First Lutheran Church
March 1, 2020 + The First Sunday in Lent A
Matthew 4:1-11
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
Pastor Greg Ronning
This past week on Ash Wednesday we gathered together here in this place, we silently lined up in the center aisle, and we came forward to receive the imposition of ashes. One by one you stepped up to meet me, and I looked at you and proclaimed, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In a unique profound moment of pastoral honesty, I reminded each of you that you are going to die. A hard message to speak, and an even harder message to hear and receive. No one was exempt, even our youngest member Mariella, walked away marked with “ashes” on her forehead. Together we began the season of Lent, a season marked by critical reflection, a season marked by the hard questions of life, a season which embraces death in the hope for life abundant.
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
Parker Palmer, an American writer known for his inspirational writings on leadership, social change, and spirituality tells the story of his experience with Outward Bound, an outdoor adventure program. At this particular point in his life he felt “frozen” in his writing and thought spending some time in the outdoors, doing adventure, might shake things up for him and set him free from his writer’s block. One day his adventure group was repelling down a cliff, something that he was not particularly excited about doing. He began his descent, and everything was going according to plan, - until it was not! About halfway down the terrain, or lack of terrain – everything changed, and he suddenly became more fully aware of his situation. Suspended from a rope, a long way from the ground, dangling on the side of a cliff, - he became afraid. In fear he stopped, and in fear he became “stuck.” After a few minutes of going nowhere, one of his instructor guides yelled up at him, “Is there anything wrong, Parker?” The well-known, wise distinguished author, grown man in his forties, replied in a “very much teenage” sounding voice, “I don’t want to talk about it!” After a few moments of silence, the instructor yelled back, “Then I think it’s time you learned the ‘Outward Bound’ motto!” Palmer remembers thinking to himself, “Wonderful, I am about to die, and she is feeding me a pithy saying.” The instructor continued, “If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” These words came to him as anything but a pithy statement, but to the contrary as words so true that they literally “unstuck” him and moved him down the cliff without incident. He later recalled, “Bone-deep I knew that there was no way out of this situation except to go deeper into it, and with that knowledge my feet began to move.”
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
Psychologists remind us that nearly everyone one of us suffers, to one degree or another, from a disorder called, “Thanatophobia.” “Thanatophobia” is derived from two Greek words, “phobos” meaning fear, and “Thanatos,” the name of the Greek “god of death.” We all suffer, in one way or another, from the fear of death. The 20th Century anthropologist Ernest Becker, author of the “Terror Management Theory,” argued that “everything everyone does – the goals we set, our passions and hobbies, and the activities we engage in – is, in essence, a coping strategy for our fear of death.”
In our society we all go to great lengths to avoid “death.” Psychologists observe that … We live in denial of death, we choose not to talk about it, we simply try to ignore it. We practice vanity, we make believe that somehow death does not apply to us because we’re special, even magical. We idolize youth-fullness by seeking to cover up any sign of aging with any number of personal products and artificial enhancements. We pursue the material things of life, clinging to the wealth and power of this world motivated by a misguided belief that equates power and wealth with invincibility. We self-medicate to create a feeling of omnipotence and self-sufficiency, to relieve emotional pain and existential anxiety, to make ourselves numb to the specter of death. We become obsessed with the trivial, with melodrama and pseudo-problems, first world problems; while shutting down and avoiding our feelings for the real issues in real life. We exchange intimacy for the superficial to avoid getting hurt and experiencing loss. We turn to superstition and false religions, the prosperity gospel, anything that provides easy answers and a door to escapism. Yes, indeed, in our society we go to great lengths to avoid “death.”
And yet the fear of death remains, it persists, it does not go away, it haunts us. None of our distractions, denials, or illusions work. We may laugh and proclaim, “Those who die with the most toys, wins!” But we don’t really believe it. Deep down we know, “You can’t take it with you.” Death cannot be escaped. And we become “stuck,” we become “frozen,” fully aware of death, but unable or unwilling to deal with it. And our life suffers because of it. And our teenage voice, frustrated and angry whines, “I don’t want to talk about it!”
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
As people of faith, last Wednesday we lined up to honestly acknowledge and humbly accept the truth, “We are dust, and to dust we shall return.” The question that now remains with us, how will we live out that Ash Wednesday proclamation; in fear, in denial, in avoidance, or in faith?
