Mount of Temptation. Photo credit: Fallaner
The following was a talk I gave during the March 27 service at Unity Linoln.
We are in the middle of Lent. As you might know, and as Reverend Evan has referred to in previous talks, Lent commemorates the 40 days that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Many Christians and other spiritual seekers go on a fast of some kind during this time. It could be a fasting of certain foods, or it could be taking a break from television or other routines. They are determined to "go without" something in order to imitate, in some way, what Jesus went through during his fast.
What many devout Christians and others give up might often seem difficult, even causing personal inconveniences or physical pain. It's not always just giving up something you enjoy, it's giving up something you need or think you need. It's different from a New Year's Resolution. A New Years Resolution may be, "I'm going to save money and cut calories. I'm not going to Starbucks anymore.
Lent, in contrast, is like giving up caffeine itself.
I thought of caffeine because in the past I've known several people who've given it up for Lent.
But the point of giving it up isn't to suffer, it's to strengthen your spiritual health.
To strengthen your faith.
So that, if you've quit caffeine and don't know how you'll make it through the day, you remember that God is your source of energy, God is what makes you "woke." You only think it's the caffeine because you've believed it is.
And when you rely on God, you come closer to God, and feel any challenge can be overcome.
Which brings us to Jesus's time in the desert. This was right before starting his ministry.
Of course, Jesus didn't go without coffee. Okay, he did go without coffee, but that's because there was no to go without; the coffee bean trade didn't exist in his day.
Instead, he went without food. For forty days. And shelter as well. By choice.
I don't want to take a controversial stand here, but food is one of those bare necessities for survival. It's not just me saying that, it's science!.
So when Jesus is on a fast, knowing his entire body would be screaming for food, you'd think that he wanted to be tempted.
Well, guess what. Jesus wanted to be tempted. In fact the Gospel of Matthew actually says he went out to the desert "to be tempted by the devil."
But why?
To explain why, I want to go back to the birth of the Christ Child. This is borrowed from and inspired by the book The Trip to Bethlehem by Hyptaia Hasbrouck. It's the book that we in Adeline's Book Club studied over Christmastime.
And what I want to talk about is the journey of the Wise Men from the East. Based on the root word for "wise men," they were probably astrologers. Based on legend, there were three of them, so let's just say The Three Wise Men.
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Three Wise Men came to Jerusalem, asking, "where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage. When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him."
I want to stop there and point out that the name "Jerusalem" means "city of peace." As Hasbrouck points out, Jerusalem is on the edge of the ridge of the highest tableland in the country, so people would speak of "going up" to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion and the seat of the government. It represents the culmination of a nation. A nation born in slavery in Egypt had gone through hundreds of years of turbulence to establish a kingdom under David and Solomon. And although this was almost a thousand years after David and the land was under foreign domination, the Jews in the region would still "go up" to Jerusalem to make their sacrifices to the LORD God.
In this sense Jerusalem, the city of peace, represents peace of mind. The peace of mind that there is an external LORD God looking out for us. The peace of mind that comes from traditions, from rituals, from following the commands and rules of the Temple. The feeling of security of a walled city.
The peace of mind better known as "comfort." The comfort of routine.
So Jerusalem is the religious capital of the Jews, and a regional capital of an empire. The government officials, temple priests, and scribes who live there are comfortable. They have revenue coming in from taxes and temple taxes. They have stability.
So Herod and his allies are of course afraid of what the Wise Men said about there being another King of the Jews.
They thought their comfortable lives were in danger.
But what Herod was missing, and what the religious bureaucracy was missing is that comfort isn't really peace of mind.
If your city is a walled fortress, you're a slave to fear. If you're obeying laws, rules, and commands out of fear of punishment, you're a slave to the authorities. If you give tithes and offerings out of compulsion instead of gratitude for God's abundance, you're a slave to money and possessions. If you make a demonstration in following religious rituals, you're a slave to appearances or the ego.
None of these things provide real peace of mind. Comfort is just an imitation of it.
So when the Wise Men show up in Jerusalem, it turns out they weren't in the right place. But they were close. Back to the Gospel of Matthew:
4 And calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [Herod] inquired of them where the Messiah (or Christ) was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea."
