Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "’He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’" 7 Jesus answered him, "It is also 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 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’" 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
“40 Days of Prayer”
Fat Tuesday…
What do you think of when I say the words Mardi Gras? The mere mention of these two words usually convey thoughts of raucous celebrations, beads flying through the air, ear-to-ear grins plastered on the faces of millions of revelers, and of course floats parading through the streets of New Orleans!
While these associations are accurate, this is only taking into account a small portion of what Mardi Gras stands for and means to millions of people not just in the Bayous and Parishes of Louisiana, but across the world. Mardi Gras, which in French translates to Fat Tuesday, is officially the day before Ash Wednesday, and while you may know it as one of the biggest parties in the country… it is actually filled with a lot of religious significance.
While you may just see a jester in vibrant colors… you may not know that those three main colors of Mardi Gras have religious meaning. The Purple (represents Justice), Green (represents Faith), and Gold (represents Power). And it goes way beyond just aesthetic planning too. Roughly stated… the whole point behind Mardi Gras is that good Christians everywhere will soon be joining Christ on his 40 day walk into the desert. In this morning’s scripture, we read about how Jesus began his ministry. He retreated into the desert for 40 days to pray and fast to prepare for his ministry.
For him, it was a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation. By observing Lent, many people chose to join Jesus on this journey. While we don’t go off into a desert to fast and pray, it is a time for us to give something up… to sacrifice something… and to deprive ourselves. For us, it is also a time of contemplation, reflection, and preparation… so that we can get into the proper mindset for Easter… and if we are going to have 40 days of depriving ourselves… then we are justified in getting all of the sinning out of the way on Fat Tuesday!
So brothers and sisters… Tuesday night… go out to the pizza place and pig out, stop by the Dairy Queen on your home and order something that costs 5 dollars, have a pile of Snickers bars for your midnight snack… because this Wednesday… is Ash Wednesday… and that is when we are supposed to give all that sort of thing up to suffer for our God.
Ash Wednesday…
Wednesday night at 7pm, our journey begins when we will gather together for a worship service known as the imposition of ashes. To find out more about this religious day, the meaning of the ashes, and the religious significance of the day… you are going to have to come on Wednesday because I’m keeping that in my hip pocket for now. But Wednesday officially begins our time of 40 days preparing the way for Easter known as Lent.
As I’ve said… It is a time of putting ourselves into the proper mindset… we NEED Jesus Christ. And we need to remember that we NEED Jesus Christ. It is because of our broken humanity that Jesus suffered and died. His resurrection awaiting us at Easter is the great redemption of mankind and restoration of our relationship with God.
To help put ourselves into the right mindset, we are called to give up something for Lent, and it is a practice that I personally find to be very worthwhile. Depriving ourselves of things we want can help us grasp a very small part of what it was like for Christ to suffer for us. As we “suffer” we are reminded of Christ’s suffering for us. (While it is unfair to fully compare our suffering over giving up TV, or candy, or meat to the suffering of Jesus at his crucifixion, it is still a very excellent way of preparing our minds for the glory awaiting us at Easter.) I highly encourage you to give something up this Lent as a way of preparing for Easter.
Our 40 days of Lent…
Now, I would like to do something I don’t normally do in sermons… and take this opportunity to share with you what our church will be doing to specifically help you prepare for Easter. On Wednesday we will be celebrating the imposition of ashes, but this night will also be the first opportunity for you to receive your Lenten Key Chain and Lenten Devotional. These resources will help you remember every day the reason behind Lent.
Over the next 6 Sundays, we will also be doing something very special in worship this year. Usually, the events of Holy Week are celebrated in a whirlwind of events leading up to Easter… this year we will be slowing things down, and celebrating Lent with a “Lenten Banner.” Each week will hang a new square on the banner and highlight a specific event from Holy Week leading up to the cross. I believe that this will help paint the importance of Lent in a way that we haven’t quite experienced before. It will make the most important few days of the church calendar and turn them into 40 days of worship… centered around the greatest gift ever given. 40 days…. 40 days in the desert for Christ…. 40 days of preparation for us.
Now… as far as some sermonizing goes… I know you would be disappointed if I never got around to preaching… I think there is a very valuable lesson in our scripture text today. Jesus did something very interesting to mark his 40 days… he retreated to fast and to pray. I believe that we as a church need to learn a lesson from that and that we should mark these next 40 days… with 40 days of prayer. Jesus time and time again showed us the importance of prayer… and he shows it to us again today… prayer is important… and prayer is powerful.
It is like the story of a bus driver and a minister standing in line waiting to get into heaven. The bus driver approached the gate and St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a bus driver. Since I’m in charge of housing, I believe I have found the perfect place for you. See that mansion over the hilltop? It’s yours. The minister heard all this and began to stand a little taller. He said to himself, "If a bus driver got a place like that, just think what I’ll get."
The minister approached the gate and St. Peter said, "Welcome, I understand you were a minister. See that shack in the valley?" St. Peter had hardly gotten the words out of his mouth when the irate minister said, "I was a minister, I preached the gospel, I helped teach people about God. Why does that bus driver get a mansion, and I get a shack?" Sadly St. Peter responded, "Well, it seems when you preached, people slept. When the bus driver drove, people prayed."
Prayer is a powerful, powerful thing. I think we should dedicate ourselves to 40 days of prayer of this Lent. And to help get us started… this next Friday at 7 pm, I am going to be opening up the church for a prayer service. I invite all of you to join me, come and light a candle, sit and pray. Pray for a few minutes… or join me for the full hour to pray. I would like you all to take a peek at your bulletin insert… we have a long list of prayer concerns… and many of those concerns we have been praying for… for a long time. It’s time for us as a congregation to recognize the power of prayer. It’s time for us to join together as Christians to pray for those dear to us… to petition our Father, to ask for intercession, and never give up.
Luke 18:1-7
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ’Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ’Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’" 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Let us make ourselves annoyances with our prayers, that our words are heard continuously in the ears of wonderful and loving God. Let us become advocates for change with our prayers, let us follow the example of our Lord and take everything to our God in prayer.
Now, I’ll admit we’ve been all over the place with this sermon… so lets take just a few moments to review the coming events… today you are going to come out and join us for bowling… on Tuesday you are going to treat yourself to Dairy Queen, and if anyone gives you trouble… you tell ‘em Pastor said you could! Wednesday you are going to come back at 7 pm to join together for Ash Wednesday, Friday night you are going to back again at 7 pm to join together for a great hour of prayer… to kick off 40 days of prayer, and finally you are going to come back next Sunday and every Sunday to see what this Lenten banner stuff is all about.
The point of all of this is this… if we take our task of preparing for Lent seriously… I promise you that this Easter will have a very special meaning for you. You will see, with eyes never more clear… the glory that awaits you in the empty tomb. So please, join me this Lenten season in preparing for our Lord.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
