Oscar Wilde,
“the kindest and most amusing of men,” once said, tongue in cheek no doubt, “I
find the best way to deal with temptation is to give in to it!” It was the kind
of humorous thing he would say to make people think. Temptation is that
boundary where we know we have to decide. The temptations of Jesus, as he began
his mission, were aimed at diverting him from his purpose. All sorts of
attractions were laid out before him to spoil his work.
An African
leader was pushed to resign this week. He is accused of corruption, meaning he
diverted his attention from the great work of development and justice into the
sordid world of private enrichment. If true, he crossed a boundary and lost his
way. If he had resisted the pull of enrichment he could have devoted his energy
to building a fair society where every person can live in dignity.
Temptation
means testing and testing is a good thing. Sportspeople relish tests of skill
and endurance. Tests stretch a person to do better, to give more, to seek new
paths “less trodden.” That is how each generation advances. So, equally,
temptation sorts us. Are we sheep or goats? There is always going to be that
choice. So it is not surprising it comes at the beginning of three of the
gospels and at the beginning of Lent. It is like the exam before you are
qualified but with the difference that we are never finished with temptations,
whereas with exams, mercifully, we are.
So temptation
is a growth point. Each time we resist we become a better person, stronger and
more able to resist next time. Resistance becomes a habit and we are not
diverted from our path. We can see, in this first Sunday of Lent, the power of
Jesus’ resistance and as we read on we see the struggle men and women have to
follow his example.
And if a
person falls, as Peter did, miserably, during the Passion, it is not the end.
One can “weep bitterly” and grow enormously as a result. We see the same Peter – a few weeks later
after the Resurrection – standing up boldly and addressing the very people who
had hounded Jesus to death. If he hadn’t fallen so badly would he have risen so
high? “I tell you her sins, which were
many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves
little.” (Luke 7:47)
There is a
mystery here we can only intuit; we cannot explain. Sin and evil in the world
can be the whetstone on which we sharpen our lives. We have to struggle to resist temptation and
in that struggle we come to birth anew.
18 February 2018 Sunday 1 B of Lent
Genesis 9:8-15 1
Peter 3:18-22 Mark
1:12-15
