Temptation

The scriptures referred to are Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11.

The Screwtape Letters was the book that brought attention to an Oxford tutor and lecturer in English named C.S. Lewis. The book is a series of letters from a senior devil in hell to his nephew, a junior tempter trying to lead one soul astray. I think the reason it made such a splash was not only the unique premise and the sly satire but also the sharp psychological insight into temptation. Before there were a slew of articles on cognitive bias in our thinking, Lewis showed how really bad we are when it comes to thinking about God, good and evil, the latest in popular ideas, how we see others and how we view ourselves. Lewis said it was the easiest of his books to write and yet it meant looking at things in a way that left him in a very unpleasant frame of mind. He supposed that it should be complimented by a book of an archangel giving a junior guardian angel advice but Lewis did not feel holy enough to pull that off.

Today's readings on the first Sunday in Lent are all about temptation. Genesis gives us the archetype of every temptation. Our Psalm describes what it feels like when we try not to acknowledge our sins before God. The passage from Romans talks about how contagious sin is and how it is counteracted by Christ. And in our gospel reading we see Jesus handling temptations. I want to focus on the first and last of these passages.

In our reading from Genesis we get a template of every temptation. It starts with God saying to the first humans that they have a whole world of things they can do; just don't mess with this one thing. It's like a host telling his guests they can go anywhere in the house and use anything except, say, his favorite mug. But like kids everywhere, the humans ignore everything else and focus on that one forbidden thing. “Why can't I have that?”

The tempter simply appeals to that kind of thinking. First he overstates the prohibition: “Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?” No, but the seed has been planted that God is being unreasonable in denying the humans anything.

In response, the woman incorrectly corrects him. “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'” Subtly the prohibition has been expanded in her mind. She adds that they can't even touch it. Now it's a good idea to not touch something you are forbidden to use. If you are trying not to drink or take drugs or buy things you don't need and can't afford, you should avoid even coming into contact with them. Studies show that the brains of people with addictions will start craving drugs if just shown pictures of a place where they used them or even of money changing hands.

The problem is that if the woman truly thinks that merely touching the fruit will kill her, then when it doesn't, it will cause her to have more doubts about God's truthfulness and goodness. Those kinds of doubts make us less likely to trust and listen to God.

And, sure enough, next the tempter flat out contradicts what God says. “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He further implies that God has an ignoble motive for making the prohibition: he is being selfish. God is withholding more than just a piece of fruit. He is withholding enlightenment.

Philip Pullman admits he despises Lewis' Narnia Chronicles, which retold the gospel in the context of a fairy tale world. So in Pullman's fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials he mixes a lot of pseudo-biblical lore into his story of the adventures of a girl and a boy crossing into different worlds. The heroine is being hunted by an evil church and the evil godlike Metatron because of a prophesy that she is the second Eve who will introduce sin into the world again. There is a war between the heavens and the earth to prevent this. And so in the end does she in fact do something she was explicitly forbidden to do? Does she betray a friend or kill someone or talk someone into doing evil? No. She kisses the boy. That's all. They just do what you would expect any two adolescents to do, especially after having saved each other countless times from the bad guys. My wife and I watched the HBO adaptation, which is extremely faithful to the books. When we saw this was the big “sin,” my wife said, “If she had done that in the beginning, she could have saved a lot of people dying.” Though admittedly romantic, when this kiss was revealed as the greatest danger to the multiverse, it was a letdown.

But Pullman falls into the trap of thinking that God is withholding something from humanity that he shouldn't. Because it seems trivial—a fruit—what follows seems all out of proportion to the offense. Yet in the story the fruit is the knowledge of good and evil. But since God has pronounced everything he created good, where does evil come from? It comes from misusing, abusing or neglecting God's good gifts.

People like Pullman mistakenly think that the big sin is sex. But that's nonsense. In Genesis 1, right after they are created, man and woman are told to be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1:28) God isn't talking about them using test tubes. Pullman is mistaken. Lewis points out that God likes sex. He invented it. In Genesis 2:25 we are told, “The man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame.” Nor should they. This is before the fall of humanity. Notice that when we say, “I felt naked”, we mean we felt vulnerable. They are vulnerable but they have no thought of doing anything harmful to each other. So the problem is not sex but its misuse and abuse.

And we are seeing what happens when you introduce twisted ideas about what sex is like into kids' heads. Thanks to the internet, the average age that a child first views pornography is 12. And that distorts how they think they should behave sexually. So they think that violence and choking is just part of sex. Interviews show that adolescent boys and girls think that's what the other wants and what they should do.

Pornographers don't care; they are making and selling a product, specifically addictive fantasies, distortions of something good. But if someone gave your child a new baseball bat for their birthday and said, “You know you could use this to really hurt someone if you wanted,” you would have strong words with that person. The baseball bat was not originally designed as a weapon. Admittedly, some kids might come up with that on their own but you wouldn't want to introduce that idea to them.

Temptation is all about inserting the wrong ideas into a situation. And the tempter gets the woman to start looking at things the wrong way. She sees “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that it was to be desired to make one wise...” She no longer considers the moral dimensions of the situation but the object's superficial appeal to the senses...and to the ego. They'll be like God. Cool!

We often think that what makes God God is his knowledge. But it is actually his wisdom and goodness and love that are far above that of his creatures. Again goodness is about what one does with things, using them the right way with wisdom and with love. If you want to be like God, doing what he says is spiritually unhealthy behavior is not the way.

And at the end of our passage, the man and woman are looking at each other differently. They realize that they are vulnerable in their state. To whom? To each other. There's no one else. They are vulnerable to violence and all the other misuses of the body. So they initiate the first cover up. What they don't do is go to God, confess what they've done and ask for forgiveness. Then at least they would learn of God's goodness. And in the end God is merciful. They don't die immediately. But their unconfessed sin causes a breach between them and God, the source of life, and humanity starts to die spiritually.

Ironically if they had not broken God's one and only command, they would truly be like God. They would be doing good because they chose to out of love. They would be wise and gracious like him. The tree did in fact offer them a way to be like God, by letting them exercise their free will to refuse to do what's wrong.

