Matthew
3.17
‘And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the
Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”’
Matthew
4.1-11
‘Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for 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.’
I wonder what you believe about God?
People tell me what they believe about God all the
time. Often, they aren’t aware they are doing it. Often, they are expressing
unconscious assumptions: ‘God is angry with pretty much everybody,’ or, ‘God
is too busy with important matters to take an interest in me,’ or, ‘If I
plead hard enough, God might answer my prayer, even though he probably doesn’t
want to, because he knows better and probably finds my prayers foolish…’
These things aren’t true; but we can take lies about
God on board and internalize them without realizing it. And so, the Season of
Lent is given to us each year as an invitation to notice those lies, and to
find them to be false.
Here are three commonly held lies about God:
[1] you are not acceptable to God as you are (i.e., God
is not pleased with you)
[2] you need to earn God’s approval by your success (i.e.,
you are not God’s beloved)
[3] God blesses others, but not you (i.e., you are
excluded from God’s family)
The Season of Lent is an invitation to notice those
lies, and to find them, experientially,* to be false. How might we do that?
Here are some Lenten disciplines, or practices, to help us:
[1] a stone is not a loaf, and that is just as it should
be: slow down; take time to notice, and take pleasure in, the things around
you, especially the little things…then take time to expand that circle of
wonder at the created world to include you…
[2] heaven delights in you, whether earth notices or not:
do something without seeking credit: give away some money: spend time alone
with God, away from doing things for God: go for a walk (or a run) together, or
to the cinema; take up a paint brush, or knitting needles; try something new,
or pick up something that has been crowded out for too long: whatever you choose,
envision God there sharing the experience with you.
[3] choose to delight in the ways God has blessed
others; if you feel jealousy, or resentment, notice that, confess it, ask Jesus
to carry it away. Praise God, the Giver of every good gift; allow a song to
well up within you, like a stream in the wilderness: if it helps, play a
worship song list to ‘prime the pump’ and get going. As we exercise
thankfulness, we become more aware of the ways in which God has blessed us,
too.
*That is, to discover what we read in Scripture can be
true in our experience, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment