A while back, I participated in 5K runs. It was grueling for a woman in her early fifties at the time. Both my knees paid a price for running on all that pavement. In the last five years, I have had both of my knees replaced, so a friend of mine said my superpower is that I have outlived both of my knees.
There were times I wanted to give up. Many of my friends and co-runners gave up long before I did, but I managed to continue for about three years. One year alone I ran twelve 5K’s. I was tempted to give up long before my knees became a problem, but I didn’t.
Although my knees paid a price for my running, I benefited from running in other ways. It helped me to build some self-confidence, make new friends, and strengthen my faith.
As you know, a common tradition during the season of Lent is to give up something, like a bad habit. This is not a bad idea, but what I would like for us to give up for Lent this year is giving up. I would like for us to treat Lent as if it is a 5K run.
A 5K run, or any other run such as a sprint, a marathon, a relay race, or hurdles, is a good way to think about the season of Lent. This is a season that is designed to prepare us for what lies ahead. Just as Jesus had to endure the cross, you and I need to cross the finish line.
We might not be the first to cross the finish line, but it’s not about who finishes first; it’s about who can finish at all. We can all get there at our own pace. But get there we must. And to get there, we have to give up the temptation to give up.
Giving up is not our only temptation, but it is the one that is the most consequential. As we just heard, even Jesus was tempted to give up and take the advice of the Tempter.
According to this story, after Jesus is baptized the Holy Spirit leads him into the desert for a time of prayer and fasting. In the biblical tradition, fasting usually implies that a person is engaged in a great spiritual struggle.
It does not necessarily mean a complete abstinence from food, although there is not much food to be had in a desert. There is no dessert in the desert. One cannot survive “forty days and forty nights” or an extended period of time without any food at all, so Jesus is experiencing real hunger.
Why does Jesus do this? It is at his baptism that he seems to have received his calling as the Christ or Messiah. He needs time to reflect on this so he seeks some alone time. But if the story is to be taken literally, Jesus is not alone. At the very least, he is struggling with his own inner thoughts.
Whatever Jesus is thinking about in the desert, a few temptations creep into his mind—or come to him from a creepy guy called the devil. Either way, Jesus is tempted to give up in three ways. First, because he is so hungry, he is tempted to pull out the old bread making machine and give up his fast. He is so hungry that he begins to hallucinate and imagine the surrounding rocks as misshapen loaves of bread.
Second, he is tempted to give up his other-worldly aspirations and imagine a this-world where he is in charge. All he has to do is “sell his soul to the devil” and he will take over the throne, not only in Jerusalem, but in all the known world. Imagine how this would have been heard in Rome. I don’t think Caesar, ruler of this world, would be amused.
Third, Jesus is tempted to give up his humanity and rely on his divinity to make him invincible. After all, he has just heard a voice at this baptism affirming his divinity. Perhaps Psalm 91 has tempted him to think that as God’s Son he can do pretty much anything he wants to do without being harmed, even jumping from the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Let’s be honest, these are not our common everyday “give up” temptations. You and I may not be able to relate to giving up a fast after forty days in the desert, giving up our other-worldly aspirations, or giving up our humanity, but we can relate to the temptation to “give up” in general.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on our hopes and dreams for a better future, a better life, or even life itself.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on our families, our spouses, our children, or even ourselves.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on our jobs, ouremployers, or even our fellow employees.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on our country, our politics, our government, our institutions, or even our fellow Americans.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on God, the Church, and our brothers and sisters in the faith.
We can relate to the temptation to give up on our faith because sometimes it is as grueling as a 5K run.
So, let us commit to one thing this season of Lent. Let us commit to give up our temptation to give up. Let us use our worn out knees to kneel down before God and commit to crossing the finish line. Amen.
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