Conversation over soup and bread followed Lenten mid-day worship at Luther’s Table today. Introducing last Sunday’s gospel reading, Fr. Kevin noted that our attention is normally drawn to Jesus’ temptations. Less attention is paid to the context: the desert. We spent some time brainstorming the question: “What comes to mind when you think of ‘desert’?” “Sandy,” one participant offered.
Reflecting on that simple truth I was struck by how it points to a deeper truth: “Dry sand” accurately describes a typical desert. “Sandy” also happens to be the name of a recent hurricane–how ironic, for a storm that is the farthest thing from dry! Further, I got to thinking about another recent tragedy: Newtown–at Sandy Hook Elementary School. That human disaster struck our nation emotionally as hard as any natural disaster.
Both tragedies–Sandy, and Sandy Hook–represent a kind of spiritual desert. They represent danger and helplessness. They also present temptations to give in to anger, fear, grief, despair, and self-reliance.
In the desert Jesus faced temptations to rely on his own power. Each time he kept his focus on the power of God. Finally, at least in Matthew’s telling of the story, “angels came and ministered to him.” The appearance of angels assures us that, even in whatever desert we might find ourselves, God is present and walks with us. God’s presence is no guaranteed shield to danger and tragedy but it is the power we rely on to save us from despair.
As we noted at worship, the desert is a place of absence and struggle. It’s also true that “occasions in which we struggle and feel as if God is absent very often become occasions for divine presence.” In Lent we ponder what that presence looks like for each of us, and the communities of which we are part.
Kairos 