In today’s Gospel Jesus finds himself in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. Just a few verses earlier he was being baptized by John. And in that moment the heavens opened up, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven proclaimed, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Just a few verses earlier everything was going great! But now everything has changed, after forty days and forty nights of fasting, the devil has shown up.
But here’s the thing about Jesus, if he wanted to get out of it, - he could! He could have ended the whole thing after the first night without any dinner. He doesn’t have to stay in the wilderness, he’s Jesus! And the devil knows this, thus the temptations. “Are you hungry, do you want some bread, those stones can become bread anytime you want them to be.” “Do you need the angels to help you, throw yourself off the temple, and they will be there to catch you before you hit the ground.” “Do you want all the power in the world, simply worship me and I will give it to you.” Yet Jesus decides to stay in it, he decides to “get into it.” His time in the wilderness prepares him for the last temptation he will face, the cross in Jerusalem. And once again, he will choose to stay in it, to go to the cross, to face death and reveal once and for all that death does not have the last word, that death is not to be feared, that death is actually the door to abundant and everlasting life. Jesus “stays in it,” so that we too might “get into it,” and be set free to live life wonderfully and faithfully.
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
As a child growing up, I took swim lessons every summer. And I will never forget the summer we learned how to dive into the pool. It was a rite of passage to “dive” into the pool, and more importantly I had a big crush on my high school aged instructor. It started off easy, we first dove head-first from the edge of the pool. The next step was pretty easy too, we lined up and dove off the diving board. After a few days of doing that, our instructor pointed us to the high dive and told us that was next! Most of us were pretty worried about this next step. We all looked over at the high dive in silence. And then, suddenly, before we knew it, we were all lined up at the high dive. Just looking up the ladder was enough to make you scared, let alone diving head-first off it into the water. I was somewhere in the middle of the line nervously waiting my turn. One by one, my friends slowly climbed the ladder and even more slowly walked out to the very edge. It was like pirates were forcing us to walk the plank with the sharp point of a sword. And then the anxiety really began. In fear they would look down, the instructor would tell them to raise up their arms, lean forward and dive. Most of them just stood there, frozen, stuck! The instructor would try to coax them into a dive. One kid, simply turned around and went back to the ladder, turned around and tried again, only to jump. Another kid, just sat there forever, trying to make himself dive, but he too ended up jumping awkwardly feet first instead. One kid turned around and went back down from the ladder. And we never saw him again! By the time it was my turn, no one had actually made a dive. What happened next was truly a miracle. I was by no means a brave and adventurous kid, but somehow, I became very focused. Somehow deep in my bones I knew that there was no way out of this situation except to “get into it.” And I really had a crush on my instructor! So it was, I climbed the ladder, walked to the edge of the board, and without pausing, put my arms up, and leaned forward, and dove into the pool. I was told by my mother, that the instructor was so surprised she “screamed” for help. The only thing I remember was sinking into the water, and then excitedly swimming back up for air. I emerged with a big smile on my face. My swim instructor told me that I scared her to death.
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.”
I share my story not to impress you, a grade-school boy diving off the high dive to impress a high school girl, is not really that impressive. Yet the power of love does strange things to a person. God’s love proclaimed for Jesus at his baptism enabled him to enter into the wilderness and face the temptations of the devil. God’s love proclaimed for Jesus at his transfiguration certainly empowered him to set his face towards Jerusalem and the cross. And Gods love for each of you, proclaimed at your baptism, present in bread and wine, and lived out in the community of faith, is more than enough love to empower you to face death.
So, what happens when we face death? Whether it be the little deaths that threaten us each day, or the last death we will all face, when we stop and face death it is ultimately revealed as an empty threat. Psychologists and Social Scientists tell us that people who face the fear of death are transformed, they are set free to live a more meaningful life, they have wonderful relationships, they live a healthier and more joyful life. As people of faith we know this to be true from a much deeper place, from the depths of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. “If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8)
May your Lenten journey take you into the places where you are stuck; provide you with the opportunity to look death in the eye; and when death blinks, and it will, it always does; may you be set free by the love of God in Christ Jesus to live a wonderful and faithful life.
“If you can’t get out of it, get into it.” Amen.
Matthew 4:1-11
1 Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.