Lent I – March 9, 2003

Immanuel Lutheran – Des Plaines, Illinois

Dear friends in Christ:

Today let us pray together Martin Luther's Morning Prayer. Please turn to page 305 in the front part of Lutheran Worship (hymnal).

I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that you would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please you. For into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

Our text for today's message is from the Gospel reading verses 12 & 13: 12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Take another look at the last sentence of the prayer, "Send your Hoy Angel to be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me."

It is the last sentence we may say before going out into the day's activities. It is the last sentence we say before departing for the night in Luther’s evening prayer again that God send his Holy Angels to be with us.

For each day's activities, it is a jungle out there. The world is a wilderness, a wild and untamed wilderness of all of the activity, the dangers to both body, reputation, and soul. It is a wilderness of temptations and assaults and decisions faced by each one every moment. It is an inward struggle with consciences, guilt, and the weight of one's own sin in the trials of faith.

At night, under the cover of darkness, Satan lurks in the shadows as he does not want to be revealed by true light. He never wants to be seen for who and what he really is. He uses darkness to veil his intents and purposes. In the darkness and loneliness how deceptive are temptations?

In today’s text we see the account of Jesus just after his baptism by John. The heavens had just ripped open, God had declared him his son and was well pleased with him, and the Holy Spirit miraculously descended on him in the form of the dove indicating that he and the Holy Spirit were one with God the Father in all of God’s attributes. Now he goes into the wilderness, alone and fasting, to be tempted directly by Satan.

How many times after a state of exaltation are you brought back to earth in the reality of :

tragedy
a grievous error or sin

It seems the higher we rise, the harder we fall. And when you fall, don't you feel like Humpty Dumpty in that not even the king's army and men can put things back together again?

At his baptism, God exposed Jesus for who he really was, God's own dear Son in whom he was pleased. Jesus was perfect, even as his father in heaven is perfect. Jesus completely satisfied God the Father. Satan now has his ultimate challenge.

It is at this time that the Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness without the protection of anyone around him. Jesus fasts for forty days, allowing his physical, earthly body to weaken. Jesus is not driven by force, but by his will to do as his father has sent him to earth, to suffer everything you or I or anyone else could suffer as far as the assaults of Satan and his evil followers.

Jesus goes alone, as this is his job alone, and not a team thing. And, he goes willingly, "A lamb goes uncomplaining forth." That happens right now at the start of his teaching and preaching ministry as well as at the end of his mission leading up to Calvary. Jesus wants to do this to bring glory to God the Father and to bring you back into perfect communion with God once again.

You try to make it alone in the wilderness of this life, but you cannot make it. You are attacked by the viciousness of this world, the torments of direct temptations from Satan, the worldly things in your life, and your own sinful nature. You feel abandoned by God.

But God does not abandon you. He nourishes you with his words of promise. He gives you strength in his commands which are given in love. As you follow them you receive the blessings he promises you in them. As you fall from his commands, you realize how much you need the strength only God can give. You realize then that you do need a Savior who can and does everything for you. We know we have a Savior "who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning."

Jesus was tempted not only in the wilderness, but throughout his life including during his public ministry. As we read today, angels served God's purpose in nurturing Jesus when physically weak and sorely tempted. God sends his angels to do his will in protecting you "lest you strike your foot against a stone." [Psalm 91] Angels tended to Elijah when he was in the wilderness. Angels protected Daniel and his three companions in Babylon. Those same angels, as we prayed in the Morning Prayer, protect you daily from the forces of evil too.

You are protected today by the power of God's word. You are protected today by the gifts given in baptism. You are strengthened today by repeating God' word, the fellowship of believers around you, and receiving our Savior in Holy communion with him and all saints. You are protected from all evil by the same angels who nurtured Jesus in the wilderness and tended to him in Gethsemane.

David wrote of God's protection in Psalm 16, "You will not abandon your servant to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay." David was writing about himself, all believers, and about the promised Savior, Jesus.

God allowed even his Son to be tempted as an example to us that through temptations, those who trust in him will be strengthened in faith. God tested Abraham with his son Isaac to show all that he always will provide. God inspired Paul to write of his love to the Romans that you have a God who will not let anything separate you from the love of a heavenly Father. He gave his one and only son for one reason alone, so that you too will know of his love and inherit his kingdom that his son wants to share with you.

Today we feel helpless in the jungle of this world. Elements of weather, effects of illness or disease, forces put on you by society, the threat of war in a war by our nation who for so long upholds the concept of sovereignty and peace make us wonder. But God provided for Abraham, Isaac, and all of their descendants. He delivered his own dear son through all that you encounter. He promises to keep you safe in his care to life everlasting. Amen

Contact Us	Immanuel Lutheran Church	Home	Recent Sermons	Immanuel Lutheran School
	The E-Messenger		This Week @ Immanuel