Since this is Boy Scout Sunday, it is natural for us to think about camping. Although scouting today may involve far more than camping, it was the primary reason I got involved in scouting as a youth – and it was camping that kept me involved for several years. So, although it may not be accurate to focus entirely on camping today, I’m going to do it anyway.

Let me begin by asking how many you have ever gone camping? When you have gone camping, what kinds of things did you think of taking with you – and what was the thought process in making those decisions? For me, the three primary considerations were always: eating, sleeping, and carrying … in that order! Camping would have been far less appealing to me if it hadn’t involved cooking over an open fire – and, while it may not be high on anyone’s list today, that always included fried spam! There were other things, of course, but the first thing I always thought of when getting ready to go camping was “what will I eat?”

I suppose I thought of food first, because the “sleeping” issue was pretty standard: I had a sleeping bag and tent – in those days I didn’t even worry about a cushioning pad under my sleeping bag (though there is no way I would go camping these days without at least three inches of high density foam under me!) – and, the “carrying” issue was pretty standard, too: a backpack.

One thing I didn’t often think about was water. Like this area, I was camping in an area of abundant lakes, rivers, and streams. I don’t remember ever having to carry water with me when I went camping – only when hiking. Once we were at a campsite, we always assumed that water would be available.

Now, let’s refine our thoughts about camping a bit more. How many of you have ever been camping in a desert or arid terrain? Planning ahead for water was a whole lot more significant, wasn’t it? Every survival course I have ever taken emphasized that water was far more critically important for short term survival than food.

Given that reality, I have long considered it remarkable that the issue of water is never addressed in the Gospel texts about Jesus being in the “wilderness” for forty days and nights. Any number of people have gone for long periods of time like this without food – but water? Well, that’s a whole different question, isn’t it? Of course, it’s important to remember that there is nothing in the Gospels or Bible that would lead us to believe it even pretends to be a “survival” manual! This is not a story about Jesus going on an ill-prepared hike or camping trip. Nor is there anything in this morning’s text from Matthew that would lead us to believe that Jesus was without water for forty days. The text only says that Jesus “fasted.” This helps us understand that this incident in the life of Jesus is not, really, about the mechanics or chronology of what happened to Jesus during those forty days. The importance of this text is that Jesus was led by God’s Spirit into the wilderness intentionally to confront Satan, the Accuser. Jesus fasted for forty days as a way of preparing himself for this confrontation.

What is not often thought about when reading this text is that “fasting” for Jesus would have meant more than “not eating.” To the people of Israel, going back hundreds of years, “fasting” was inextricably linked with prayer. Fasting was practiced for only a small number of reasons: when mourning the death of someone; as a way of deepening one’s time of prayer; as preparation for encountering God – and, as a way of identifying with someone else’s suffering. If you think about this, “fasting” is a whole lot more about others than about self!

Think about what was happening in Jesus’ life: he was a young adult with a new sense of call to ministry. He had heard about this fellow John the Baptist, who was preaching about a need for God’s people to turn themselves around and be more faithful to God. Jesus went looking for this John, asked John to baptize him, was told by John that John felt he should be baptized by Jesus. Jesus insisted that John baptize him and, as soon as he was, immediately heard the voice of God proclaim, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus knew, at some very deep level, that he was called by God to minister to God’s people in a uniquely profound way. It is entirely possible that Jesus didn’t fully understand, yet, what that meant – and so he did what any good Jewish man of the time would do: he began a period of fasting and prayer in preparation for encountering God … and as a way of strengthening his understanding of what it meant to be the Son of God. No doubt, an element of this would have been to discern what it meant to be the bridge between God and humanity. To do that, Jesus needed to identify more closely with the suffering and pain of humanity. How better to accomplish these things than to be hungry for forty days in the wilderness, in meditative prayer, listening to God?!

Of course, instead of just encountering God in the wilderness, Jesus was confronted by Satan. Jesus was confronted by the Power in the world that tempted human beings to be other than what God created them to be. Satan was tempting Jesus to be other than what he was: the Son of God. Satan doesn’t really seem to understand that Jesus is more than a uniquely gifted human being. Satan doesn’t seem to really understand that Jesus is the divine Son of God. So Satan acts on a false assumption: Satan tempts Jesus with those things that would impact the humanity in Jesus: food, glory, power,

Jesus would have been hungry. “Turn these stones into bread,” Satan tempts; “satisfy your basic human need for food, for survival.” In fact, there is at least one important scholar of Matthew’s Gospel who asserts that Satan’s plural temptation – to turn the stones into bread – is a temptation for Jesus to, not only feed himself miraculously, but feed everyone miraculously. One loaf of bread would have been sufficient for Jesus, this theory maintains. In any case, Jesus resisted … and resisted by referencing God’s Word, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Failing there, Satan moves on to the temptation of glory, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself” from the highest pinnacle of the Temple. In other words, Jesus, “if you truly believe that you are called to serve God by redeeming God’s people, check it out. If it is true, God will not let you die prematurely.” “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” Jesus replied in resistance.

Finally there was the ultimate temptation: power (a temptation much in evidence during these days of Presidential campaigning!). Showing Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, Satan offers power over them to Jesus, in return for one small act of worship … in return for one small act of idolatry, which, indeed, would have been one major act of betrayal of God’s call! “Away with you, Satan; worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Jesus had remained faithful to God. Jesus had remained faithful to his identity as the Son of God. Jesus had remained true to his call to be the Redeemer of humanity. Jesus had resisted all of the temptations that so many of us fail to resist: self survival, power, glory.

It is not accidental that the Temptation of Jesus has been paired this morning with the text from Genesis about the first sin. Adam and Eve had been created by God and given a unique role in being the stewards of God’s larger Creation. God only required one thing of them: do not eat of the tree in the middle of the garden! Everything was fine with them until they, too, encountered the Tempter … who tempted them with the fruit from that tree. When Adam and Eve were tempted to eat of this fruit, they were tempted to turn aside from the task God had given them – and to think only of themselves. Having heard Satan’s argument about the appropriateness of eating from this tree, they looked and saw that “the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.” Which one of us doesn’t know how hard it is to resist something that is good, delightful, and desirable? They couldn’t resist, any more than we could have … or do!

In a very real sense Jesus was tempted in the very same way that Adam and Eve were tempted. They were all tempted to turn their backs on God and think primarily of themselves. Think of how many times you and I haven’t been tempted with some variation of that old, old temptation? How often haven’t we been tempted to think of ourselves and not others?

When I was a Boy Scout and went camping, I think the longest camping trip I took was for week, including three days canoeing down the Mississippi River. Such camping trips were always to satisfy my own sense of fun and adventure … and there wasn’t a moment in any such trip, in which I didn’t have everything I needed. I went camping to satisfy myself. Jesus, on the other hand, went into the wilderness for forty days intentionally to fast so that he could prepare himself to serve God – and to identify more closely with other people … with you and me! As we journey through life, it seems to me that we are offered this choice every day: either we can do things for ourselves and our own pleasure or enhancement … or we can do things for others.

If we think of life, itself, as an extended camping trip on planet earth, one in which are repeatedly offered the choice between making sure we, alone, have everything we need – or finding some way to share what we have with others, would that make a difference in how we lived? Consider these situations.

When doing some background reading for this morning’s worship, I happened upon the story of a 66 year old widow who had never had a job that paid more than $6.50 – and who was now living on her $623/month Social Security allowance. Because virtually all of that went to pay her rent, she relied completely on food banks for the food she ate. She is only one of 35 million Americans (let alone who knows how many elsewhere in the world) who live every day with what is called “food insecurity.”

Next to this, consider this statistic: the average American consumes directly 159 gallons of water every day (not counting the indirect water that is used to grow and manufacture everything else we consume – which has been estimated to bring the total to as high as 1800 gallons per day). In much of the rest of the world, people consider themselves lucky to have 25 gallons a day – and we have all seen pictures of refugees from Darfur, Chad, The Congo, and a host of other places, who struggle to have any water each day!).

If the whole population of the earth is, indeed, together on an extended camping trip, how can you and I share with others a bit more of what we have in our backpacks and canteens? Perhaps the forty days of this season in Lent can provide us with an opportunity to do a bit more: a can of food a day to the food bank? using a bit less water each day in our daily shower or while doing dishes? cooking a bit less so we throw less food into the garbage? Who knows what changes in lifestyle might result from such experiments … and how many other lives might be saved?

In our journey of faith we are encouraged to be consciously active in two arena: the arena of personal piety, our personal relationship with God and Jesus as Lord and Savior, and in the arena of social piety, in following the example of Jesus in giving ourselves to others that they might live. Before he embarked on his ministry, Jesus spent forty days alone with God in the wilderness, feeding his own soul with the power of God’s presence. Should any of us do any less?

Amen

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