Sermon; Lent 1A; Matt. 4:1-11

On this First Sunday in Lent we hear the story of the temptation of Christ. We get a version of Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil every Lent 1 from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke. As we begin our own Lenten disciplines, whatever that may be, we hear the story of Jesus and his 40-day wilderness experience, and we are reminded that he was tempted in every way as we are, yet did not sin.

Because this is one of those stories we hear every hear, I sometimes struggle with crafting a sermon that is new, or one that doesn't simply rehash things we all know. For instance, we all know we shouldn't fall victim to the sins of gluttony, pride, or greed, the three sins put before Jesus today. We all know we shouldn't do bad stuff and that Jesus is our role model when facing these challenges. But while I was pondering a sermon about not doing bad stuff, an interesting thought popped into my head.

These three temptations of Christ focus on the sins of gluttony, pride, and greed. They ask Jesus, and us, to focus only on our wants, our desire to be praised by others, and our desire to have it all. They are all, like most all sin, based in selfishness. Everything from affairs to running red lights can be traced back to selfishness – our desire to put ourselves first before anything and anyone else.

In this story of Jesus in the wilderness we see Satan offering Jesus what looks like three gifts – the gift to satisfy not only his hunger, but the hunger of the world; the gift to be unquestionably recognized as God's special messenger; and the gift to be in control of all the world. But these gifts came with strings attached: “If you are the Son of God, then do this,” and, “If you do that, then I will do this.” If it's a true gift, then there are no strings attached.

I'm reminded of a classic ethics question. You are on the board of a hospital, or maybe on a church vestry, and you receive notice that someone wants to donate $50 million to your organization, with one caveat: they want their name on the new building or prominently displayed somewhere so people know who donated the funds. That family name happens to be Gambino.

Remember . . . FIFTY . . . MILLION . . . DOLLARS.

This all gets back to selfishness and pride, or greed, or gluttony. We think we are different or could handle it. But even Jesus stayed away from this trap.

Think back to another time when Jesus was offered three gifts. “Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. On entering the house, they knelt down and paid him homage. Then they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

The wise men also offered three gifts. Over time we have assigned special meaning to them. Gold because Jesus is a king. Frankincense because he is God. Myrrh as a foreshadowing of his death. These three items truly were gifts. These three gifts were truly valuable. There were no strings attached. There were no, “If this, then that” clauses. There was no attempt to control how they were to be used. They were just gifts.

This might be something we can use in our own Lenten journey or practice.

On Ash Wednesday I spoke about transformation. In the gospel stories we heard from the Sermon on the Mount during the Epiphany season, Jesus is transforming the law and our understanding of it. “You have heard it said . . . But I say to you.” On the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Jesus was transformed and transfigured to reveal his glory – the fullness of who he was. And I said that the point of Lent was transformation – to make a right beginning. Giving up something for Lent does no good if we pick up those bad habits again on Easter. As we make our journey through Lent, how are we being transformed into the person and people God wants us to be?

One way we can do this is by remembering the wise men.

If we are looking to be transformed, or if we are working to be transformed, we need to understand that the transformation may take more than the 40 days of Lent. As the wise men traveled for years to find Jesus, we may also journey for years in our transformation process. In that journey, we offer Christ the best we have of ourselves – unconditionally.

Otherwise, if we don't offer our best, we fall to the temptation of seeing and treating God as less than God. We may even begin to offer our gifts to God in a, “If you are God, then do this” form, which relegates God to something we can control. Just like the devil tried to do in today's gospel.

Instead, let us offer ourselves to Christ as gifts from the magi – valuable, no strings attached, to be used as he sees fit. In finding a gift to offer to God, we may just find our Lenten discipline. In offering our gift with no strings attached, we allow Christ to use us. In allowing Christ to use us, Christ will transform us. And that no-strings-attached gift, we will have made a right beginning.

Amen.