Life Isn’t About What You Think
It's not a fun place to visit, the wilderness, the desert. There's an old Roman road that leads out of Jericho, and it winds up through the hills to Jerusalem. I remember going there and having a rather harrowing experience in a bus in that long, dry, barren, awe-inspiring desert and wilderness. There's a Greek Orthodox monastery on the side of the mountain. It's a beautiful, beautiful place. And there's one little cross at the top of the hill on the peak looking out over the wilderness, the chasm below with a shepherd and some herd of his sheep perched on the hillside all across. And that's where they say Jesus spent 40 days and nights until he was worn out, his resistance low after fasting and being tempted for 40 days by Satan.
Temptation's not a fun place to visit either, is it? Temptation's a lonely place, a difficult place, a place of testing. But that's where Jesus is in the gospel reading today, right in the center of temptation. He's already been tempted for 40 days, and then Satan goes straight for his soul. He plays hardball. Satan comes back with three final temptation doozies after 40 days of temptation. If Jesus - think about it - if Jesus, the Son of God, is opposed by the strong forces of evil, if he's not exempt from them, who is?
Lent's a good time to be reminded of that, and that's why we pray, fast, and give alms. Those are designed to help you and me overcome temptation, to be anything less than the best version of ourselves. Satan's message is clear. "Get all you can, Jesus. Look at the splendor, look at the sparkle. It's all yours. Don't worry about God, don't worry about pleasing Him. Please yourself, Jesus. That'll make you happy. Simply worship me." Because the devil is all about getting. He's about getting because the more we focus on getting, what we think life should be, the less and less life we actually have. You can call it acquisition; you can call it purchasing; you can call it consuming. Call it what you want, but you and I live in a culture of getting. It is we. Getting, getting even, getting my way, getting what's mine, getting while the getting's good, getting all I can, getting what I want out of life, getting, getting, getting. And no matter how much we get, we still want more. We get what we want, and life's still not right. Our soul's not settled, our heart's not satisfied. We want more revenge, we want more assets, we want to get more pleasure. We are a culture of getters.
Reminds me about the little boy, Brian, at the birthday party. His mother was about to serve the cake when he shouted, "I want the biggest piece!" She replied, "Brian, it's not polite to ask for the biggest piece." So he looked at the floor and he said, "Well, then how do I get it?"
It's not Brian. It's you and me, too, isn't it? Plenty is just never enough. There's just something in our souls that always wants to get more. It's really basic, actually. It's a simple principle, yet it's so difficult to hear. But it's crucial to understand as Lent begins. The devil is about getting. Jesus is about giving. "Don't try to get life," Jesus says. "Give your life away, and when you do then you'll find it." Because life is not about us. It's about God. As long as we focus on ourselves, our needs, our wants, our passion, our spirit, our desires, we'll never actually find what life is about. That's the irony, isn't it? So when Satan offers the world, Jesus replies, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him." Because Jesus understood you can only have one master. You can serve whatever you choose, your passion, your desires, all the world's stuff, or you can serve God. "Just know," Jesus says, "that to serve anything other than God is to choose Satan." To serve Jesus, God, is life itself. In other words, do you want life? Give it away. That's why Lent's just so powerful. It's about these simple habits: pray, fast, give. Habits that help you give your life away to God. When you invest your heart, when you invest your money, when you invest your life in God, then you will find life.
It's funny who understands that. Matt was a forklift driver. He lived near Detroit. He worked as a forklift driver for most of his adult life. Even when he was 78, he was still driving that lift. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment, drove an old Ford Escort, didn't take vacations. What did he do? Matt gave his money away. Over the course of his lifetime, he'd given more than $1 million to church ministries and educational scholarships. He said, "Big house, big car? That doesn't excite me. Giving is my joy." Funny who understands that. A 78-year-old forklift driver.
Look around you. You'll find all kinds of folks who understand the basic principle. The devil is about getting. Jesus is about giving. You'll find women in your parish leading groups for teenagers to give faith. You'll find business leaders gathering to serve on mission teams to Haiti and Honduras to serve the poor, to give their lives away. You'll find men participating in small groups to encourage each other and pray together, to share life. It's kind of funny who understands it best. You just never know who. The devil is about getting. Jesus is about giving.
A lot can happen in 40 days of Lent. How are you going to use yours? What are you going to do with your 40 days? Jesus is inviting you to give your life away, and when you do, you just might find that you have more life than you ever had before.
