Bound to Angels

Lent 1 – March 9, 2025

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

It is traditional that Lent, on the first Sunday, begins with the temptation of Jesus. This is to remind us that Jesus truly lived a life like ours. Unlike us, though, Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil. He did so, in part, by remembering God’s word. Although this Gospel text also shows us that quoting the Bible can put us on a slippery slope. We see that because the devil, seeing that Jesus knew his scripture, tried to entice him by also quoting scripture. It is psalm 91 that the devil quotes here. Tempting him to take a leap since the psalm says that God’s angels will not let anything harm us. I would suggest that the devil did not come up with this idea. It probably was a misreading of the psalm’s message from almost the time that it was written. It certainly has been misread since, despite Jesus’ correction of the misunderstanding.

Many have looked to this psalm as one of the texts that assures us that angels are watching over us and will not let any harm come to us. That was what the devil implied by quoting it to Jesus.  But a careful reading of the psalm will show us that it is not about gaining an easy life, although that would be nice. It is about trusting God in the midst of trouble – not that God’s angels will prevent trouble from happening to you. I suppose, that is the true message of Lent; Trust in the Lord your God that God will help and comfort you in your struggles. That is much easier to say than to do. The Bible is packed full of stories about the times God’s people did not trust in God and how that lack brought on even greater problems. That is, in part, what our text from Deuteronomy is about. The journey out of Egypt into the promised land was full of the tension that makes up our whole lives. That tension is between trusting God and trusting in something or someone else. Even though the people of God wandered around in the desert for forty years, God was constant with them. Now, since they have come into God’s promise they are called to share the bounty of the land. The first fruits to God and the rest so that everyone in the land may prosper including the alien. For those who truly trust in God this will not only be easy but natural. Knowing that all that you have – yourselves, your time and your possessions – are God’s gift to you, just as the promised land was to the Israelites, you can do no other than to share it with others.

But that is the crux of sin. We so often are convinced by others and ourselves that what we have is ours and we deserve it and do not share it. Lent is reminding us that this attitude grieves God. Especially since God gave up God’s own Son to die for us so that by the blood of Jesus we can be worthy to be the children of God. This is where we differ from the world. Our identity is not wrapped up in what we have but what Jesus has done. He has freed us from bondage to sin and death – our possessions and selfish desires. That is what Lent focuses on prayer, fasting, and works of love. For they remind us of our unworthiness to receive God’s love and yet we have. Or, as Paul puts it, “Dying and yet we are alive.” You have been welcomed into God’s promised land of salvation by the sacrifice of Jesus. Now go out into the world and be the first fruits of God’s love to all in need.