No Lazy Ways To Remain True

When I first came to Broome, I often used to go down to the Roey beer garden on a Friday night where Scrap Metal, the precursor to the Pigram Brothers, used to play. One of their songs used to get me into a really reflective mood, and it still does. The refrain goes:

If you find a lazy way to remain true

To everything you through so right and so good

Don’t want to know

Don’t want to share your narrow dreaming

Howling at the Moon

This song has always spoken to me of Lent, of choosing again the narrow path, recognising the reality of our lives and the fact that there are no short cuts to a life of integrity, no free ride.

Today we are presented with Jesus being tempted by the Devil. The Devil promises him everything, and promises that it will all be so easy. That is the same temptation that comes to us, that we can get something that we are not entitled to without repercussions, that there are no consequences to our actions.   Jesus is wise to that one. You don’t have to be Einstein to realise that if something looks too good to be true, it usually is!

The Temptations of Jesus remind us of our priorities in Lent. He is tempted to rely on himself rather than God.  Jesus’ answer is to turn to prayer, to every word that comes from the mouth of God. He is tempted to power and control, and he chooses not to out God to the test. We do the same when we stick close to the teaching of the Church and not to invent our own teaching, ignore or twist divine teaching to suit our own ends. The last temptation is that of who is our God, the first commandment. Jesus answers by telling the Devil to leave. We do it by examining our lives and honestly answering whether God is important in my life by the amount of my time that I devote to God and the work of God. Examining Jesus’ answers and ours can sometimes give us some unwanted answers!

Lent is our time of saying loudly and clearly that there are no easy ways, no short cuts, but that the hard slog is not done alone. In this season we nurture our spiritual lives together, as the Church. At times we can and should fast, pray and give by ourselves but Lent is our time of doing it together.  The other day I asked someone why they went to Zumba classes. They answered that they knew it was good for them and found it hard, but it was much easier in a group that encouraged each other. It is the same with us, except that we not only have each other, but the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen us as well.

The first reading assures us that temptation has been around since Adam was a boy, so we can be sure that temptation will come our way.

Lent is our time to nurture our spirits by being aware of whom we are, of the dignity God has given us, the integrity to which he has called us, and the gifts God wants us to share. 

There are no lazy ways to remain true.

First Sunday of Lent, Year A, 13th March 2011.