How Did Jesus Learn to Whisper the Interior Life?

1 Lent A February 26, 2023
Gen 2:4b-9,15-17,25-3:7 Ps.51:1-13
Rom. 5:12-21 Matt. 4:1-11

Lectionary Link

Was Jesus so unique and a one of a kind person, that he could be called abnormal?  Is superlative excellence abnormal?

Was Jesus a prodigy like Mozart who had abilities which could not be accounted for in normal developmental human theory?

Was he the most positive version of savant syndrome, such that there was no one like him?  Was he so different that he stood out and his superior qualities drew both love and perhaps jealous anger and hatred?

What sayings of some people in the Gospel are recorded about Jesus?  Some said he was mad.  Some said he was a sinner.  Some said he was a glutton.  Some said he drank too much.  Some said that he had made a bargain with the devil to be able to cast out demons.  The religious leader did not think he was ritual law compliant.  They thought that he was blasphemous because he made himself equal to God.

Jesus was so different from his contemporaries, many became of but two parties, those who adored him and those who despised him.

Those who loved Jesus presented him as a great hero within the landscape of the lives of those in Palestine.  How did they present their hero?  As a healer, as a wisdom teacher, as a prophet, as a futurist, as one who was a whisperer of people and nature.  He could whisper tortured souls to peace and calm by giving them power to still the inward forces of accusation and self destruction.  He could whisper nature to calm seas and storms seemingly making nature events to cease to threaten human lives.

Jesus was presented as a hero in the external lives of the people with whom he had contact.  He was presented as someone in conflict with hypocrisy, sickness, and the demonic results of the devil.

The Gospels are presented as a witness to what had happened to St. Paul and many others within the Jesus Movement.  Paul and many others had had mystical interior encounters with the Risen Christ.  These encounters were so interiorly real that St. Paul wrote, "We don't fight against flesh and blood, in effect, not against things external, but against principalities and powers of darkness..."

In effect, Paul was proclaiming that things do not change on the outside unless we first bring into a new order the arrangement of our lives on our insides.  And because of our habitual orientation to uncontrolled forces of our desires, we find ourselves acting out our interior losses to our shadow forces.

Because of the reality of needing inner self-control, the church choose to anchor the beginning of Lent with a presentation of Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil.

First is it a very thematic presentation: St. Paul called Jesus the second Adam.  The first Adam was humanity presented as ruining our very good world by losing the battle to the interior serpent agent, the trickster, the great accuser, chaotic one, and the diabolical one who rends apart the proper relation between our outer and inner lives.

Jesus as the Second Adam, following his baptism when he is declared to be God's unique child, is compelled by God's Good Spirit to inhabit the wilderness, the place of this world that had become paradise lost.

If humanity is to prevail in the interior parallel world which is the creating crucible for everything we do in our outer world, then we need a Hero of the interior world, an exemplar of the self control of good timing and God's timing for what we do with our lives.

The perfect Eden was the goodness of everything created for right use in right timing.  The serpent within everyone tricks us, tempts us in the states of our naïveté and gets us to perpetually throw off the good timing our lives.  And we find ourselves habitually trapped in doing the good things given to us in our lives in the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

It is good for us to have food, clothing, and shelter.  But how should we have them?  Is it good for 1% of the world to have more than 50 % of the rest of the world?  How is it that we have failed in the proper timing of access to food, clothing, and shelter.  "Take food, clothing, and shelter for yourselves, and do it right now and take as much as you can, without regard to anyone else."  The serpent tempts Jesus and us to do the supernatural act for ourselves in a perpetual selfish NOW.  But Jesus resisted and said, "Food is good as are the necessities for life, but not now for merely selfish convenience.  The necessities of life are governed by God's higher word of all things for all people in their proper, time, place, and amounts.  So heed the higher words of self-control from God."

