Jesus in the Wilderness

Luke 4:1–13 NRSV

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Introduction activity — hermeneutical lens

Ok, before we dive in, I want us to do a simple activity.

Grab your bulletin and roll it into a tube. Ok, now, hold that tube up to your eye like a telescope. What do you see? Look around the room, look at each other (carefully).

This is your lens.

Now, if we had more time, I’d have given you all a new piece of paper and had you write all kinds of things about yourself on it. Your birthplace, your favorite movies, your ethnic origins, etc.

Why? Because these are all what construct your lens on the world. The way we see the world impacts how we make meaning of the world, what our priorities are, and how we use what we have.

Academically speaking, we call this our “hermeneutical lens.” The way we see. And it’s the way we read, the way we speak, the way we take input and synthesize it into meaning in our lives.

Theologies

Last week, I had you all think about theological traditions you may have come from, denominationally at least. Today, we focus in a bit more and look at one particular hermeneutic, or way of reading the Scriptures. But first, let’s also acknowledge that there are many, many established ways Christians have talked about this lens.

When you hear “theology”, without any preceeding word, it is fairly safe to say that it represents “anglo/Western” theology. Not a bad thing, just a reality. White guy theology.

But as we enter the study of the Scriptures, we realize there are many other people groups who read the Scriptures in ways that are not like us. For instance, Feminist Theology, which obviously focuses on how the Scriptures are read by Women and particularly for there to be Good News for women in the text. Or Womanist Theology, separate from Feminist Theology, in that it is the particular reading by Black Women. Or Mujerista Theology, the theology of Latina women. Queer theology — how we read the text through the eyes of being gay or transgender. Eco-theology, examining the text through the lens of caring for Creation. And, for our focus this season, Liberation Theology, a theology of the oppressed, or a theology from below — God’s good news for the poor, hurting, and lowly.

Even in making a list, I know I miss many because my lens is only so wide. But I hope you get the idea.

The way we see the world interacts with the tradition of Scripture and forms how we are taught by God’s Good News. If we can see this, it helps us to see the text more fully. If we ignore this, we are often prone to see the text in ways that miss the wholeness therein.

Liberation Theology

Ok. So. This Lent, we’re going to examine the regular lectionary Gospel readings, but with special attention to the theology of Liberation.

If we ignore this opportunity to look at the text through the lens of those who are hurting, longing, and, maybe, not like us, we miss a major theme of the entirety of the Scriptures — God cares for the hurting and the poor.

Liberation theologians go so far as to say that this is a universal mandate through the Scriptures and that God is, actually, always preferential to the needs of the poor over those in power.

God hear’s the voices crying out in the wilderness.

God hear’s the widow’s cry during the famine (remember, this is the truth that Jesus spoke in the synagogue and it almost gets him hurled off a cliff).

God sees the woman caught in adultery and sends away the pious religious folks, dropping their stones.

God promises to wipe away all tears…who cries? Who longs? Who laments?

If that is you, the Good News is for you. If that is not you, then the invitation is to consider how WE make common cause with those who it is for. That’s one of the crucial aspects of Liberation Theology. While it is good news to the poor, it is also the invitation for all of us to be in solidarity with the poor. When we make their cause our cause (whoever they are), we make ourselves like the ones who are hurting. Perhaps that means giving away our excess or fasting for a season to truly experience hunger. Perhaps it actually means walking the streets with the unhoused, even for a day, to know what it’s like to feel the elements and have no clear sense of where you would lay your head to rest.

And of course, a caution in this — to learn liberation theology is not to perform some feat or, as we heard on Ash Wednesday, make a public display of our piety. If we do these things to look good or feel good about ourselves, we miss the point.

Bob Ekblad’s Reading the Bible with the Damned

One of the first opportunities I had to think about Liberation Theology and really understand this sense of making common cause with the oppressed was when I read this book, Bob Ekblad’s “Reading the Bible with the Damned.”

In this, Bob tells stories of visiting inmates in the Skagit County jail system and hosting Bible studies. It is an examination of how gang members, drug dealers, murderers, etc., can hear Good News in the Scriptures. The imprisoned are oppressed by the systems that drive them to criminal acts. This doesn’t exonerate them, but can we not see — these are our damned, our lonely, our poor and oppressed. How is the text Good News for them?

The three temptations

Let’s look again at this morning’s text and I want to focus in on the three temptations that the Oppressor or Adversary, the Satan, proposes to Jesus. How do we encounter these? And how is there Good News for the poor in these encounters?

