Homily For The First Sunday In Lent
This is the very first Sunday in Lent and the Gospel appointed features the story of Our Lord’s temptation in the Wilderness. How he went immediately from the glories of His baptism - with the affirmation from the other two persons of the Blessed Trinity that he was indeed the eternal Son - the one with whom God is well pleased. Jesus is recapitulating the actions of Israel - Israel was tempted in the wilderness and failed; Jesus our Lord endures the full intensity of Satan’s Temptation and comes through unscathed.
Jesus is indeed Israel, but he is offering the perfect righteousness that the 12 tribes failed to fulfill in the Wilderness. They failed over and over again. I want us this Sunday to consider the Old Testament Lesson of Isaiah 58 and examine what kind of Fast pleases God - instruction most relevant to our entry into Lent.
Let us consider how Jesus in the Wilderness, Jesus amidst the hunger and thirst of his 40 day fast, fulfills the commandment of this old Testament lesson.
Isaiah 58 begins with a notice of Israel’s inward sinfulness and rebellion DESPITE their outward acts of piety. Note in verse two, as they seek him, there is all kinds of formalism in their response. They act as though the offering of sacrifices, the formal fast obligates God to them. We are sincere, they say, we have done what you have told us, see the sacrifices, don’t you see how we fast? In essence, Israel is eager to draw near in complaint - why don’t you respond? Don’t you care for us? You are an exacting God. In this passage, the Lord takes issues with their hearts because they fight, they are divisive. They are self-willed - all of these things. The fasts they choose are for them, to satisfy their own spiritual enrichment, to express their own spiritual pride.
By contrast, true fasting is to be mindful of one’s sins and then turn outward to serve others. The focus shifts from the self-awareness of fasting to putting attention on the needs within the community. This is a fast from self-centeredness. This fast allows them to lift the burdens of oppression - to help release those who are subject to bondage. In this circumstance, the correction is directed toward masters who mistreated their servants. The masters are the ones focused on their own fasting and ignoring their obligations to their workers. This is a correction that says, instead of taking the formal fasting and sackcloth, fast by giving our food to the poor and providing them clothing. What does it benefit you if you wear sackcloth for a season, when the poor may be benefited by you clothing them for seasons to come. To take the bread that you were going to eat and give it to one who is starving, to not only take food out to the destitute but to bring them in and give them adequate clothing. Truly, the fast is to be a time of hospitality for the needy. Notice here that God’s correction also involves loving one’s family - making sure that your family members are adequately provided for.
St. Augustine said it this way in one of his sermons on this passage - He (being God) is finding fault, you see, with the fasts of the quarrelsome; he is looking for the fasts of the kindhearted. He is finding fault with those who oppress others; he is looking for those who give relief. He is finding fault with those who stir up strife; he is looking for those who set free. That is why, you see, during these days you restrain your desires for lawful things; it is in order not to commit unlawful things (Augustine),
In the next section, verses 8-9, we read of the blessings accruing to those who practice this sort of fast that is pleasing to the Lord. Blessing breaks forth like a flood. In saying so, the Lord promises a new life in Him - light breaking forth like the dawn.
The Lord promises healing of one’s soul, for the Hebrew here is identical to Jeremiah 30:17 where there is a promise of new flesh replacing a wound. The Lord promises to provide His righteousness for the soul reliant upon Him. Righteousness to go before and glory to serve as the saint’s rear guard. Moreover, the Lord promises to hear and respond to the prayers, the petitions of those who call upon Him. This is deep fellowship with the Lord - the servant of the Lord calling out with the Lord saying “Here am I” – the response of a waiting and willing servant. This is almost a scandalous concept - the heart of the contrite, the penitent is so aligned with God’s purposes that the God himself is eager to respond. Like a servant to his master.
Indeed, if one removes the burden of the poor, the pointing of blame to another (what is meant by the phrase “putting forth of the finger”) and turning from speaking vanity, that is, speaking one thing while doing another. Then, then the Lord promises to provide divine guidance. He promises His constant supply in times of trouble. He will provide blessing, abundance in the most inhospitable of environments - that dry and barren land. Moreover, the Lord will sustain this faithful one from within - like a spring of water in the midst of the desert. The Lord through Isaiah promises that faithfulness of this sort will repair what had been broken by previous generations of apostasy. Fasting of this sort would establish new hope and peace for many generations - those who were to come would declare the blessedness of such devotion.
Notice that in the earlier part of the passage, the fast is burdensome in that they are minding other things during the physical fast.
Though physically compliant, they are mentally distracted, so they are not accomplishing the purposes for which a fast was designed. In this section, the sabbath becomes sweet. The Sabbath the rest to and of the Lord. The Sabbath is always a feast and not a fast. For in it, God promises rest - rest for the soul and rest for the body. God sets the created order and he establishes that we need his rest, the Sabbath. It is His day and not the day for man to do what he pleases. The Sabbath is sweet, it is a delight. The proper fast understands that the Sabbath is a feast. It is an opportunity to stop and trust the Lord who set in place the created order and sovereignly sustains it. The Sabbath, truly appreciated, is to rest and value the Creator’s goodness through worship. It is to enjoy the Lord Himself. It is to fast from distraction, the temptation to fixate on what is pressing and to feast on the rest promised from the Lord. It is to understand that what God commands, if engaged by faith, are true means of grace, means by which we might commune with the Lord truly.
