Inquiry and Instruction on Temptation of Christ

Today is a second Inquiry and Instruction from Robert E. Webber

Question: Why do we focus on the temptation of Christ during Lent?

Answer: The temptation is closely linked to the death of Christ.

Question: How?

Answer: Christ came to destroy the kingdom of the devil by His death. In the beginning of His ministry He showed his power over evil and the evil one.

Question: Why is this important to us during Lent?

Answer: For two reasons. First, you cannot understand the ministry of Jesus, which we celebrate during Lent, unless you know that Jesus has already given Satan notice of his sure doom. Jesus' ministry of casting out demons and healing the sick is possible only because He has already gained power over the evil one.

Question: What is the second reason?

Answer: The second reason why we celebrate Christ's power over evil during Lent has to do with us. He gives us His vicotry so that we too can overcome the temptation of sin that comes our way.

Prayer Psalm
Lord, do not remember the sins of our youth,
Nor our transgressions.
According to Your mercy remember us,
For Your goodness' sake, O Lord.
Show us Your ways, O Lord;
Teach us Your paths.
Lead us in Your truth and teach us,
For You are the God of our salvation;
On You we wait all the day.
To You, O Lord, we lift up our soul.
O our God, we trust in You. Amen.

Adaption of Psalm 25:4-7 by Robert E. Webber

Go forth and sin no more.

Source: Robert Webber, The Family Book of Prayer (Hendrickson, 1996).

Temptation of Christ

In this first week of Lent we focus on the temptation of Christ. He who
came to overcome the devil, to destroy his kingdom, and, to establish
the kingdom of God forever, confronted the devil and resisted
temptation. This He did for us, to break Satan's power in our lives and
set us free to serve him.
Robert E. Webber, The Book of Family Prayer

Reflection
But the one whose evil passions have been subdued, and whose love, mercy, and benevolence have been excited and strengthened by the devotions of the closet is a savor of life unto life wherever one goes. Such a person is a living illustration of the power of the gospel on the soul, and must always have an attractive as well as a transforming influence on the minds and hearts of others.
Robert Milligan, A Brief Treatise on Prayer

Scripture
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. After Jesus had gone without eating [a] for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. Then the devil came to him and said, "If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread." Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say:

`No one can live only on food.

People need every word

that God has spoken.' "

Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. The devil said, "If you are God's Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:

`God will give his angels

orders about you.

They will catch you

in their arms,

and you won't hurt

your feet on the stones.' "

Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, `Don't try to test the Lord your God!' "

Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. The devil said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:

`Worship the Lord your God

and serve only him.' "

Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.

Matthew 4:1-11, CEV


Prayer
Father, You sent your Son to destroy the devil, to tread down hell, and to loose us from our sin. Grant that we, who are daily tempted, may draw on the power of Christ. May we, like Him, resist the evil one, turn from temptation, and find solace in Your word. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.
From prayer in Robert E. Webber's The Book of Family Prayer

Recognizing Your Face

When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, "My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me."

Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?"

The king will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me."

Prayer
This message is so simple, Lord. You will judge me on my love and service of others. you are there in the poor, the sick, the prisoners, the strangers. May I recognize your face.

Sources: Scripture text from Contemporary English Version, prayer comes from Sacred Space.

Born of God

Today Gary Holloway brings us a second reflection from his forthcoming book, Daily Disciple.

by Gary Holloway

Psalm
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
Psalm 145:18

Meditation
The subject of this great change, before the new birth, existed in one state; after it, one exists in another. One stands in a new relation to God, angels, and humans. One is now born of God, and has the privilege of being a child of God, and is consequently pardoned, justified, sanctified, adopted, saved.
Alexander Campbell, The Christian System

Scripture
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Prayer
Father, thank you for making me your child. How glad I am to call you my Father! May I see Christ as he is, and not from a merely human point of view. Keep me from judging others the way the world judges them.

Money

Today Gary Holloway brings us a second reflection from his forthcoming book, Daily Disciple.

by Gary Holloway

Psalm
He raises up the needy out of distress,
and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad;
and all wickedness stops its mouth.
Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Psalm 107:41-43

Meditation
We pray not for stores to be laid up for many years. This is the spirit of avarice and independence, and hateful to our God—our gracious, kind, and wise benefactor. His benevolence provides for all, from the tallest angel in glory to the lowest reptile on earth.
Barton W. Stone, Christian Messenger (1844)

Scripture
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
1 Timothy 6:9-10

Prayer
Lord, deliver me from the desire to be rich. May I trust your steadfast love instead of trusting in my wealth. May I never seek to be independent from your daily care, but glory in your gifts to the needy.

Fasting Friday

Isaiah 58:5-9

Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I Am.

Prayer

Lord, are you suggesting we take in the homeless? Could our church or small group do something together? I'm afraid to do this myself. I don't know what to do about homelessness, about the injustices in my town. Will you simply open my eyes today to the homeless, to the poor. Let me see them. Let me hear you say, "Here I Am."

