Dear friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Testing is a normal and regular part of every child’s academic life.  From an early age children grow to expect that their teachers will test them, and that there will be positive and negative consequences.  Nearly 40 years ago, when I was a teacher at a boarding school in India, I had the evening duty of gathering the students into one room and observing them as they completed their evening homework.  They all looked up at the clock on the wall, which had an attached placard.  “Time will pass. Will you?”  And they had all learned the unwritten school motto. “Sometimes, we finish the exam and sometimes, the exam finishes us.”

Yes, testing is a normal and regular part of every student’s academic life, but as adults we are a little surprised when testing comes back to haunt us.   We object to retaking our driving test, so we register for the AARP Drive Alive class instead.  When the doctor says that you need a hearing test, we go in for a second opinion. This past week, I objected when the dental hygienist told me my blood pressure was high, so she was going to a second reading. You would have high blood pressure too if you knew the trauma I have felt in a dentist chair over the years.

This morning’s gospel reading, the traditional lesson for the First Sunday in Lent, is often referred at Jesus’ testing in the wilderness.  For generations, theologians have read the story of our Savior’s 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil as the supreme test. Jesus was weak and alone, famished and hungry, and there the devil came to test him. Yet from the very beginning of the gospel reading, we are taught that it was no accident. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness in order that he might be tested and strengthened, and the devil seized the opportunity.  That is why I prefer to call this scene Jesus’ Tempering in Wilderness.

Tempering is an ancient process of heating and cooling steel for strengthening its elasticity. Interestingly, the oldest known example of tempered metal is a pick axe which was found in Galilee, dating from around 11 centuries before Christ.  Strengthening faith is like tempering metal. After all, there is no regimen of vitamins and supplements for it strengthening. Nor is there some kind of therapy, or an all-day seminar you can attend.  Faith is a muscle that needs to be worked and trained.

My friends, as we begin this Lenten season, whether you have embraced the challenge of wandering in the wilderness, or whether you have discovered yourself standing in an unknown wilderness, may you be assured that Holy Spirit is accompanying and using these experiences to deeper your faith – for even greater challenges ahead. This morning, I would like to suggest four common ways that faith is tested, tempted and ultimately tempered.

First of all, faith is tempered through difficulties. This occurs whenever and wherever events and challenges come your way.  It’s like an academic exam intended to make you more aware and confident of what you know. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, and the Holy Spirit was there to accompany him in his prayers, in his thoughts, and in his moments of human weakness.  Jesus was famished and yet he trusted that his Heavenly Father would provide him with all that he needed.  The Devil, however, decided that Jesus’ 40 days of self-examination would be an opportune time to test him and with questions of God’s ability to provide. Looking at the stones, and with thoughts of daily bread, the Devil tempted Jesus to doubt God’s daily provision and that it was enough, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” but Jesus could not be swayed.

Second, faith is tempered when loyalty is challenged. God may at time ask you us to do things that seem impossible. There are 1050 commands to obey in just the New Testament alone. Some may seem unreasonable in comparison to the patterns of the world. So what do you do when are faced an impossible, unreasonable godly command? It may be easy to avoid them, to dismiss them as uncomfortable truths. Every day we are challenged to be loyal to one group or another and the teachings of God. The devil brought Jesus to a high mountain and offered him half the world’s kingdoms. “If you, then will worship me, it will be yours.” Frankly, a small kingdom in Northern Europe would have been temptation enough for me. I’m not that greedy. It’s hard to remain loyal to God in a world when everyone seems to be chasing after their own dream of success. It’s oh, so tempting to let go, but Jesus refused.  Strength comes through loyalty.

Third, faith is tempered through money and wealth. Money is one of the greatest tests to faith. Few people truly understand how disturbing material possessions can be to their spiritual life. Yet, we hear it over and over again in scripture, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” For many people finances are the greatest treasure of all- and the greatest temptation. They have no idea that they actually being tested when they get into debt, or when they’re going through problems, or when they have too much and they have been asked to give.

What you do with your money really does measure our faith in God. When I’m willing and ready and able to generously return to the Lord as he has richly given to me -knowing that this money could be spent for other things, I know it is a test and a temptation.  Just as difficulties and loyalty temper my faith, so does the use of money.

Finally, faith is tempered through delays. Sometimes, I think Jesus had it easy. He only had to wait 40 days and nights for his testing to be over. Many here have wrestled with illness for months, or for the return of a lost, prodigal son or daughter for years. Worship, Bible study and prayers are all helpful rituals in nurturing your faith, but if every prayer were immediately answered, if your every need were automatically met, if your every problem was instantly solved, well you wouldn’t need faith and your faith wouldn’t need to be stretched. But life is not that way. We all have to wait on things and be prepared for answers to prayer to be delayed.

My friends, perhaps it feels as if your faith is being tested and pushing you to the brink right now. It’s not pleasant and it’s certainly not comfortable. Nobody likes walking through the wilderness alone, but it is there in those difficult moments and hours that you can experience and discover God’s true capacity to provide for you.  No one has the inner strength and resilience to exercise their faith on their own. The strength to endure trials comes only by reflecting on the one who was pushed past that brink—pushed into death itself—Jesus. And through it all, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, he was faithful .

So do not be afraid of the forty days and nights in the wilderness and its time of testing- if that is where the Spirit is leading you. For it is there in the wilderness, that like Jesus, God will make you strong, and more confident and free.  Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.  Amen.