First Sunday in Lent
February 16, 2025
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
Eternal God, as we begin our Lenten journey we come as beggars needing to be filled. We come from that metaphoric dry and thirsty land. We come from a culture which favours conflict over compassion. We come from a culture which favours toughness over tenderness. We come with all of the same temptations humankind have ever faced. We struggle for bread but so often fail to acknowledge that it is not by bread alone we live. We live with an anxious inner world because we are so unable to trust.
We strive for power and influence but so often we allow a part of our inner selves to be corrupted when we gain it. We search for faith but so often we demand a certainty which can never be found. And we expect you to meet some test in order to give us certainty. We live so often and so long in the wilderness of these common temptations.
Forgive our foolishness. Help us to identify these temptations when they come so subtly to us. Help us to overcome them.
May we not be seduced by our pursuit of security. May we not be seduced by our lust for power or influence. May we not be seduced by a false or simplistic faith which lays claims to easy answers for all of life’s most difficult questions.
Lead us instead to integrity. Lead us to honesty. Lead us to commitment. Help us to re-focus our lives and refashion our commitments as we journey toward the cross. Teach us to be compassionate to all of your children. Teach us to withhold our rush to judgment of others. Teach us to re-order our interior lives when they become too jumbled and noisy. Walk with us when we are fearful and frightened and when life is dark.
And in such moments help us to trust that you are indeed beside us. Amen
February 16, 2025
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
Eternal God, as we begin our Lenten journey we come as beggars needing to be filled. We come from that metaphoric dry and thirsty land. We come from a culture which favours conflict over compassion. We come from a culture which favours toughness over tenderness. We come with all of the same temptations humankind have ever faced. We struggle for bread but so often fail to acknowledge that it is not by bread alone we live. We live with an anxious inner world because we are so unable to trust.
We strive for power and influence but so often we allow a part of our inner selves to be corrupted when we gain it. We search for faith but so often we demand a certainty which can never be found. And we expect you to meet some test in order to give us certainty. We live so often and so long in the wilderness of these common temptations.
Forgive our foolishness. Help us to identify these temptations when they come so subtly to us. Help us to overcome them.
May we not be seduced by our pursuit of security. May we not be seduced by our lust for power or influence. May we not be seduced by a false or simplistic faith which lays claims to easy answers for all of life’s most difficult questions.
Lead us instead to integrity. Lead us to honesty. Lead us to commitment. Help us to re-focus our lives and refashion our commitments as we journey toward the cross. Teach us to be compassionate to all of your children. Teach us to withhold our rush to judgment of others. Teach us to re-order our interior lives when they become too jumbled and noisy. Walk with us when we are fearful and frightened and when life is dark.
And in such moments help us to trust that you are indeed beside us. Amen