Lent 1, Year C

“THE TANGLES OF SIN – AND THE BEGINNING OF THEIR UNTANGLING”
Given Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at St. Mark’s Church, West Frankfort, IL; and at St. James’ Memorial Church, Marion, IL

Back when I was a young boy, I’d often get into a tough situation with my shoelaces. Many times, when I’d try to take my shoes off in the evening before bed, my laces would get tangled up in an awful mess….The more I tried to pull on an end here or there, the worse the tangled knot would get.

After I’d struggled with this mess for awhile, I’d call out to my mother, who would come in with a fork – the kind you eat with – and she’d take a tine of the fork and stick it into the tangled mass of laces, eventually working the knots out. (Did your mother ever do that with you? – It sure works!)

What had happened, of course, was that my shoe laces, instead of being joined together in a good knot, had gotten tangled into a bad sort of knot….In short, the good qualities of my laces (to be able to hold a knot) had turned into bad ones, and I was trapped in my shoes until my mother came and freed me from my predicament.

Shoelaces are like some of our basic human needs (let’s mention the ones that are central to our Gospel reading for today: food, and the ability to control our situation and to be safe from harm): they are necessary for holding things together…shoes (in the case of laces) and life itself (in the case of food and being able to be in control).

But each one can trap us, and each one can be an avenue through which their good qualities are turned into bad ones.

As I reflected this past week on today’s Gospel, Luke’s retelling of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness, I was struck by the similarities between my being stuck inside my tangled shoelaces, and the sin that binds us….In each case, some way of getting free from the tangled mess is necessary to free us from the bondage we find ourselves in: we’ve just described how my mother freed me from my tangled laces, and in our Gospel reading today, Jesus begins the process of unraveling sin’s tangles that trap us, by overcoming the temptations that the devil presented to him.[1]

In order to see how Jesus’ victory over the devil frees us from the power of sin, let’s turn to Genesis 3:1–7 to see how the forces of evil got control over us human beings in the first place.

There are powerful connections between the appeals to human nature made by the serpent in Genesis, and the appeals the devil presented to Jesus in Luke 4.

Let’s look first at Genesis:

1. Food: In verse one, the serpent asks Eve, “did God really say, ‘ You must not eat of any tree in the garden?’” After an interchange with the serpent, we read that Eve “saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eye” (verse six), and she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate it. Thus, the tangles of sin began their destructive reign over all the human race.

2. Power & control: Notice now in verse four, where the serpent says, “For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”. And in the next verse, we are told that Eve “saw that the fruit of the tree was….also desirable for gaining wisdom.” (Wisdom and knowledge give us power, the power to control our lives and to avoid danger.)

3. Misuse of God’s word: Note also that the serpent misuses God’s words, casting doubt on the instructions about eating from the trees of the garden, and, in verse four, deliberately using God’s words to lead Eve to disobey God’s instructions.

Now, a remarkably similar pattern is used by the devil to tempt Jesus (Luke four):

1. Food: After 40 days in the wilderness (and, we might add, at the most vulnerable time for Jesus), the devil comes, tempting Jesus to turn a stone into a loaf of bread. (verse three)

2. Power and control: “To you I will give their (all the kingdoms of the world) glory and all this authority.” (verse five) and, a little later (verse nine), “Throw yourself down from here (the pinnacle of the Temple), for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you.’”

3. Misuse of God’s word: Having been rebuffed by Jesus twice, as Jesus uses Scripture to beat back the devil’s temptations,[2] the devil, on the third try, now uses the words of Holy Scripture to get his way,[3] misusing God’s word.

Jesus’ victory over the devil in the wilderness begins the process of freeing all humankind from the tangles of sin which have held all of us in their grip from Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden until now. For Jesus turns back the devil’s power, like sticking a fork into a tangled mass of shoelaces, slowing but surely turning the tangled mess of our sins into freedom.

In order to free us from our sins, Jesus had to enter our human situation completely. Notice in our Gospel reading for today that He went into the wilderness, and ate nothing for 40 days. At the end of those 40 days, Luke tells us He was famished. Jesus entered our human situation, becoming vulnerable to the things that threaten us, like a lack of food and the dangers of the wilderness.

In so doing, Jesus is able to save us from the tangled effects of sin, for He completes the pattern that was established by Moses, and by the great prophets who would save God’s people again and again,[4] often doing so by going to the wilderness, where they would suffer from hunger and exposure to dangers of various kinds.

Jesus is able to free us because He inserted himself into our circumstances (like sticking the tine of a fork into a tangled mess of shoelaces in order to free up the tangles).

Jesus’ refutation of the devil’s temptations offers us an example to follow, and begins the process of freeing us from the devil’s power.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus completes the work of freeing us from our sins, by transferring us through the waters of Baptism into the kingdom of God.[5]

In their baptismal practices, the early Church dramatically demonstrated the process of dying to our old selves and the power of sin, and our rising to new life by the power of Jesus’ resurrection: Usually, baptisms were held outdoors near a stream or a body of water,[6] and those who were to be baptized would gather on one side of the water. Once they had entered the water, they were immersed completely, and then taken up out of the water, going to the other side. Once there, they were clothed in a white garment, which signified purity of life in Christ.[7] By going down into the water, rising up again, and leaving with a new identity (clothed in white) on the other side, they were dead to their former lives of sin, rising to new life in Christ.

But even though we’ve passed through the waters of baptism, we haven’t reached the other shore of life yet….we’re still living in this life. We haven’t passed over into life eternal, to be in God’s presence face-to-face, as yet.

So the forces of evil might still have some ways of getting us caught in their web….why? Because, oftentimes, our normal, human needs are the avenues that the forces of evil use to gain a foothold in our lives, to tangle us up in their power, things like: our need for friendship and human company, our natural desires for sexual expression, our need to be in control of our lives, and so forth.

Any of these and many more can be the avenues that allow access to our lives…the result can easily be very destructive.

So perhaps this Lent offers us the chance to take stock of our lives, to see the ways that our natural, normal, day-to-day activities, needs and desires can be used against us.

Maybe, this Lent, we can strengthen our defenses against the devil’s sneaky ways, by recognizing Jesus’ victorious example in His handling of the devil’s temptations, by claiming the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, by reinforcing our devotion to Him through regular Bible study, more faithful church involvement and attendance, and by hanging around with other believers who claim that same sort of power for themselves.[8]

May God’s Holy Spirit grant us the ability to see and claim Jesus’ example for our own, and to live in the power of His death and resurrection, by which we are dead to the powers of sin.

AMEN.


[1] By the way, one good working definition of sin might be: “a good thing in our lives that the forces of evil use to gain entry into our lives, in order to gain control over us.”
[2] Jesus cites Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:13 and 6: 16 in His replies.
[3] The devil cites Psalm 91: 11 – 12.
[4] Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ life and work is very much in the mold of Jesus as the great prophet, who completes the work of the long line of God’s prophets down through the ages.
[5] See Romans 6: 1 - 11 for St. Paul’s explanation of the effects of Baptism, through which we are buried with Christ in His death, and rise again, freed from sin and its effects.
[6] Remember, there were no church buildings as yet, with their baptismal fonts and so forth.
[7] From which we derive the white garment called an alb.
[8] One of the ways evil gains a foothold is to separate us one from another - notice how Eve was separated from Adam (who was with her during her temptation) by the serpent’s appeals – we become easier prey by being alone.