Bethlehem is just over four miles away from Jerusalem. The name Bethlehem means House of Bread, or House of Sustenance, or House of Life. With the hills in the area, you'll be on a higher elevation when you travel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, so from Jerusalem you go "up" to Bethlehem.
Taking the names metaphorically or metaphysically, you could say you're going from the place of peace of mind, up to a place of everlasting life.
And that is where you find the Christ Child. If you're searching for peace of mind, you won't really find it there in the walls and rules and offerings. You won't find it in doing what others require of you.
You find it in the everlasting life of the Christ who dwells within you.
As the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary says,
"Christ is the embodiment of all divine ideas, such as intelligence, life, love, substance, and strength [and] is the true, spiritual, higher self of every individual."
We could say that when the Wise Men found Christ in Jesus, they realized that Christ, or the Divine, existed within themselves. And that Christ is in everyone. And the Wise Men realized that the earthly "City of Peace," Jerusalem, wasn't really about peace, and that those who have earthly power over people, want to kill the Christ.
So the Wise Men decided, after they received this divine inspiration, that they weren't equipped to go "back" to Jerusalem, and they went home by another way.
The parents of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, also avoided Jerusalem; they fled to Egypt before moving back to Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.
Jesus seemed to have a close relationship with the Christ within him. And many spiritual seekers do as well, whether they use the word Spirit, or Source, or the Divine, or simply God. I'm sure if you've attended Unity or other New Thought churches for a while that you believe that this Divine Being is in you. We just said Namaste to each other a few minutes ago for this reason.
But are you unwavering in your belief? How often do you really feel any challenge can be overcome because of the divinity within you? Is it true that you never worry about tomorrow?
Many of us read so much spiritual literature, and attend meetings like this one right now, just to remind ourselves that we are divine beings who can do anything. But still may feel weak and small.
Is there a Jerusalem in your life? A Jerusalem that might sell "comfort?" or "peace of mind" without actually delivering it? Or is there some person, place, or thing that you fear?
Does your faith feel weak at times? Maybe it needs practice.
Intellectually, I know how to play chess. I know the moves of each piece. Does that mean I can take on a grandmaster with confidence? I never actually play chess!
In the same way, intellectually, I know I have this higher self within me that can do anything. But maybe I should probably do something before I can take on anything.
As far as taking on something, Jesus was going to take on Jerusalem. In fact, he was going to take on the Roman Empire itself.
Do you think that would require an unwavering faith? A strong faith?
In those 40 days in the desert, Jesus put his spiritual muscles to work.
Being tempted by the devil, (which in my personal opinion is a metaphor for the ego), Jesus rejected using magical powers to turn stones to bread, and turned down becoming the ruler of kingdoms, and he rejected making a public demonstration of his divinity when he was tempted to throw himself off the highest point of the temple to be rescued by angels.
When he emerged from these temptations, angels came along and his physical needs were taken care of. He always had everything he needed. All is well, all the time.
Jesus discovered that he didn't need authority, he didn't need power, he didn't even need food, because everything's always taken care of by the Christ within.
And after this, Jesus knew the kings and priests had no power over him - no power over the Christ within - and embarked on a ministry of love: of healing, compassion, and a message of liberation from the walls, the rules, the traditions, and the rituals of Jerusalem and Rome.
It is through faith in the God within, or Christ within, or Spirit within, that Jesus did his works. But by going to the desert, he took deliberate measures to strengthen that faith.
That's why I have a newfound appreciation of Lent and other spiritual practices and disciplines.
As with Jesus, we could all use a stronger faith by strengthening our spiritual muscles.
Maybe you didn't give up anything for Lent. I didn't, not really. But there are a variety of ways to strengthen those spiritual muscles.
Just as with physical fitness goals, overcoming self-imposed small challenges through faith in the God within, gives you the confidence, the faith, to overcome the challenges the world throws at you.
This talk is actually to myself to be more intentional in strengthening my faith. Maybe it will inspire you as well.
James Leroy Wilson writes Daily Miracles, The Daily Bible Chapter, JL Cells, and The MVP Chase. Thanks for your subscriptions and support!