Reading—Genesis 2:15-17,3:1-7
5 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Reading—Romans 5
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Gospel Matthew 4
Praise to you, O Christ, King of eternal glory. The Lord is a great God, O that today you would listen to his voice. Harden not your hearts.
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Sermon
Our new house was built in 2006— younger than Tattlers but less frequented by trades people. It is one of 6 houses surrounding a courtyard. The courtyard is planted with shrubs, trees and lawns.
Last year two arguments surfaced, very politely, to disturb its tranquillity. The first concerned a Japanese Acer which stands proud in the centre of a large lawn. One of the male residents wanted it cut down, as it seemed to be dropping leaves in the autumn and looked slightly poorly. This proposal was unanimously rejected without much further consideration.
The second argument concerned the lawn. It was infected by chafer bugs. The resident rooks could hear the little blighters below the surface, and dug them up with their huge beaks, leaving a wreckage that resembled the battle of the Somme. The only sure-fire cure was offered by a lawn treatment company, but this was quickly rejected as it contained nicotinoids which were banned by the EU. So we ended up digging up the whole lawn and returfing it. The jury is out on whether or not the bugs are still down below and whether the stronger grass roots with deter the rooks.
Just after the lawn was re-laid, we received instructions on how to look after it. We organised a rota to water it every day, barring rain. We bought a new hose that extended like a serpent. And we had to avoid walking on the new turfs for at least 6 weeks.
One or two people were keen to walk over the lawn in order to remove dead leaves and plant some bulbs under the tree. It won’t be harmed, they insisted. They were just saying that to cover themselves. We resisted temptation, and even the serpent could not prevail against the prophets of hope, like myself.
The Genesis story is, of course, an attempt to explain why things are the way they are. Putting together these readings from the lectionary for the start of Lent adds a more modern perspective. The passage from Romans describes how Sin entered creation through the actions of human beings. This led to death through Adam, but to life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
To try and understand what the writer of the letter to the Romans is saying, you need to penetrate the dense and complex text, but the main thrust is clear:
15 ….the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
As we have discovered with increasing horror as time goes on, Sin is toxic in the world. As the citation to VE75 starts:
When VE Day dawns on 8th May 2020 it will be 75 years since the guns fell silent at the end of the war in Europe. Years of carnage and destruction had come to an end and millions of people took to the streets and pubs to celebrate peace, mourn their loved – ones and to hope for the future….
Wherever it is found and however it impacts, Sin cannot be taken for granted. In recent years, we have experienced many examples of institutional as well as random acts of Sin.
The salvation offered by Romans could not be taken for granted after the incarnation that first Christmas. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus’s freedom from any sin was still tested in the Wilderness. The temptations by Satan are clearly appropriate to what Jesus must have been feeling at the start of his ministry, but when the devil left him, he was not gone for good and re-emerged prior to the crucifixion and in the garden of Gethsemane.
Individually these temptations invite Jesus to turn aside from faith and trust in the Father.
1. In the first, the devil invites Jesus to prove his sonship through a display of power; that is, by establishing his validity through his own abilities.
2. In the second, the temptation is to test God's fidelity.
3. In the third, Jesus is promised all the power and glory the earth can offer if he will give his allegiance and devotion to the Tempter.
In each case, Jesus rejects the temptation and fixes his identity, future, and his time here on earth on God's trustworthiness and grace.
The temptation of Christ harks back to the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. One lasts 40 days and the other 40 years. Both concern what it is to be human. Both are temptations to mistrust God and put our faith, not in him, but in our own worth and abilities. But so often we come up against the awareness that we are insufficient and not complete in ourselves. Our experience of temptation does not end after a certain period of time. Our own temptation lasts a lifetime. May the Lord God give you strength to withstand and hold out for as long as we endure. Amen
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