Reflection on the Texts for Lent I – "Theme and Variations"

Read the Gospel text here: St. Matthew 4:1-11
Read the Old Testament text here: Genesis 2:15-3:7 
THEME & VARIATIONS
In the area of Music Appreciation one of the most important things you need to learn in order to be able to fully understand and appreciate the music of some of the great composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven, is form.  The form is the structure of a musical composition and there are several standard forms that were used by the great composers.  One of the most popular was a form called “Theme and Variations.”  This was a standard form and often the first assignment that a student composer was given was to take a particular tune and compose a set of variations on the tune.  The way it works is this: there is a tune or a melody that is usually somewhat familiar.  After the listeners are reminded of the tune then there follows a series of variations that usually get progressively more complex as they proceed.  But the rule is that there has to be a connection somehow with the theme – so that even if it is masked you can still find the theme in some way (melodically, harmonically or rhythmically), even if it is masked in some way.
Our Gospel text for today tells the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness.  In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan and when he is coming out of the water the heavens are open and a voice rings forth approval as the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove.  And then this Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness where he fasts for 40 days and 40 nights (think Noah, Moses, the people of Israel and Elijah).  At the end of this time the devil comes to Jesus and makes three offers: Since you are the Son of God  (p.s. the Greek here is the word “since” not “if”) turn these stones into bread (comfort); …. Throw yourself down from the temple (security-manipulation of God); … worship me (power, wealth and glory)! 
These are the variations on an old tune: In Genesis 3 (our OT lesson for today) the serpent says to Eve in verse 5: take and eat the fruit because then…you will be like God….  That is the old, old tune which human beings have been singing since the dawn of time – aspiring to put themselves into the place of God.  Adam and Eve succumbed to this temptation and the consequence was banishment.  The bible is filled with story after story of human beings who are constantly presuming that they can put themselves in the place of God. This comes in the form of lack of trust or by presuming power that is not theirs or in the lust for the acquisition of power and glory; it comes in the attitude of invincibility and entitlement; it comes in the form of arrogance; it comes in the form of placing me and my comfort and my power and wealth above others, and thus above God. 
These are all variations on the theme.  And the theme has a name: Original Sin; and the temptations that Jesus stood against are the standard variations of this theme: my comfort; my security; my presuming God’s power and agenda; my power and glory and wealth.  These are the same temptations with which we struggle as well.  How often do we put our own comfort, security, wealth and status above others and God? 
Finally, it is important to remember that we are not Jesus and no matter how hard we try to resist these temptation variations we will fail at times.  But because of Jesus; because Jesus did not fail; because Jesus died and rose again we can be assured of God’s love and grace and forgiveness.  And so, during this Lenten time we are called to recognize the times when we have been seduced by the temptation variations, ask for forgiveness and move forward, assured of God’s love, grace and forgiveness in Christ, Jesus our Lord.

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 13, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    Very interesting . I had never thought of that. I have almost no musical background, but I have found that in listening to Mozart, for example, I must use a different kind of thinking than I do in listening to Debussy. And possibly the same thing is true in reading Bible stories. Martha

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Funeral Sermon on John 14

Once more I have had the unpleasant experience of having to listen to a "pastor" expound on the John 14 text in a way which focuses exclusively on "what we get when we get to heaven." Central to this position is the insistence that "you better believe in Jesus - have a personal relationship with Jesus" or else you won't be getting one of those nice mansions." This is not the Gospel and it is not what this text is saying. In fact I find this approach to funeral sermons to be reprehensible as it subjects vulnerable and grieving men and women to a manipulative religious diatribe which is totally irrelevant to the occasion - the loss of a loved one. Not only that, but I have experienced also the dishonesty of evangelical "pastors" enlisting the deceased in their manipulation (e.g. Mildred believed in Jesus so you all should be like Mildred and believe in Jesus). This is NOT the Gospel. This is manipulation and it is irresponsible. So, for al
Read more

Reflections on Transfiguration A - Matthew 17:1-9

Image
Read the text here:  Matthew 17:1-9 Listening to What? (or - "The Law and the Prophets Sing") How well do you take advice?   How well do you listen to others and consider their counsel?   If we are honest, most of us are not terribly good at this. Yes, we ask others what they think about this or that, but usually we just want those others to confirm our already set decision or course of action.   In fact, I think we pride ourselves on being self-sufficient and independent so much that sometimes we can make some really terrible life decisions simply because we refuse to listen to anyone else.   “I don’t need anybody else,” we say, “I can do it on my own, thank you very much!” Rarely do we consider that our vision and ability to make objective and wise decisions may be skewed by our pre-conceptions, prejudices and priorities. Listening is therefore difficult for us and it is not just general life and relationship decisions that are affected but
Read more

Reflections on the Parable – “The Workers in the Vineyard” – Matthew 20:1-16

Image
Read the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard here: Matthew 20:1-16 It's Not Fair! Over the course of our focus on the Parables of Jesus there have been two very important themes that have emerged: 1. God loves God’s creation – extravagantly, madly, passionately and showers upon the beloved creation this love and grace in outrageous abundance.   God’s goes to extravagant and illogical extremes in showing love, grace and forgiveness to all of God’s creation – that would be us, you and me.   And the 2 nd theme is related and comes forth from this: we are called to be in community and to reflect this crazy extravagant love and grace and forgiveness in the way we relate and treat and interact with others! This is not so easy for us and Jesus acknowledges this fact in the parables while at the same time shocking and challenging us to move beyond our inclination to be focused only on ourselves and our tendency to judge and our desire for selfish fairness.   It is this
Read more