Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the first Sunday of Lent. Our Church services are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'. If you're unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to help you worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Father, Hear the Prayer we Offer"
Today's Gospel
Matthew 4:1-11 The Temptation of Christ
Jesus 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 splendour; 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.’”
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Reflection
Temptation can be seen as a way of testing us. Testing our principles and strength of will power, and moreover testing our faith and trust in God. The devil is always waiting and ready to lure us from what we know is right, just as he did when he sent a serpent to Garden of Eden to lure Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
And he is cunning, he will twist things around, and lie to us. He will come when we are at our weakest and also when we think we at the top of our game. He will appeal to our desires and try to catch us out.
Here we see Jesus when he has been led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The wilderness in the bible is seen as a place of preparation and a place of waiting for God to reveal His next move and what He has in store for His people. It’s a place to learn to trust God and his mercy. The Israelites wandered the wilderness in preparation for their arrival to the Promised Land and they too faced many challenges and tests.
So, here is Jesus in that same place. On the one hand, immediately before He was led into the wilderness, He has just been baptised and told by God that he is His Son, ‘the beloved one’. So I guess that counts as a reason to be fairly self-assured. At the same time, he has spent 40 days fasting in the barren land and is physically weak.
Jesus is about to embark on his ministry and so I guess it would be fair to say He was fairly inexperienced. What better time than this for Satan to try and take advantage and try to throw a proverbial spanner into the works?
In the first temptation, Satan tries to appeal to Jesus’ physical needs. Jesus is clearly hungry for food having fasted for 40 days, but although He may be weak and starving, Jesus trusts that God will provide, just as he did for the Israelites. He trusts in His Father and the teachings of the bible – the Word of God. It is this same Jesus who turns down the temptation to turn stones into bread to satisfy his own hunger that will very soon use His power to feed the multitudes with just five loaves and two fishes.
In the second temptation, Satan is appealing to Christ’s pride.
Both the Devil and Jesus know that Jesus is the son of God and that He has the power to easily comply with what the Devil is asking Him to do. Indeed, in the Garden of Gethsemane, just after Peter has cut off the ear of the Priest’s guard, Jesus acknowledges this power when he says: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twenty legions of angels?”
But Jesus refuses to be taunted by Satan and sees through the deception. Sometimes we don’t see the hurt that putting our pride first might do to others or ourselves. Have you ever refused to back down on an issue because of a matter of principle or pride? Something that may make no difference to you personally at that time but then comes back to bite you. The saying, ‘pride comes before a fall’ could well have been written by the devil himself!
The last temptation sees Satan trying to appeal to a lust for short term power and leadership by offering gifts that the Devil doesn’t have to offer. Jesus turns down the devil’s offer of political leadership over the kingdoms of the world, and instead he will later offer the kingdom of the heavens to all those who follow him in the way of righteousness.
So what does this all mean for us? In many ways, Jesus’ encounter with Satan reflects the daily pressures we all face from time to time. The material yearning we have for wealth, a better house or the latest technology, even when we can’t afford it or don’t need it.
Maybe instead we are tempted by the longing for more status related things in our lives, like power, achievement, recognition, success or fame.
None of these things are inherently bad in themselves but we do have to also balance the importance of earthly needs with our spiritual needs. We have to think about when it is the time to put the needs of others before ourselves and to use the blessings we have been given by God not just for our own ends.
It would have been so easy for Jesus to use His power and give in to the Devil, but He knew that this was not what God would want. We too have to know when to put our personal desires to one side and yearn also for righteousness. To trust in God, a that God loves us and will provide for us.
We need to see through Satan when he tries to lure us with promises of short term earthly satisfaction. Promises that will not ultimately satisfy our longer term spiritual needs. Paul
Our Prayers
Almighty Father,
We thank you for the blessings that you give us.
Forgive us when we are tempted to put our selfish needs before those of others.
Help us not to misuse our power to dominate rights of others
Give us the wisdom and courage to say no to temptations of all kinds
And a spirit of righteousness,
to serve and be generous to those less fortunate than ourselves.
AMEN
Today's final hymn is "Forty Days and Forty Nights"
Notices
This Tuesday we are joining with our friends from Churches Together in Lees and District for the first of our "Lent Lunches". These events are open to everyone, whether they usually attend any Christian Church, or none! Please see the poster below for details - all are welcome.
Also on Tuesday we have the first of our "PCC PLUS" meetings at St Thomas' Church. All congregation members are invited to join the PCC as we talk about shaping the future of Leesfield Parish.
