First Sunday in Lent • Year C

Historical Collect

O Lord God, you would have us put no trust in anything we do. Mercifully grant that by your power we may be defended against all adversity; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Gregorian Sacramentary)

Thematic Collect

Holy God, you journey with your people through the wilderness days of our lives. Guide us by your Spirit that we might repent and return to you; believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

The Common Thread

The first fruit (indeed any ongoing fruit too) of true religion comes as the result of faith in God. Religion means being bound to God. So, when the early crops start to come up, true faith depends on God for the harvest, not the fact that green has appeared. When the storms of life threaten to blow us away, faith finds shelter in the shadow of the Almighty. Faith believes when all reason demands otherwise. When the most trying struggles command our obedience, faith answers, “It is written,” and remains bound to God, his promises in Word and Sacrament, not the ease and abundance of life.

First Reading • Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Imagine that you have spent a generation eating the manna and fowl that the Lord has provided in the wilderness. Now you are about to enter the land promised to be flowing with milk and honey. You have also heard reports of grapes, pomegranates, and figs that are so large that the fruit must be carried by two men. What will you want to do after decades of of fowl and manna, but eat some fruit from the promised land? But first, God says, each of you give me a basket of that fruit. Does God actually eat grapes (Psa 50:13) or does he want his people to learn to trust him in the midst of such abundance? God has given his word to provide. He has shown his faithfulness in the wilderness. You may trust him.

Psalm • Psalm 91:1-13

What is your shelter and shade? What is your go-to place for refuge and protection, your shield when life terrorizes you? When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, when the panic of hunger set in, the Lord Most High was his defense and peace. God protects those who trust in him; he will guard them in all their ways. He has given his word.

Read or listen to a lesson on Psalm 91:1-4. Includes additional Scripture graphic. 

Second Reading • Romans 10:8b-13

There is a terror worse than hunger or any other trouble in this life. The threat of sin and the terror of death are far more woeful. Yet even here, God’s promise is near, a comfort and word of peace. Does death terrify you because of your sin? Consider Jesus who bore your sin—and the sin of the world—to the cross, to death, and to hell. The same God who raised him from the dead has promised to raise you too. Are you afraid? Call in faith upon the name of the Lord and he will save you. 

Read or listen to a lesson on Romans 10:5-17. Includes additional Scripture graphic. 

Gospel • Luke 4:1-13

 “It is written.” Both Jesus and the devil said these words in the wilderness. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, used the written word to trust God in his circumstances. The devil, full of deceit, twisted the word of God so that Jesus might trust Satan to deliver him from difficult situations. There are many in the world today who artfully spin the word of God to their own profit and purpose. If God’s word is used to test God, you may be sure it is being used by the devil. If it is being used to trust God, to take him at his word even if it means hard times, then you are being led by the Spirit.