What makes a good person? Not only what they do but what they could do but don't. In a dog-eat-dog, corrupt world, the person who uses their power for good and not for their own personal advantage is truly strong. That displays more power than giving in.

So let's look at how Jesus faces some temptations. The tempter again starts with planting doubts: “If you are the Son of God...” It's a challenge. Prove to me (and yourself) that you are this special person. “...command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Use that power to serve your needs even if it means changing the laws of chemistry.

One common temptation we run into when we do a lot of good is that we feel we deserve special treatment. We are entitled to break the rules. Just this once. Which makes it easier the next time.

Jesus is fasting and considering how to start the mission God gave him. Like Moses he is spending 40 days communing with God, praying and meditating. He is also experiencing one of the most distressing things a human being can: hunger. Today around 10% of the world's population are affected by hunger. In Jesus' day the percentage was a lot higher, due to the fact that most people lived in poverty and so had a poor diet. That's why in the prayer Jesus taught us we ask for our daily bread. Jesus knew what hunger was like.

He could have dealt with it in the way he did when he fed the 5000. But he wasn't going to use his power to benefit himself alone. So he responds with a verse from Deuteronomy 8:3: “It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Jesus is there to hear God speak to him. That's why the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He is staying obedient to God's will for him. He will stick it out despite what it costs him.

Since Jesus is about to kick off his ministry, the next temptation is to do it in a spectacular fashion. Jesus finds himself on the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem, more than 100 yards above the courtyard floor. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'”

Notice this temptation comes with a quotation from scripture. (Psalm 91:11-12) A lot of people try to find justifications from the Bible for what they want to do. As someone said, a text without a context can be a pretext for a proof text. Plucking verses from disparate parts of the Bible can be used to justify anything. It's like the guy who decides he will discern God's will by just opening his Bible at random. So the first page he opens to says, “Judas went out and hanged himself.” That's odd, he thinks. So he closes and opens it again. This time it says, “Go and do likewise.” Now he's alarmed. So he tries it once more. This time it says, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” Context matters.

Sadly, most people use the Bible as the tempter does: to justify something they want to do anyway or that they want to convince someone else to do, even if it is contrary to the Spirit of God. And Jesus goes to Deuteronomy again, saying, “It is also written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Jesus floating down from the tip of the temple would certainly get the attention of others. But for all the wrong reasons. Jesus always resisted doing signs simply to satisfy people's taste for spectacle. (Matthew 16:4) He is going to trust God's way of doing this. It's already going to take courage to challenge the authority of Rome and the religious leaders; there is no need to be foolhardy or reckless.

Finally the tempter drops all pretense of wanting to help Jesus do the right thing. He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. The tempter says, “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” This seems pretty blatant but throughout history, including the history of the church, leaders have made this same pact with the devil: to do anything in order to receive earthly power. In our own day we have seen clergy and so-called Christian groups endorse policies and platforms that included things that either weren't in the Bible or went contrary to it in order to receive political power. They have given to Caesar the things that are God's, especially their allegiance.

But just as the tempter speaks plainly this time, so does Jesus. “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'” (Deuteronomy 6:13) Jesus is loyal to God alone.

Just last week we talked about another time Jesus mentioned Satan by name. When Peter told Jesus that he was not supposed to die at the hands of the authorities, Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan!” That was another temptation: to be the kind of Messiah people wanted, a fighter and a conqueror, rather than a sacrifice for the sins of the world. That temptation was harder because it came from a friend, a person who didn't say “If you are the Son of God” but “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter didn't want Jesus to die. Neither did Jesus, as we see at Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:39) But this was part of his mission. He couldn't let himself be diverted or corrupted.

What lessons can we take away from all this?

First, we need to be clear about who God is. God is love, according to 1 John 4:8. Out of that love comes justice and mercy and grace. Because God is love, he tells us to do or not do things for our own good. We may not always understand exactly why, so we have to trust him.

We also have to acknowledge that we are not God, though we are made in his image. For one thing, we have marred that image by thinking we know better than him, like the first humans. But God intends for us become ever more like him daily by following Jesus. As it says in 1 John, “Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.” (1 John 3:2) But there's no magic fruit, no quick fix. It's a process of growing spiritually.

One thing is clear: God tells us to love one another. (Leviticus 19:18; John 13:34) And yet we don't. We fight and kill and torture and enslave and exploit one another. We take advantage of the vulnerabilities of others. We use our God-given intelligence to figure out new ways to misuse God's gifts and abuse others and ourselves. We also neglect people we see as disposable, though they too are created in the image of God, and Jesus says what we do or do not do for them we do or do not do for him. (Matthew 25:40, 45)

In the first letter in Lewis' book, Screwtape advises his nephew not to use rational arguments in tempting others. He says you don't want humans thinking too clearly about whether something is true or false, right or wrong, good or evil. You want them to think of things as contemporary or out of date, naive or practical, popular or unpopular. Use jargon, not reason. “Do remember you are there to fuddle him,” says the senior devil.

The first line of defense against temptation is to think clearly. Think clearly about who God is, who Jesus is and what he has done for us. And think clearly about your response to his love for you. Don't do anything to mess up your relationship with him. Do everything to enhance it instead. And remember that God loves everyone else as well and so must you. Before you make a choice, think about these things.

A Matter of Life and Death

The scriptures referred to are Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21.

Animals seem to be very bad at judging slow moving threats. You've probably seen nature documentaries where a lioness is crouching and creeping up on a herd of gazelles. And the gazelles see the lioness but they continue grazing and standing around until the lioness springs up and makes a run at them. Only then do they also run. Or you may have seen a video of a bunch of birds at the edge of the water with a crocodile floating in plain sight, gliding slowly closer. And then it launches itself onto the shore and grabs a bird. Similarly the chickens here on Big Pine Key do not get out of the way of my car until I am practically on top of them.

