Jesus was tested. Right after his baptism, right after the Spirit hovered over him like a dove, right after the voice from heaven declared him to be the Beloved Son of the Creator of the Universe--after all that, Jesus is led out into the misery of the harsh, unforgiving, arid place of mirages called the desert to face Satan, the great test administrator. It is time for the dreaded SAT--the Spiritual Aptitude Test! And his future (and ours!) depends on how well he does.
A 20/20 episode some years ago showed a group of four-year-olds struggling with temptation. They were left alone in a room sitting at a table in front of two or three M & M's, having been told they could have a whole package of M & M's if they would wait for a bell that would ring in five minutes. The testing was recorded through a two way mirror. The result was hilarious as these poor kids twitched, fidgeted, wiggled and twisted their faces up in knots trying not to grab those M & M's. About half made it and half just couldn't resist and grabbed the goods. You might say, that was a test they just didn't pass. They were like Oscar Wilde, who quipped, "I can resist everything except temptation."
Out in the desert, the devil showed Jesus three stashes of M & Ms, so to speak. Food, glorious power, and even the thrill of a really bad idea--jumping off the Temple to see if the guardian angels God assigned to him would catch him. But in each case, Jesus refused to get distracted by the offer of instant gratification. He'd done his homework, he was well-schooled in the things of faith. Three times he told the devil, the Scriptures say... Thank God Jesus passed the test.
The Scriptures say... But what, according to Jesus, do the Scriptures say? In the testing of the desert it became clear: boiled down to its essence, life is all about God. That's what the Scriptures say! Each answer our Lord gave the devil made it clear that he knew that nothing can ever fill the emptiness in human soul but God. God alone must be at the center of our lives. Bingeing on food, drink, power, thrills, all kinds of entertainments, those are only temporary hits that leave the soul's deep hunger for God unsatisfied. That's what the Scriptures say.
Catechumens, you need to know that in seeking to become a part of the Church, you are accepting the living truth of what the Scriptures say. You are entering into the story of Jesus. He shares our humanity. What we go through he goes through --and vice-versa. In terms of being a part of the church, even liturgically we live out Jesus' story. Last week we remembered the glory of Christ on the mountain top. Perhaps already you've had some mountain top moments as a group. And you will certainly experience great things during Holy Week and at the Great Vigil of Easter, all focused on Baptism into Christ. You will be wonderfully welcomed as beloved children of God!
But then: after all this glory and the thrill of great liturgies, will come a let down, and a temptation to believe all the wonderful stuff we've experienced was only a mirage and church, after all, is only more of the same old tired, bleak arid desert the rest of the world is. When that happens, you've entered the desert for your meeting with Satan, the great test administrator, who is more than eager to give you his diabolical "SAT"--the dreaded Spiritual Aptitude Test. He is always ready to present a variety of cheap thrills, anything to lure you away from what the Scriptures say: without God at the center of our lives, there is nothing that will ever fill the emptiness of our souls. Never forget: Satan's a test-giver who always hopes you'll flunk.
And what I say to the catechumens I say to all: When the glory fades, and we are disappointed with ourselves, with the church, with our worship, with our lives, with God, we have entered the desert of the spirit, and it's testing time again. But take heart! In every testing, every temptation, every empty desert of the spirit, remember that our Lord has been there first. He knows the story. He's mastered the material. Desert testings are not signs that we are bad Christians, or that God has left us, or that the church is disappointing waste of time and energy (those are all things the devil would like us to believe!), but rather these feelings and desert testings are a part of the life of faith. Nobody likes the tests, but all the great saints speak of such desert testings, and, as we've seen today, even our Lord had to endure them.
Maybe you've heard this prayer. "Lord, thank you so much for being with me today. I have not gossiped, nor have I spoken a cross word. My thoughts have been on you and I am thinking of the people in my life with love in my heart. I have not been angry, sarcastic or impatient. Now, please help me as I get out of bed this morning!" Asking Christ for help is always a good idea!
One of the ancient Christian monks called the Desert Fathers, who fled into the desert to be tested and find a purer faith, was being tormented by demons. Every day they threatened him. He used all his hard-won spiritual disciplines to fight off those demons, but his situation only got worse. Finally one day, as the demons grabbed him and tried to drag him into the desert to kill him, clinging with all his might to the door post, he cried, "Jesus, help me." And immediately Jesus appeared and sent the demons scurrying away like scared rats. The monk accused Jesus of neglect. "Why did you take so long to come to help me?" And Jesus said, "But it wasn't until just now that you finally asked for my help. All you ever need to do is ask."
If we'll just do that much--ask for Christ's help when we're out in some desert emptiness of our spirit--everything will be OK. For our S.A.T.--Spiritual Aptitude Test--is about recalling what the Scriptures say: Help comes to us we when resist the offer of cheap thrills and immediate gratification for the sake of God at the center of our lives. In fact, Christ is the presence of God at the center of our lives. And if we believe that, and cry out for his help, then we've learned our lessons well, and no matter how bleak our situation looks, we know enough to pass every test. Amen.