"No!"
A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
First Sunday in Lent
February 13, 2005
Text: Matthew 4:1-11
I
In the cartoon, Dennis the Menace, Dennis is kneeling at his bedside one night, after another day of mischief and mayhem terrorizing his Mom and Dad and "good old" Mr. Wilson. Little Dennis folds his hands and looks up to heaven. With an imploring look of contrition on his face he prays, "God, I'm here to turn myself in."
Dennis's quiet moment of surrender before God captures the theme of the season of Lent: it is a time for us to be alone with God in the wilderness and confront who we are and what we want our lives to be. Lent is a time for the ongoing process of conversion, a word that comes from the Latin word for "turning" -- this is the season for "turning ourselves in" and turning our lives around to become the people God calls us to be.
The life of Dennis the Menace is often humorously in disorder. Dennis is still learning how to say "No" to his unruly impulses. He relies on his parents to set limits and boundaries for him. He has a long way to go before he will be a fully-formed person. Those of us who are older than Dennis have had a bit more practice saying "No" as we strive to become the persons God calls us to be.
The 40 days of Lent are just over 10% of the year; some religions have a ritual practice of giving 10% of their time to God. The 40 days of Lent are a time of grace, a time to do something different: sing in a different key, walk with a different stride, talk with a different accent. It is a time to look at ourselves -- and see the edifice of the life that we have built. Who am I? What is important to me? If I died now, would I feel that I have lived a full life? Is my life what I want it to be? Is the structure of my life a building that I can admire -- or is something severely lacking? These are questions we ask ourselves as we begin the Lenten season.
These are questions that Jesus might have asked himself during the 40 days he was in the wilderness. Jesus had just been baptized by John and had that wonderful affirmation as the Beloved of God. Now, he is in the desert, fasting, praying, questioning, discerning his call to ministry. And then, as today's Gospel tells us, he is tempted.
The tempter three times proposes something which is glamorous and enticing to turn Jesus away from God: You are hungry, why not satisfy yourself? Change these stones into bread. Jesus says No. You want to win the crowd over to your teaching? Well then dazzle them with a trick. Throw yourself down from the temple; God will surely bear you up. Jesus says No. Look at the world and its splendor; isn't it exciting? Wouldn't you like to be rich? Wouldn't you like to own it all? Well, sell out your principles and values. Sell your soul for success. And again Jesus says No.
These temptations are a training, a sort of boot camp for Jesus before he begins his public ministry. One of the most important parts of this training was to strengthen his ability to say No.
We may not like the word "No" because it seems so negative. You may have seen the commercial about the man in the travel agency who has about 14 different ways of saying No, and he even teaches a new employee how to say no. It is a funny commercial, and effective, because most of us want people to say yes to us, not no.
And, yet, here is Jesus speaking a loud and clear No, not just once, but three times. And this pivotal Gospel scene is placed at the beginning of his public ministry -- to drive home the point that if Jesus wants to be God's messenger, God's representative, God's teacher, he had better learn how to say No.
II
What are the things you need to say No to this Lent? When I was a child -- like Dennis the Menace -- during Lent I tried to say No to eating candy, watching too much television, and fighting with my brother and sister. Now, I have other things to say No to. Many of us need to say No to whatever attacks our self-worth as children of God. For the next 40 days, whenever we are tempted to doubt our value as God's beloved, we need to say No. Whenever a little voice rises up from within and says, "You're no good" or "You've been a failure before, don't expect to be a success now" we need to say No. We need to say No to all that is weakening the edifice that is our life.
III
There was a wealthy man whose friend was a builder. This builder was down on his luck and hadn't had much work lately, so the wealthy man felt sorry for him and decided to help him out. He gave him a set of plans and a check for $300,000. He said, "I want you to build me a new home. I don't have the time to bother with it. I'm turning it all over to you. You make all the decisions. I trust you. If you do a good job, I promise to pay you well."
The builder was excited. He could finally start making some money. But he got to thinking, "If I cut a few corners here and there, maybe I could pocket some of that $300,000." So he went out and bought the cheapest concrete he could find. He had the cement mixer water it down so it would stretch further. He saved four or five thousand dollars right there. Excited, he went out and found the cheapest lumber he could find. Some of it was bent and warped and crooked. He didn't care. It was going to be hidden behind the walls. Nobody would ever see it. He did the same thing with the plumbing, the electrical work and so on, cutting corners and saving money. When the house was completed, he had saved nearly $40,000, which he discreetly deposited in his own bank account.
He called his wealthy friend to come take a look at the house. The purchaser was quite impressed. On the surface, the home looked beautiful. He never guessed that the builder had cut corners, compromising on the integrity of the whole house. The builder was ecstatic as he noted the pleased expression on the owner's face. He couldn't wait to see how much he was going to get paid. After all, he knew the owner was a very generous man.
As the wealthy man walked to the front door, he turned with a twinkle in his eye and said to the builder, "You know, I don't really need this home. I already have a beautiful home. I was just trying to help you out and do you a favor." He handed the builder the keys, and said, "Here, my friend. This is for you. You've just built yourself a brand-new home." The builder nearly passed out. He thought, "If I had known it was going to be my own home, I would have built it a whole lot better!"
The truth is, whether we realize it or not, we all are building our own homes. We may cut corners here and there, but it's not hurting anybody except ourselves. Those poor decisions will weaken our foundations, causing us all kinds of problems in the future. Everything may look fine on the surface, but what really counts is going on within the walls, behind closed doors.
This builder got into his new house and three months later, he was having foundation problems. Six months after that, cracks appeared in the walls. The plumbing wouldn't work right. It cost him far more than the $40,000 he'd "saved" to fix all all those problems. If he had it to do over again, he'd do it right the first time.
This Lent, we get 40 days to look at the edifice of the buiilding that is our life; to shore up our foundation which is a deep sense that we are loved by God as God's own; to say No to whatever is making us less than the persons we want to be. For in saying No to self-destructive behaviors, we are saying Yes to God and to our own true selves. Amen.