It is good for us to have self esteem.  Before the wilderness event, Jesus had heard the heavenly voice at this baptism say, "you are my Son the beloved, with you I am well pleased."  But what did the serpent of narcissism say, "Jesus, you need endless praise, worship, from all the people of the earth telling you that you are greatest.  You only can have proper esteem if you have excessive fame and glory."  And Jesus essentially said, "The God of glory, the creator, just called me the beloved Child.  Who can give me more esteem than that?"  Jesus, the people whisperer, shows us the way of esteem.  Fame and glory are such shallow drugs in our world but they can have deeply harming formative results.  Our lives become made or broken by what people say about us.  We know how determining such words can be in our lives especially if we had denigrating words said to us by formative people in our lives.  We also know that we can try to chase our security by continually trying to have our "fifteen minutes" of fame, over and over again in a perpetual search for an elusive esteem.  The words that Jesus heard at his baptism, are the words whispered to us in our baptismal lives, "you are my beloved children, with you I am well pleased."  But we are more likely to allow our lives to be dictated by the fame and shame words by the people around us until following Christ, we can arrive at the maturity of accepting ourselves first and foremost as beloved Children of God.  This is how we worship God and God alone, by accepting our identity as children of God.

And what is the final need of human life?  It is to have  good death.  In effect, the serpent as an interior voice asked Jesus to jump to his death even while quoting the Psalms to him about the angels breaking his fall.  The church believed that the death of Jesus on the Cross was made to be God's timing for the death of Jesus.  And Jesus would not be tempted to dying before the probabilities of the political and religious situation in Palestine brought him to death.   And because of his goodness, his death accrued to it the meaning of a good death.  His good death was a life lived for others.  His good death was a transitional portal for his Risen Life to become endlessly known to others.  His good death became mystical power for Paul and others to identify with as having the power to defeat the selfish self and allow the Spirit of resurrection to a new life to become known.

The church proclaims Jesus as the hero of the interior life.  We look for the Risen Christ within us to confront the wildness of our lives to bring a new creative order out of the chaos of disordered probabilities.  Jesus as our inward hero gives us a path to bring the goodness of what is probable into the forefront of our lives in our perpetual fight to overcome evil with good.

Today we are offered Jesus Christ as the hero of our interior life and the guide for our Lenten journey in excellence.  Amen.

Sunday School, February 26, 2023 1 Lent A

 Sunday School, February 26, 2023   1 Lent A

Themes for Sunday School about the Temptation of Jesus

We believe that even though Jesus is God, he was human that he was bi-lingual.  He could speak the language of God and he could also speak our human language because he lived and faced the good and bad things in life.  And Jesus faced the hard tests in lives.  We call some of these tests, temptations.

What was the temptation of Jesus about?  Jesus faced an inner enemy, Satan, who came to Jesus as a lying and an accusing voice.  He tried to trick Jesus by lying about some things.

Is food good for you?

Is fame and recognition okay?

Is dying something that will happen to everyone?

Yes, yes, yes.

Is too much food and food at the wrong time go for you?  No.  So we have to learn how and when to eat food in the right amounts at the right time.  Food is like drink and many things that we need in life; we need to choose to use them in the right time and right amounts.  If we take too much food and don’t share food with others who need it then we use food wrongly.   If we eat too much food we can make ourselves sick and unhealthy.  When God the Father wanted Jesus to fast, Satan tried to get Jesus to disobey his father and forget his fast.

Has Jesus become famous?  How?  By dying on the cross and by rising again and by bringing good news to billions of people through the Holy Spirit.  Satan tried to trick Jesus in making seek fame by disobeying God the Father and God’s plan for making Jesus famous in our lives.

Does everyone die?  Yes.  Should we make ourselves die or cause someone else to die?  No.  We want to live in the right way.  We want to die in the right way.  Satan wanted Jesus to jump from a high place so that when he fell some angels would catch him.  But this was not the way Jesus was to die or be rescued.  How did Jesus die?  On the cross.  How was he rescued from death?  By his resurrection.

Can we be tempted to use food and many good things in our lives to use them in the wrong way, at the wrong time and by over using good things.  Yes.  So we need to learn how to use all of the good things in God’s creation properly for our own good and for the good of others in the world.

Is fame and recognition okay?  Yes, because we from childhood need to have self-esteem.  We need to be told that God’s loves us, cares for us and we need caring people in our lives to tell us that we are important for them.  We do seek to be famous, we seek to be as good as we can and we work hard to make a difference in the world.  Sometimes we might be recognized by others for what we do and sometimes we might not.  Remember the best reward and the best fame is when we do good.  Nobody else can make us really good and important.  Satan tried to tell Jesus that he could make him famous and Jesus knew that he was lying.  Jesus did not want the kind of fame that Satan offered.  Remember bad people in life have a different kind of fame than good people.  We want good people fame because we want to inspire others to be good.