We humans aren't much better. Our threats might be more subtle but we are also much more aware of them. Yet we smoke despite knowing that it can slowly kill us through cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. The same goes for abusing alcohol, drugs or eating junk and processed foods. Or simply eating too much. We need food but you can have too much of a good thing.

We tend to think of life and death as static states. You are in one or the other category. But you could also say that people are either enhancing one or making the other come sooner. When we get healthier we are living better and longer; when we do things that damage our health, we are making ourselves sicker and by increments advancing towards death. Just this week I heard from a fellow member of the clergy that an inmate with whom I had a lot of contact in the jail, and who had just gotten out, died from an overdose. I was sad, at least in part because he had to know that taking these drugs was a form of Russian roulette. If you don't quit, the only possible way it ends is in death.

In Jeremiah, we read, “To this people you shall say, 'Thus says the Lord, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.'” (Jeremiah 21:8) This echoes what Moses says in Deuteronomy: “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other.” (Deuteronomy 30:15) These sound stark and harsh to us but as we've seen, we all choose paths that lead to one or the other.

And this is true not only physically but spiritually. There are lots of people who spiritually are among the living dead. They move, they eat, they work, they have sex but inside they are dead. Life has no meaning. They have no purpose. There is a void within them that they try to fill with possessions, pleasure and power but these don't make their lives any fuller. They are hungry for something besides food; they are thirsty for something other than drink; they feel the need for something that the world does not provide. And as C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

There will come a time when God will recreate the earth and restore it to how it should be before we ruined it. He will repopulate it with those who in this life trusted and followed him. In the meantime, we can still nourish our spiritual needs. It requires turning to the source of our spiritual health, God. And in the Bible we are told about the exercises that enable us to get closer to God.

In the Book of Common Prayer, there is also a pretty good list of things that help us do this. In the invitation to a holy Lent, we are advised to do it “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.” Let's begin by looking at these. And, if I may be so bold, I will add another.

Self-examination is an important part of physical health. Last year breast cancer was diagnosed in more than 300,000 women and in more than 2,700 men. It is the most common form of cancer diagnosed in women, killing about 43,000 women in 2022. One way to catch it early is to do a breast self-examination looking for lumps and abnormalities. If you're a guy, there is a self-examination you should do periodically to detect testicular cancer. And down here all of us are aware of watching any moles or freckles for changes in color, size or the irregularity of borders to spot the beginnings of skin cancer.

In the same way, we need to do a spiritual self-examination periodically. We need to look at our relationship with God. We also need to look at our relationships with other people. And we need to look at our relationship with ourselves. Often people leave out one or two of those relationships. Jesus encompassed all of them in stating the two greatest commandments. And he said it was ultimately about love. I don't think he meant trying to manufacture warm and fuzzy feelings. Love is doing what's best for the beloved, even during times when you don't feel the emotion. As loving parents we continue to feed, clothe and take care of our kids even when they are driving us crazy. As loving spouses we don't abandon our partners when they are going through tough times and are less than pleasant. Love is a commitment. It is manifested in patience and communication and understanding and honesty and sometimes just being there for the person. Paul gives a terrific checklist of the qualities of love in 1 Corinthians 13.

When doing a physical self-exam, if you find something troublesome, you go to a doctor to get it checked out and treated. The parallel is repentance. Again it doesn't necessarily involve tears and great emotion. It is a recognition that something is wrong with these relationships and you need to go to the great physician and get it treated. The word “repent” in Hebrew means “turn back.” Go back to your creator so you can be healed. I know a woman who was afraid of doctors and needles and so she didn't have a large black skin lesion checked out. The melanoma metastasized to her brain and killed her. Don't let unexamined spiritual problems cut you off from God, others or yourself.

Prayer is simply talking with God. It doesn't have to be in fancy words or be filled with “thees” and “thous.” It can be spontaneous or it can be a written prayer that says what you want to say better than you feel you can. It doesn't have to be serene either. Read the Psalms. Every human emotion is expressed there: sorrow, anger, impatience, joy, amazement, and confusion. If it's on your heart, God knows it, so express it honestly. And if you have trouble expressing it, we are told “the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.” (Romans 8:26) So ask for what you need, thank God for the good things and people in your life, and open your heart and mind to what his Spirit is telling you.

If you don't have a regular time to pray each day, institute one. You can use the forms for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer or in the ELW. If you download the Mission of St. Clare app on your phone or tablet, they offer the text of Morning, Noonday, Evening Prayer and Compline. They include the scripture readings for the day and even audio of appropriate hymns. They even have Morning and Evening Prayer in Spanish. And they are updated daily.

Fasting is a very ancient spiritual discipline. It can express grief. It can be a form of sacrifice. It can be used to get a deeper experience of God, where prayer is substituted for eating for a certain period of time. There are 3 forms of fasting according to the Holman Bible Dictionary. There is the normal fast, where one abstains from food but drinks water. (Luke 4:2). There is the absolute fast, where one neither eats or drinks for a very limited time. (Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9) There is the partial fast where one restricts one's diet, eliminating certain foods, as Daniel did. (Daniel 10:3) A lot of people do this last kind of fasting in Lent, giving up, say, chocolate. The problem is people often do this to lose weight rather than commune with God.

A fast should have a spiritual purpose and be for a certain amount of time. It should not endanger one's physical health, so you should not usually give up water because you need that more than food. And certain health conditions, like diabetes, may make fasting impossible for some people.

So remember that fasting is a form of self-denial. Some people find it beneficial to give up TV or the internet or some other pleasurable distraction from God. And fasting should not just be about giving up something but taking on something spiritual as well, like additional prayer or Bible study. There is no virtue in simply not eating.

Reading and meditating on God's word is something Christians should do daily. In Lent it is helpful to do a special study of one book or a topic. There are loads of Lenten devotional books and online programs one can use.

