Learning To Live Inside Out: First Sunday In Lent, Year A Series

Matthew 4:1-11 The Message (The Test)

4 1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”

4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

Sermon: We’re on a journey. That’s how we describe the season of Lent. The Lenten Journey. The very concept implies at least two things: one, that we are moving. This isn’t a static, sit-and-contemplate event. We often think of Lent as a time of consideration, self-reflection, and introspection.

This journey isn’t random wandering in the wilderness, even though it often feels that way. We are on a path; we are moving toward the cross. That’s our destination. The culmination of our Lenten journey is not Easter Sunrise, as much as we wish it were. No, Easter is something completely different. Yes, We are going to the politically unjust evil motivated Cross.

1st Lent is a Journey through Hardships!

Lent is all about Hardship. Lent is also about struggling and fighting for the right to be who God has created you.

Is hardship not also the Black experience in America? Even in the Year 2023:

• Black Americans are less likely than other groups to feel confident about being treated respectfully in interactions with police in their area.

• One in four Black workers reported experiences of discrimination at their jobs in the past 12 months.

• A more recent survey, which asked respondents about their experiences in the past 30 days, found that more than a third of Black Americans had experienced unfair treatment in a store while shopping.

• More than one in five reported similar experiences in restaurants, bars, theaters, or other entertainment places.

• Black Americans are also less likely to report having leaders of their race or ethnicity at work. (GALLUP PANEL, MAY 18-23, 2021)

Yes, the Hardship is real, and they come before Easter. They are what I would call pre-resurrection issues. Today we still have to deal with Problems of Death, Poverty, and Violations as we Journey.

2nd The Devil is Always Ready

You can miss this; the devil is always ready to attack God's people. Though the Devil may attack at any time, he will always do it when he thinks it is to his advantage. We see this method, time and time again, in the Scriptures.

(a) We find that Jesus was attacked by Satan right after His baptism. This should teach us a lesson. After a great spiritual experience, we should be ready for spiritual attacks from the enemy.

(b) Satan also will attack when someone is beginning a new spiritual quest. Right after Jesus was attacked by the Devil, He began His public ministry.

(c) We also find Satan coming when believers are in a weak position - either physically or emotionally. Jesus was attacked after He had fasted for forty days.

This is also important for Black America because this is also when the Enemy attacks the church. When the Black church is coming out of a Spiritual experience, Like COVID-19, the Devil will tell you the church doesn’t need you, and you don’t need to get out and vote; they don’t need you to come out for that School program.

Yes, the Enemy attacks when the Church and the Black Community are trying to do something new and different than when the Devil when come directly at you. The Devil is fine with how you used to do church nobody got saved anyway but don’t let us start changing revival, and community Activists start changing politics, as usual; that’s when the devil will get at you.

Yes, and the Enemy will also come at you when you are weak; when you come out of your power position that’s when the devil will try his best to claim your glory. The devil never hunts the strong. They come out of you when you are down and out and without and can’t see the end; that’s when satin just right in.

3rd Be careful to grow the Inside Man

You have the learn to look for the inside man. The Book and later the Black Movie The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1969), by Sam Greenlee, is the fictional story of Dan Freeman, the first black CIA officer, and of the CIA's history of training persons and political groups who later used their specialized training in gathering intelligence, political subversion, and guerrilla warfare against the CIA. After his shaft mistreatment, This first Black Officer begins to train others to take down the organization from the inside.