 |
| Temptation of Christ by Vasily Surikov |
Faust; The
Devil and Daniel Webster; The Picture
of Dorian Gray; Damn Yankees; and
my favorite: The Devil Went Down to Georgia – making a deal with the devil has
been a popular theme in the arts for hundreds of years. The story line is basically the same. Some poor soul wants something beyond his
reach. Whether it’s the height of
happiness; perpetual youth; a Major League Pennant; or a shiny fiddle made of
gold, the protagonist becomes so desperate for the object of his desire that he
willingly sells his soul to the devil to get it. Sometimes the devil wins; sometimes he’s
outsmarted – but there’s one common thread in every story: someone succumbs to temptation and makes a
deal with the devil. Today’s Gospel
tells a different story – Jesus stands up to temptation and tells Satan, “No
deal!” Through his example and the
disciplines of Lent, we can too.
It
may be comforting to know that even Jesus faced temptation from the devil. In today’s Gospel, Satan comes to him when he’s
most vulnerable – when he’s hungry and weak from 40 days of fasting. And in
his vulnerability, Satan tries to convince Jesus to be something other than
what he really is – the Beloved Son of God.
He tries to “seduce Jesus into thinking that what it means to be God’s
Son is to be physically full, physically safe, and politically powerful.”[1] As we heard in our first reading, that’s
exactly what Satan did to Adam and Eve – he convinced them that by eating the
fruit of the forbidden tree, by disobeying God, they could be like God. Well, they couldn't, and we all know how that
worked out for them. They fell prey to
temptation, they made a deal with the devil and were driven from Paradise
forever. Jesus, on the other hand, knows
who he really is; he knows what it means to be the Beloved Son of God, and he
accepts that it doesn't always mean that he’ll have an abundance of food, that
he’ll be safe from physical harm, or that he’ll be politically powerful. So he stands strong against the temptation to
sin and refuses to deal with the devil.
Sin
is a strange thing. In fact, it’s so
strange that the Church refers to it as a mystery to “acknowledge its
irrational character and its intoxicating allure, even when we rationally know
better. Sin draws us away from God and
directs us to nothingness.”[2] But we sin anyway. Why is that? Well, we’re afraid. We’re afraid that we won’t have enough to survive,
so we hoard our belongings. We’re afraid
that we’ll be hurt, so we lash out at others under the guise that a good
offense is the best defense. We’re
afraid that the good things of life will never come to us, so we take advantage
of others in order to get them. The
strangest thing about sin is that every time we succumb to temptation, we lose
an opportunity to experience the only joy that will ever fulfill us – the self-giving
love of God. We miss the opportunity to
love God by loving our neighbor, by sharing what we have; by treating people
with compassion; and by respecting human dignity. Through sin, we lose the opportunity to be
who we really are: Beloved Sons and Daughters
of God.
Just
like Jesus, the devil approaches us when we’re most vulnerable – when we’re
sick, when we’re lonely, when we’re
afraid. In our weakest moments, we
can count on Satan to try his level best to tempt us. And he’s good at it too. “The devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape
and pointy horns. He comes as everything
[we've] ever wished for”[3] that’s beyond our grasp. The most dangerous temptations to sin appeal
to our “fantasy selves,” to the person we think we want to be, not to the person we really are. Our vulnerability lies in not understanding
what it means to be a Beloved Son or Daughter of God, in not believing with
every ounce of our conviction that God loves us and that, because of God’s love,
all will be well in the end no matter what this world throws at us. “When we do not know who we are, we enter into
temptation. When we do know who we are, we can reach for the resources to resist it.”[4] So the secret to avoiding the temptation to
sin lies in knowing that we really
are Beloved Sons and Daughters of God, in believing
in God’s promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and in trusting that God never welches on a
deal.
So
what resources are available to us to resist temptation? Well, how about the disciplines of Lent – prayer,
fasting and almsgiving? Let’s start with
prayer. “The best way to say no is to be
in touch with a stronger yes.”[5] That yes, of course, is God, and the best way
to be in touch with God is through prayer. In prayer we speak directly and intimately
with God, sharing our hopes and our fears, our joys and our sorrows with him. Through prayer, we hear God’s voice calling us
to love and helping us discern between right and wrong. With prayer, we bear the mantle of the Beloved
Sons and Daughters of God, a shield that can deflect Satan’s strongest
temptations.
Fasting
– I hate fasting, which, of course, suggests that I need it most of all. Fasting helps us empty ourselves of what we think we need so that we can be who we really are: Beloved Sons and Daughters of God who are “filled
to the brim with divine life.”[6] When we’re full of divine life – God’s self-giving
love – we can’t hold it in, and that leads us right to almsgiving. There’s no surer way to love God than to love
our neighbor, and Satan knows it. Some
of the most egregious sins we can commit involve harming or taking advantage of
another person. But when we love one
another, when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit
the imprisoned, we love God and really tick off Satan.
So I've got a deal for you. Together, this Lent, let's tick off Satan. Let’s commit ourselves to tackle at least one temptation that Satan keeps
throwing at us by dedicating ourselves to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. What’s in it for us? Well, we’ll ground ourselves in our true
identity as Sons and Daughters of God; we’ll be filled to the brim with God’s
self-giving love; and we’ll strengthen ourselves in our resolve to sin no more,
so we can say to Satan in no uncertain terms, “No Deal!” What do you think? Deal?
[1] John
Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels
for Christian Preachers and Teachers: On
Earth as It is in Heaven, Matthew, Year A (Collegeville, Liturgical Press,
2004) at 105.
[2] John W.
Martens, “Away with Sin,” America, vol.
210, no. 7 (March 3, 2014) at 38.
[3] Tucker
Max, Assholes Finish First (New York,
Gallery Books, 2011).
[4] Shea at
107.
[5] Id.
[6] Father
Robert Barron, “Lent Day 4 – Mother Teresa’s secret to Joy,” Lent Reflections with Father Robert Barron,
March 8, 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment
God is listening . . . comment accordingly.