And may I suggest that we not neglect meditating on and studying God's Living Word, Jesus Christ. Since Sundays are technically not counted in the 40 days of Lent, there are by the calender actually 45 days from Ash Wednesday to Maundy Thursday. That's enough time to read the gospels of Luke and John back to back, 1 chapter a day. Or start the day after Ash Wednesday. 6 days of the week read a chapter from the earliest gospel, Mark. When you finish, start reading the last gospel, John. If you want, fill the 3 days of Maundy Thursday through Holy Saturday by reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. On Sundays in Lent think about the lectionary readings. This is a good way to remember that at the center of the faith is Jesus.

In addition you can read a good book on Jesus. Like The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. Or Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey. Or Your God is Too Small by J.B. Phillips. Or just about anything by C.S. Lewis.

Or go to the Great Courses, or Wondrium as they now call it, and download lecture series like Jesus and His Jewish Influences by Dr. Jodi Magness, or Jesus and the Gospels by Dr. Luke Timothy Johnson. Or anything by Luke Timothy Johnson.

To this I wish to add one thing I am surprised that the Book of Common Prayer did not include in the instructions for a holy Lent: going outside yourself. In Isaiah 58, God tells the people that their fasts do not connect with him because they are disconnected from the way they live the rest of their lives, especially when it comes to other people. “Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers. Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven....No, this is the kind of fast I want. I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke. I want you to share your food with the hungry and provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe him! Don't turn your back on your own flesh and blood!” (Isaiah 58:3-4, 6-7)

In other words, don't just concentrate on yourself. Do things for the needy. You could put aside a can of food each day to take to the food pantry, or each day take out your closet a good garment you don't wear anymore and take them to the Salvation Army. If you fast, take the money you would spend on the meals you skip and give it to a local charity, or to the discretionary fund the pastor uses to help people out. Volunteer for some local program, like visiting or reading to the elderly. Get creative. There are lots of needs out there that are going unmet. What can you do to help?

Lent is a time to shift your focus from the business and busyness of everyday life to your spiritual life. Just as not taking care of your body can harm your physical health, neglecting your connection to God can harm your spiritual health. And that can even happen when we substitute empty religious rituals for secular ones. Like fasting, they have to be aimed at the right goal. Otherwise we will forget the meaning and purpose of life, focusing on things rather than persons, like God and other human beings. And the best way I know how to focus on both is to keep our hearts and minds on Jesus, who is fully human and fully divine. In him we see what God is like and what we can be, if we let him live in us.

Glory

The scriptures referred to are Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 16:13-28 and 17:1-9.

In last week's episode of All Creatures Great and Small, they showed the day Britain went to war with Germany in what will become the Second World War. And most of the men in the village, if not the whole of Britain, felt it was their duty to enlist. Their mothers and wives tried to understand but no amount of saying that someone will be all right was very reassuring. Because they knew that in what they called the Great War, 880,000 British forces died, 6% of the adult male population. Many more returned wounded, sick or injured, not including the victims of the 1918 Flu Pandemic which started on the battlefields. And since what we now call the First World War was only 2 decades before the Second, people must have felt a dreadful sense of deja vu.

Today's gospel takes place less than a week after a crucial event in Jesus' ministry. We find it in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus has been with his disciples for about 3 years. They have heard his teachings and they have seen him live them out daily. They have seen him feed multitudes, heal people, and raise the dead. Jesus has been reluctant to let the people he heals say out loud that he is the Messiah. (Mark 1:34) This is probably because of the popular idea that Messiah would be a holy warrior who would establish God's kingdom on earth by defeating the Romans. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah. If you read the history of Judah when it was ruled by descendants of David you know that the real enemy of the people has always been internal, not external. It's their sins. Saving them, and indeed the whole world, from their destructive and self-destructive thoughts, words and deeds is going to require someone different from the usual idea of a king shedding the blood of others.

So to see if they have put together the clues, Jesus first asks the Twelve, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The term “Son of Man” is itself a clue. Jews would see it as a reference to the book of Daniel: “I was watching in the night visions, and with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. To him was given ruling authority, honor and sovereignty. All peoples, nations and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14) Could people see this figure as Jesus though he never made any call to arms?

In reply to his question, the disciples say that some think he is John the Baptist returned from the dead. Some think he is Elijah, the great prophet who did not die but was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. (2 Kings 2:11) Elijah was expected to return to herald the coming of the Messiah. Even today at the Passover Jews pour a cup of wine for Elijah should he show up. Other frequent guesses by the people were Jeremiah and one of the other prophets.

Then Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” Again there is nothing militaristic about Jesus. If anything, he is pacifistic. He says that as his followers we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We are to turn the other cheek if struck. (Matthew 5:38-47) We are not to insult others. (Matthew 5:22) We are not to pass judgment on others. (Matthew 7:1-5) Jesus goes against the popular idea of being a second David who will kill the Romans as the first David killed the Philistines.

But Peter nevertheless says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) And Jesus commends him for seeing past the typical expectation of what the Messiah (Christ in Greek) is supposed to be.

What Jesus says next gives the Twelve psychological whiplash. Jesus tells them “that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Matthew 16:21) It's such a reversal from the emotional high they were enjoying after Jesus blessed Peter for saying what they all thought. They were thinking: “We were right! He is the Messiah! And now he going to show up all those who oppose him by...dying? That doesn't make sense. What good is a dead Messiah?”

I want to use N.T. Wright's translation to tell what happens when Peter, the most outspoken of the Twelve, reacts to this. “Peter took him and began to tell him off. 'That's the last thing God would want, Master!' he said. 'That's never, ever going to happen to you!' Jesus turned on Peter. 'Get behind me, Satan!' he said. 'You're trying to trip me up! You're not looking at things like God does! You're looking at things like a mere mortal!'” (Matthew 16:22-23, Kingdom New Testament)

It is ironic that just after Peter said that Jesus was God's Son, he is now saying that Jesus is wrong about what is going to happen to him. But as Jesus points out, by taking this adversarial stance (Satan in Hebrew literally means “adversary”) Peter is looking at things from a purely human perspective. From that viewpoint, Jesus' death is the worst thing that can happen to the Messiah. But God has a purpose here that is hard for mere mortals to perceive. God is going to take the worst that humans can do to his Son and turn it into the greatest good for mankind.

