If…

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 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.” ’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:1-11, NRSV)

Bread, pinnacle and kingdoms of this world! What would you do?

Satan tells Jesus He doesn’t have to suffer the hunger. If He is truly the son of God, He can turn the stones all around Him to bread and eat. Heck why not fillet minion!

And then Satan takes Him to the pinnacle of the temple, the closest point in Jewish understanding from earth to heaven. This is the highest place anyone can go without ascending into heaven. And Satan tells Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself off… ” You will not be harmed.

And then Satan offers Him the kingdoms of this world, which if He is the Son of God are truly His anyway, right…

But you see the biggest word and most intriguing word in this passage is if. It makes us think that Satan is not sure who Jesus is. Like he is asking Jesus if He really is the Son of God.

But Satan is not asking, he is affirming who Jesus is. You see in Greek the word for if, also means since. So to me this passage is Since you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread and jump off the highest place on earth because you will not be hurt.

Satan wants Jesus to worship him, and that is what he wants from us as well, by questioning who Jesus is. Satan knows and we can be sure that Jesus is the Son of God and He does walk with us in out journey!

So since He is with you, go and share His grace. And don’t question that!

What God wants…

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. (Isaiah 58:6-9a, NRSV)

What God wants…

God wants us to loose the bonds of injustice. He wants us to speak out for those who have no voice or no representation. We need to help those who are oppressed in anyway to be set free.

God wants us to share with those in need, to feed the hungry, to give those without shelter shelter. We need to give clothing to those who need it and not make ourselves unavailable just because we don’t get along with someone.

We need to look out for the needs of the other, rather than making life about the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I.

God is calling is to be His hands and feet in the world and to do that it is not about us, but about the other.

My way!

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’ (Jonah 4:1-11, NRSV)

Have you ever wanted something and you prayed for it and you felt like it was going to happen, like this is really where God is leading you?

Jonah was there. He was sure the Ninevites were going to get it. They had mistreated so many for so long and had been living out of the path of God, and God was going to smite them. He sent Jonah to Ninevah to warn them, that they had 40 days. And they heard what God was saying through Jonah and they repented and God turned from His anger.

Jonah was now left with the emptiness of what he thought was what was going to happen not happening. Jonah thought God would do what Jonah wanted Him to do since Jonah did what God asked.

Do we ever find ourselves getting upset with God because He didn’t do it my way?

God does not need an adviser, He needs followers, people who will not get upset when things don’t go their way, but are ready to go and do as they are led for the good of all people!

So is it my way, or is it God’s way?

Repent!

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:1-10, NRSV)

Jonah went to the Ninevites and told them that the way they were living was not how God wanted them to live.

He was one who took the word of God to the people of Ninevah.

And the people of Ninevah listened. And they heard the word of the Lord and they repented. Even the king of Ninevah removed his robe and covered himself with sackcloth and ashes. He repented of his evil ways and set his sights on God.

That is what God seeks for all of us. He wants for us to turn from our own selfish understanding to focusing on Him.

When God sees this, as He did in Ninevah He turns from anger to and turns to love!

So turn from your own desires to following God.

For whom?

‘Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, NRSV)

For whom do you give alms,fast,pray? Why do you do these things?

Is it to boast your own self image?

Look at me and the great things I am doing!

We are human, so we want people to give us accolades. We want the treasure that feeds us and give us the wonderful things in life now!

But Christ tells us to store up our treasures where it can not be taken from us.

We need to watch our motives and not try to stock pile here and make a name for ourselves. Jesus is telling us to hide our giving, fasting and praying not so others don’t know we are doing these things, but so we do not get caught up in the drawing attention to ourselves and miss the point of giving, fasting and praying.

We give, fast and pray to draw closer to God, not for ourselves! We are starting a trek to deeper discipleship and Jesus is helping us with a good GPS!

Photo a Day for Lent Challenge

One of the things I have grown in doing has been a photo a day for Advent and Lent. Usually there is one put out by RethinkChurch, a wonderful United Methodist site.

But this evening when I went there to discover their photo a day for Lent listing I could not find it…

So I Googled: Photo a day lent…

I found one at Catholic Sistas which is good, but I would have had to modify it for my Lutheran understanding…

So as I was lying in bed I started thinking of my sermon for Ash Wednesday and my sermon for the first Sunday during Lent and words started popping into my mind. So I created my own picture a day challenge for Lent.

So here it is…

Picture a day Lent 2014

I will be uploading my photos here and on Pinterest.

If you join me in this adventure please post a comment on my post here for the my picture of the day with a link to your picture.

I pray that this adventure will draw you closer to God as we travel these 40 days of Lent with our Savior!