Overcoming Temptation Grows Our Spiritual Life (Lent 1C)

The Readings for the First Sunday in Lent are chosen to help us prepare ourselves spiritually for the celebration of Easter through a time of deep self examination, repentance and confession. The goal is not to make us feel guilty but to help us draw nearer to God by overcoming the things – particularly the temptations to sin; that distract us and pollute our personal spirits and separate us from God. 

·       The Deuteronomy Reading (26.1-11) reminds us of our Old Testament Covenant and Baptism obligation to give thanks and acknowledge God as the one who gives us life. 

• Psalm 91 reminds us that God also gives us protection and refuge in a dangerous world.
• Romans reminds us we are justified by the Faith in our heart that God raised Jesus from Death 
• Our Faith is tested and grows by overcoming temptations and proclaiming Jesus as Lord

 

1.     First Test is bread or materialism – our bodily needs and wants (Luke 4.1-13) 

The Gospel story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil teaches us how to see through the deceptions of the Evil One and resist the temptations of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs:

·       First there is an irresistible taunt that questions Jesus’ identity and mission – “if you are the son of God…”

·       Second there is a need that is hard to resist – Jesus is starving to death / Jesus wants to change the world / Jesus wants to show the power and glory of God to the world

·       Third is the price – by giving in to these very attractive temptations Jesus would be diverted from His identity as Son of God and Saviour – Satan would win, we would have no hope of Salvation from the consequences of our sins and spiritual life

·       Jesus quotes Scripture to rebut – we need to know our Bibles so reading the whole Bible yourself is critical to survival

 

 

2.     Second Test is worldly power – all the kingdoms of the world are mine through deception – true but not true

• Materialism, Avarice and Gluttony pollute our Spirit by distracting us from love of God, others and Self – the “Me Generation”
• Loose our purpose, meaning and identity as a Spirit that is in a love relationship with God – and has temporary physical body

 

·       What emotional needs tempt us: Envy, Jealousy, Lust and Coveting?

·       We all want more. The question is are we willing to sacrifice our relationship with God to get that more?  

·       The question for self-examination is – “in what ways have I failed to keep the Commandments to love and honour God above everything else?”

 

3.     Third Test is Spiritual Power and Authority

Jesus realizes that by jumping off the Temple and being rescued, everyone would recognize Him as Messiah, and he could avoid the pain of the Cross.

·       By avoiding the Cross Jesus mission would have been defeated

·       We would have no personal Saviour, no new Spiritual Life

·       Common example is church fights over who is “most spiritual” and right about doctrine, liturgy and worship

·       Clergy fear the Holy Spirit because they feel threatened and know many churches have been divided by jealousy of over who has what gifts of the Spirit and healing ministry

·       As Lucy asks in the Lion (Jesus), the Witch and the Wardrobe “Is he dangerous. Her brother answers “of course He is”

·       There is a good reason for the “hard testing” of Lent – Spiritual life is very dangerous.

 

We are challenged to grow spiritually through these hard temptations by staying focused on God and His purpose and mission.

Self-Examination 2: Have We Kept Our Part of The Covenant of Jesus?

 

Readings begin with the Covenant of Abraham and end with the Covenant of Jesus. The Covenant of Abraham required him to ‘walk before God in faithfulness and be blameless” God rewarded Abraham with long life, children and land. The Covenant of Jesus requires us to deny ourselves, take up our Cross and follow Him. Lent is a time to examine our own relationship with God. How have we:

·     Denied Our self?

·     Taken up our Cross? and

·     Followed Him?

 

1. How Have I Denied Myself?

Self-examination: What Spiritual Prison of Disobedience Have I Put Myself In? (Lent 1)

 Self-examination: What Spiritual Prison of Rebellion Have I Put Myself In?

Lent is a time of preparation for the Easter Celebration. We have six weeks to examine our lives, identify sins that need to be repented and go through the process of repentance, confession, absolution and acceptance of Christ's forgiveness. One way of examining our lives is suggested by the readings for today. Peter mentions the rebellious dead as being "spirits in prison' (1 Peter 3.19). We may be putting ourselves in an eternal spiritual prison when we are disobedient and rebel against the Baptismal covenant. We need to review the Ten Commandments and the seven deadly sins and ask ourselves which of these prisons we may be in.

