23.02.2026
Saint Francis
Pastor Elizabeth Ekdale
First Sunday in Lent
February 22, 2026
We begin in the wilderness with Jesus. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus has been led by the Holy Spirit for a purpose - to be tempted or tested by the devil.
Jesus is not lost in the wilderness nor is he being punished for something he has done wrong (assumptions that people today sometimes make about their own “wilderness experiences”).
Throughout the Bible, the wilderness represents a place of preparation, a place of waiting for God’s next move, a place of learning to trust in God’s mercy, even a place where the joy of new life can be experienced.
Bread, power, and glory. Jesus contends with the devil trying to entice him - to grasp after security and safety by eating bread, to demonstrate his close association with the powerful by proving that God’s angels will keep him from injury and securing the glory of political leadership. The temptation is not that bread, power, and glory are inherently wrong, but rather that they can be used for the wrong ends or at the wrong time.
Each temptation suggests that God is not sufficient. All Jesus has to do is worship anything, anyone else but God, including the one in front of him. Bread, power, and glory. But it could have been anything.
It probably is for us.Youth, beauty, and wealth. Fame, fortune, and a million followers on social media. In my home and in the church office as Valentine’s Day approached, it’s been chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.
Bread, power, and glory. None of the 3 temptations in front of Jesus were bad in and of themselves. Jesus was hungry - bread would take care of his hunger. The point isn’t the specific temptations - but our response to them - specifically, what the temptations do to us, what false claims they lay on us, what trip they play on us in eroding our trust from our loving God.
Martin Luther is helpful for us as we think about this story through a bit of a different lens in sorting through what competes for our allegiance in our lives. Luther wrote, “Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God. ”The season of Lent is when we are challenged to examine our loyalties and allegiances.I want to suggest a few helpful questions for you while pondering Luther’s words: What distracts you away from God’s presence in your life? What unhealthy images of God can you let go of in order to embrace God’s abundant love and unconditional acceptance of you? What are those things which your heart clings too tightly that need releasing in order to have complete reliance in God?
While on vacation, Hans, my spouse and I, were led into the wilderness to be tempted by a “time-share” presentation. Though it is not called a time-share any longer - it is cleverly called an “opportunity to own a deeded vacation home for one week a year. This salesperson was the devil incarnate from our gospel story. He diligently and sincerely described all of the advantages that our deeded vacation home would bring to our lives: how much we would save on future vacations - the comfort and security we would gain for our lives, how soundly we could sleep at night just knowing we had acquired this opportunity, and - the kicker, how much joy it would give us to know we could pass this gift on to our daughter.
He took us on a tour - up to the top suite - the pinnacle - commanding a sweeping view of the blue Pacific Ocean. With a gesture of his hand, he indicated all of this would be ours for only $32,000 plus a yearly HOA fee which started at $2,400.
After the tour and another sales pitch, we extricated ourselves after declining their most generous of offers, including the extra benefits created just for us, but only if we signed that very day. It took me a couple of hours afterwards to convince myself I wasn’t such a bad parent after all for denying our daughter her future filled with the vacations dreams of her choice. My deep visceral reaction had to do with the glittering promises attached to this deal - the supposed promise of joy and comfort, security and sound sleep, the well-being of our daughter’s future, and creating treasured memories which will last for a lifetime.
There are alluring temptations and testing throughout our wildernesses. They are all around us. This lenten story is about Jesus’ choices and ours to be fully trusting and obedient (in the best sense of that word) to our loving and merciful God. We are just beginning our lenten journey, a time of renewal and reprioritizing, assessing as Luther said, “that on which our heart relies and depends”.
What can we discover in these 40 days? Lent is a time to rediscover the profound joy that accompanies our “fasting from” the world’s empty promises in order to “feast on” the trustworthy promises of our compassionate God. In light of Jesus’ witness to us, I would propose:
We fast from the empty promises which bombard us on social media and feast on the enduring promises of God;
We fast from self-absorption and not being fully present to our loved ones and this community; we feast on kindness and compassion and the gift of being present for others;
We fast from the need for constant background noise and distractions and feast on purposeful and intentional silence;
We fast from the need to judge and critique others; we feast on Christ’s image dwelling within them.
We fast from turning our gaze from the needs of our neighbors near and far; we feast on being attentive and open to the pain and brokenness of those around us.
We fast from quick and cheap promises of security and joy; and feast on the enduring and eternal promises of God.
We have 40 days for fasting and feasting, which can align our hearts with God’s heart. May this season sharpen your desire to draw closer to God and provide clarity with whom or what you place your all loyalties. There is joy in this journey - it is not all gloom and doom - for as our psalmist sings: “Steadfast love surrounds those who trust in God”.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