Will we all die?  We should not be tempted from anger or self-anger to ever hurt others or ourselves.  When we die and how we die is not our choice and so we look to Jesus to obey God by having faith to place our life and death in God’s hand.  What we can know from Jesus is that when we die, God will resurrect and preserve us in the only special way that God can.

Sermon

  Is chocolate cake good?  Is it okay to like chocolate cake?  Is candy good?  Is it okay to like candy?  Is playing outside fun?  Is it okay to play outside?

  Is it okay to eat ten pieces of chocolate cake?  No, why not?  It might make you sick.  And your body needs other kinds of food besides chocolate cake.

  Is it okay to ten pieces of candy?  No.  Because your body needs other foods and getting too much sugar is not good for you.

  Is it okay to play outside, when you still have lots of homework to do?  Or when your Mom has told you that it is time to come in and take your bath or clean your room?

  So, eating cake, eating candy and playing outside.  All of these things are good things.  But they can be bad things, if they are done at the wrong time.

  And I am going to teach you a new word.  Temptation.  Temptation is when we get tricked into doing something at the wrong time.

  Speeding in the car might be good for a racer on the race track.  But is it good on the streets of the city?  No.  But sometimes drivers drive too fast in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  So how can we learn to deal with temptation?    We learn to do all good things at the right time.  God gives us parents to help us do the right things at the right time.  And sometimes it is hard for us to hear our parents say no to us.  Our parents might say, “Wait and eat your cake after you eat a good healthy meal.”  They might say, “Eat only one piece of candy and then brush your teeth.”

  They might say, “Put on your helmet when you ride your bike and do not ride in the street.”

  God gives you parents and teachers to help us do the right things at the right time.  And parents too, they need to learn to do the right things at the right time in their behavior too.

  Jesus was tempted by the devil.  The devil tried to get Jesus to do things in the wrong time.  And he did not follow the devil.  He followed God his Father.

  Jesus showed us that we can learn to do the right things at the right time.  How many of you want to learn to do the right things at the right time?  If you learn to do this, you will learn to say no to temptation.  Amen.

Intergeneration Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 26, 2023: The First Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs: It’s Me O Lord,  As a Deer, Yield Not To Temptation,  Simple Gifts

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: It’s Me O Lord (LEVAS, # 797 or CCS, # 210)

Refrain: It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer. Refrain

Not the stranger, not the neighbor but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Not the stranger, not the neighbor but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Praise be to God! (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have made us! Praise be to God!

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise be to God!

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise be to God!

Liturgist: A reading from the Book Genesis

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 32

I said," I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." * Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; * when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; * you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; * I will guide you with my eye.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory:  As the Deer Pants for the Water, (Renew # 9)

1          As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you; you alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.  Refrain: You alone are my strength, my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield; you alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship you!

2          I want you more than gold or silver, only you can satisfy; you alone are the real joy-giver and the apple of my eye.  Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn: Yield Not To Temptation (LEVAS # 170)

Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin. Each victory will help you some other to win.  Fight still pressing onward, dark passions subdue.  Ask the Savior to help you, he will carry you through.  Refrain.  Ask the Savior to help you, comfort, strengthen and keep you.  He is willing to aid you, he will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad language disdain. God’s name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain.  Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true.  Ask the Savior to help you, he will carry you through.  Refrain.

To him that overcometh, God giveth a crown.  Through faith we will conquer, though often cast down.  He who is our savior, our strength will renew.  Ask the savior to help you he will carry you through.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer. 

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Simple Gifts  (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 206)

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free, ‘tis a gift to come down where you ought to be, and when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘twill be in the valley of love and delight.  When true simplicity is gain, to bow and to bend we won’t be ashamed.  To turn, turn will be our delight till by turning and turning we come out right.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God! 

 

Temptation of Jesus: Finding God's Timing for our Lives

1 Lent        A      March 1, 2020

Gen 2:4b-9,15-17,25-3:7  Ps.51:1-13

Rom. 5:12-21         Matt. 4:1-11

Lectionary Link

If Jesus did not write any of the New Testament, can you even imagine someone who was close enough to Jesus to be able to write about the event of his temptation.  The temptation of Jesus is a Gospel oral tradition and it was used by the church to teach lessons and give insights about living.