And as Jesus' followers, we are not exempt from pain and tragedy. Jesus says, “If anyone wants to come after me, they must disown themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) We must give up all rights to ourselves, and be ready to die if necessary, following in Jesus' steps.

You can imagine how that struck the disciples. In a few minutes they went from “Yay! We are following the long awaited Messiah!” to “Wait! What's going to happen to him? And what could happen to us?” It's a major plot twist.

Jesus does end on an uplifting note. “I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his glory.” (Matthew 16:28) But they can't take it in. They are stuck on the idea of Jesus dying. So much so that they are not hearing the part about him being raised. Or perhaps they just thought he was talking about the general resurrection of all people on the last day.

But for us, this talk of some of them not dying before they see Jesus in his glory is mystifying. All the Twelve and everyone from that time are dead and Jesus has not yet returned. Was Jesus wrong?

N.T. Wright points out that we know what happened to the disciples of other so-called Messiahs after their leaders were executed. Those that escaped crucifixion themselves either slunk back to their old lives and kept quiet, no doubt saying to themselves “What was I thinking?” Or else they joined up with the next Messiah-wannabe. Jesus had to know that, too. Telling his disciples that everything will be all right is not enough. He needs to give them something to hold onto during the days immediately after his crucifixion and death.

So he does indeed let some of those standing there with him see him in his undeniable glory. And that's what the transfiguration is about.

Jesus leads his lieutenants, Peter, James and John, up a high mountain. Because visual stimuli make such a large impact on humans, everything that happens there is impressive and symbolic. Jesus' glory is made literal as his clothes become dazzling white and his face shines like the sun. He meets with Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the premier prophet. Peter starts to babble, perhaps thinking they will reside there from now on. Then a bright cloud envelopes them, like the cloud that covered Moses on another mountain millennia ago. And a voice from the cloud says, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

I can't help but think this command is directed at the doubts about Jesus' upcoming ordeal and death which Peter expressed as spokesman for the others. But now they know that this is God's plan. Jesus knows what he's doing. They have their marching orders.

I don't imagine they were happy, though. When they receive word that Lazarus is sick and Jesus wants to go to Judea, they are worried, knowing the religious leaders there want to kill him. (John 11: 8) And when Jesus is arrested Peter still draws his sword and tries to stop it. (John 18:10) Once again Jesus has to undo what Peter in his rashness has done. He heals the man whom Peter injured. (Luke 22:51) But then he goes to his death, which, as it turns out, is his true glory.

Just before his last earthly Passover, Jesus says, “'The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the solemn truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards it for eternal life....Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? 'Father, deliver me from this hour'? No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, 'I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.'” Jesus goes on to say, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” And the gospel of John says, “(Now he said this to indicate clearly what kind of death he was going to die.)” (John 12: 23-25, 27-28, 31-33)

At the transfiguration on the mountain, Jesus shows his disciples what they would instantly recognize as glorification. But he knew his true glorification would happen on the cross, as he takes upon himself the burden of the whole world's sins. He does this not just for his followers, nor just for his fellow Jews, but for all the people of the world, including those in the process of executing him. (Luke 23:34) It is this demonstration of the self-sacrificial love of God for his rebellious creatures that is truly glorious.

We often confuse what is glorious in Jesus. Some people are still looking for a great warrior who will kill evildoers. When the military dictatorship that was the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, we start to see church art in which Jesus depicted as a great stern king on a throne. Such a picture is called Christ Pantokrator; that is, Christ Almighty or Christ Ruler of All. This is the way kings like to think of Christ, not as a dying person on the cross nor even as the good shepherd carrying home the lost sheep, but as a conqueror. And of course the emperor or king was seen as God's regent on earth, basking in his reflected glory and given the power of life and death over others who should serve him. Contrast that with Jesus who said, “For even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

It isn't so much that Jesus isn't the rightful king of all the earth but that an over-emphasis on this aspect and a neglect of what he did for us on the cross distorts the gospel. If we focus exclusively on the conventional concept of glory and ignore Jesus' unique view of it, we can end up rubber-stamping the world's standard methodology in dealing with evil: crush those we see as the cause of disorder and wickedness.

Commander Oliver Hazard Perry famously said in his report of a Revolutionary War battle, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” Jesus would agree instead with the assessment of the comic strip possum Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” As you can see from the state of the world, humans are their own worst enemy. If we want the world to be better, we need to start with ourselves and our own flaws. Until we remove the 2x4s in our own eyes, we will not be able to take care of the speck in the eyes of others. (Matthew 7:3-5) But we cannot do this ourselves. We have tried and failed again and again. We need to turn to Jesus, trust him and let his Spirit rule in our lives.

Jesus didn't say that to follow him we must cling to our rights, pick up our sword and banner and go on crusade. He said we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. The road to glory goes through Golgotha. One day we shall see the glory of Jesus, dazzling like the sun, but not until we can see the glory in him hanging from the cross, on the day the sun refused to shine.

Heart

The scriptures referred to are Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Matthew 5:21-37.

After dodgeball, the worst part of gym class was when we lined up to be chosen for any two opposing teams. The process really let you know how the others in your class regarded you. Because it wasn't only the most athletic kids who were chosen first. Popular kids, regardless of their physical prowess, were also chosen in the first few rounds. Not only the uncoordinated but the unpopular kids found themselves in that uncomfortable situation where neither of the last 2 picks appealed to the team captains. The blow to one's self-esteem was felt by both the second to last kid picked and the kid who was left and ended up on the other team by default. Nobody actually wanted them. The only reason either was chosen was because everyone had to be on one side or the other.

In the hilarious comedy Little Miss Sunshine when a little girl is unexpectedly named winner of the local kiddie pageant, her loving but dysfunctional family try to get her to the state finals. Every member of the family has their own problems and when the girl's older brother suffers a blow to his plans for a career, he has a meltdown. His uncle tries to comfort him. As they talk, the brother realizes that a lot of things in life are like beauty contests, people being chosen over others for superficial and arbitrary reasons. He decides he will figure out how to achieve his goal another way.

