In today’s Gospel Story (Luke 4:1-13) Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days. Here the Spirit leads him into the desert where he is tempted by the devil. This Story is filled with symbols and metaphors, and says a lot to me, depending on what is going on in my life at the time. The Psalm is “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble”. The Gospel Verse reminds me, “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”. If I am open and want it, these words are a good guide for my every day living.
From time to time I have found myself in my own desert, in places where the only prayer I could make was along the lines of, “Be with me Lord, when I am in trouble because I sure am in trouble right now”. I don’t think I am alone in this. We all have these experiences often and in varying degrees. For many of us current events these days now are like that— the polarization, anger, violence. It is easier to point fingers and blame someone else, that to look at myself and ask, “what is Abba saying to me in all this?”. Yet I this is a question have to keep asking.
“Every word that precedes from the mouth of God”. Abba speaks to us an many ways. Of course Abba speaks through prayer and the scriptures, but also through the people we meet, our own thoughts, feelings, reactions, our everyday experiences. Everything in my life can point me to Abba, if I am open and willing for this to happen. It’s worth remembering that when we have thoughts about Abba, it is because Abba has thoughts about us first. Abba invites us in many different ways, and we react. Abba loves me first, well before I have any interest or desire in knowing or loving Abba. Abba offers an invitation to “get together”, and I have the choice of how I react, or not.
A basic question I can ask in whatever is in my life at any given time, is “what is Abba asking of me in this particular situation?”. This question requires a certain trust on my part. And from time to time it might require some serious letting go of whatever is in my way, usually my own ideas, fears, prejudices. As my situations change, so do the answers to my question. Eventually I might refine the question along the lines of, “in this situation what can I do to make my life more open to Abba being involved”. Abba invites, and never forces. A worthwhile principle of living might be, i want and I choose what leads to Abba’s deepening life in me. In many ways Jesus shows us there is no need for me to be afraid of Abba. If I fear Abba, it is my image of him that I really fear.
The Gospel Story reminds me of many different things. I need to recognize that temptation is real and to be expected. Evil in its many forms is most real, as we see from the news headlines every day, especially these days. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. Whatever is going on in my life, the Spirit is somehow involved, perhaps leading me to my desert. And this is good. Many of us were brought up to be afraid of God, to see God as a super person who is far off, watching us. In Jesus we come to know a God, Abba, who is not far away at all, but very much in us and in all creation. Abba is creating us as we are, and loving us as we are. Jesus shows us Abba who is with us in ways we cannot understand or explain, but which we can experience in our ordinary living if we are willing to let the Spirit lead us through our own desert experiences and grow.
One of the things I have to continue to learn on my journey is to just keep quiet and not do all the talking. An essential part of prayer is listening. Abba really speaks, usually not in a loud voice but in a quiet whisper, or sense, or feeling. It’s good to remember that if I am even thinking about Abba, it is because Abba is reaching out to me first. If I spend all my prayer time telling Abba what I am praying for or how good he is, while Abba is talking, I am too busy talking to hear him.
“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert.” The Story reminds me that following the Spirit and being open to Abba is not about power, prestige, or relevance, or anything like that. It’s not about me. And it certainly cannot be what people think about me or what I do or don’t do. It’s about getting go of me, my ideas and expectations, and going where the Spirit leads me, and she does lead me if I let her. It’s about saying yes to Abba is whatever is going on in my daily living, because whatever is going on in my life, Abba is somehow involved. For many this makes no sense. But it makes sense in the same ways the Gospels make sense. It is about Abba in my life. Jesus shows us that Abba encounters people where we are. He might do this in my life through the people I meet, and I certainly have experience this in my own life. He might just encounter people through my relationships or encounters, and this is something I ask the grace to be part of, because it certainly is something I am not very good at.
My desert experiences can lead me to a certain sense of freedom. My response to Abba is a long process of choices, not a one-time event. As I am focusing on being open to Abba and the Spirit, responding to Abba as Jesus shows in his life and teaching, I am gradually moving away from other things in my life, as Jesus moved away from what the devil offered him in the Story. Having things go my way, and feeling I am in control become less and less important. If I keep asking Abba, “what are you saying to me, how can I live in a way that moves to make my life a place where you are truly welcome”, other preoccupations lose their value and interest. “When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.” I am always going to be “tempted”. Jesus experienced temptations in his life, why should I not expect them in my life? We both have the Spirit to lead us. Can I say and mean it, “Abba, I welcome everything that is coming into my life today because it is of you?”. Just sayin . . .