Sunday Recap for March 19, 2017
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In The Desert, Week 1: Lent

March 12, 2017
This four-week series will examine the account of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. You can read an account of Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4:1-11.

This account is frequently read at the beginning of the Lenten season. The 40 days of Lent are modeled after the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness.

Jesus went there alone, stripped of his family and support systems. Living with no food or frills. Everything else in his life was cleared away. In this sparse, barren landscape, Jesus was able to discern between the good and bad. 

This is why we observe the season of Lent. Like Jesus, we try to strip away the noise, the distractions, the things we typically lean on - so that we can prepare ourselves to hear God’s voice and experience the joy of resurrection.

Now, let's look at exactly how Jesus was tempted...

All three of the temptations are temptations for the abuse and misuse of power. We'll dive more into each temptation in the coming three weeks but here's an overview:

  • The first temptation (stones into bread) - personal power and self-gratification.
  • The second temptation (pinnacle of the temple) is a religious temptation…to twist the word of God for our own empowerment.
  • The third temptation (kingdoms of the world) is for political/economical power.

All of these temptations appeal to the EGO. Here is one definition for our ego:

The ego is our "false self," the part of us that needs to die. Even though we know it needs to die, we hate to see it go because we identify so often with it. 

"My old self (ego) has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ now lives in me..." - GALATIANS 2:20a

Lent is a season when we face the wilderness within.  Just as Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness prior to his earthly ministry, we too, must face the subtle temptations to the false self so that we can be “cleared out” for real ministry.
 

True spiritual transformation must and always will involve very real humiliations of the false self

“The spiritual journey is not a career or a success story.  It is a series of humiliations of the false self that become more and more profound.”- FR. THOMAS KEATING

DISCUSSION GUIDE

  • We began the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday (March 1). Have you ever observed the season of Lent before? If so, what was your impression of it?
  • Are you fasting from anything for Lent this year? If so, share what it is with your group and how it has been going for you so far.
  • Have you ever fasted from anything in the past? What was that experience like for you?
  • In the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil three times. We might reduce these three temptations to the desire for provision, security, and power. Are these desires inherently corrupt? When do these desires become temptations for sin?
  • We defined the EGO as "the part of our self that wants to be significant, central, and important by itself, apart from anyone else. It wants to be both separate and superior." What are some ways that we struggle individually with our ego or our "false self?"
  • How might the practice of fasting expose where our ego is asserting itself?
  • PRAY - Read Galatians 2:20 together as a group and pray that we would each be able to follow Christ into the wilderness and allow our ego to die so that we can experience the resurrection of new life in Christ.

FURTHER RESOURCES

  • A Short History of Lent Church historian Norman Tanner  gives a short history of Lent 
  • Dying to Self (part 1, part 2, part 3) - This is an excellent devotional by Richard Rohr on dying to self (ego) and living to Christ.
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