Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Transforming Temptation – Lent 1 – March 9, 2025

Transforming Temptation – Lent 1 – March 9, 2025

Last updated on: March 3, 2025 at 8:29 am by Bruce Epperly

0 Comments

Transforming Temptation – Lent 1 – March 9, 2025 2025-03-03T08:29:21-05:00 Bruce Epperly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Adventurous Lectionary – The First Sunday in Lent – March 9, 2025

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

Today’s readings speak of divine deliverance amid the personal and political challenges of life. As I write this morning, the USA is in turmoil. Democracy is in disarray. The nation is sliding into chaos, led by leaders who have lost their reason and any sense of civility.

The readings assert that God is on our side, and when the odds are against us, God comes through, making a way when there is no way. While life holds no guarantees, the scripture asserts that God remains faithful and responds to our cries for help.

Life involves the interplay of call and response, and when we call on God, unexpected insights and energies may emerge. Faith in God opens us to new dimensions of reality, and new energies for personal and communal salvation. The external situation may not always change, but we can face uncertainty trusting that God is with us. Still, to be honest, how can those under siege politically, physically, emotionally, relationally, feel that God will deliver and still respond with courage and strength? How can those whose backs are against the wall read these passages hopefully and without denial of the threats they face? Many Americans are hopeless today. We doom scroll online and struggle with the psychological terrorism of those in power, including Christian kins who have abandoned the power of love for the love of power. If we don’t recognize the possibility of hopelessness, we cannot read these passages with any sense of realism.

If the only prayer you make is “thank you,” that will suffice, so said the German mystic Meister Eckhardt. Gratitude awakens us to the graceful interdependence of life. The reading from Deuteronomy 26 gratefully celebrates God’s deliverance of the Hebrew people. Grace alone saved this wandering community taken into captivity. Against the odds, God brought the people out of captivity and thanksgiving is the appropriate response. The first fruits are given not to earn God’s favor, but in response to God’s blessings. Grace leads to gratitude, and gratitude delivers us from isolation and fear. Gratitude leads to generosity toward God the giver and God’s creation. Having received God’s grace, we move to share our largesse with others personally and politically. In our privilege, and we still have privilege, what graces are we called to share? Now that’s the positive spin on our experiences in the USA. Yet, the jury is out on the USA: will democracy survive? Will America self-destruct, the victim of the Pharaohs and Caesars of our time? How can we be thankful at such a time of now?

The well-known Psalm 91 continues the theme of deliverance and asserts that God responds protectively to the faithful who call upon the divine. Does this mean that the faithful have an advantage? In real life, the answer is ambiguous: faithful persons have the same struggles as those for whom God is unimportant. Certainly, right now our faith appears to be no advantage? And will we be delivered? When – and by what means – will we experience deliverance, especially when we perceive our Christian kin as co-conspirators in the destruction of our nation?

The passage from Romans describes the interplay of call and response in the life of faith. God calls all people, Jew and Greek alike. All are “elect” in God’s universal grace. God wants all to be saved, that is, to find meaning and wholeness in this life and the next. God’s saving word is near to all of us, actively moving in the world, eliciting our response. When we respond to God’s call, great things happen, the apostle asserts. We receive God’s loving and saving energy. We face trial and temptation knowing that we are never alone. Grace, however, must be universal if it is to be grace. But, can we extend the grace we’ve receive to those whom we oppose politically?

The gospel reading describes Jesus’ retreat in the wilderness. Following his baptism, Jesus retreats to an isolated place to ground his vocation as God’s beloved child and messenger of salvation. No doubt Jesus understands that with great power comes the possibility for great temptation. This is our temptation, as well, and the temptation of national leaders and nation states. At this point, our leaders appear to have failed the test of temptation and embrace whole heartedly Jesus’ temptations and the allure of the Seven Deadly Sins. Yet, God is not mocked!