And there is science behind that. Children, simply shown pictures of people and asked which ones they thought were good or smart or kind, chose those with the best looking faces as having the best personal qualities. Psychologists have done experiments in which 2 people with the exact same resume apply for the same job. The only difference is that one applicant is played by a very handsome or beautiful model and the other by a person of normal appearance. Guess who gets the job? The good-looking person. They also have done experiments where a forlorn woman is on the side of the road next to a car with its hood up. Again drivers, all male, pull over instantly to help the supermodel in distress. The normal-looking woman has a much longer wait.

We see this when people who are good-looking or popular seem to rise higher in an organization or a field than their job skills objectively merit. And ever notice how good-looking most popular singers are? You can't tell me that vocal talent always goes along with symmetrical features, high cheekbones and a slim build. And if it weren't for the fact that the British film and television industry often chooses talent over looks we'd be under the impression that only extraordinarily good-looking people can do great acting.

Unfortunately this conditions us to think that God works along the same lines. He just arbitrarily likes some people more than others and showers them with looks, popularity or wealth. Even the disciples thought that way. When Jesus says that a camel could squeeze through the eye of a sewing needle easier than a rich man could get into God's kingdom, their reaction is, “Then who can be saved?” If those blessed with wealth can't make it, how can those of us who are just scraping by possibly do so? Jesus replies, “This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:23-26) In other words, don't let external things fool you. None of us are good enough to earn salvation; it is God's grace that makes our salvation possible.

This applies to looks as well as wealth. When Samuel is told to anoint one of Jesse's son to be the next king of Israel, the prophet is naturally looking for someone who stands out. “When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, 'Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Don't be impressed by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things as men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'” (1 Samuel 16:6-7) Now it turns out that David, like his brother, is also good-looking. The difference is that God was looking for someone who was after his own heart, someone who would do what God commanded. (1 Samuel 13:14)

An open and willing heart is essential. In Jesus' parable of the sower and the soils, 3 kinds of people do not react well when they hear the gospel. Jesus says, “But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.” (Luke 8:15) The seed or gospel is the same in each case; the difference is in whether people hold onto it and let it grow in their hearts and bear fruit in their lives.

In biblical times, people thought of the heart not merely as the center of our emotions but also as the source of our thoughts. Thus Jesus says that what we eat doesn't make a person unclean. “For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes into the sewer....What comes out of a person defiles him. For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (Mark 7:20-22) If the heart is where such things come from, the heart is what needs to be be cleansed.

That's what Jesus is getting at in today's gospel. He not only doesn't want us to murder other people, but he wants us to realize it starts long before that, in the heart and mind. It starts with being angry with someone. Jesus says that makes you liable to judgment. Because while it is natural to get angry from time to time, it's what you do with that anger that counts. Anger often motivates people to strike out and harm someone else. But anger at injustice can motivate people to fix the situation that is unjust or that allows injustice to flourish.

I'm sure that Rosa Parks was a bit angry when, after a hard day of work, the bus driver wanted her and other black passengers to not only give up their seats in the designated “colored” section of the bus but to vacate an entire row so white passengers would not even not have to sit next to a black person. She didn't fight or punch or kick. She just sat, breaking the law and letting herself be arrested. That kicked off the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted more than a year. Parks' case led to the Supreme Court decision that segregated buses were unconstitutional.

On the other hand, we hear on the news daily of anger gone wrong and people being murdered, often over the most trivial things. A man is so upset over being served cold eggs that he kills his wife, his stepdaughter and 3 other people. A Florida man (of course!) kills his roommate over who should replace the toilet paper roll in the bathroom. A woman kills her friends because they unfriended her on Facebook. One man was murdered by his family because he wanted to watch a football game and they wanted to watch a religious program. Wouldn't it be ironic if the text for the TV evangelist's sermon was today's gospel.

These are all real news stories. They did not all take place in America but it is disturbing that the homicide rate in the US is 7 ½ times higher than all the other high-income countries combined. 67 Americans are murdered each day, more than 24,000 a year. That's roughly the population of Key West, minus 2000 lucky survivors. Hurricanes are not that deadly. In fact in 2021, 770 people died due to natural disasters in the US, less than a third of the number murdered by other humans.

The reason given for the Genesis flood is that “the earth was filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:11) After the flood, God reboots the earth and makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants. He wants humans to stop all the bloodshed because “in God's image God has made humankind.” (Genesis 9:6) You would think that seeing in your fellow human an image of God would be enough to stop you from harming him. But we are told that, before the flood, God knew that the reason for the violence was “Every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5)

Jesus says the same source is responsible for adultery. It begins in the heart. Even in our passage from Deuteronomy, the problems start “if your heart turns away...” Humanity has a heart problem.

A lot of educated people want to say the real problem is the lack of education. If people were better educated, they wouldn't do bad things. Now it is true that the Bible values education. But God knows that mere knowledge is not enough; what's more important is gaining wisdom. Besides, ignorance—not knowing better—is easily fixed. We all start out ignorant as children. As we grow we learn. But folly, or stupidity as we would call it today, is not the same as ignorance. We see highly educated people do stupid things all the time.

In the second World War, the British were parachuting radio operators into Nazi-occupied countries to help with the resistance and radio back information the British military could use. They were also taught various techniques to let the intelligence people in England know if they were acting under duress. One Dutch operative was captured by the Nazis and forced to send false information back to England. The operator did all of the things he was taught while sending his coded messages to signal to the British that he was compromised. But they didn't notice the safety measures they themselves had put in place. Finally he encoded the letters CAU at the beginning of his transmission and GHT at the end to let them know he was caught. Nobody picked up on that. So they thought it was safe to keep parachuting other operatives into the Netherlands, where they were caught by the Nazis, interrogated and killed.

Stupidity is bad. The last thing Jesus mentions in that list of evil things that come from the heart is folly. The opposite is wisdom. Wisdom, as opposed to knowledge, is not so much about how things are composed or how they work as it is about why things are the way they are, especially when it comes to humans, and how we should therefore act.

