First Sunday In Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III, Cycle C
The Church Year Theological Clue
The church year combines the two seasons of Lent and Easter within a cycle, the Easter Cycle, which puts the observation of Lent, as well as Easter, in proper perspective. The church keeps the Lenten pilgrimage as a journey to the to and beyond the cross to the tomb of the risen Christ, and the annual celebration of the Feast of Feasts, Easter. When Lent began as the quadrigesima, this was quite clear, because Quadrigesima announced that there were now 40 days until Easter. The same thing was true when Quinquagesima, Sexagesima, and Septuagesima Sundays proclaimed 50, 60, and 70 days to Easter. It is rather obvious that there was some liturgical "overkill" in this countdown (70, 60, 50, 40 days until the Easter feast) and, as the "gesima" Sundays lost their impact, and the theology of the Middle Ages took over, the "gesima" Sundays were absorbed, more or less, by Lent, so that Lent was really longer in duration than the great 50 day celebration of Easter. Lent gradually has become more important than Easter in virtually all parts of the church, and the worship and preaching of Lent tend to concentrate on the suffering and passion of Christ, down-playing or ignoring the plight of people that is described on Ash Wednesday. Lent, therefore, needs to be a time when penitents, who are aware of their dilemma ("unto dust you shall return"), make their way to the cross and the tomb where they learn again what God has done, and is doing, about sin and death in Jesus Christ. The First Sunday In Lent might be called "pattern" Sunday, because it confronts the church with a model in the Gospel for the Day of all three cycles for making the 40-day Lenten pilgrimage as penitents who are seeking pardon and the assurance of eternal life.
The Prayer Of The Day
It is this "pilgrimage" theme during Lent that the new collect in the LBW picks up and makes into a prayer to God that reflects the theme of the first reading in Cycle/Year C. The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, which was responsible for revising the liturgy and the lectionary, might have had the Deuteronomy 26:5-10 reading - with its exodus motif - in mind when this prayer was prepared. At any rate, it is most appropriate for this Sunday at the beginning of Lent: "O Lord God, you led your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide now the people of your church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever."
As it stands, this prayer points beyond the cross and the empty tomb, extending the "Easter life" to the end of time and eternal life. It reminds the Church that the cross/tomb event is our exodus, and that it is going through Lent as the "bondage" part of the exodus, revealing the ultimate destination of those who trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus as their exodus from sin and death to eternal life.
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 91 (L); 91:9-15 (E); 91:1-2, 10-11, 14-15 (RC) - This psalm was traditionally used as the introit for this First Sunday in Lent, mainly because it mirrors the confrontation of Jesus and Satan. The Devil actually quoted verses 11 and 12 ("For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone"), when he took Jesus up to the highest point of the temple and dared him to jump. But it was verse 15 which gave the introit and the Sunday the name, Invocabit, "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him" - adding, "I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honor." The church, which was reflecting on this temptation/trouble theme before the fifth century, also saw in this psalm the dependence of Christ on the Father as he went to his death on the cross.
Psalm prayer (LBW) - "Lord Jesus Christ, when tempted by the devil, you remained true to your Father, who commanded his angels to watch over you. Guard your church from the plague of sin, so that we may remain faithful to you until the day when we enjoy the fullness of your salvation; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever."
The Readings
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (C); 26:(1-4) 5-11 (E); 26:4-10 (RC); 26:5-10 (L) - The reason this reading was selected for the First Sunday in Lent is because it contains the story of the exodus from Egypt, which typologically, suggests that Lent and Easter became the Exodus for those who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of the Lord. Just as the exodus was the most crucial event in the Old Testament, so the death and resurrection of Christ, the "new exodus," are the central event of the gospel and the New Testament. Therefore, this reading "informs" the theology of Lent and Easter, highlighting God's rescuing and saving action in Jesus Christ. The several churches cut up the reading to serve their own purposes, but the exodus remains basic to any and all of the selections.
