First
Sunday of Lent
This First
Sunday of Lent calls us into the desert of our hearts, those unknown
“wildernesses” and terrifying places we struggle through as a result of
circumstances beyond our control or because of our own mistakes and sins – but
it is in those deserts and wildernesses where we find the courage and vision to
move on.
1Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where
for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those
days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him,
"If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of
bread." 4Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live
by bread alone.'"
5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the
kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, "To you I will
give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and
I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all
be yours." 8Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the
Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' 11and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 12Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Luke
4:1-13
The
Temptation of Christ
SCHEFFER,
Ary
1854
Walker
Art Gallery
Liverpool,
England
United
Kingdom
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/temptation-of-christ
Do not condemn the judgment of another
because it differs from your own.
You may both be wrong.
~ Dandamis
The greatest temptations are not those
that solicit our consent to obvious sin,
but those that offer us great evils
masking as the greatest goods.
~ Thomas Merton
Sondra
Kellogg, Marilee Ross, and I had a delicious lunch
at
Mt. Vernon Canyon Club.
(We
missed you, Karla!)
Book Club with Joan Evashevski
Lynn
Gilbert, Marianne Loritz, Joan Evashevski, Sharron Leonard
Great book!
The
Yoshiokas are packing for their move to Gunbarrel, Colorado … and they just
keep finding more dinosaurs! Ray’s favorite animal!
Gratitude... goes beyond the "mine" and
"thine" and
claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.
In the past I always thought of gratitude as a
spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received,
but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a
discipline.
The discipline of gratitude is the explicit
effort to acknowledge that all I am and have
is given to me as a gift of love,
a gift to be celebrated with joy.
~ Henri Nouwen
March 9, 2025 - First Sunday of Lent- Year C
3The
devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to
become a loaf of bread." 4Jesus
answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Luke 4:1-13
Agnus
Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
Church
of the Hills
Evergreen,
Colorado
LECTIONARY
Deuteronomy 26:1–11
Psalm 91:1–2, 9–16
Romans 10:8b–13
Luke 4:1–13
THE WORD:Jesus’ wilderness “retreat” is a time for discerning and understanding his mission as the Messiah. These forty days are marked by intense prayer and fasting – not out of a sense of penance but to focus totally on God and the Father's will for him. The three temptations all confront Jesus with very human choices:
- “command this stone to become bread”: Will Jesus use his power for his own gratification and acclaim or to accomplish the will of God?
- “All this will be yours, if you worship me”: Will Jesus compromise the values of God to accommodate the values of the world?
- “throw yourself down from here”: Will Jesus pray that God will do Jesus’ will rather than Jesus seeking God’s will? Will Jesus seek to make God into Jesus’ image or seek to become what God calls him to be?
Jesus’ encounter with the devil depicts the struggle he experienced during this lonely and difficult time to come to terms with the life that lay before him. Jesus then follows the Spirit obediently on to Galilee to begin his teaching ministry.
The same Spirit that led Jesus into the desert leads us into this 40-day “wilderness experience” of Lent, to ask ourselves the same kind of questions, to begin to understand who we are and who we are becoming, to discern what God calls us to be as we journey to the dwelling place of God.
As Jesus was “tempted,” so, too, are we confronted with the many different choices and goals life presents us.
This First Sunday of Lent calls us into the desert of our hearts, those unknown “wildernesses” and terrifying places we struggle through as a result of circumstances beyond our control or because of our own mistakes and sins – but it is in those deserts and wildernesses where we find the courage and vision to move on.
First
Reading Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1When
you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an
inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2you shall
take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from
the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket
and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his
name. 3You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say
to him, "Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the
land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us." 4When the
priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the
LORD your God, 5you shall make this response before the LORD your God:
"A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived
there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty
and populous. 6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by
imposing hard labor on us, 7we cried to the LORD, the God of our
ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our
oppression. 8The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and
wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land
flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of
the ground that you, O LORD, have given me." You shall set it down before
the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. 11Then you,
together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate
with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.
1You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
2will
say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust."
9Because you have made
the LORD your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place,
10no
evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
11For he will command his angels
concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12On
their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
13You
will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
14Those who love me, I
will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
15When
they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honor them.
16With
long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.
Second Reading Romans 10:8b-13
8b"The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we
proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For
one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the
mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, "No one who believes in
him will be put to shame." 12For there is no distinction between Jew
and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For,
"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
1Jesus,
full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in
the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate
nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The
devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to
become a loaf of bread." 4Jesus answered him, "It is written,
'One does not live by bread alone.'"
5Then the devil led him
up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the
devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority;
for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If
you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." 8Jesus answered
him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
9Then the devil took
him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him,
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it
is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' 11and
'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot
against a stone.'" 12Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not
put the Lord your God to the test.'" 13When the devil had finished
every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.