A golfer had a press conference on Friday. Very dramatic. Very aplogetic. Very sad. Don't know if the golfer knows about Lent, but it sure sounded like it. What caught my attention was this:
"I knew my actions were wrong but I convinced myself that the normal rules didn't apply....I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I only thought about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a normal married couple should live by. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt that I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them."
The amazing thing about the golfer he absolutely understands today's Gospel just as well as he understands how to hit a golf ball.
In today's Gospel, Jesus in the Wilderness. Baptized by John the Baptist, Hears the Voice - YOU ARE MY SON. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Imagine how he felt! fist pumping walking on air He must have felt absolutely amazing after that! Son of God? Heck yeah! Lord, I want to give you my all in all! I want to win it all for you, God!
It seems that it's when we're at our highest our proudest, our most excited that we're vulnerable to temptation It is when we're at our most confident that that we are confronted by the devil.
No sooner is Jesus baptized – set apart to do God's work in the world – than he is tested.
1st temptation: Everybody does it. IOW, if you're really the Son of God, if you really know all the teachings and scriptures Show it. Demonstrate that you have the Spiritual Strength to overcome temptation. It's such a small thing you're hungry, you need to eat, Stones to Bread. Surely, you can do this simple trick and it won't matter. Everybody does it. Nobody cares.
But Jesus says that some things are more important than food– even when we're hungry sometimes, we need to avoid the easy path easy answers and look deeper within ourselves Sometimes, we need to follow the road less traveled to find our way to God.
2nd temptation: You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Surely - "The ENDS justify the MEANS" All we need to do is give a little here to get a little there. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. You give me my due, and I'll help you along (career, politics).
But Jesus says that our duty is to God and only to God. We are called to do God's work in the world and to do it God's way. We don't need Earthly power to bring about the Kingdom of God. We need the soft power of Jesus that turns the other cheek and walks the extra mile. We need the Power of the Lamb.
3rd temptation: Test God, and see how much God loves you. Throw yourself off this wall, and let God save you. Prove God's love for you if you are the Son of God.
But Jesus knows testing God is an ABUSE of FAITH. Its one thing to have faith to believe in God's love and power. Another thing to put God to a test. Tempting God is not an exercise in faith, but of doubt. Tempting God is when we try to bargain with God. (Oh please do this for me and I'll go to church every Sunday.) It is an attempt by us who were created by God to bend God to our will.
I don't believe any of us can stand in judgement of the golfer – about whether or not his apology was sincere or whether we would ever sin as he has sinned. But he is right about one thing: We are most vulnerable to sin when we are feeling our most superior. When we begin to feel that the normal rules no longer apply to us. When we feel entitled because of all that we have done for our families, for ourselves, for our Church, for God.
Today's Gospel teaches us that our baptisms do not save us from temptation. Temptation is a part of the human existence.
But by our baptisms we too are filled by the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us to resist the daily temptations we all face. And when we fall, and miss the mark, as we inevitably will, We are forgiven by the One who lived with temptation yet did not sin.
Thanks be to God.
LINK TO THIS ARTICLE - http://www.ecsssj.org/show_article.php?myid=173
Click here to read the lessons of the day.
Click here to listen!