First Sunday of Lent- Temptations

As I thought and prayed about writing on Lent, the theme of vulnerability has emerged. There were other factors that brought this idea to my mind but the more I considered it in terms of Lent and Easter, the more it made sense.  What more vulnerable a place than stripped and nailed to a crude cross, a public execution in front of your mother, your followers, the taunting crowd?  Lent is a season to ponder vulnerability.

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The liturgical churches follow a schedule of readings-  entire denominations read the same Scriptures, sermons are preached on the same topic and you can follow weekly and daily readings with the rest of the Body of Christ.  That appeals to me. A sense of unity with His followers across the world.  We are preparing together.

Here are some resources if you are interested in daily Lent readings or prayers. I'll include a few, in no particular order. Remember, these are liturgical faith practices, usually Catholic or Episcopalian.  Perhaps this is a time to peek into what another denomination is doing to anticipate Easter.  I have not read all of these pages but tried to find sites that follow orthodox faith.

http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Lent/CLent1_RCL.html
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Lent/firstweek.html
http://www.swordofthespirit.net/bulwark/february10p9
http://lentreading.wordpress.com/the-meaning-of-lent/ (I want to explore this one more- it has art)

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But how do we practice vulnerability? How can we use this season to be more like Christ, to more fully appreciate His passion and suffering?

Sometimes, it's the small stuff.

This morning I decided to return to the small Anglican church I attended on Ash Wednesday.  Here in Tucson, my sister in law and I are fighting the same cold but her back decided to add to the misery so she wisely stayed home, freeing me to attend any church.


I wanted a liturgical service, I wanted to receive communion.  I liked the Anglican pastor's first sermon and the friendly congregation.  But I wanted beauty- in music and architecture. I wanted to soak in the sensate details that always nourish my soul.  And what I really wanted was to sneak in and be unseen.  I knew at the small church some would remember me and others would not and all would ask me questions.  Not unfriendly questions but still,  the questions that you ask strangers.  I could hide easier in a larger church; I could sidle in, soak up the beauty to my little heart's content and sneak quietly  out the door.  Invisible.

And invulnerable.  

If no one sees me- 

no one can wound me, irritate me, anger me, annoy me. 

Touch me. 

In the end, I went to the small church. I decided as I wrote a note to my sister in law and wondered myself at my choice.   I couldn't sneak in or out. I was noticed and asked the questions you ask a stranger.  The excellent priest who preached on Wednesday was helping his in-laws move into a new home. Someone else preached on Christ's temptations- the same Scripture all liturgical churches taught on today.  He said, "When Jesus refused bread from satan, he resisted the temptation to put personal needs to the forefront."  Honestly, I don't remember much more. I was busy trying not to blow my  nose too much,  to find the hand santizer in my purse and not choke on my throat logenze.   I wonder if God was really telling me to stay in bed this morning and I missed Him! 

But the small lesson for my small, stuffed-up brain is still...

....being vulnerable means resisting the temptation to put my personal needs to the forefront. 

 Did it make a difference that I was at one church rather than another?  Probably not. But God met me as I knelt and read the responses in a humble place that didn't fill my soul with beauty.  The music was that of several dozen elderly but I could only read the words anyway.  I read slowly and deliberately and was reminded of His time of temptation. 

Forty days and forty nights
Thou wast fasting in the wild;
Forty days and forty nights
Tempted, and yet undefiled.

Sunbeams scorching all the day;
Chilly dew-drops nightly shed;
Prowling beasts about Thy way;
Stones Thy pillow; earth Thy bed.

So shall we have peace divine:
Holier gladness ours shall be;
Round us, too, shall angels shine,
Such as ministered to Thee.

Keep, O keep us, Savior dear,
Ever constant by Thy side;
That with Thee we may appear
At the eternal Eastertide.

  http://www.hymns.me.uk/forty-days-and-forty-nights-hymn-lyrics.htm

It wasn't a familiar service. I felt a bit vulnerable- just a fraction of Christ's terrible vulnerability on the Cross or even in the desert when He was accosted by His enemy and ours.  Sometimes just a little vulnerability is all He asks.