First, we have the temptation to break fasting by breaking the rules of reality. You’re hungry, Jesus? Make these stones into bread. Hear Satan’s temptation this way: “Jesus, I know you’re hungry. And, you and I both know you can bend the rules if you want to. The rules of reality don’t really apply to ones like us, anyways, do they? Just flick your wand and make this food, easy peasy. Nobody will know, for one. And nobody will question you, you’re God, right?”

The oppressor bends the rules to their liking. The laws of the land are arbitrary to the powerful, or so it may seem.

But Jesus responds — it’s not bread we need. It’s the word of God, the sustaining presence of God’s spirit. And in his turning down the opportunity to bend the rules to his favor, how do the oppressed among us see him? Well, perhaps it is a righteous leader, one who will side with those who CANNOT break the rules, who try and get thrown into prison. When the poor steal bread, how do we treat them? When the rich embezzle money, how do we treat them? Please tell me you get the picture. Jesus’ action sides with those who have no power.

Second, there is the temptation to seize power from the oppressor. The Adversary takes Jesus to the mountain where he can see the whole city. And the Adversary says, “hey, look, this can all be yours. I’ve got a mandate to hand out power to whoever I please. Just pledge your allegiance to me and you can have it (it’s mine to give). Just worship me. Kiss the ring and it’s your land.”

And Jesus responds — no, worship God and God alone. The oppressor wields power and doles it out to whoever is loyal. But Jesus’ principle loyalty is to God. Offers of power and prestige will not undermine this.

Again, the oppressed often do not have the choice to join up with oppressor. But I think of some examples from the stories of St. Oscar Romero that bring some of this into focus. In 1970s El Salvador, as the oligarchy and government battled over control of agricultural lands, the poor were pushed aside and taken off of their farms. In some cases, poor farmers would be recruited into the armed militias of the government. Can you think of other times through history when disenfranchised, typically young men, join up with the armed forces and start serving the oppressors desires?

But Jesus sides with God and God sides with the poor. Who will we align ourselves with?

Finally, there is the temptation to test God. In some ways, this final temptation can be seen as a combination of the first two. The Adversary, once again, says “Jesus, you’re the holy man. We’re hear at the Temple, the height of religious power. And religious power stands outside of the authorities of man, right? So, let’s break the rules again — I’ll even use your own Hebrew scriptures to justify it. God will send angels, right? The rules don’t matter. And you know what, God doesn’t matter either, right, at least, you could take the power from God, couldn’t you? God would have to stoop to help you and in that moment, you could rise. See it Jesus? Will you?”

Jesus responds. Do not test God.

St. Romero, who we’ll learn more about next Sunday with the film at 4pm, had the opportunity to bend to the powers of the state in El Salvador. He was Archbishop, the highest role in the Catholic Church in the country. He could have struck bargains with the powerful and gotten himself a higher position. He could have eased up in his critique of them. But instead, he dared not test God by yielding to the will of men. Even to the point of death, trusting God’s faithfulness but never testing God’s power.

Do you see this? The poor have no access to this power. And so, Jesus makes common cause with all people who are outside the circle of power.

And God, in God’s faithfulness, upholds and sustains him, without the test.

How is this good news for the poor and the oppressed?

This Lent, let’s examine the Scriptures and our lives through this lens. Let’s liberate Lent together. I’ve come to find that reading the Scriptures with an eye towards the poor is one of the most freeing ways to see God at work. It helps me discern the right direction. If I am stuck, I ask, how is this good news for the poor — for in this moment, O Lord, I am poor in spirit, hungry for insight, oppressed by the powers and principalities.

It is a challenge. It’s nice to stay where we are.

But when we start to read this way, the text opens up. Our lens broadens and we begin to see God’s way as wider, deeper, grander, fuller, than we could ever have imagined.

Christ’s work in our lives is to liberate us all from the oppression of death, in all its forms. Death in poverty, death in hunger, death in prison, death in addiction. Liberation and life in Christ.

Closing

Yesterday, we had a beautiful service for Craig Keyes. As we prepared for the service, Julie shared a quote with me that Craig kept in his wallet. Craig came from a relatively affluent Bellingham family and at times struggled with how to use his power or position for the good of others. The quote that Julie shared was this, and it strikes me as a great way of thinking about how we make common cause with the poor…

It read, “He drew a circle that shut me out—heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle and took him in!”

When we begin to see with the lens of liberation, the circle grows broader. Rather than pushing out the oppressor, the circle even draws in the powerful and helps them seek their own restoration and healing.

We are not beholden to the powers of this world, nor their temptations or demands. We are set free by the love of God. May we respond in gratitude and action. Amen.