This event is full of the symbols of the biblical salvation story.  We might explore some of those teaching symbols which are embedded in this as we look for insights to inspire us during Lent.  

Let us consider the sweeping corporate identities relating to Adam and Christ and the return to Eden.  Let us ponder the anatomy of the experience of temptation.  And finally let us consider a contrast of the devil and angels.

The Bible is divided upon into two corporate personalities.  Humanity is said to be in Adam and we are given an invitation to be in Christ.  Does this mean that an actual man Adam sinned therefore making us all sinners?  Doesn't seem fair.  No, this is a teaching metaphor of a collective identity.  As human beings we all share in the very same human situation with all of its possible variety.  We are together  in the human dilemma.  Adam means both a man in the creation story but also the collective humanity.  The Garden of Eden Story is the story of the fact that we are often in the state of being naïve and vulnerable to be tricked and doing things that we are not ready for.  The Garden of Eden story is a story of insights about how we became moral beings, knowing good and evil.  Adam and Eve did not have the moral intelligence and muscles to resist the trickster serpent.  It doesn't seem fair but the free conditions of our world often find us as naïve and vulnerable to be tricked into doing things about which we cannot fully perceive the consequences of.  So in Adam as human beings, we find ourselves in need of hero to rescue us in our situation.  Jesus is the given hero.  When he returns to the Garden to relive the Adamic event, the Garden has become a deserted wilderness filled with wild beasts.  The serpent is now confronted in the person of the devil.  Jesus had just heard the heavenly voice declare him at his baptism to be God's beloved Son, and then the Spirit drove him into the wilderness and required of him a 40 day fast.  If one fasts for 40 days and survives, the portals of one's interior life becomes open to every sort of hallucinatory manifestation.  Jesus was open to the words of the devil, "So Jesus, you've just had the baptismal announcement that your God's special Son, we'll see about that.  You know what I did to Adam and Eve and I've lots more tricks for you."  Humanity needed a hero who could be tempted in all ways and more and resist, and so be the beginning of a new humanity.  And so we have the invitation to be "in Christ" and have eternal life.

What insights can we understand about the human test of temptation from the temptations which faced Jesus?

The temptations of Jesus show us that the key ingredient of temptation is to force mistiming in our lives.  Did God want Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of Life?  Did God want humanity to know how to be moral and know good and evil in responsible ways?  Yes, but on the divine schedule when it was appropriate and they were ready.

Is food good?  Is safety good?  Is the esteem of friends and society good?  All of these are good things but they are wrong if partaken of at the wrong time.  The same Jesus who provided bread for thousands was not able to confect bread for himself even as a mirage in his temptation stupor.  Why?  Because as God's child, he was on God's time schedule.  There will be bread in its time but not as some trick in a dream-like state.

Is safety good?  Like falling from a high place and being rescued?  Yes indeed.  Jesus would fall into the hands of the Romans and be put to death on the cross and be rescued by a resurrection announced by an angel, but only in God's time.  Such a temptation was against God's timing.  Such a temptation tried to make Jesus a biblical literalist.  "Jesus, the Psalmist said you can jump from a high place and the angels will catch you.  So go ahead and jump.  You're the Son of God.  You can overcome gravity with angels spotting you."  This includes the common temptation to treat poetry as literal science.  The bane of religion today is literalism, fundamentalism.  How much human cruelty has been promoted because people who believe they are religious, treat poetry as science and use it to harm others.  Let us keep our poetry and our common sense lives in proper function.  We can be both poets and scientists.  Let us not be wrong in our timing to interpret in a literal or a figurative way.

Another mistiming in our lives has to do with how and when we appropriate personal esteem.  The anchor of personal esteem is to know that God declares us to be a beloved child of God.  Yes, it is good to receive appropriate affirmation from our family and peers.  It is very nice to be appreciated.  But one of the most sought after drugs in the world is the drug of excessive fame.  Each of us has the temptation to narcissism.  "If one person likes me, then it is even better if millions adore me."  John Lennon got in big trouble when he stated that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus.  The temptation of Jesus involved the ultimate Faustian bargain.  Remember Faust sold his soul to Mephistopheles for fame.  A person can feed the narcissistic aspect of one's personality and make the Faustian bargain for fame and adoration.  One can literally deny the esteem of being God's child and becomes the devil's deputy in order to feed the endless need for adoration.  This temptation to trade the esteem of being God's child for the wrong kind of fame was resisted by Jesus.  And as we know, Jesus became famous because of death and resurrection and not because he became a political demigod or Caesar serving the devil.  God's Messiah had a completely different schedule.  Don't mistime how to get the esteem and the fame of one's life.  Jesus showed us the way to esteem and fame.  It involved God's will, God's timing for the fostering of our true worth to ourselves and others.

