They were tempted to believe that God
had abandoned them or that they were being punished by God.
Do we feel that
way sometimes as we wander through our own personal deserts?
A closeness to Jesus helps us to conquer this feeling of despair.
How is the devil tempting us today?
Truth is some people are uncomfortable talking
about the devil. The concept smacks of ancient
superstition for many. But whether or
not you believe in the devil, we can all agree evil is real.
So, what evil is tempting us today?
Perhaps we need some perspective to see the
temptations before us more clearly.
You’ve heard that if you drop a frog into a pot
of boiling water, the frog would jump out immediately and live.
But put a frog into cold water, slowly turn up
the heat to boiling and the frog will die.
Isn’t it a little like living in today’s
culture?
St. Pope John Paul the Second declared our
culture was in a battle between the culture of life and the culture of death. The challenge for all of us is to choose
wisely between good and evil.
I’m reminded of something I heard on the radio
many times over the years.
In my days in broadcast journalism, I was a
huge fan of Paul Harvey, both his daily News and Comment, and The Rest of the
Story.
One of the greatest honors was meeting and
spending time with Paul Harvey on his visit to the KOMO newsroom 30 years ago
this year. What a great guy!
He was in town for a special “Salute to America”
event at the Fifth Avenue Theater benefitting KOMO.
There’s a picture of our meeting where I look
like I’m about 12. It may surprise you, but I had a baby face and bright red
hair in my late 20s. Paul Harvey told me he was also a ginger in his youth, too.
There’s one Paul Harvey broadcast that always
stuck with me.
His “If I Were The Devil” broadcast first aired
in the mid-1960s, and was updated in the mid-90s.
Here’s what Paul Harvey wrote and broadcast then:
“If I were the devil … If I
were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness.
And I’d have a third of its
real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I
had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee (You and me).
So I’d set about however
necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d
begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would
whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’
To the young, I would whisper
that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead
of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s
good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father,
which art in Washington…’
And then I’d get organized.
I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything
else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies
and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whomever I could. I’d sell alcohol to
ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.
If I were the devil I’d soon
have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and
nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with
promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.
If I were the devil I would
encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline
emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to
have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.
Within a decade I’d have
prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict
God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of
Congress.
And in His own churches I
would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure
priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money.
If I were the devil I’d make
the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.
If I were the devil I’d take
from those who have, and give to those who wanted until I had killed the
incentive of the ambitious. And what do you bet? I could get whole states to
promote gambling as the way to get rich?
I would caution against
extremes and hard work, in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the
young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you
see on the TV is the way to be.
In other words, if I were the
devil I’d just keep right on doing
what he’s doing.
Paul Harvey, good day.”
Feeling a little like that frog in the boiling water?
Powerful, prophetic words from one of the greatest broadcasters of the 20th Century. They first aired over 50 years ago in 1964.
Isn’t it amazing how much of what he said has come true. If Paul Harvey were still alive today, what would he add to the list of his “If I Were The Devil” commentary. Excellent food for reflection this Lent.
Powerful, prophetic words from one of the greatest broadcasters of the 20th Century. They first aired over 50 years ago in 1964.
Isn’t it amazing how much of what he said has come true. If Paul Harvey were still alive today, what would he add to the list of his “If I Were The Devil” commentary. Excellent food for reflection this Lent.
As we walk through the desert on our own 40 day
Lenten journey, what temptations are we facing? What temptations already
consume us? What temptations do we say “yes” to instead of “no?”
Temptation always offers an alternative to the perfect
love that only comes from God.
It supplants God with worship of idols of our
own making. It lulls us into thinking what’s bad is good and what’s good is
bad. It warps our souls and brings about death and destruction.
Seattle
Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg calls, “Lent … a very important time when we
are invited to spend these forty days in prayer with Jesus so that we can
recognize and reject the presence of evil (in our lives).”
My prayer for us all is that we will open our
eyes to these evils that surround us in our culture, and do as Jesus did: respond
with a firm “no.”
We can show our adoration of Jesus through fasting,
prayer, and almsgiving. These Lenten practices are the path to salvation, and
antidotes to the temptations of pleasure, power and prestige.
Christ shows us today how to effectively rebuke
the devil and turn away from his evil ways.
Jesus shows us the way. It’s up to us to follow
His example.