Reflection for the First Sunday in Lent
By the Rev’d. Allison K. Dean
Listen to this reflection here.
(Find the Ash Wednesday reflection here)
The collect for the First Sunday in Lent reads,
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
In almost every collect there is a clause or article of the prayer which either states something about God’s character or recalls something he has done. And this recital or remembrance then becomes the foundation on which we build the petition (the thing we’re asking for). So, if a collect says that God forgives the sins of those who are penitent, it makes sense that we petition or ask God to make us feel sorrow for our sin so that we will seek the forgiveness that he offers. The same rule applies to this week’s collect, which says, “Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan.”
At first glance this may not seem like anything to celebrate, or even like something that could comfort and assure us. But it really is. Temptation is part of life. No matter how old we are, no matter how much time we spend in church, no matter how vibrant our prayer life, no matter how much outreach we do, temptation will come. What this collect calls us to remember is that Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us – even in our temptation. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that in Jesus we have a high priest, one who sits at the Father’s right hand, who is able to sympathize with our weakness because he was tempted just like we are tempted. The only difference between him and us is that he was much better at resisting temptation than we are. But it is precisely because he was tempted but did not yield to the temptation, did not sin, that we can “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
You see, only a God who has been where we have been, and felt what we have felt, could possibly understand our struggle. Because you don’t really know what a person is going through until you have walked a mile in their shoes. So what this collect does upfront is remind us, or tell us if we didn’t already know, of how God’s love manifested itself in Jesus. “For God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved” (John 3:17). By sending his only Son and allowing him to enter into our human condition, and be subjected to temptation, he gave us a Saviour who is able to help us in own time of trial.
It is with this understanding that the collect goes on to ask, “Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save.”
I find that we’re all prone to judge other people for their repeated sin/shortcomings/failures, particularly those that are highly visible: the single mother who’s pregnant again, the alcoholic who can’t stop at just one drink, the person who keeps playing numbers while the rent/mortgage is past due. But as Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23). We’re all in the same boat. We’re all sinners in need of grace. When the Collect for this week says that God “[knows] the weaknesses of each of us” what it means is that every one of us has some particular area(s) with which we struggle. It might be pride; it might be an unforgiving spirit; it might be greed. I can’t name every possible sin, but you get the picture, I’m sure. Within each of us are desires and inclinations that run contrary to the will of God. And it is those desires and inclinations which give rise to our temptation. We read in James 1:14-15, “…one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin…”
This week, I challenge each of us to do some prayerful introspection, examining ourselves and identifying the desires and yearnings which have the potential to lead us into sin. If we know where the potholes are, it becomes easier to avoid them. And when we find that we can’t avoid the temptation,
Ask the Saviour to help you,
Comfort, strengthen and keep you;
He is willing to aid you,
He will carry you through.
***NOTE:*** If you’re interested some light reading, I recommend C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. It is a humorous, yet serious and engaging account of temptation and triumph over it.