Lastly, we are told that the devil was "diabolos."  And we are also told that Jesus was ministered to by angels.  Diabolos literally means to "throw apart," or divide.  It is the opposite of symbol, which means to "throw together."  Devil and demons and are those inner constituents, parasites on one's inner formation, and they integrate every horrible things that has happened and manifest as an inward accusing liar and they won't let you sew together your inner world with the event in your exterior world with what might be call peace.   We are vulnerable to inner forces which want to throw us apart and keep us from honoring our birthrights as children of God.  The ministering angels can be the messengers of uniting the symbolic order of one's inner life in congruence with one's external life.  The angelic is how we message our inner life to the outer world in the ways that are peaceful and in God's good timing.  When we have the sense of honoring God's timing in our lives, we sense the ministry of the angels.

As we begin Lent, let us remember that Jesus was tempted.  So will we.  We will be tempted to mistime things in our life experience. When and how to gratify desire.  We will tempted to be literal when we're supposed to be poetic.  And we can be tempted to want the wrong kind of recognition.

In our trials and ordeals, let us remember our birthright as children of God.  This is the basis of our esteem as people.  Let us be mindful about the timing of what we do in our lives.  The way that we resist temptation is to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.....and in God's good time."  We know that we are in Adam in our human vulnerability; let us also know that we are in Christ, as we are led by our hero to learn God's timing for our lives.  Let us ride on the coattails of Jesus to find good timing in our lives.

With God's grace and following Jesus, our hero,  we will find God's time for our lives and resist temptation.  Amen.

Sunday School, March 1, 2020 1 Lent A

Sunday School, March 1, 2020   1 Lent A

Themes for Sunday School about the Temptation of Jesus

We believe that even though Jesus is God, he was human that he was bi-lingual.  He could speak the language of God and he could also speak our human language because he lived and faced the good and bad things in life.  And Jesus faced the hard tests in lives.  We call some of these tests, temptations.

What was the temptation of Jesus about?  Jesus faced an inner enemy, Satan, who came to Jesus as a lying and an accusing voice.  He tried to trick Jesus by lying about some things.

Is food good for you?

Is fame and recognition okay?

Is dying something that will happen to everyone?

Yes, yes, yes.

Is too much food and food at the wrong time go for you?  No.  So we have to learn how and when to eat food in the right amounts at the right time.  Food is like drink and many things that we need in life; we need to choose to use them in the right time and right amounts.  If we take too much food and don’t share food with others who need it then we use food wrongly.   If we eat too much food we can make ourselves sick and unhealthy.  When God the Father wanted Jesus to fast, Satan tried to get Jesus to disobey his father and forget his fast.

Has Jesus become famous?  How?  By dying on the cross and by rising again and by bringing good news to billions of people through the Holy Spirit.  Satan tried to trick Jesus in making seek fame by disobeying God the Father and God’s plan for making Jesus famous in our lives.

Does everyone die?  Yes.  Should we make ourselves die or cause someone else to die?  No.  We want to live in the right way.  We want to die in the right way.  Satan wanted Jesus to jump from a high place so that when he fell some angels would catch him.  But this was not the way Jesus was to die or be rescued.  How did Jesus die?  On the cross.  How was he rescued from death?  By his resurrection.

Can we be tempted to use food and many good things in our lives to use them in the wrong way, at the wrong time and by over using good things.  Yes.  So we need to learn how to use all of the good things in God’s creation properly for our own good and for the good of others in the world.

Is fame and recognition okay?  Yes, because we from childhood need to have self-esteem.  We need to be told that God’s loves us, cares for us and we need caring people in our lives to tell us that we are important for them.  We do seek to be famous, we seek to be as good as we can and we work hard to make a difference in the world.  Sometimes we might be recognized by others for what we do and sometimes we might not.  Remember the best reward and the best fame is when we do good.  Nobody else can make us really good and important.  Satan tried to tell Jesus that he could make him famous and Jesus knew that he was lying.  Jesus did not want the kind of fame that Satan offered.  Remember bad people in life have a different kind of fame than good people.  We want good people fame because we want to inspire others to be good.

