1 Lent, Yr A (2026) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

1 Lent, Yr A (2026)                                                                  The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7                                                       St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Psalm 32

Matthew 4:1-11 

In the name of the one, holy, and loving God:

            in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.

We all face temptations…

            all the time!

But how do we handle them?

That is the question.

It is a worthy question to reflect on as we begin our Lenten journeys

and enter into a time of self-examination.

Today’s stories from the garden of Eden and Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness

offer us a couple of possible responses.

Let’s start with Jesus.

Jesus has barely had time to drip dry after coming up from the Jordan River at his baptism when he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

It hardly seems fair,

            but Jesus’ preparation for his wilderness adventure is very important.

He has just heard God proclaim that he is God’s beloved.

That is his beginning point….

            He is God’s beloved child.

So, he spends 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the wilderness…

            just him and an occasional twiggy shrub and miles and miles of rocks and dirt.

He is famished.

He probably sleeps most of the time now,

            barely able to keep his eyes open.

He has no strength within him.

It is at this moment that the tempter shows up…

            not when he’s fresh and strong,

     but when he’s been hammered by the trials of the wilderness.

Have you noticed what the tempter does first?

He attacks Jesus’ place of strength:

his identity as the beloved Son of God.

The devil begins by saying,

            “If you are the Son of God…”

“If you are the Son of God…

            command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

Oh, now that’s a low blow.

Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.

            He would love a loaf of bread!

But… “No,” Jesus says.

            There is more to life than just bodily desires…

      God’s word is what is nourishing.

“Well, then,” the devil says, “if you are the Son of God,

throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple and God will save you.”

Perhaps the devil is suggesting that Jesus’ apparent abandonment by God in the wilderness, warrants leaping off the pinnacle in despair.

“No,” Jesus says.

            “I will not test God…

I will put my trust in God…that I am in God’s care.”

“Well,” the devil says, “worship me…

and you can have the splendor of all the kingdoms.”

“No,” Jesus says.

            “I will only worship God, the Holy One of Israel.”

The devil then leaves,

            and angels come and wait on Jesus.

We are all familiar with Jesus’ temptations,

and his responses to them.

As we think about this text,

it is easy to wonder what our responses might have been.

We might think that had we been fasting for 40 days

 and were tempted to turn stone to bread,

we likely would have said,

       “Heck, yeah!”

In considering Jesus’ faithful responses, I think we also tend to respond with:

“Well, Jesus was Jesus.  

He was the Son of God!

I am not. 

       I don’t have that strength.”

And yet… oftentimes we do.

I suggest that many times when we face temptations,

our response is also “no.”

Maybe we’d rather not share our resources with others,

but we do.

Maybe we’d like to show others our power or authority,

 yet we respond as a servant.

Maybe we are tempted to take something that’s not ours,

but we leave it alone.

Taking a cue from this story,

        I do think it is most helpful to remember that we, too, are claimed as God’s beloved, 

      and if we live our lives rooted in this identity –

                             confident in God’s love and care for us –

             then it may be easier to act in love toward God, others, and ourselves  

   as we face the temptations that we most certainly will face.

Let’s now take a look at another possible response to temptation

as we read in the story of the garden of Eden.

We might even have a bit of a caricature-ish image of this story in our heads.

We find humor in it because it is so true to life!

Adam and Eve are wandering in the garden, enjoying life to its fullest.

            Not a care in the world.

      No need for sunscreen as there’s the perfect balance of sun and shade.

And then up slithers a snake,

probably with red, beady eyes and a raspy hiss.

“Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

“Oh, no. 

We can eat of any of them except this one,

and we’re cool with that. 

       Life is good.”

“Ah…

but if you eat this one,

you will be like God,

        knowing good and evil.”

“Well, now that mention it, it does look tasty,

and it is beautiful,

and it will make me wise…

      well, okay.”

“Here, honey, have some of this delicious fruit.”

And then the narrator tells us,

            “Then the eyes of both were opened,

       and they knew they were naked;

                        and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.”

Their eyes were opened.

They had been naked before this event,

            BUT this nakedness was different…

       they were ashamed of breaking their relationship with God…

                        so they hid.

They covered themselves,

            and they hid.

Later when God comes to find them,

the excuses and blame start flying.

“She made me do it!”

“The snake tricked me!”

So…another option in response to temptation is to succumb to the temptation

and then to cast the blame elsewhere.

“Not my fault,” we say and point the finger toward someone else.

Or else we rationalize our way around why we had to do it anyway…

we really didn’t have a choice.

I wonder: What if, instead, Eve’s response was: “I did it.”

            “I chose to eat of the forbidden fruit.”

       “I am sorry.”

I imagine that Adam and Eve would have been cast out of the garden anyway,

but I’m guessing their relationships with each other and with God

and even with the snake

        would have been quite different.

We have these two stories and two responses,

but it seems to me that we don’t live in an either/or world.

Sometimes we are able to say “no”

            and at other times, for whatever reason, we fail…

     we harm someone else

                        or ourselves

                                    or creation.

Life is difficult.

What our journeys in Lent invite us to do is to take a look at our lives

            and make note of where we fall short…

                        where we do or have done harm.

And to own those things.

Today’s psalmist rightly says:

            “While I held my tongue, my bones withered away,

                  because of my groaning all day long….

            Then I acknowledged my sin to you,

                  and I did not conceal my guilt.

            I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’

                  Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.”  (Psalm 32:3, 5-6)

When we confess our sins - our brokenness –

            we open up space for healing.

We need no longer hide ourselves in shame

            but can stand with boldness in the Light of God’s healing Grace.

My friends,

            we are God’s beloved children…each and every one of us.

This identity is our starting place…

our middle ground…

and our ending.

When we embrace this

            and stand in Truth,

                        it might just be that angels come

       and tend us.

Amen.