But knowing how we should act and actually doing so are two different things. As we pointed out last week there are several examples of preachers and theologians steeped in the Bible's wisdom who do what they shouldn't because they choose to pursue money or sex or popularity. And of course there are people who say they are Bible-believing Christians who ignore what scripture says about, say, our God-given duties to the poor, the sick, the disabled, refugees and immigrants. As Stephen Colbert put it, “If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to.” We know what's right. Our problem is not so much a head problem as a heart problem.

The second to last thing Jesus mentions in that list of evil things that come from the heart is arrogance. Arrogance is thinking that you are never wrong, that you know better than anyone else, even God, and that you are self-sufficient and don't need anyone's help. But if that's how you feel, you will never change your mind or heart. And the Greek word for repentance literally means a change of mind. If we are to obey God, we need to admit that we are often wrong and be willing to change. Psalm 51, which is attributed to David, says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don't throw me away from your presence. Don't take your Holy Spirit away from me.” (Psalm 51:10-11)

I once got in trouble for sending a nursing home patient to the hospital when I found him lying in a bed filled with blood. I didn't check his chart and see that he had a written “end of life” declaration that said he didn't want measures taken to save his life. I didn't have his legal consent to get him life-saving treatment. So he was sent back to us to die. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. Neither can God. He will not force himself upon anyone. We must humble ourselves and ask him to change us.

Psalm 51 goes on to say, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) Oddly enough, sometimes we have to break to be fixed. My dad once fell and broke his leg when closing up the restaurant and bar where he worked. He was the last person there and so he lay on the floor till morning when the janitorial crew came in and found him. Over those long hours of the night the broken parts of his leg had already started to fuse in position. So the doctors had to rebreak his leg for it to set properly. Painful? Yes. Necessary? Yes. He was in a hip cast for months but after that he was able to walk again.

The word heart appears 830 times in the Bible. The book in which it appears the most is the Psalms at 119 times. The book with the next highest number of appearances is Jeremiah at 52. He writes, “The heart is above all deceitful and is desperately sick; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the mind and test the heart, to give to every person according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10, my translation)

The way to change people's actions is to change their minds and the way to change their minds is to change their hearts. That's why God probes our minds and hearts. Because he is looking for a heart that is willing to let God in and willing to let him change us, even if that means breaking habits that have become part of us. Painful? Yes. Necessary? Yes.

In Psalm 51, David says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:12) It was exhilarating for me to walk again after my accident, as I'm sure it was for my father. Change is painful but change for the better is ultimately rewarding.

And it is a joyful thing to know that God does not save us based on superficial things like beauty or popularity or wealth or power or the amount of knowledge one has accumulated. He saves us because he loves us. The question is are we willing to love him back?

Jekyll in Hiding

The scriptures referred to are Isaiah 58:1-12, 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, and Matthew 5:13-20.

Lately we have seen a number of powerful people who have done a lot of good things fall from favor with the public because it was revealed that privately they have done a lot of bad things. Bill Cosby was one of my favorite comedians. I have practically all of his albums. I watched the Cosby show with my family. He made educational shows for children. He gave a lot to the black community. And then black comedian Hannibal Buress in his stand-up routine made a public joke about something that was apparently widely known in Hollywood: that Cosby drugged and raped women. And eventually 60 women came forward to confirm that. And it blindsided his fans and admirers. They could not reconcile the good and bad sides of the once beloved comedian.

We've seen similar revelations about other comedians, movie stars, TV personalities, CEOs, scientists, preachers, politicians, heads of charities, etc. It's as if Robert Lewis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was not a piece of horror fiction but a mirror on reality. And Stevenson's novella may have been inspired by a friendship he had with a teacher named Eugene Chantrell, a seemingly normal man who was convicted and executed for poisoning his wife. It was also believed that Chantrell may have been a serial killer who poisoned a number of people in both Britain and his native France. Imagine discovering that about your friend!

What most people who have only seen one of the numerous adaptations of the story don't know is that in the novella Jekyll is not nobly trying to separate his good half from his bad. He confesses to a friend in a letter that he was a hypocrite, displaying a strict morality in public but privately indulging in various vices. To eliminate his shame and to continue those vices undetected he finds a way to transform himself into Hyde. So Jekyll is not all good and Hyde is just a disguise and an excuse to continue doing what he wanted to do anyway. It's in the name: Jekyll wants to hide who he really is.

The first thing Adam and Eve do after they disobey God is cover up and hide. And we all have a dark side that we try to keep secret, albeit without the aid of a secret serum that changes our appearance. And sadly, the rich and powerful have people who cover up for them and are complicit in their evil deeds. Assistants, usually women, would usher actresses up to the hotel room where Harvey Weinstein was waiting in his robe to assault them. Ghislaine Maxwell procured school girls for Jeffrey Epstein.

But not all of these revelations about modern Jekyll and Hydes are sexual. Bernie Madoff, a founder of NASDAQ and respected Wall Street investment genius, was by all accounts a generous employer and a philanthropist. He hid the fact that he also ran an Ponzi scheme that, when it inevitably collapsed, lost thousands of investors billions of dollars. Among those harmed were charities and hospitals, some of which had to close.

In today's passage from Isaiah, God answers his people as to why he hasn't favored them, though they say they are very pious. God says that religious rituals mean nothing if you mistreat people and neglect those who need help. In regards to their fasting, God says, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not hide yourself from your own kin?” If they do that, “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.”

What God is saying is that being in the right relationship with him, with others and with yourself are all necessary parts of following him. People often skip one or more of these 3 aspects of morality. They think they don't have to be good at all times and in all things to all people.

