Lent 1A
February 22, 2026
St. Dunstan’s
The Rev. Patricia Templeton
Baptisms are cause for celebration. After almost every baptism there is a special reception here, often followed by another party at home for family and friends.
That was not the case for Jesus. He was 30 when he was baptized by his cousin John in the Jordan River. As he was coming out of the water the voice of God boomed from the heavens, “This is my son, the beloved. With him I am well pleased.”
A momentous occasion to be sure, but not one that led to celebration. Instead, immediately after he was baptized Jesus faced the first major test of his ministry. We hear today that Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”
Other translations say that the Spirit propelled Jesus into the wilderness. The implication is clear. This time in the wilderness was not necessarily Jesus’ choice. It was a test, a preparation for the work ahead.
The test begins with physical hardship. For 40 days and nights Jesus fasts alone. At the end he was famished, weakened in body and spirit.
And that’s when the real trials begin.
First, the tempter comes to Jesus, who is near starvation from 40 days without food, and commands him to turn stones into bread.
It seems like a logical thing for a starving man with miraculous powers to do. Why not? But Jesus rebukes the tempter with the word of God.
“It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Twice more the tempter tries to entice Jesus – taking him to the pinnacle of the Temple and encouraging him to jump to prove that God will save him, then taking him to the top of a high mountain, and promising him power over all the kingdoms of the world if he will just worship the devil.
Jesus refuses both offers, quoting scripture each time.
It’s hard for us to think of Jesus being truly tempted, but these enticements were very real. If you had not eaten in 40 days and had the power to turn a rock into bread, would you hesitate to do so?
These temptations have a common thread – Jesus is being tempted to use his powers to satisfy his own needs, to perform miracles on demand to prove what he can do, to compromise just a bit because the means would justify the ends.
Jesus never gives in. Every time he relies on God and God’s word to give him the strength to resist the temptations to misuse his power.
We hear some version of this story every year the first Sunday in Lent, 40 days that the Church has set aside for fasting and penitence, a time to reflect on what temptations separate us from God.
While Jesus’ temptation was to use his powers for personal gain, we face another kind of test. Often we are tempted to think that we have no power, that there is nothing we can do to make a difference in the world.
Any look at the news makes it easy to give in to that temptation. The problems that face our nation and world are overwhelming. In our country alone we face climate change, staggering poverty, never ending gun violence, assaults on our democracy by those who are supposed to defend it, and rising racism and bigotry of all kinds.
Too many of those with power in our nation don’t hesitate to misuse it for their own gain.
What can one person, or even one group do to make a difference in the face of such intractable problems? The temptation is to turn off the news, throw up our hands, and walk away.
It’s so easy to be overwhelmed and discouraged, to want to bury our heads in the sand and just hope that things will somehow get better, or at least not have too big of an impact on us.
But that is playing into the hands of the oppressors.
Those in positions of power who abuse and misuse it may seem to have everything in their favor. But there is one thing they don’t have on their side – God.
God is never on the side of those who abuse power, even when they wrap themselves up in religious language, like Satan quoting scripture to tempt Jesus.
Scripture is full of examples of the corrupt and powerful being humbled by the lowly, who have God on their side.
Too often we make the mistake of thinking that because we can’t do everything then we can do nothing. That is giving into temptation.
One of my favorite musicians, Iris Dement, sings about not giving into that temptation. In her song “Working on a World,” she sings these words addressing her own discouragement at the slow pace of justice.
I got so down and troubled
I nearly lost my head
I started waking every morning
filled with sadness, fear, and dread.
The world I took for granted
was crashing to the ground
and I realized I might not live long enough
to ever see it turn around.Oh, but then I got to thinkin’
of the ones who came before,
of all the sacrifices that they made
to open up so many doors.
Doors I get to walk through
on streets paved for me
by people who were workin’ on a world
they never got to see.I don’t have all the answers
to the troubles of the day,
but neither did our ancestors
and they persevered anyway.
When I see a little baby
reaching out its arms to me
I remember why I’m workin’ on a world
I may never see.Oh, I’m workin’ on a world I may never see.
Joining forces with the warriors of love
who came before and will follow you and me.
I get up in the morning
knowing I’m privileged just to be
workin’ on a world
I may never see.
That same sentiment is expressed in the Jewish Talmud in a reflection on the prophet Micah’s words — “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” I have these words on the wall above my desk. I’ve quoted them before, but they are a prayer I need to hear over and over.
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.
Do justly, now.
Love mercy, now.
Walk humbly, now.
You are not obligated to complete the work,
but neither are you free to abandon it.
This Lent let us not give in to the temptation that there is nothing we can do. Instead, may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.
Amen.