In solitude, the many inner voices of life often emerge. In this time of retreat, Jesus is visited by temptation. The temptations Jesus experiences involve good things that come between God and ourselves. There is nothing in principle wrong with comfort food, safety, and power for the good. Yet, all of these, when they become the sole focus of our lives, can lead us from our deepest vocation and relationship with God.

We are seldom tempted by “bad” things. Rather good things that divert us from better things are the source of the greatest temptations. Recently I’ve been reading the North African Desert Fathers and Mothers (abbas and ammas). These mystics believed that the greatest temptation was to have no temptation. As Abba Anthony once asserted, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Moreover, he believed that “without temptation no one can be saved.” In silence, these mystics discovered the many voices of temptation, and found release through calling upon God’s name. In like manner, Jesus is delivered from temptation by turning to God.

Only by turning to the Holy can we gain the perspective and fortitude to use our power wisely. Only then, can we protest prayerfully and resist without polarizing? We must look for higher criteria than self-interest, success, or power. We must, in all our finitude as well as the ambiguities of life, choose for world loyalty rather than self-centeredness. In fact, true self-centeredness is God-centeredness in which divine grace guides our steps and shapes our decisions.

The Desert Mothers and Fathers found strength in following Paul’s counsel to “pray without ceasing.” (I Thessalonians 5:17) Out of their experiences emerged the “Jesus Prayer,” “Lord, have mercy upon me a sinner,” or simply “Lord have mercy.” When confronted by temptation, we can turn to God prayerfully trusting a love, power, and wisdom greater than our own for our deliverance. We need to recognize our need for grace to face those who seek to destroy our lives with resilience and strength.

Temptation never ceases, even among the mystics. Luke asserts that the demonic one departed from Jesus until an opportune time. The reality of temptation calls us to self-awareness (mindfulness) and prayerfulness. In turning toward God and invoking Jesus’ name, we discover God to be a “mighty fortress,” able to strengthen us to fight the good fight.

God wants us to be active agents of our destiny. God wants us to seek justice in our personal and political lies. Yet, our agency brings about good only when we trust God’s wisdom and presence to guide us in the fray. We need a larger perspective than our own. We need to place our self-interest in terms of God’s vision and world loyalty. Knowing that we are in God’s care enables us to act with grace and boldness in seeking justice and wholeness for our community and the planet.

What will this mean as we seek to be citizens in a time of political remains uncertain? Can we protest without polarizing and defy without destruction? We must be saved “from weak resignation to the evils we deplore,” as Harry Emerson Fosdick asserts, but what does resolve mean in facing the injustices and violence of our time? That is the question we must face in our personal lives and our lives as citizens in this perilous time.

+++

Bruce Epperly is Theologian in Residence at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, Bethesda, MD (https://www.westmorelanducc.org/) and a professor in theology and spirituality at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is the author of over 80 books including: “Homegrown Mystics: Restoring the Soul of Our Nation through the Healing Wisdom of America’s Mystics” (Amazon.com: Homegrown Mystics: Restoring Our Nation with the Healing Wisdom of America’s Visionaries: 9781625249142: Epperly, Bruce: Books

Previous Post

February 23, 2025

Transfiguring Spirit - Transfiguration Sunday - March 2

Next Post

March 3, 2025 You Are Worthy - Lectionary Reflections for Ash Wednesday

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"https://www.antalyaescortsi... siz siz olun gelin"

antalyaescortsizin.com

Caesar or Jesus: A Palm Sunday ..."

"https://www.antalyaescortsi... harikalar diyarı"

antalyaescortsizin.com

Palm Sunday’s Tragic Beauty – March ..."

"Power of love is far more beautiful and effective than the love of power. "The ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Palm Sunday’s Tragic Beauty – March ..."

"Ash Wednesday, 2026The 40 Days and Three Tests of Jesus in the DesertThe joy these ..."

Joris Heise

The First Sunday in Lent – ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews The Adventurous Lectionary Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz