Written by Taylor Mertins, Pastor of Raleigh Court United Methodist Church, Roanoke, VA.
Written by Taylor Mertins, Pastor of Raleigh Court UMC in Roanoke, VA
The temptation scene set out in the wilderness really is as strange as it sounds. And when you take a step back from the whole thing you can’t help but notice that Jesus and the Devil aren’t even really talking to one another.
“If you really are God then prove it Jesus.”
Jesus’ response: “I really am God, so I’m not going to do anything.”
And the devil actually has some good suggestions for the Messiah: Why starve yourself
when you can easily rustle up some grub? Why let these fools destroy themselves when you can take control of everything? Why let the world struggle with doubt when you can prove you are entirely worthy of their faith?
And, perfectly, Jesus responds to each of the temptations by quoting scripture right back into the Devil’s face.
The devil here, frighteningly, actually sounds a whole lot like, well, us. His ideas are some that we regularly champion both inside, and outside, of the church.
Who among us wouldn’t want to give food to the hungry?
Who among us wouldn’t like to see how politics get in order?
Who among us wouldn’t enjoy seeing a powerful demonstration of God’s power
every once in a while?
But Jesus, for as much as he is like us, he is also completely unlike us. For, in his non-
answer answers he declares to the devil, and to all of us, that power, whether it’s over creation, politics, or miracles, doesn’t actually transform the cosmos.
Jesus, in his refusal to take the devil’s offers, reminds us that we, humans, are obsessed with believing that power (and more of it) will make the kingdom come here on earth.
We’ve convinced ourselves, over and over again, that if we just had a little more control, if we just won one more fight, if we could just get everyone to be exactly like us that everything would turn out for the best.
But it never does.
Instead, the poor keep getting poorer and the rich keep getting richer.
Marriages keep falling apart.
Children keep falling asleep hungry.
Churches keep fracturing.
Communities keep collapsing.
Therefore, though it pains us to admit it, Jesus seems to have a point in his squabble with
the Adversary. Because the demonic systems of power, even those under the auspices of making the world a better place, often lead to just as much misery, if not more.
The devil wants to give Jesus a short cut straight to ends that Jesus will, inevitably, bring about in his own life, death, and resurrection.
The devil wants Jesus to do what we want Jesus to do.
Or, perhaps better put: The devil wants Jesus to do what we want to do.
But here’s the Good News, the really Good News: Jesus is able to resist temptations that we would not, could not, and frankly do not.
Even at the very end, when Jesus’ hands are nailed to the cross, he is still tempted by the Adversary through the voices in the crowd: “If you really are who you say you are, save yourself!”
But at the end Jesus doesn’t respond with passages of scripture. He doesn’t offer a litany of things to do or things to avoid. Instead, he dies.
Written by Taylor Mertins, Pastor of Raleigh Court United Methodist Church, Roanoke, VA.
Jesus spends the afternoon feeding 5,000 through his divine mercy. And, when all is said and done, bellies full to the brim, a crowd gathers to question the behavior of this God in the flesh.
Jesus’ response – “You all are looking for me but for the wrong reasons. I delight in giving you food to eat, but I also have something else to offer.”
“What must we do?” The crowds intone.
“Believe” Jesus answers.
“Okay, we get that, but how do we really know you can make good on your promise? Can you rain down from manna from heaven for us like Moses did?”
And then Jesus says, “Moses didn’t give you the manna! It was God who gave the good gift!”
“Sure,” they say, “That’s fine. We’d like some of that bread from heaven please.”
And Jesus answers them, “Have you not heard anything I’ve said? I am the bread!”
What wondrous good news it is that, when Jesus showed up proclaiming the beginning of God’s new kingdom, he did so not with sermons about the Trinity, or the atonement, or justification, or any other big and abstract theological mishmash. Instead, Jesus began by pointing right at our stomachs, to that gnawing, unsatisfied, emptiness within and then invited us to dinner. Jesus feeds the hungry – that’s who Jesus is. Think of the crowds during the days of Moses and during the days of Jesus, imagine how they felt while eating the bread. Did they deserve it? Did they earn it? No!
The Psalmist reminds us that they had done everything but deserve it! God’s wrath was kindled against them and yet God gave them the bread anyway. The 5,000 didn’t have to lay out all their good works before Jesus delighted in filling their bellies.
