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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Lent

There’s No “I” on God’s Team

Americans don’t necessarily get it. We live and breathe in an individualistic world. 

The writings of the Bible, however, arose within the Mediterranean world. In the air that Jesus breathed, each person was embedded in a group. Family loyalty was required. Honor to one was honor to all.  There was no “I” in “the team.” 

If we think of today’s story individualistically, Jesus and the devil are two boxers in a private sparring match. But no! From a communal mindset, the devil isn’t just asking Jesus to worship him.  He is tempting him to switch allegiances. He is conniving to steal the star quarterback! The evil one offers Jesus a rich reward to join his team and honor him as leader. The devil is crafty. He wants to win. He is not just messing with Jesus. He is messing with God’s team. 

How will Jesus respond? Will Jesus swap sides for personal power or honor or food? No way. He stands firm. He knows to whom he belongs: “You shall bow only before the Lord,” he says. 

The devil goes away “for a time.” But he’ll be back . . . We begin Lent this week. Like Jesus, we head out into the desert.  For forty days, we’ll go into training, a good Lenten workout. If we take our exercises seriously, our spiritual muscles will ache where we are weak. Why do we want to be spiritually stronger at Easter? It is not just for ourselves, for our own glory or honor. We are important to God’s team, too. We work together for good in this world. Hatred and evil must not win. 

We may be tempted to give up when the training seems hard. The central question of Jesus’ temptation then comes to us as well: Whose team will we choose?

Consider/Discuss 

  • A friend from Rwanda has a strong sense of “us.” She bemoans how her nine-year-old daughter has adopted the mindset of American individualism;  her girl does not “get” the sense of family and community within which she grew up in Africa. What kind of family/community identity did you grow up in? How does that affect how you see your place on God’s team? 
  • St. Ignatius says that our impulses come from three places: from evil, from self, and from God. As we wrestle with temptations this Lent, how can we grow stronger in discernment, so that we recognize where our inclinations come from? What kind of “training plan” can we make to create the space to learn to lead a more self-reflective, self-disciplined, and prayer-filled life? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

God of Gods and Lord of Lords, you are the one to whom we belong. Jesus headed into the desert for spiritual training. This Lent, we follow him into training as well. Help us to take the time to  exercise hard enough to get into the game. You know that sometimes  we are tempted to slack off, content to sit on the sidelines and just  watch your team play. But you are our God, God alone. We want to bring you honor, Divine Coach. Show us how to go. Holy Spirit,  teach us how to be strong.

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Scripture Study for

As Moses prepares Israel to enter into the land promised to their ancestors, he instructs them to offer firstfruits sacrifices to God once they have entered the land, and to acknowledge that God has indeed been faithful to promises in bringing the people into the land  (Deuteronomy 26:1–3). The statement itself has been called Israel’s credo, summarizing as it does the central story of Israel’s relationship with God: the descent into Egypt by Jacob (the wandering Aramean), the oppression and deliverance of his descendants, and their return to the land. This brief recital captures the essence of Israel’s faith in the generous and powerful God who makes—and always keeps—those promises. 

The reading from Romans comes from a section of the letter in which Paul is focusing on the contrast between righteousness from observing the Law (perfectly) and righteousness that comes from faith in Christ. His point here is that just as the Law was accessible to Israel (since it was written), so faith in Christ is accessible to all (as long as they have heard the word preached to them [10:14]). Once one has received the word, confession of the lordship of Christ and trust in the proclamation of his resurrection lead to justification and salvation. Justification here means being made “right with God,” and salvation is receiving the gift of eternal life offered by God. This gift is no longer limited to Israel but is now available to Gentiles as well. 

In his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus represents both himself and Israel. As God’s Messiah, Jesus faces the temptations to use his relationship with God and his powers to smooth the pathways of his life by avoiding pain (hunger), or commanding the kingdoms of the earth, or even expecting God to save him from danger and death. Jesus shows his humility and obedience by avoiding these temptations. In the Old Testament, Israel is referred to as God’s son  (Exodus 4:22–23), a son who failed the test of temptations in the wilderness generations earlier. Through his victory in the wilderness, Jesus not only vindicates himself, but also shows that in him Israel  (and eventually all of humanity) can triumph over temptation and sin. 

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