Breaking Good

PROPERS:        FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A       

TEXT:                GENESIS 2:15-17, 3:1-7; MATTHEW 4:1-11

PREACHED AT ST. PAUL’S CHAPEL, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2023.

 

ONE SENTENCE:        Our mission in Lent is to progress in the journey to holiness.

 

            From 2008 to 2013, there was a television series that captured the attention of millions.  Like many times in my life, I was late to the party.

 

            The series was Breaking Bad.  It was the story of a mild-mannered, inconspicuous high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, and his descent into the depths of absolute evil.  It was a riveting storyline which ran over five seasons. Many of you have seen it.

 

            It was not a story of one person; many people – family and friends – were dragged with him into the abyss.  Some died; many lost their innocence; others were manipulated into doing things they would never have done otherwise. All in a quest for an elusive ill-defined reward.

 

            Walter White, the teacher-turned-drug kingpin, was iconic. He showed what humans are capable of.  He journeyed from an ordinary life to the depths of the dark side. From blandness to utter evil.

 

            We have all heard Paul’s words from the sixth chapter of his letter to the Romans: “The wages of sin is death.”But, in this case, the intermediate wages were copious, unimaginable amounts of money.  The long-term penalty would come later.

 

            In the first lesson today, from the Book of Genesis, we hear the archetypal account of the birth of sin.  It seems that the immediate quest of the man and woman is knowledge.  But the temptation for knowledge led them to open a chasm between themselves and their creator.

            

It is a story that deserves much more discussion and exploration.  An essential point, though, is their desire for something more – a focus on the self rather than a higher good.

 

            Contrast that passage with the gospel lesson from Matthew.  Jesus has just been baptized and is now driven into the wilderness.

 

            As one who has seen the wilderness of Judea, I would note it is an ideal place to go for isolation. Nothing is there except rock badgers, ibexes, and assorted hawks and buzzards. It is a perfect place to be alone – miles from anyone.

 

            The essence of the story is that Jesus is indeed alone – except for the temptations he faces.  The temptations are analogous to those that the man and woman faced in the Garden of Eden.  Like the man and woman, he is tempted to place himself at the center – something he refused to do, even in a state of severe want.

 

            You know the story – at least the highlights. Jesus’ path in the next three years took him on a mission of service, giving, healing, compassion, grace, and love – not the self-focused power with which he was tempted.  If he hadsubmitted to the temptation, he would have either been a shadow on the walls of history as a failed pretender, or we would remember him in a way similar to Herod the Great.  Either way, his legacy would be in ruins.

 

            Instead, he chose a journey toward life… and shares the gift of life with countless generations to follow.  We, too, are called to continue the journey.  Not the path that typifies the destruction that Walter White followed, but the path that saints have trod in the last 2,000 years.

 

            This season of Lent is a right time to continue… or begin… that journey.  We are beckoned to give of self and to turn toward the source of life and goodness.  We are called to spurn the pathway which takes us to power, unhealthy concern for self, and hatred and neglect of others.

 

            Yes, Paul wrote those famous words I quoted earlier in his Letter to the Romans. But he finished them with a different twist: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            My fervent hope is that we turn away from self and progress on our journey in the coming weeks – to a life of deeper compassion, true empathy, reconciliation, holiness, and concern for others. That we, too, can be on that pilgrimage of eternal life.