1. Our Baptismal Covenant is into a relationship of love

Ten Tests of Our Spiritual Life in God's Kingdom (Proper 27 Year A)

Baptism, like tenancy has obligations. The Parable is a warning that we are sometimes tempted to rebel against God and refuse to ‘pay the rent’. What is this ‘rent’? In our Baptism we promise ‘to continue in the Apostles teaching, in the fellowship and in the breaking of bread’ – to love and honour God. Moses explains the Ten Commandments by telling the people “God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” (Ex. 20.20) The ten tests of our love of God are:

 

1. Have you recognized or given honour to other gods?

10 Questions For Lent: Using the 10 Commandments For Self-examination

(Workshop at Better Books & Bibles 636-16 Ave. NW, April 6, 2019)

Introduction

We all hunger for forgiveness and a right relationship with God and our neighbour that gives meaning and purpose to our lives. The good news of Christianity is that Jesus sacrificial death on the Cross created a new way to forgiveness and freedom from the guilt and shame that burdens our lives and separates us from right relationship with God and others. Anglican worship includes a general confession which we can use to ask for forgiveness - but sometimes it is hard to quickly identify our sins.

I discovered my own approach at a retreat.  I was alone in my room with three hours assigned to conduct a self-examination before my personal confession with a priest.. I prayed that wonderful prayer - HELP and received a word of knowledge that I should use the 10 Commandments as a guide. I developed 10 questions that would help me discover not if but in what specific ways I had broken each Commandment. I committed to three hours of prayer asking the Holy Spirit for guidance as I reviewed my life and filled at least one page with a written answer to each question

Jesus is the Lord of a New Covenant (Palm Sunday)

The readings are preparing us for the Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Experience. The Readings remind us that Jesus had great courage in facing opposition, modelled humility and obedience and made a New Covenant of forgiveness with believers. This New Covenant includes the Ten Commandments but adds the possibility of forgiveness through repentance and faith in the shed blood of Jesus. The Readings help us understand that Jesus is more than a teacher of goodness. Jesus is the Lord of a New Covenant relationship with God. As we prepare ourselves for the Easter experience it is a good time to examine our lives for evidence of humility and obedience to our half of this New Covenant – which is our Baptismal Covenant.

1. Have you “set your face like flint”?

How To Get A Spiritual Life (Lent 3)

A long time ago when I said something that annoyed my Daughter she told me to “Get a life”. This was actually a common expression in the 90s. It suggests that someone is just not getting it. They are not aware of what is really going on around them. It is a challenge to think and ‘smarten up – appropriate for the Brownies and Guides in church today for “Thinking Day”. The Bible Readings challenge us to think about our lives and get a better life – a spiritual life. Our parents give us a biological or physical life. God wants’ to give us a spiritual life – an emotional life based on being in a personal love-relationship with God. This spiritual life guides (are the Guides listening?) us, protects us and comforts us in this life – and is what we take to Heaven when we die. It is what we call our eternal spiritual life of love joy and peace.

1. Isaiah Reading (55.1-9) is an invitation to get a spiritual life

Am I In Any Form of Rebellion Against God? (Lent 2)

The Readings for the Second Sunday in Lent remind us of the terrible consequences of rebellion; and our need to examine our own lives to see if we are in any form of rebellion against God. Jesus grief over Jerusalem in the Gospel reminded me of my own grief over some of my family members and friends who are in a state of rebellion against God. Like Jesus we all know how hard it is to get those in rebellion to see their rebellion as pride, selfishness and self-deception. They think they are the smart ones and that believers are the deceived ones. The readings remind us that this is an old and sometimes unsolvable problem – and to stay focused on our own acts of rebellion.

1. In Genesis (15.1-18) Abram is questioning the power of God

Overcoming Temptation Grows Our Spiritual Life (Lent 1)

The Readings for the First Sunday in Lent are chosen to help us prepare ourselves spiritually for the celebration of Easter through a time of deep self examination, repentance and confession. The goal is not to make us feel guilty but to help us draw nearer to God by overcoming the things – particularly the temptations to sin; that distract us and pollute our personal spirits and so we cannot survive in the presence of God who is holy.

• The Deuteronomy Reading (26.1-11) reminds us of our Old Testament Covenant and Baptism obligation to give thanks and acknowledge God as the one who gives us life.
• Psalm 91 reminds us that God also gives us protection and refuge in a dangerous world.

1. In Romans 10.8-13 we learn how God’s forgiveness of sin works

First of all we are told that the “Word” is near us, in our hearts. We do not have to go to a special place such as Israel or India. God wants an emotional relationship in our hearts – our soul and spirit. But God is so holy, pure and undivided He cannot be where there is spiritual pollution. Spiritual pollution would burn up in the fire of God’s holy love. This is why we all need to clearly understand and believe in the legal and spiritual process of “justification: