First Sunday of Lent
February 13, 2005


Are you a good test taker?

There are some people who manage to ace every test they ever take, even if they don’t study. And others who manage to bomb every test, even though they know the subject matter backwards and forwards. And many of us lie in between those states. Are you a good test taker? The Greek word peirazein translated in today’s gospel as ‘temptation’ can also be rendered: “Testing”. So, what do we know about ‘tests’ and ‘test anxiety’ and the creation of tests?

At their root, testing is all about finding out a truth – whether it is a science question, a math equation, or the truth of a relationship or person – testing gives us the data about where the other stands. Testing about information reveals knowledge or the lack of knowledge. Testing about a relationship reveals the character of the person tested.

So the serpent, ‘that most cunning of animals’ tests Adam and Eve – not to see what they know, but to uncover their character. And the flaw the serpent uncovers runs deep. By introducing a little doubt – and that is always how the devil works – the serpent allows Eve to see that the fruit was good for food, pleasing to look at and desirous for wisdom. If you eat it, “you will be like gods who know what is good and evil,” tests the serpent. In other words, the fruit revealed to Eve and to Adam, who ‘was with her’ that they did not have enough, that they were incomplete. There was a knowledge they did not possess, a truth they did not know. It was not enough to be in paradise. It was not enough to dwell in harmony with God and nature. They had to have MORE… and in so partaking of the forbidden fruit, they fail the test.

Jump ahead to the desert, where that same serpent tests Jesus to find out his character. And the devil is cocky. Confident. After all, beginning with Adam and Eve, no one had passed the test – no one had revealed the character that God was looking for. All three of the tests ask Jesus about WHO he is. IF you are the Son of God then…. If you are the Son of God, then…. “I will give you all this power if you renounce your Sonship by worshipping me…” What the devils tests, the truth he tries to get Jesus to assent to, is different than the one God the Father would have for Jesus. Jesus responds to each – I will be Son, but on God’s terms, not my own. I will be Son, but I’ll be empty at times, and powerless at times, and I won’t be safe. But I’ll still be loved. I’ll still be loved. I don’t need any “MORE” than that. And the devil leaves, powerless, because Jesus has passed the test. We know that his love for God that is the deepest truth about his life.

We begin the season of Lent each year with the story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert. And whether you are a good test taker or a poor one, we know that the serpent will do his same test upon us – are you really a Son or Daughter of God? Are you really willing to trust that who you are is enough? Don’t you need a little more - a little more virtue, a little more comfort, a little more knowledge about your spouse’s love, a little more belief in how the Christianity thing will all turn out – to really love God, and to really be the person God wants you to be?

Are you a good test taker? The good news is that you don’t have to be. Because you already know what the question will be. Are you really a Beloved Son or Daughter of God? And you know the form that the test takes – the desire for more. You see, if you really are the Son/Daughter of God, then you should have MORE, you should want MORE, you should be more.
So, welcome the testing this lent. As often as you come across that desire for ‘more’ – smile – because you know the answer. As often as you find yourself tempted to be anything less that dependent upon God for everything – rejoice – because you know how Jesus passed – by writing down “False”. And when Easter comes, may you, like Jesus, know ever more in your actions and choices – what it means to be the Beloved Sons and Daughters of God.