Our Gospel shows us what is an acceptable fast to the Lord. In some sense, Jesus shows the feasting amidst his fast. A lesson which we should take to heart as we have just entered our forty days of Lent. Our Lord Jesus Christ, immediately after his baptism, is led by the Holy Spirit to go out into the Wilderness to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. The Son of God Incarnate is recapitulating, in some sense, the Wilderness journey of Israel who suffered from various sorts of difficulties - thirst, hunger, tiredness. They wrongly inferred that God had abandoned them. Early in the journey they worshipped an idol made with their own hands and even proposed to return to slavery in Egypt. The Wilderness was intended to be a time free from distraction, a period of experiencing God’s faithfulness, the Prophets used language of a honeymoon for Israel and her God. Yet, Israel chose to fear and rebel rather than rest in the God of the Sabbath. Israel failed. Jesus, the Son of God in human flesh, fulfilled the Lord’s intentions for Israel.
He goes out into the wilderness willingly, Israel had to be compelled out by the Egyptians. Jesus endured true hardship, true mortification of the flesh - Israel, though provided very manna from heaven, whined and complained, doubted the goodness of God who had completely eradicated Israel’s enemies a few days before.
We read that after he had fasted, after Jesus had been fed on the true goodness of the Father’s presence, then, Satan appeared. At the height of Christ’s weakness, at the end of his physical strength, he was tested. It has been said that Jesus was tested like Adam and Eve in the Garden - with food, with presumption. Man fell into sin through food - eating of the forbidden fruit. Satan tempts Jesus with a legitimate need - wrongfully attained. Stones into bread. Instead, in the spirit of true fasting, Jesus feasted on the word of God. He quotes Deuteronomy “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
We need food to live - there is no doubt that Jesus had legitimate need - he indeed hungered. Yet, Jesus understands the fullness of the feast amidst the fast. As he fasts physically, he feasts on “every word that comes from God.” We should note that Jesus had hidden the word of God in His heart. He memorized it and it was a constant resource to him regardless of his physical circumstances. Moreover, he meditated on how the Scriptures related to one another, he crossreferenced, he immersed himself in that which was eternally true. He fed on God’s truth, regardless of what may happen to his body, our greatest need is communion with God. True fasting is feasting, meditating on the word of God.
In the second temptation, Jesus was tempted to abuse Scripture for his own purposes - to presume on God’s protection. Presume upon his true status as the Son of God.
Once again, he responds to Satan’s quotation of Psalm 91 by weighing the interpretation by the whole of Scripture. It was because he knew the Scriptures and was committed to obeying them that he could reject the temptation.
In the fast of the Wilderness, the Son of God feasted on the joy of obedience to His heavenly Father. Feasting on Sonship even when it took him through paths of suffering. This is the undercurrent of the final temptation of Satan where he shows Jesus all the glory of the kingdoms of the world. All the things that would be pleasing to the eyes, all the power, prestige, wealth, all the self-sufficiency that purportedly comes with the kingdoms of this world. Jesus, ever examining claims through the lens of Scripture, tells Satan of the exclusive right of worship that belongs to God. God should be worshipped and him alone. Even if it means that the path appears to be that of suffering, one of humiliation.
In this final episode of temptation, Jesus shows us how to accept the love of God in determining our station, our circumstances, feasting as it were on the providence of God, his fatherly care has us precisely where we should be if we are being obedient to His will, feasting on his word, feasting on the joy of our salvation even as we walk through paths of suffering in the present.
The Gospel ends with Satan departing from Jesus and then he being attended to by angels. God the Father did not abandon Jesus in his hour of temptation. He was present but sent him comfort and strength through the ministry of angels once the appointed time of Our Lord’s temptation was over. Jesus knew that the suffering, the challenge in the wilderness was purposeful, intentional and He knew His Father - he knew he must be about his Father’s business and this business, this work was our redemption through Christ’s obedience.
So this First Sunday in Lent, let us meditate on what kind of fast is well-pleasing to God. Instead of a self-awareness of what we may be giving up, let us honor God by seeking to be a blessing to those in need. Perhaps setting aside money normally spent on those comforts of life so graciously provided throughout the year and giving it to the poor. Perhaps we can spend some more time showing real hospitality to those who are bereft of family, alone. What does that look like? I would love to hear your thoughts on how you might do these things particularly during Lent. God promises to feed us, make us fat, in a spiritual sense, as we are obedient to honoring Him by the way we take care of those who are in need.
Let us see how Jesus feasted amidst the fast and see in his obedience the template for our feasting amidst our fast. Jesus feasted on the Word of God in the Wilderness, meditating on its meaning and considering its context and its role in making one wise unto salvation.
As we honor God in Lent through service, let us carve out time to meditate on the Scriptures. Perhaps spend more time memorizing scripture, engaging with it, consulting commentaries, having conversations with other Christians about it. So, I invite you beloved in Christ, to fast from those things that separate us from God - lies, gossip, impurity - and feast on the homecoming offered us - feasting on the Word, feasting on hospitality to others in need. Amen.