Romans 10:(5-8) 8b-13 (E); 10:8b-13 (L, C); 10:8-13 (RC) - It is claimed that this primitive confession of faith, which might have been subscribed to by catechumens at their baptism, contributed to the development of the Apostles' Creed, possibly to all of the creeds: "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." God made this confession a possibility for sinful people, because he raised Jesus from the grave and made him Lord of all. The reading was chosen to provide movement from the first reading to the Gospel for the Day and, more than that, from the cross to the empty tomb to the realm of life eternal. It makes specific the benefits of the "new exodus" in Jesus: "For, 'every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.' "
Luke 4:1-13 (RC, E, L, C) - It is not Luke's turn to tell the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (Matthew's version supplied the traditional Gospel for the Day). His story is similar to Matthew's - almost identical - and goes into much more detail than the single paragraph that Mark devotes to the temptation of the Lord. Luke agrees with Matthew about the content of the three temptations Jesus experienced and survived, but he disagrees with Matthew on the order of the last two, the "mountain/world" temptation and the "peak of the temple" temptation," by reversing Matthew's order in his story. Jesus' reply to Satan, when tempted to change a stone into bread, to worship Satan and gain control over the world, and to test God's word by leaping from the top of the temple, is something of a preview to his passion, suffering, and death on the cross. Luke hints that Satan "lost a battle," even three of them, but he had not yet "lost the war." He says, "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." The most "opportune time" had to be when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane; he seems almost to have gotten to Jesus, as he prayed, "Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me ..." And when he was nailed to the cross, God seemed far removed from that grisly scene, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It seems like Satan was whispering in his ear, "Why didn't you listen to me when you had the chance? It's too late now." Luke's account differs from Matthew's in one other detail; he has no angels "ministering" to Jesus after Satan departs. Satan is the only supernatural creature present in his story.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 4:1-13 - "On Victory And Defeat." - It is the end of Luke's story about Jesus' temptation that intrigues me after all these years of studying and preaching on Jesus' temptation. Luke says that "when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed until an opportune time." That sends us off to see how the story turns out!
1. This much we know; the devil did his best to win Jesus over to his side. It could have been like the astronomer that Lauren Eiseley tells about in one of his books ("The Fifth Planet" in The Star Thrower). The astronomer, who is identified only as Williams, tried to make a "star hunter" out of a sheep rancher somewhere in Wyoming or Montana. Eiseley writes: "He (Williams) was a born teacher - if he wasn't an astronomer, I'd have said preacher and been closer to the truth - and he set out to convert Radnor (the rancher). He aimed to convince Radnor of the importance of meteorite observation, which might have been all right, too - there's no harm in it if your mind runs that way - but then he added that last devilish touch that only a fanatic like Williams would have used to corrode the soul of a good sheepman. It was unethical, to my mind, immoral really, because it is the kind of thing which the amateur isn't ready to withstand ... You take him, addlepated and open-mouthed, and let him look into space until his brain is reeling. Then you whisper over his shoulder something about life out there in that void, and the only way we can ever learn if it exists."
Eiseley continues: "And you speak - oh, I knew old Williams well, you know - of the freezing dark that surrounds us and the loneliness that comes to the astronomer in that room under the slit dome. You speak of the suns going by, and the great fires roaring in the solitude of space. You speak of endless depths, great distances all cold and still and empty of the life of man. And then far off, like an insect singing, you begin to whisper the hope of life on other planets, and whether it is true or untrue, and whether there has ever been or will be things like ourselves out there to share our loneliness.... I knew what Williams could do to a man. He might have done it to me once, if I hadn't been nearsighted." He says that Williams was a fanatic about an extremely controversial theory of his that there had once been a planet between Mars and Jupiter, a fifth planet, and that's what he was looking for and converting people by what Eiseley called "demonic" methods.
Sounds like the sort of method that the devil might have used on Jesus in the wilderness, doesn't it?
2. But Satan met his match in Jesus. Jesus gave the devil a sound spiritual "thrashing" there in the wilderness; he must have thought he had lost his touch. He couldn't contend with the Word of God. He turned tail and, if he didn't run, he departed the scene as fast as he could.
3. Luke shows that he was defeated, but that it was only a temporary defeat, "until an opportune time." He would have another "go at Jesus" when the time was right. Satan never gives up; he always comes back, just when we think we have defeated him, and tempts us to renounce God and serve him in another way. We can't defeat Satan by ourselves; it's as simple as that; even Jesus had to depend upon the Word of God to win a temporary defeat.
In a sermon, "The Strengthening Angel," the late James S. Stewart said, "Thus in the modern world there is a whole group of confident voices whose insistent theme is this: 'When the testing hour arrives, all you have to do is to bring into action your own latent reserves of power. You possess undeveloped, untapped energies - physical and psychic energies - of which you have scarcely dreamed. Well, then, summon them forth! There is no need to be tyrannized by a haunting sense of deficient resources. That can only breed mental ill-health and nervous breakdown. Take a firm grip on your staggering soul! Believe in your own inner light. Develop your own natural resources! This is the way to stand fast in the evil day, and having done all, to stand!'" Stewart knew that this works only briefly; it takes a "strengthening angel" to defeat Satan permanently.