Activity

Fast from meat today. This is a tradition most Catholics hold to during Lent. Some might also eat only one meal today. If you had not planned this for today, begin preparing today for fasting next Friday. There are many kinds of fasting, and certainly not all forms include fasting from food. Perhaps you might fast from a regular Friday night movie and give the money to a charity instead.

Trust and Gratitude

By Henri J.M. Nouwen

Choose life, then, so that you are your descendants may live, in the love of Yahweh your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him; for in this your life consists. --Deuteronomy 30:19-20

A life of faith is a life of gratitude--it means a life in which I am willing to experience my complete dependence upon God and to praise and thank him unceasingly for the gift of being. A truly eucharistic life means always saying thanks to God, always praising God, and always being more surprised by the abundance of God's goodness and love. How can such a life not also be a joyful life? It is the truly converted life in which God has become the center of all. There gratitude is joy and joy is gratitude and everything becomes a surprising sign of God's presence.

Whenever Jesus says to the people he has healed: "Your faith has saved you," he is saying that they have found new life because they have surrendered in complete trust to the love of God revealed in him. Trusting in the unconditional love of God: that is the way to which Jesus calls us. The more firmly we grasp this, the more readily we will be able to perceive why there is so much suspicion, jealousy, bitterness, vindictiveness, hatred, violence, and discord in the world. Jesus himself interprets this by comparing God's love to the light. He says:

. . . though the light has come into the world
people have preferred darkness to light
because their deeds were evil.
And indeed, everybody who does wrong
hates the light and avoids it,
to prevent his actions from being shown up;
but whoever does the truth
comes out into the light,
so that what he is doing
may plainly appear as done in God.

Jesus sees the evil in this world as a lack of trust in God's love. He makes us see that we persistently fall back on ourselves, rely more on ourselves than on God, and are inclined more to the love of self than to love of God. So we remain in the darkness. If we walk in the light, then we are enabled to acknowledge in joy and gratitude that everything good, beautiful, and true comes from God and is offered to us in love.

Our Prayer

O God, you are not far from any of us, since it is in you that we live, and move, and exist.

You, who have overlooked the times of ignorance, let everyone everywhere be told that they must now repent (Acts 17:27-28, 30).

Source: Henri J.M. Nouwen, Show me the way (Crossroad Publishing Company, 1992). Used by permission.

Alone With God

Ash Wednesday is today. That is the beginning of Lent, a 40-day time of reflection and restoration of our vision of Christ as the model for how we are shaped. Our goal is Christlikeness. So during these days leading up to Easter, we reflect on Christ's person and mission as we also reflect on our own journey.

In the next 40 days Wineskins will be posting meditations from Sacred Space, material from Sojourners, writings from Henri Nouwen, a Dutch mystic and great devotional writer and social activist, J.H. Garrison, a great worship and devotional writer from Stone-Campbell history, and many others.

This first reflection has been edited by Gary Holloway from J.H. Garrison's Alone With God (Leafwood, 2003).

Psalm
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.
Psalm 105:1-4

Meditation
Christ has brought us a fuller revelation of God than David knew, and gives new and stronger reasons why the soul should long for him. He is our Father. He so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son to save it. O the infinite depths and tenderness of his love!
J.H. Garrison, Alone with God, 27

Scripture
I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, "Here I am, here I am,"
to a nation that did not call on my name.
Isaiah 65:1

Prayer
Father, as you have sought me in your love, may I seek your presence continually this day. Keep me close in your grace so I may glory in your name.

Action
Find a way to remind yourself to reflect each day of Lent. It might be a computer alarm or a special wristband or a sticky note on your mirror. Whatever the reminder, decide and set up a reminder for yourself to take this time of reflection together with Christians around the world.

Lent: Inquiry and Instruction

By Robert E. Webber

Question: What is the meaning of the word Lent?

Answer: It has no religious meaning like Advent or Pentecost. It comes from an Anglo-Saxon word, Lencten, meaning "spring."

Question: Why do we observe Lent?

Answer: The purpose of Lent is to provide a time for us to enter into the suffering of Jesus and to go with Him to the tomb.

Question: How can we do this?

Answer: The experience of the people of God who have gone before us is that we best identify with Jesus by adopting a discipline of prayer, fasting, almsgiving.

Question: How should we pray?

Answer: Our prayer may be a spiritual meditation on Jesus Christ--His teaching, His suffering, His death on our behalf.

Question: Why should we fast?

Answer: Fasting is an aid to prayer. Years ago Augustine wrote, "When a man imposes on himself the burden of fasting, he shows that he really wants what he is asking for." Christians fast in order to pray more intently.

Question: What is the purpose of almsgiving?

Answer: We give alms to the poor and needy because it is a specific expression of the brotherly love produced by prayer. The closer we are to Jesus, the more we care for our neighbor.

Source: Robert Webber, The Family Book of Prayer (Hendrickson, 1996).