We have seen a lot of people who think if they go to church on Sundays and even serve in other religious activities they can sin on their own time. But God isn't fooled by that. Jesus, quoting Isaiah, said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines rules made by men.” (Matthew 15:8-9; cf. Isaiah 29:13) Rituals and outward displays of piety are not what God wants. As the book of Proverbs says, “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (Proverbs 21:3) And again in Isaiah, God says, “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered in blood. Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my sight. Stop sinning! Learn to do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphans! Defend the rights of the widow!” (Isaiah 1:15-17) You cannot be right with God and do wrong to those created in his image. (Matthew 25:41-45)

Some folks are so proud of themselves for being good to others they feel it entitles them to be a little bad at times. Gandhi got the British to give independence to India but liked to test his vow of chastity by sleeping naked with young girls. Einstein revolutionized physics and cheated on both his wives. These facts were hidden at the time.

Or folks do good to some people but not to others. President Woodrow Wilson passed the first child labor laws, the 8 hour workday, bolstered antitrust laws and helped end World War 1. He also felt blacks were inferior, re-segregated the federal government, personally fired two black department heads and killed a proposal that the League of Nations recognize racial equality. FDR established Social Security, ended Prohibition and successfully oversaw the war that defeated the Nazis. He also put 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent into detention camps during the Second World War—but not German or Italian Americans. John Lennon sang about peace and imagined a beautiful new world but admitted to beating his wife and other women.

C.S. Lewis compared the 3 types of morality to a convoy of ships. It is just as important that the crews maintain their own ships, so that they don't sink, as it is that they maintain the proper position within the convoy so they don't crash into the other ships. It is also important that they are going to the right destination, so they don't end up in Sidney, Australia when they should be going to New York. He also used the analogy of an orchestra. Each musician must make sure his own instrument is properly tuned and maintained. They also have to make sure they are all in harmony with each other, on the same measure and keeping the same beat. They have to make sure they are playing the musical piece they are supposed to as well. If the conductor is trying to get them to perform Beethoven's 9^th Symphony, they shouldn't play “Pop goes the Weasel” instead.

In the same way, we are to treat ourselves properly as well as other people and God. Omitting 1 of the 3 is bad. The Nazis are famous for their disciplined troops but were fighting for an objectively evil cause. Tomas de Torquemada was known for his learning and personal piety but he led the Spanish Inquisition. Voice of the Martyrs is an international human rights organization that provides practical and spiritual assistance to persecuted Christians in 68 countries. In 2012 when allegations of child abuse were made against Tom White, executive director of the US branch, he killed himself.

But let's face it: it is supremely hard to do right by God, do right by others and do right by ourselves. So how can we possibly do all that? In our passage from 1 Corinthians, Paul says, “we have the mind of Christ.” Jesus was able to do all 3. He prayed and worshiped at the synagogue and the Temple. He healed the sick and fed the hungry. And his personal conduct was so blameless that at his trial his accusers had to make stuff up about him. (Mark 14:55-59)

But how do we have the mind of Christ? Paul says, “we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God.” This is the same Spirit which descended upon Jesus at his baptism (Matthew 3:16) and of which Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19) The Spirit that was in Jesus now resides in us. (1 Corinthians 3:16)

The Spirit produces in us “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Those are qualities that help us in caring for others as well as for ourselves. How can we love our neighbors as ourselves if we do not love ourselves? How can we have peace with others if we are not at peace with ourselves? How can we be patient with others if we have no patience with ourselves? How can we encourage others to exercise self-control if we have no self-control?

These qualities don't appear overnight. And I think Paul was right to call them the fruit of the Spirit because fruit takes a while to ripen and mature. Provided we do not try to extinguish the Spirit's activity in us (1 Thessalonians 5:19) but instead nurture these qualities through prayer, worship, studying the scriptures, and practical application of its principles in our lives, we will start to see results. (Acts 2:42-47)

God gives us his Spirit because he is not trying to make people who mindlessly follow rules. That rarely brings about good people, just compliant ones. That's what the Nazis wanted. God wants to make people new creations in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17) He wants us to think differently and therefore act differently.

The world says that you should go after whatever makes you feel good. Hemingway actually said, “What is moral is what you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” But that's not an ethical guideline that will make the world better. That's what the greedy do. That's what narcissists do. That's what bullies and dictators do. That's what sexual predators do. That's what serial killers do. Hemingway may be regarded as a great writer but not as any kind of philosopher or a moral example.

Paul said, “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and pleasant.” (Romans 12:2) And by what is good, he doesn't mean what is good for you or a few but what's good for everyone. And the only motivation for caring about what is good for everyone is loving everyone.

Slowly psychologists are catching up with the wisdom in the Bible. They have found that having more money or more possessions doesn't make for lasting happiness. Once you are no longer in need of food, clothing, and shelter, the excess doesn't translate into greater happiness. They have also found that merely having positive emotions is not sufficient for happiness. However, they have found that doing things for others is more likely to make you happy than doing things for yourself. They have found that having good relationships are essential to having a good life. And they found that another essential element of happiness is finding meaning and purpose in life.

Jesus told us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. There is the key to having meaning and purpose in life; there is the key to having good relationships; there is the reason to do good things for others.

But as we said, God wants us to grow beyond the point where we have to consult the rules to do these things. He wants us to become people who produce the fruit of the Spirit the way a tree produces its fruit; that is, he wants these things to come naturally to us. Which paradoxically requires the supernatural help of the Spirit in transforming us into Christlike persons.

C.S. Lewis compared what God does in us to a builder totally renovating your house. At first the changes make sense to you. You knew that the floor had to be replaced or the roof had to be fixed. But then the builder starts knocking out walls and creating a banquet hall and putting up towers and doing things you never conceived were part of the job. Because God is not restoring your cozy little house for you to live in by yourself; he is building a palace because he, the King, is moving in with you.

If we allow the Spirit to do what he is supposed to do in us, we will eventually see the logic of it. We will start to perceive ourselves, others and God as Jesus does. We will have the mind of Christ. We will be the temple of the Holy Spirit.

We will not need to hide any dark side of us from God or from the world or from ourselves. For if we live by the Spirit of the God who is Love Incarnate, we will be the light of the world, as our gospel passage says. Because the one who is the light of the world, Jesus, will shine through us. (John 9:5) And in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)