We have been hearing the Sermon on the Mount:
the start of Jesus’ preaching ministry in Matthew’s gospel.
Today, at the start of Lent, we go back to
‘what happened next’ after the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan.
Jesus prepares for his ministry, and his journey to Jerusalem,
with fasting and prayer: and he is tempted.
Temptation is the pull our humanity experiences
to be someone different from who God wants us to be.
It is part of the human condition:
a necessary consequence of,
indeed, a manifestation of, our free will.
In this world, without temptation, we would not be human.
Jesus is truly human; Jesus was truly tempted in his life on earth.
Sin is about all those choices we make
that move us away from who God wants us to be:
the poor choices we make in the face of temptation.
Some choices may be major and fully conscious,
others may be comparatively unthinking, or habitual.
Sin separates us, alienates us, from God and from each other.
In today’s gospel Jesus gives us three protections against poor choices
leading us away from sin,
leading us to be the person God wants us to be.
First, Jesus says
We are to live … on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
We hear this in the light of the whole of Scripture,
in which Jesus is revealed as the Word of God.
He truly is every word that comes from the mouth of God
He sustains us, brings us life:
through scripture,
through the Christian community,
through the Eucharist,
through the gift of His Holy Spirit deep in our hearts.
For our part, we must attend to the Word
to know who God wants us to be.
Second, Jesus says
You must not put the Lord your God to the test.
A warning against presumption and recklessness
in our relationship with God.
God is merciful and forgiving,
but we test Him whenever we use this truth,
that He is merciful and forgiving,
to discount the significance of our failings –
perhaps with thoughts like: ‘God doesn’t really mind’,
‘God will understand’.
We can be too comfortable with who we are now,
and stop hearing who God wants us to be.
We do sin, and we need forgiveness and reconciliation:
Christians know this, and try to face up to it.
Delight in the salvation Jesus brings
through His cross and resurrection
is founded on a deep personal appreciation
of our need for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Third, Jesus says:
You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.
We need to turn to God frequently,
in thanks and praise, in worship.
We should want this to be our habit,
and to help form the habit most people need some discipline.
Most Saturday mornings, on our way to Mass,
Lesley and I see a large group of people
running round Endcliffe Park.
They are doing something about keeping fit,
keeping their bodies in good working order.
I used to run,
so I can assure you that once you are focussed on keeping fit,
you soon discover that a weekly run is a good start,
but it doesn’t really do the job.
This weekly community celebration of running isn’t enough.
You need to get out more often than that:
you need a bit of discipline, a regime, to get properly fit.
It is the same with worshipping God.
Sunday celebration is essential, but it isn’t enough.
We need to turn to God often as a remedy for the temptations of life.
For, when we come before God in true worship,
most especially in our Mass,
we are filled with humility,
with a deeper understanding of our unworthiness
and of God’s generosity towards us.
We are helped to turn away from presumption and recklessness,
and we are sustained, given life, by the Word of God, Jesus Christ