Temptation

1 Lent B 2009
Genesis 9: 8-17; Ps 25; 1 Peter 3: 18-22; Mark 1: 9-13


I have had two great temptations.

One happened at my diaconal ordination. Seven of us stood in the impressive sanctuary of St. James Cathedral a great deal of fuss was made over us. A tall and stately bishop pressed his hands on our heads, we were vested in finery, and finally we stood proudly in front of a packed house while people applauded. Then a voice from somewhere said quietly, “Congratulations. You really are this, the lights, the vestments, the attention, the applause. You really are a little better than average.”

This temptation still happens, at least once a week, only without the bishop and the cathedral.

The other temptation happened when I left my old Catholic Order. The first job I had was a pretty good match, but I resigned after a serious disagreement with the boss. My second job I quit because I hated it and I was terrible at it. So that year I was unemployed over Christmas and I had no idea what to do with the rest of my professional life. A voice came to me again—“You’re really no good at much of anything useful, you know. You’re just not worth a lot.”

You’re better than the rest. You’re nothing. This is the face of temptation, at least for me, and for many of us. Serious temptation is not the urge to do naughty things. Temptation is not the urge to ask “What would Ned Flanders do?” and feel bad when we don’t do it. Serious temptation is the strange attraction to be something other than who we are, to trade the gift of our basic selves for anything else, anything less.

We are the beloved of God. We are bound to the God of heaven and of earth. We are in the image of God, participate in the nature of God, are in the process of becoming God.

The sole purpose of the Bible is to shout that good news in our ears. The Noah-story cries out that the deepest truth is not that of reward and punishment. God so loves us that God swears there will be no more flood to punish, no divine attempt to hit the “reset” button for humanity. God swears this. We live under the rainbow of that promise.

We are the beloved of God. God sets us free. Christ has taken all the basic temptations we face upon himself. His ministry began with his baptism, where he heard that astonishing voice—“You are my Beloved.” Then, Spirit drives him to the desert. Beloved, desert, temptation all live together in one mystery. And there are others with him—wild beasts, and angels. Jesus shows us the way to liberation, and takes us with him, so it is we who heard the voice saying “Beloved”, it is we who are driven into the desert, it is we who pass through temptation, it is we who emerge with Jesus transformed.

But the mystery is, we still need to walk our own path of temptation.

We walk it with complete hope, since strangely enough the victory is already won. But we each walk our path to make the victory our own. We each hear temptation’s voice—“You really are different from everyone else”, or “you really are nothing.” It’s one and the same.

When Spirit drives us into the desert this Lent, know that it is a Spirit-path we walk. Welcome the wild beasts, the earthy wild wondrous truth of our own nature and the wondrous freedom of the wild world. Welcome the angels, who come in many forms, who love disguises, but who will help us when we are most in need.

And hold close the echo of that wondrous voice—“You are my Beloved.” These are the words and this is the Speaker that transforms the desert into the place where we find our home.