4. When Jesus faced the final hours of his life, and prayed in the Garden, "Father, let this cup pass from me," he was in trouble again. Once more, Satan was attempting to deceive and dissuade Jesus from obeying God and serving him. And then and there, an angel of the Lord appeared and "strengthened him" (Luke 22:43) to face the final battle and through God's power to defeat the devil forever and win victory for all people for all time. That angel whispered the words he needed to hear to defeat Satan once again and finish the work God had given him to do.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (C); 26:(1-4) 5-11 (E); 26:4-10 (RC); 26:5-10 (L)
1. There is a strange bond that exists between Egypt and Israel; it began in the days of Abraham and Joseph, of course and although strained, it exists today.
2. But there were problems when the Israelites, who found refuge in Egypt, became so numerous and so strong that the Egyptians felt threatened. The result, then as now, was persecution that threatened to obliterate the people of God.
3. So God took a hand in the proceedings and the result was that they were allowed to leave Egypt and proceed to the Promised Land. It was exodus, and it happened because of the plagues God sent upon the Egyptians. The Passover was the climax of the plagues.
4. And so the Festival of Weeks, too, was born, and pilgrims had to present the "first fruits" of their harvest, reciting the tale of Passover and the Exodus as they gave thanks to Yahweh, their Lord and God.
5. Lent, then, prompts people to gather together to recall the things God did in Jesus to set people free from sin and death. Nothing less than an offering of one's own heart and soul will be acceptable to the Lord God.
Romans 10:(5-8a) 8b-13 (E); 10:8-13 (RC); 10:8b-13 (L, C) - "The Confession That Is Good For The Soul."
1. Confession of one's sins, born of repentance and remorse, is always good for one's soul. It opens one up to the way of reconciliation that God has prepared for the forgiveness of sinful people.
2. Basic to such actions is the confession of faith that God has raised Jesus from the dead and made him Lord of all and that the penitent really believes this and places his/her trust wholly in the Christ and his cross.
3. That confession is crucial to the completion of the Lenten pilgrimage to the cross and empty tomb. The devotions of Lent, dying and rising with the Lord every day, prepare people to proclaim on Easter, "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" Such persons may even pray, "Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!"
The church year combines the two seasons of Lent and Easter within a cycle, the Easter Cycle, which puts the observation of Lent, as well as Easter, in proper perspective. The church keeps the Lenten pilgrimage as a journey to the to and beyond the cross to the tomb of the risen Christ, and the annual celebration of the Feast of Feasts, Easter. When Lent began as the quadrigesima, this was quite clear, because Quadrigesima announced that there were now 40 days until Easter. The same thing was true when Quinquagesima, Sexagesima, and Septuagesima Sundays proclaimed 50, 60, and 70 days to Easter. It is rather obvious that there was some liturgical "overkill" in this countdown (70, 60, 50, 40 days until the Easter feast) and, as the "gesima" Sundays lost their impact, and the theology of the Middle Ages took over, the "gesima" Sundays were absorbed, more or less, by Lent, so that Lent was really longer in duration than the great 50 day celebration of Easter. Lent gradually has become more important than Easter in virtually all parts of the church, and the worship and preaching of Lent tend to concentrate on the suffering and passion of Christ, down-playing or ignoring the plight of people that is described on Ash Wednesday. Lent, therefore, needs to be a time when penitents, who are aware of their dilemma ("unto dust you shall return"), make their way to the cross and the tomb where they learn again what God has done, and is doing, about sin and death in Jesus Christ. The First Sunday In Lent might be called "pattern" Sunday, because it confronts the church with a model in the Gospel for the Day of all three cycles for making the 40-day Lenten pilgrimage as penitents who are seeking pardon and the assurance of eternal life.
The Prayer Of The Day
It is this "pilgrimage" theme during Lent that the new collect in the LBW picks up and makes into a prayer to God that reflects the theme of the first reading in Cycle/Year C. The Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, which was responsible for revising the liturgy and the lectionary, might have had the Deuteronomy 26:5-10 reading - with its exodus motif - in mind when this prayer was prepared. At any rate, it is most appropriate for this Sunday at the beginning of Lent: "O Lord God, you led your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide now the people of your church, that, following our Savior, we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever."
As it stands, this prayer points beyond the cross and the empty tomb, extending the "Easter life" to the end of time and eternal life. It reminds the Church that the cross/tomb event is our exodus, and that it is going through Lent as the "bondage" part of the exodus, revealing the ultimate destination of those who trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus as their exodus from sin and death to eternal life.
