Loving God, we turn to all kinds of things in order to satisfy the yearning that is in our hearts, only to discover that only one thing is needful.  Help us this day to rest in you and to hear your wisdom and your Word by the power of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Boy, do I have a deal for you!  Have you ever wanted to be smarter?  Better looking?  Popular?  Lacking nothing?   An ageless wonder?  Well, I have a product today that can give you these things and so much more:  “Insecurity B Gone” – IBG for short – BIG if you’re dyslexic.  It’s the new elixir, formulated especially for you.  It will make you smarter, more confident, more popular, more secure.  You won’t need to worry about making a faux-pas ever again.  People will be drawn to you, in awe of you, always wanting to know how you do it.  You will be amazed at the difference in your life.  Even an earthquake won’t bother you!  All it takes is one tablespoon twice a day to get rid of your insecurity now.

    So – how much would you pay for such an amazing product?  Would you pay $50 a bottle?  It’s less than that.  You might even pay $30 a bottle, but it’s not even that much.  IBG - Insecurity B Gone - is now selling for only $23 a bottle.  Phone today, and start your new life now!

    What do you think?  Would you order a product like this?  It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?  And yet, if this were a real infomercial, I suspect that a goodly number of people would be phoning to try it out.  They would be phoning because this commercial plays upon what we might refer to as our “original insecurity.”  All human beings seem to have this sense that something is missing – that there is a lack somewhere inside of us that needs to be filled.  The question, of course, is what we are going to turn to in order to fill the perceived emptiness that is inside of us.  The options are basically two-fold: God, or anything else.

    Pastor David Lose, who teaches homiletics at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis, writes about how we see our “original insecurity” as we read about Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.  Seriously, think about it for a moment.  Adam and Eve had everything that they could ever need and were living lives of peace and plenty.  Yet, they still felt “incomplete, insufficient, and ultimately insecure” (WorkingPreacher.org).  We know this, because otherwise they would not have been affected by the serpent’s sales pitch for the fruit.

    Ultimately, what the serpent is advertising really doesn’t sound so bad.  After all, how could knowledge be a bad thing?  Aren’t we supposed to know the difference between good and evil?  However, the actual temptation has very little to do with learning something new.  The temptation is actually to be self-sufficient rather than relying on God.  The temptation is to rely on our own understanding rather than trusting God’s wisdom and God’s direction (Prov. 3:5).  And so, Adam and Eve take the “God-shaped hole” within them and try to fill it with fruit.

    This idea of a God-shaped hole within us comes from Blaise Pascal, a 17th Century French philosopher.  Pascal writes:

This we [try] in vain to fill with everything around us, seeking in things that are not there the help we cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God alone. (Pensee 10:148)

This is the truth that Jesus knew, but that so many others do not.

    Just think of all the different things that people use to try and fill the perceived emptiness within them.  Some turn to drugs or alcohol.  Some try to fill that void with as many possessions as possible.  Some seek after fame or fortune or power.  Some try to feel better by eating and eating and eating again.  Some look to a bigger house or a faster car.  Some totally immerse themselves in various hobbies or sports or collections.  Ultimately, we all turn to something in order to try and deal with that original insecurity that is within us.

    Of course, some might say that this is a flaw in God’s creation.  However, it is far more likely that this yearning within us is an intentional part of how God created us.  For, God created us to be in relationship, both with God and with the people around us.  St. Augustine wrote at the beginning of his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”  There is a God-shaped hole within us, and are we going to fill it with God or with something else?

    The other question, of course, is to whom we are going to listen when it comes to our own identity.  Do we believe what God has to say about us, or do we take our identity from other sources?  For example, do we define ourselves according to what we have or don’t have?  Do we define ourselves according to how much work we are able to do?  Do we define ourselves according to what other people say about us?  Or, do we define ourselves as precious children of God, saved, redeemed and made holy through our baptism into Christ?  Do we say to ourselves, “I know that I’m special, ‘cause God don’t make no junk!”?

    In Jesus’ case, every temptation that Satan throws at him plays on his potential insecurity and his identity as the Son of God.  In fact, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus has just been identified as the Son of God before he is led out into the wilderness.  He had just been baptized, and the voice from heaven proclaimed: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).  And Satan - clever tempter that he is - invites Jesus to prove that he really is the Son of God.  Is Jesus going to take God’s word for it, or is he going to prove himself and become self-sufficient, rather than relying on God?

    Jesus’ choice is clear.  He finds his identity in his relationship with God and makes himself dependent on God rather than self-sufficient.  One might also say that during Jesus’ time in the wilderness, the God-shaped hole within him was brought to light, and Satan invites him to fill it with miraculous food, and with a miraculous display at the temple, and with power over all the kingdoms of the world.  However, Jesus chooses the only path that ultimately leads to integration and wholeness.  He rests in God, which is the only fulfilling response to the original insecurity within.

    I have heard the season of Lent described as a time to make room for God.  Perhaps this is also a time when the God-shaped hole within us is brought to light, perhaps even through stripping away the things that we try to fill it with – the things other than God, of course!  For we, too, have been given our identity by God – precious children of God who have been claimed and forgiven and marked with the cross of Christ in baptism and made inheritors of eternal life through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Are we going to take God’s word for it, or spend our lives trying to prove some other identity?  

    God has created us so that we will find our rest in him, and has enabled us to be in relationship with God through our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God for this most precious gift!  Amen.

Lent 1(A)                                Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
March 13, 2011                            Matthew 4:1-11
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2011 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved