a testing time

As this Sunday is the first Sunday in Lent, we hear again of Jesus testing time in the wilderness. Because we are in the year of Matthew, we get his version. Jesus is baptised and is declared to be the God’s Beloved Son. The Spirit then takes Jesus into the wilderness to face the big questions. What kind of beloved son will he be? How will he live that out?

The wilderness is a harsh place where there is no hiding. Here he fasts and prepares. He is anchored in God. And at the end he is tested in this identity.   How will he respond? Will be put his own needs first or trust that God will provide? Will he succumb to the dramatic and lure of fame, or will be trust God and meet the needs of those who encounter him on the way? Will he seek power and fortune, or seek nothing for himself and live in response to God’s compassion and justice?

We too are beloved children. But too often, like Adam and Eve, we forget, and we strive for what is ours already. They strove to be like God when they and we are already created in God’s image. They are we forget who we are with dire consequences for how we live.

Lent is a time when we are asked “who are we as beloved children?” We are invited to anchor ourselves in God as we reflect on how we live that out. This Lent I wonder if we need to particularly wonder how we live that out in our relationship to God’s creation.