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Lent is a time to reflect on temptation. Remember Lay’s potato chips? Nobody can eat just one?

One of the scripture lessons assigned for the beginning of Lent is the Genesis story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden where the snake entices the eating of the apple. (Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7) Well, how can you blame them, that snake was sly and crafty. He got the best of them. It’s the snake’s fault. Or should Eve be the one held responsible? After all, we are told that she gives the apple to Adam. Is it all about Eve? First she gets duped by the snake and then she leads her lover astray. But what about Adam? We are told that he was with Eve. So he witnessed the wiles of the snake. Did he stand his ground against the snake? No. Adam knew where the fruit came from and that didn’t hold him back.

When it comes to temptation, there is always the temptation to blame someone else; put the responsibility elsewhere. There was a pastor, and this is a true story, who was being examined for charges of sexual misconduct in his parish. In explaining one incident, he told how a single woman who was a member of the church had asked him to pay a pastoral call. The arrangements were made. When he got to the door of the apartment where she lived alone, she answered the door clad in a scanty negligee. In he went. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. In telling the examining committee about this, he said, “What was I supposed to do?” He felt this was her doing and he had done nothing wrong. He did not think that he was responsible for what occurred. He just went along with the wishes of one of his parishioners. He did not think he really had any viable alternative. “Turn and run,” came to my mind.

There will always be temptations. We will be tempted by people to do things we know are wrong and hurtful. We will be tempted to overeat and drink. We will be tempted to be sedentary and not take care of our bodies. We will be tempted to accept the status quo even when that involves endorsing oppression. We will be tempted to do good things for the wrong reasons; reasons that are self-serving. We’ll be tempted to abuse the earth with our consumption and lifestyle. We’ll be tempted to betray those we love in some way. We will be tempted to ignore things we should take responsibility for. Take a moment to think about what kinds of things have tempted you or are tempting you.

So, how do we respond to temptation? The tradition of giving up something for Lent is a way to practice resisting temptation. It is way to develop discipline. And as we get better at resisting small things, we work our way up to resisting big things. It’s like exercise. If you take up running, you don’t start with a 10 mile jog. You build up to that. Or think about learning to play a musical instrument. You start with easy, basic songs and gradually work on harder and harder music. Lent is a time to build up our ability to resist temptation.

Another strategy for responding to temptation is to keep yourself busy doing good. There’s that old expression, “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” If you are suitably occupied helping others and praying and active in church and giving yourself to the common good and taking delight in creation and the arts, well, then there’s less room for temptation to creep in.

Whatever temptations we are facing, we want to remember that WE are facing them. We are responsible. We need to choose what we will do. We need to exert discipline and self-control. No one else is going to do it for us and no one else can be held accountable for what we choose to do.

Prayer: There are so many voices calling out to us and tempting us away from the abundant life that we are offered through Christ Jesus. We pray to have ears to hear the voices that assault us and to be honest with ourselves about our circumstances. We know that we need to take responsibility for our lives and not blame others for the mistakes we make. May we forgive ourselves and others for giving in to temptation. May we use this season of Lent as a time to grow in our discipline and self control. Amen.

What are you giving up for Lent? Is it food-oriented? We discussed some of the implications of giving up something food related for Lent yesterday. Today, we follow up on that theme.

I have had people tell me they are giving up sweets for Lent. Someone mentioned giving up desserts. Someone else mentioned junk food. Someone else I know is going “raw” for Lent eating only raw food that has not been cooked. There is a whole raw food movement. If this is new to you, you many want to look it up online. It is quite interesting.

I have known people who have given up smoking for Lent. Or drinking. Others have taken on an exercise regime for the season. One year, someone at church gave up TV for Lent.

I have never heard of someone giving up vegetables for Lent. Or fruit. Or water. Or exercise. When we give up something for Lent, it is usually something that will make us more healthy. It is doing something that is good for us.

The season of Lent is a time to focus on our spiritual lives, to grow in our faith and our relationship to God and the human community near and far. We undertake a Lenten discipline toward this end. If we give up a food, it is not because we want to diet or lose weight, but because we want to deepen our spiritual awareness. Attending to our spiritual life promotes our well-being and our highest good. As we become renewed and refreshed and re-centered we can better serve the common good. The point of Lent is to grow in the grace and love that we see in the life and death of Jesus for the good of the world.

So while we are giving up candy or beer or meat for Lent, we are reminded that we are giving something up ultimately for a greater good. So, what else could we be giving up for the greater good? Racism? Sexism? Ethnocentrism? Consumerism? (Anyone giving up non-necessity shopping for Lent?) Dependence on violence? Arrogance? Privilege? Exclusivism? What do you think we need to give up that will ultimately benefit the common good?

Prayer: In this season of Lent, may we pay attention. May we notice the implications of what we think and do. May we look for deeper meanings. The death of Jesus was ultimately to serve a greater good. May our spiritual growth this season enable us to make sacrifices which serve the common good. Amen.

What are you giving up for Lent? At one time the church promoted giving up meat on Fridays during Lent. That led to Friday fish dinners at many churches. We all know people who have given up chocolate for Lent, or sweets, or alcohol, or ice cream. Giving up something to do with food is a common practice for Lent. It is a modification of the spiritual discipline of fasting which may involve not eating for a period of time or significantly reduced consumption. Today, fasting may be more associated with having a blood test or other medical procedure done than with religion!

Food is an important part of life. It is something we are involved with every day. We are biologically constructed to need food on a regular basis. Other animals can go for long periods of time without eating. Bears and other animals hibernate in cold months and don’t eat for long stretches. We had snakes for pets at one time. They had to be fed live rodents. They were only fed every week or two – thank goodness! But we humans need to eat day in and day out and, ideally, several times a day.

This frequent need for food keeps us mindful of our bodies. It reminds us of how the earth so readily provides the food that we need. Eating numerous times a day brings to mind how much energy, time, land, and labor are needed to sustain us and what a large industry agriculture and food production is.

In addition, eating is associated with relationships and community. People often eat together. We get together for lunch. Families sit down together for dinner. In these shared moments of eating, intimacy and relationships develop. There is much more than taking in calories to food consumption.

A Lenten discipline involving food also has other implications. If we give up something we are used to eating on a regular basis, then we have an ongoing reminder that this is Lent, this is a time to reflect on our relationship with God and neighbor. A food discipline can be a persistent reminder of our faith commitments. It can make us think of the food scarcity and limitations that millions of people live with each and every day in our community and around the world.

So, while we may think of giving up sweets for Lent as something frivolous and insignificant, there may be more to it than we realize at first glance. What are you giving up for Lent? Is it food related? What are your feelings and insights about your experience as the season unfolds?

Prayer: Over and over we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We are grateful that we have food daily, and that, for most of us, food is in abundance. May we be aware of our access to food and all who are involved in providing it for us. As the farmworkers march for fair food rights, we give thanks for those who pick our produce and pray for them to be treated with respect and dignity. May we appreciate all that food reveals to us about the sacredness and interconnectedness of life. May our Lenten discipline help us to appreciate all that we do have and that we are able to restrict our diets not out of necessity but out of choice. Amen.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. These are words that are familiar to us from many funerals and memorial services and burials. The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.” (3: 20)

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday. From a religious perspective, ashes are a sign of penitence. To be covered with sackcloth and ashes was a sign of the awareness of wrongdoing and the desire to repent and restore relationships with God and neighbor.

Ashes carry many other symbolic meanings. They are the product of destruction. They represent the essence of a thing. They are elemental. They are also used for fertilizer; to stimulate growth.

Lent is a time to return to our essence. To shed, peel off our shells of illusion and denial. It is a time to confront ourselves honestly and to see our sin. Lent is a time to destroy and cast off all that separates us from God, our truest selves, and our neighbors.

Ashes to ashes. This is a season of to consider what must be left behind and destroyed because it is interfering with our relationships to God, ourselves, and the world. It is a season to give something up. What are you giving up for Lent?

But in the book of Genesis, a book of beginnings, we are told, “. . . then the Lord God formed a human from the dust of the ground, and breathed into the nostrils the breath of life; and the human became a living being.” (2:7) From the dust and ashes of our Lenten devotion, God re-creates us, we become new beings, truly alive in God. Do not be afraid of this somber season. Do not be afraid of the self denial. Do not be afraid of the sacrifice. Do not be afraid of the self examination. Do not be afraid of the honesty. From the ashes of repentance, new life springs forth.

Prayer: As this season of Lent begins, may we affirm the desire to grow closer to God and to one another. May our spiritual disciplines result in true growth and maturity. May we face our fears of letting go; giving up power and control and releasing harmful attitudes and behaviors. May we be with Jesus in spirit through his 40 days in the wilderness trusting in Divine love to sustain us and renew us. Amen.