Will we all die?  We should not be tempted from anger or self-anger to ever hurt others or ourselves.  When we die and how we die is not our choice and so we look to Jesus to obey God by having faith to place our life and death in God’s hand.  What we can know from Jesus is that when we die, God will resurrect and preserve us in the only special way that God can.

Sermon

  Is chocolate cake good?  Is it okay to like chocolate cake?  Is candy good?  Is it okay to like candy?  Is playing outside fun?  Is it okay to play outside?

  Is it okay to eat ten pieces of chocolate cake?  No, why not?  It might make you sick.  And your body needs other kinds of food besides chocolate cake.

  Is it okay to ten pieces of candy?  No.  Because your body needs other foods and getting too much sugar is not good for you.

  Is it okay to play outside, when you still have lots of homework to do?  Or when your Mom has told you that it is time to come in and take your bath or clean your room?

  So, eating cake, eating candy and playing outside.  All of these things are good things.  But they can be bad things, if they are done at the wrong time.

  And I am going to teach you a new word.  Temptation.  Temptation is when we get tricked into doing something at the wrong time.

  Speeding in the car might be good for a racer on the race track.  But is it good on the streets of the city?  No.  But sometimes drivers drive too fast in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  So how can we learn to deal with temptation?    We learn to do all good things at the right time.  God gives us parents to help us do the right things at the right time.  And sometimes it is hard for us to hear our parents say no to us.  Our parents might say, “Wait and eat your cake after you eat a good healthy meal.”  They might say, “Eat only one piece of candy and then brush your teeth.”

  They might say, “Put on your helmet when you ride your bike and do not ride in the street.”

  God gives you parents and teachers to help us do the right things at the right time.  And parents too, they need to learn to do the right things at the right time in their behavior too.

  Jesus was tempted by the devil.  The devil tried to get Jesus to do things in the wrong time.  And he did not follow the devil.  He followed God his Father.

  Jesus showed us that we can learn to do the right things at the right time.  How many of you want to learn to do the right things at the right time?  If you learn to do this, you will learn to say no to temptation.  Amen.

Intergeneration Family Service with Holy Eucharist

March 1, 2020: The First Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs: It’s Me O Lord,  As a Deer, Yield Not To Temptation,  Simple Gifts

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: It’s Me O Lord (LEVAS, # 797 or CCS, # 210)

Refrain: It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.

Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer. Refrain

Not the stranger, not the neighbor but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Not the stranger, not the neighbor but it’s me O Lord.  Standing in the need of prayer.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Praise be to God! (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have made us! Praise be to God!

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise be to God!

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise be to God!

Liturgist: A reading from the Book Genesis

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 32

I said," I will confess my transgressions to the LORD." * Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; * when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble; * you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; * I will guide you with my eye.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"  Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory:  As the Deer Pants for the Water, (Renew # 9)

1          As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you; you alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship you.  Refrain: You alone are my strength, my shield, to you alone may my spirit yield; you alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship you!

2          I want you more than gold or silver, only you can satisfy; you alone are the real joy-giver and the apple of my eye.  Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn: Yield Not To Temptation (LEVAS # 170)

Yield not to temptation for yielding is sin. Each victory will help you some other to win.  Fight still pressing onward, dark passions subdue.  Ask the Savior to help you, he will carry you through.  Refrain.  Ask the Savior to help you, comfort, strengthen and keep you.  He is willing to aid you, he will carry you through.

Shun evil companions, bad language disdain. God’s name hold in reverence, nor take it in vain.  Be thoughtful and earnest, kind-hearted and true.  Ask the Savior to help you, he will carry you through.  Refrain.

To him that overcometh, God giveth a crown.  Through faith we will conquer, though often cast down.  He who is our savior, our strength will renew.  Ask the savior to help you he will carry you through.  Refrain

Post-Communion Prayer. 

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Simple Gifts  (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 206)

‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free, ‘tis a gift to come down where you ought to be, and when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘twill be in the valley of love and delight.  When true simplicity is gain, to bow and to bend we won’t be ashamed.  To turn, turn will be our delight till by turning and turning we come out right.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God!