Lenten Children's Message

Today’s Gospel Reading is about the Temptation of Christ. Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days, eating nothing and being tempted by the devil. In each temptation, he is offered something good, but the way to get it is against God’s rules. So the temptation is “Will Jesus trust God to give Him something good at a later point; or rebel against God to get that ‘good thing’ now?” 

This temptation story should remind us of at least two other temptation stories. The first one is in the garden, where Adam and Eve are offered the knowledge of good and evil through a yummy looking fruit, instead of learning good and evil from God. Knowing good and evil is a good thing, but the way humans are supposed to gain that knowledge is through getting to know God. Adam and Eve chose to get that knowledge on their own. They failed to trust God, so they rebelled, separating themselves from God, the source of good things.

The second temptation story is after the Israelites are rescued from Egypt, they wandered in the desert, not 40 days like Jesus, but 40 years. In the desert, they are promised a land flowing with milk and honey, prosperity, comfort, and being God’s special people. But they want that blessing and prosperity now, so even though God again and again blesses them by giving them manna and meat and water, instead of seeing those things as blessings from God, they complain. They failed to trust God, so they rebelled, separating themselves from God, the source of good things.

In Jesus’s temptation story, He is also offered good things, but they way to get them was wrong. Bread isn’t bad, but breaking his fast to get it, wouldn’t have been right. Jesus was promised authority over all the nations; he knew he would receive this through his death and resurrection. The devil’s temptation was to take the easy way to get the “same result.” Jesus knew that God was with him no matter what, but the devil tempted him to prove it now, instead of trusting God’s timing. Each time, Jesus trusted God, beginning a new story and providing a new way to live in relationship with God, the source of good things.

Just like Adam and Eve, the Israelites, and Jesus, we are tempted to get good things in our own way, instead of trusting God or doing it God’s way. Maybe you’ve heard that God wants you to be happy. Without trusting God, we might do things that make us feel good in the moment, even though we know they are against what God has said is good. The good feeling we had often disappears really fast or the actions have uncomfortable consequences. But if we trust God, and do what we know is right, He does bring us peace and joy.

Many of the things we have given up for Lent are good gifts from God. By giving them up, we aren’t saying that they are bad. Instead we are saying that we will trust God to give us satisfaction instead of that thing we are giving up. And it will be hard and maybe even uncomfortable; that makes sense because we are in the wilderness. But Jesus is also here in the wilderness, and we can meet Him without the distractions of what we’ve given up. Let's pray, trusting God, who is the source of good things.

Dear God, Let each of us see Jesus in a more real way this Lent. Help us to hear and understand how much You loves us. Fill us with the power of your Holy Spirit to resist the temptation to do things on our own in our own time, instead of trusting You. In Jesus’s Name we pray, Amen.

A New Season

 On March 1, Thomas officially became the fill-in pastor for our church. In July, he will receive the appointment for the following year. He will be a bi-vocational pastor, continuing on at his current employment, but adding some duties as a pastor, including preaching, special worship services, on-call needs, and various committees.

On February 27, we had our first all cast rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream with Immanuel Christian School. Performances are May 8th, 9th, and 10th. I am directing. The boys are both acting. Until Easter, we are still in our Winter Term, so the boys regularly have five to six subjects every day, except Wednesday which has Instrument lessons and Science Lab.

Today is the first day of Lent. We have been doing a meat fast during Lent the past few years, but this year, we have decided that the extra planning a meat fast requires would push me over the edge of sanity. So we are fasting from desserts and sleeping in. We are giving up computer games, which hits the boys hardest, but we are planning to have family game nights. 

So we are entering a new season. 

The immediate season, Lent, reminds us of Jesus's forty days in the wilderness, facing temptation, which in turn was a reminder of the forty years, the people of Israel spent in the wilderness. I have been thinking about the amount of time we humans spent waiting. There is a part of me that rebels against waiting; it is so inefficient, such a waste of time. But I am learning that waiting on God is a very deliberate action. It is not trying to fix the problems I see, but rather tell them to God and wait.

The beginning of the play season was a good preparation for waiting of Lent. Several times I couldn't see a way ahead within my limitations. Choosing the play, finding the right cast, and having a venue to perform in, all required me to wait on God and not try to fix things. For example, some of the students who auditioned were not able to perform, so I needed to find some more older students to take those roles. The next day, two home schoolers who had acted with us before, hadn't heard about auditions and contacted me and my dad (who directed last year) to see if we were doing a play. They were the perfect people to play the open roles.

Tonight's Ash Wednesday Service was Thomas's first as pastor. It was a very beautiful and meditative service, focused on bringing our hearts before God. The point of Lent isn't simply self-denial, but drawing close to God. When I went forward to get my ashes, I looked up at Thomas and he smiled. I was filled with thankfulness for him, not only as my husband, but also as my pastor.

Some seasons come and go, marking the passage of time. But perhaps, we are also going through a climate change.