The Psalm Of The Day
Psalm 91 (L); 91:9-15 (E); 91:1-2, 10-11, 14-15 (RC) - This psalm was traditionally used as the introit for this First Sunday in Lent, mainly because it mirrors the confrontation of Jesus and Satan. The Devil actually quoted verses 11 and 12 ("For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone"), when he took Jesus up to the highest point of the temple and dared him to jump. But it was verse 15 which gave the introit and the Sunday the name, Invocabit, "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him" - adding, "I am with him in trouble; I will rescue him and bring him to honor." The church, which was reflecting on this temptation/trouble theme before the fifth century, also saw in this psalm the dependence of Christ on the Father as he went to his death on the cross.
Psalm prayer (LBW) - "Lord Jesus Christ, when tempted by the devil, you remained true to your Father, who commanded his angels to watch over you. Guard your church from the plague of sin, so that we may remain faithful to you until the day when we enjoy the fullness of your salvation; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever."
The Readings
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (C); 26:(1-4) 5-11 (E); 26:4-10 (RC); 26:5-10 (L) - The reason this reading was selected for the First Sunday in Lent is because it contains the story of the exodus from Egypt, which typologically, suggests that Lent and Easter became the Exodus for those who have been baptized into the death and resurrection of the Lord. Just as the exodus was the most crucial event in the Old Testament, so the death and resurrection of Christ, the "new exodus," are the central event of the gospel and the New Testament. Therefore, this reading "informs" the theology of Lent and Easter, highlighting God's rescuing and saving action in Jesus Christ. The several churches cut up the reading to serve their own purposes, but the exodus remains basic to any and all of the selections.
Romans 10:(5-8) 8b-13 (E); 10:8b-13 (L, C); 10:8-13 (RC) - It is claimed that this primitive confession of faith, which might have been subscribed to by catechumens at their baptism, contributed to the development of the Apostles' Creed, possibly to all of the creeds: "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." God made this confession a possibility for sinful people, because he raised Jesus from the grave and made him Lord of all. The reading was chosen to provide movement from the first reading to the Gospel for the Day and, more than that, from the cross to the empty tomb to the realm of life eternal. It makes specific the benefits of the "new exodus" in Jesus: "For, 'every one who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.' "
Luke 4:1-13 (RC, E, L, C) - It is not Luke's turn to tell the story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness (Matthew's version supplied the traditional Gospel for the Day). His story is similar to Matthew's - almost identical - and goes into much more detail than the single paragraph that Mark devotes to the temptation of the Lord. Luke agrees with Matthew about the content of the three temptations Jesus experienced and survived, but he disagrees with Matthew on the order of the last two, the "mountain/world" temptation and the "peak of the temple" temptation," by reversing Matthew's order in his story. Jesus' reply to Satan, when tempted to change a stone into bread, to worship Satan and gain control over the world, and to test God's word by leaping from the top of the temple, is something of a preview to his passion, suffering, and death on the cross. Luke hints that Satan "lost a battle," even three of them, but he had not yet "lost the war." He says, "And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." The most "opportune time" had to be when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane; he seems almost to have gotten to Jesus, as he prayed, "Father, if you are willing, let this cup pass from me ..." And when he was nailed to the cross, God seemed far removed from that grisly scene, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It seems like Satan was whispering in his ear, "Why didn't you listen to me when you had the chance? It's too late now." Luke's account differs from Matthew's in one other detail; he has no angels "ministering" to Jesus after Satan departs. Satan is the only supernatural creature present in his story.
Sermon Suggestions, Synopses, Sketches, Stories
Luke 4:1-13 - "On Victory And Defeat." - It is the end of Luke's story about Jesus' temptation that intrigues me after all these years of studying and preaching on Jesus' temptation. Luke says that "when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed until an opportune time." That sends us off to see how the story turns out!
1. This much we know; the devil did his best to win Jesus over to his side. It could have been like the astronomer that Lauren Eiseley tells about in one of his books ("The Fifth Planet" in The Star Thrower). The astronomer, who is identified only as Williams, tried to make a "star hunter" out of a sheep rancher somewhere in Wyoming or Montana. Eiseley writes: "He (Williams) was a born teacher - if he wasn't an astronomer, I'd have said preacher and been closer to the truth - and he set out to convert Radnor (the rancher). He aimed to convince Radnor of the importance of meteorite observation, which might have been all right, too - there's no harm in it if your mind runs that way - but then he added that last devilish touch that only a fanatic like Williams would have used to corrode the soul of a good sheepman. It was unethical, to my mind, immoral really, because it is the kind of thing which the amateur isn't ready to withstand ... You take him, addlepated and open-mouthed, and let him look into space until his brain is reeling. Then you whisper over his shoulder something about life out there in that void, and the only way we can ever learn if it exists."
Eiseley continues: "And you speak - oh, I knew old Williams well, you know - of the freezing dark that surrounds us and the loneliness that comes to the astronomer in that room under the slit dome. You speak of the suns going by, and the great fires roaring in the solitude of space. You speak of endless depths, great distances all cold and still and empty of the life of man. And then far off, like an insect singing, you begin to whisper the hope of life on other planets, and whether it is true or untrue, and whether there has ever been or will be things like ourselves out there to share our loneliness.... I knew what Williams could do to a man. He might have done it to me once, if I hadn't been nearsighted." He says that Williams was a fanatic about an extremely controversial theory of his that there had once been a planet between Mars and Jupiter, a fifth planet, and that's what he was looking for and converting people by what Eiseley called "demonic" methods.
Sounds like the sort of method that the devil might have used on Jesus in the wilderness, doesn't it?
2. But Satan met his match in Jesus. Jesus gave the devil a sound spiritual "thrashing" there in the wilderness; he must have thought he had lost his touch. He couldn't contend with the Word of God. He turned tail and, if he didn't run, he departed the scene as fast as he could.
3. Luke shows that he was defeated, but that it was only a temporary defeat, "until an opportune time." He would have another "go at Jesus" when the time was right. Satan never gives up; he always comes back, just when we think we have defeated him, and tempts us to renounce God and serve him in another way. We can't defeat Satan by ourselves; it's as simple as that; even Jesus had to depend upon the Word of God to win a temporary defeat.
In a sermon, "The Strengthening Angel," the late James S. Stewart said, "Thus in the modern world there is a whole group of confident voices whose insistent theme is this: 'When the testing hour arrives, all you have to do is to bring into action your own latent reserves of power. You possess undeveloped, untapped energies - physical and psychic energies - of which you have scarcely dreamed. Well, then, summon them forth! There is no need to be tyrannized by a haunting sense of deficient resources. That can only breed mental ill-health and nervous breakdown. Take a firm grip on your staggering soul! Believe in your own inner light. Develop your own natural resources! This is the way to stand fast in the evil day, and having done all, to stand!'" Stewart knew that this works only briefly; it takes a "strengthening angel" to defeat Satan permanently.
4. When Jesus faced the final hours of his life, and prayed in the Garden, "Father, let this cup pass from me," he was in trouble again. Once more, Satan was attempting to deceive and dissuade Jesus from obeying God and serving him. And then and there, an angel of the Lord appeared and "strengthened him" (Luke 22:43) to face the final battle and through God's power to defeat the devil forever and win victory for all people for all time. That angel whispered the words he needed to hear to defeat Satan once again and finish the work God had given him to do.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11 (C); 26:(1-4) 5-11 (E); 26:4-10 (RC); 26:5-10 (L)
1. There is a strange bond that exists between Egypt and Israel; it began in the days of Abraham and Joseph, of course and although strained, it exists today.
2. But there were problems when the Israelites, who found refuge in Egypt, became so numerous and so strong that the Egyptians felt threatened. The result, then as now, was persecution that threatened to obliterate the people of God.
3. So God took a hand in the proceedings and the result was that they were allowed to leave Egypt and proceed to the Promised Land. It was exodus, and it happened because of the plagues God sent upon the Egyptians. The Passover was the climax of the plagues.
4. And so the Festival of Weeks, too, was born, and pilgrims had to present the "first fruits" of their harvest, reciting the tale of Passover and the Exodus as they gave thanks to Yahweh, their Lord and God.
5. Lent, then, prompts people to gather together to recall the things God did in Jesus to set people free from sin and death. Nothing less than an offering of one's own heart and soul will be acceptable to the Lord God.
Romans 10:(5-8a) 8b-13 (E); 10:8-13 (RC); 10:8b-13 (L, C) - "The Confession That Is Good For The Soul."
1. Confession of one's sins, born of repentance and remorse, is always good for one's soul. It opens one up to the way of reconciliation that God has prepared for the forgiveness of sinful people.
2. Basic to such actions is the confession of faith that God has raised Jesus from the dead and made him Lord of all and that the penitent really believes this and places his/her trust wholly in the Christ and his cross.
3. That confession is crucial to the completion of the Lenten pilgrimage to the cross and empty tomb. The devotions of Lent, dying and rising with the Lord every day, prepare people to proclaim on Easter, "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!" Such persons may even pray, "Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!"
