“Changing of the Seasons

”Scripture:  Luke 4: 1-16

   One benefit of marriage that I unknowingly inherited was the ability to live in the midst of an old orange grove.  My father in law’s father was an early settler on Merritt Island and planted and tended to citrus trees.  So we have many citrus, mango, avocado, papaya and numerous other trees on our property.  And the wonderful thing about the citrus trees is that when they bloom with their tiny flowers, a wonderful smell permeates throughout our property.  It makes everything smell like perfume and reminds us that the weather is warming and the fruit from the tiny flowers will soon grow into oranges or grapefruit or limes. 

   It is one of the few signs that Floridians witness that the seasons really do change.  Most of the trees stay green year round.  And the weather stays so mild, with the exception of this year, there is hardly any contrast between winter and summer, fall and spring.  But not so with those who live in the snowy North.  How many of us moved from the North to live in Florida?  I moved to Florida from Philadelphia when I was six.

   For years we would take our children out West to see a totally different terrain in the ski resorts of Colorado, Utah, Montana and Wyoming.  They could play in all the white stuff that filled the mountains and gores and covered the countryside with its beautiful blanket.  It was fun to play in but it also reminded me why we live in Florida.

   A poem entitled “the tree” by Jones Very, captures the meaning behind the change of the seasons:

   I love thee when thy smelling buds appear.  And one by one their tender leaves unfold,  as if they knew that warmer suns were near,  nor longer sought to hide from winter’s cold; and when with darker growth thy leaves are seen to veil from view the early robin’s nest,  I love to lie beneath thy waving screen, with limbs by summer’s heat and toil oppressed; and when the autumn winds have stripped thee bare, and round thee lies the smooth untraded snow, when naught is thine that made thee once so fair, I love to watch thy shadowy form below, and through thy leafless arms to look above on starts that brighter beam when most we need their love.

   One of our favorite children’s video was the Lion King.  And one of the themes of the movie was the circle of life … that life and the seasons change … from birth to survival to conflict to celebration, from death to rebirth.  The theme that change is inevitable, kind of like death and taxes:  that we all go through it … that it is the Almighty’s design and that the closer we come to understanding such changes and not blame ourselves when change occurs, we can be more accepting and in tune with the creative forces that controls our environment.

   We all go through changes.  We here at Covenant are going through change.  And one purpose of our coming together is that this pastor and people seek the will God in the changes that are happening … in the circle of life.

   Today we celebrate Lent:  that 40 day period, excluding Sundays, where Jesus went through some major changes:  where his mission was questioned and formed, where his ministry took shape, where he was stretched in the work he was to do.  You’ll notice that it was in the midst of adversity … being tempted and tested by the devil where the ministry of Jesus began.  Not at home lying in front of the TV. wondering, “what should I do?” … but in the wilderness, tempted by the devil, testing his capacity physically, spiritually, emotionally and yet all under the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  And the point of the story is not the devil’s device:  not the cunning tactics used in hunger and bodily desire and lust for riches and fame.  I know all those would catch my attention.  The emphasis is not on the devil here.  When our 5 years old Jewish friend asked his Rabbi, “Rabbi, do we believe in the devil?”  And the Rabbi answered, “No, Jacob, we believe in God.”  Oh the devil has a part in the religious drama of our faith story.  But we only use the word believe, which means:  trust in, rely upon, giving our sole allegiance to, we only use believe in relationship to God.  And the point we’re making is that Jesus was directed in the temptation in the wilderness under the direction and auspices of the Holy Spirit.  Not the devil.

   And if this season of Lent means anything for us today, let it be under the power and direction of that same Holy Spirit.  The Spirit that leads Jesus into the wilderness that Satan might go down in defeat and God might be glorified.

   Can we look at the difficult and hard times in our lives as a leading of the Holy Spirit testing what we are really made of and who, what or where our faith resides?

   In our Gospel lesson we notice that Jesus undergoes 40 days without food.  Some have wondered if this was a fast?  Maybe.  People marooned on islands or lost at sea or in remote places such as desserts or snow covered mountain have proven that the body can go a long period of time without food.  I even read about a Mexican fishing boat that floated aimlessly in the Pacific for a couple of months and the pair of men survived.  So we know that for 40 days, the body can last without food.

   Jesus followed the leading of the spirit so closely … so unique was his relationship with God, that he survived the very toughest hardships that the devil could dish out.  Such intimate contact with the Almighty reveals a discipline of prayer like no other:  keeping in touch, even in the face of trials and temptations.

   So fasting and prayer kept Jesus close to the Holy.  But somehow his mind stayed rooted in the word of God as well.  When the devil tried to lure him with a morsel of food, the obedient one quoted scripture.  Somehow he was always facing these obstacles of faith and having to prove his loyalty.  But these three:  fasting, prayer and the word of God are what saved him.  They can save us as well as we strive to stay close to the Holy in our battle against the forces that would tempt and destroy us. 

   I appreciated Tiger Woods confession and apology yesterday.  He said he had drifted away from those values that he had been taught to follow as a young boy from his mother.  And now he was sorry in his adult life and wanted another chance.  He wanted to return to those core beliefs that formed him and gave him worth.        Let us walk in the way we are taught in the example of Jesus.  That we might journey with him during this Lenten season … yes even unto Eternal Life.

Dr. Sheppard Lawrence

Covenant Presbyterian Church

Gainesville, FL