This is grace. Grace plus Nothing.
Just when we, the people of God, expect to be clobbered with guilt – “You didn’t listen in the wilderness!” “You haven’t loved your neighbors enough!” – we actually get clobbered by grace.
And, when that happens, we begin to realize that whenever we’ve gone looking for peace or happiness by doing this, that, and the other we’ve actually overlooked the God who has always been looking for us.
The One who offers us the gift we simply don’t deserve.
The heart of Christianity is this – We don’t have to give or say or pay anything – In Christ it has all been given, said, and paid for us.
It is by grace and only by grace that we are accepted by God.
Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
That question is often still our question. We look at the wildness of our lives, we spend more time looking backward than forward, and whenever we encounter our own disappointments and shortcomings, we wonder if God can really do anything about it.
Frankly, it’s why some of us keep showing up to church week after week, in-person or online – we want an answer to our question. Can God make something of our nothing? Can God spread a table in the wilderness? And the answer is, quite simply, yes.
God can and God does all the time. God is the Good Shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep, God is the Prodigal Father who rushes out to find us in the street even before we have a chance to apologize, God is the One who, rather than leaving us to our own devices, comes to dwell in the muck and mire of this life to offer us Grace plus Nothing. Amen.
Written by Lindsey Baynham Freeman, Pastor at Welborne United Methodist Church in Richmond, VA
Psalm 72, a prayer for the king, is all about reversals & God’s wondrous works throughout all creation. It is a litany that walks us through the hopes for a king that, by God’s support, would bring restoration to a people.
And not just any people, not just the high and mighty, but the poor and needy, too. This Psalm encompasses all the wondrous things of God and the prayer is that the king might find favor with God, living a life of faith & justice, too.
The Psalm concludes with these words:
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
I do not think Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, had any idea that these words would come from his mouth when they did. Especially after an encounter with the angel Gabriel announcing his son’s birth. It is after a time of intense silence that the Holy Spirit fills Zechariah’s being and these are the first words he speaks:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.”
It is a recalling and continuing of the Psalmist’s prayer. It is an affirmation that God is continuing to do wondrous things. God continues to see the people and redeem them. This time, it begins with the prophet, John, who will prepare the way for the salvation that comes through the Christ child.
And John’s sole purpose is around reversals and pointing to the power of God manifesting in Jesus.
The rough places made plain and the crooked paths straight. To be “…a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.”
These passages and themes are strong in the Advent season as we await the birth of Jesus. However, in this time of Lent, the challenge and invitation is to live into the reversals Christ embodies for the sake of all. To walk a life of faith that welcomes those in seats of power and on the margins. To intentionally reflect on God’s wondrous works and our sinful ways. The path to Good Friday is one of confession and acknowledgement that though we are dust, we have been redeemed.
It is a time of receiving the grave words: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And, it is holding the Psalmist’s words of thanksgiving close:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.”
May each be guidance and hope for the journey ahead.
Welcome to “Psalms My Lord Said,” a Lenten journey through the Psalms quoted in the Gospels. From now through Easter, we will be sharing devotionals written by a variety of pastors and scholars. This is an opportunity for us to dig deeply into our faith and pay attention to Scripture – and to Jesus – as we move towards Holy Week and Easter.
Our theme for this year’s devotional is “Psalms My Lord Said.” The Psalms are the prayerbook of the Bible. They have been read and sung and prayed by worshippers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for countless generations. And they were read and sung and prayed by Jesus, Himself. This devotion will look at the psalms that we see quoted in the Gospels. Some entries will focus merely on the psalm itself. Some will focus on the interplay between the context of its usage in the Gospel and the content of the psalm. Some will look at what this particular psalm reveals about the God who meets us in Christ. And through it all, we shall discover the love and grace of God that lead us to pray and sing: Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
May you encounter God – and discover new riches of Scripture and faith – as we journey together with Jesus through the psalms.
On Tuesday, April 19 from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Bob Argabright will conduct a tour of the Bellemeade Outdoor Learning campus at 1800 Krouse Street. The campus has been a labor of love to support outdoor activities and literacy in the community. Bob will talk about this campus and his 18-year ministry in Bellemeade.
The bus leaves Trinity at 10 – call Jo Lewis at 804-921-5610 to reserve your seat. Take the bus or meet us there, all are invited!
