The Paths We Choose (Lent 2)

Genesis 2: 15-18 & 3: 1-7 & Matthew 4: 1-11

Roger Lynn

March 17, 2019

2nd Sunday in Lent

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I once saw a bumper sticker that declared – “I can resist anything, except temptation!” Or the excuse often used by people who want to avoid taking responsibility for their actions – “It’s not my fault – the devil made me do it!” And then there is the ever popular defense – “I’m only human!” Which is another way of saying, “It’s God’s fault for making me this way.” Life is filled with examples of less than helpful choices which lead to less than helpful results, and we are often much better at making such choices than we are at owning up to them afterwards. Sometimes is is as simple as an insensitive remark which hurts someone’s feelings. Sometimes it is as disastrous as the use of weapons of mass destruction which kill thousands of people. Life is about the paths we choose to travel and the consequences of those choices.

The creation story which we find in the second and third chapters of Genesis is an ancient tale which seeks to explain who we are as human beings and how we came to be in the situation in which we find ourselves. The central message of this story is that we are created by God and filled with the life-giving breath of God so that we might live in harmonious relationship with God, with each other, and with the world around us. That is who we are created to be. That is what it means to be human. Unfortunately, that is frequently not how things turn out. The story goes on to explain that this pattern of interdependence becomes distorted and broken when we human beings make flawed choices. Having options is not a bad thing. Being tempted is a natural part of what it means to have the freedom to choose. But we are not always very wise about our choices. When we lose sight of who we are and who we are created to be – when we seek to be something we are not – then all of our relationships are thrown out of balance. In Genesis it is the decision to stop trusting God’s guidance and direction. The consequences of that choice were loss of innocence, shame, and fear. In 21st century America it might be the decision to set ourselves up as judge – determining other people’s value based on our own subjective criteria and taking it upon ourselves to decide who is acceptable and who is not. In either case it begins with “I know best,” moves quickly to “it’s not my fault,” and ends with broken relationships and lives which are out of balance.

Sometimes we just want to throw up our hands in despair. “We are only human.” Whether it is the various wars which continue to rage around the world, or the greed and corruption which we witness in our politicians and our corporations, or the growing level of incivility we watch playing out in the public sphere and on our own Facebook pages, or the homelessness and poverty we see right here in our own home town, we start to believe that our path is hopelessly set on a downward spiral. We are often quick to declare our dismay and even our outrage, but we are frequently much slower to examine our own part in creating a world so out of balance.

But then we find Jesus quietly reminding us that it does not have to be like this. There is hope and there is a point. He begins his public ministry by allowing himself to be led by God’s Spirit. Alone in the wilderness, he finds a way to restore the balance which was intended for us and for all of creation by maintaining his trust in and connection with God. It is that relationship which sustains him – not just in the best of times, but in the most trying of times as well. As he seeks God’s direction for becoming most fully the person God would have him be, he finds himself faced with raw, primal, basic choices – food, safety, and power. Taken at face value they all seem very reasonable. For temptations to be truly tempting they almost always seem reasonable. But underneath those choices is an even more basic and ultimate choice – to live life in relationship with God or to go it alone. Jesus’ triumph in the wilderness rests squarely on the fact that he kept his eyes firmly fixed on his connection with God. He survives the trial of his temptations not because he was divine, but because he chose to remember what it is to be truly human.

In the movie, Lord of the Rings, which is based on the epic story by J.R.R.Tolkien, Frodo finds himself with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The ring which he carries represents an evil beyond imagining, and it is his task to destroy it. At one point, when things seem particularly dark and hopeless, Frodo says to his friend Gandalf, “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had ever happened.” To which Gandalf responds, “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been give to us. There are other forces at work in the world besides the will of evil.” 

And that is both the challenge and the hope for all of us as we seek to live faithful lives. We will face difficult choices which sometimes seem hopeless. That goes hand in hand with being free to choose. And we will not always make the most helpful choices. That goes hand in hand with being brought up in a world where fear is so often seen as a way of life and radical independence is understood to be a virtue. But it is possible to restore balance to our lives. It is possible because God is always reaching out to draw us back into relationship. We have but to look to Jesus’ example to see what is possible when we open ourselves to such a relationship. The temptation which is always confronting us, in one form or another, is to be something we were never created to be – isolated and independent, rather than in relationship with God, with each other, and with the world around us. It is easy to become overwhelmed. But, in the words of Gandalf, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that has been given to us.”

The lesson of the garden is that we seem inclined to choose badly when given a choice. The lesson of the wilderness is that such choices need not be the final word. Being human does not have to mean being cut off from God. Indeed, God is always reaching out to us. But we must choose to respond by letting go of our fear and our need to always be in control. We cannot clasp the outstretched and welcoming hand of God while our own hand is clenched in a fist. The paths we choose to walk will ultimately bring either healing or pain, to ourselves and to the world. And the choices we make will have consequences which are often more far reaching than we could ever imagine. May we choose wisely and faithfully.