It is now the First Sunday in Lent, and, as has long been the church’s custom, there is a move from hearing of the manifestations of the Divine in Christ throughout the Epiphany season to a focus on the humanity of Christ. The First Sunday in Lent, in particular, finds Jesus moving from His Baptism, at which is proclaimed to Him, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased,” to the wilderness, having been led there by the Holy Spirit. And, just as He was Baptized for you, He is now going to the wilderness for you. Having been joined to you in Baptism and having had all of that sin washed onto Him, He now goes into the wilderness to be faced with temptations like (and very much unlike) humanity always faces.

The image of the scapegoat is brought to mind here. In Leviticus 16 is prescribed the manner in which the sin of the people is atoned for. Two goats are brought to the high priest; one is sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the people and various instruments in and around the temple so as to make atonement for the people. Then the priest, “[lays] both his hands on the head of the live goat, and [confesses] over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.” (Leviticus 16:21) Likewise, Jesus, having just bathed in the sin-filthy waters of the Jordan is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

There, in the wilderness, Jesus fasted for 40 days. The self-disciplined practice of fasting during Lent (be it the denial of some pleasurable thing, such as sweets or some entertaining activity, or a full-fledged fast) hearkens back to this 40-day fast of Jesus. The season of Lent is 40 days (not counting Sundays) also because of Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness when He was tempted.

The changes of times and seasons are used by the Church to commemorate events in the life of the Savior, especially such as Christmas and Easter, and to teach Her members and get them to focus on some aspect of their lives as the Baptized. Lent is especially one of those latter times and seasons.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there is still an event in the life of the Savior that is the particular focus of the season of Lent: Jesus Christ’s Passion and Death, which will serve as the focus of the mid-week services here starting next week. Such should be proclaimed year-round, much as the rest of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection should be. After all, any particular event in the life of the Savior loses all meaning and purpose apart from the whole of the events of the life of the Savior. You can’t have Good Friday without the Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God, which would be for nothing as regards salvation apart from Good Friday. Nevertheless, during this time of the Church Year, especially during Holy Week, the Passion and Death of Jesus come to the forefront of the Church’s preaching and teaching.

For the Christian, the focus this season becomes even more introspective as you compare your lives according to and against the Law of God. And just like the Church’s preaching and teaching, this is something that should be happening year-round. Nevertheless, these two things go hand-in-hand: the Church’s preaching and teaching look especially to the Passion and Death of Jesus for your sins which is likely reason for you to do an especially harder look at your life against the Law of God to see your sins.

Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. Turn the other cheek to those who strike you. Give your tunic to the one who took your cloak; maybe we can say give your shirt to the one who took your coat. Give to beggars. Don’t demand your stuff back from the one who took it. Do to others what you would have them do to you. Lend without expecting payback.

But wait, there’s more!

Do not judge or condemn and you won’t be judged or condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.”

It is a familiar saying that John 3:16 is the Gospel in a nutshell; that God loved the world, so He sent His Son. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) Every week you sing the Agnus Dei which proclaims with the other John that Jesus is the “Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world.” St. Paul wrote that “[God] in Christ was reconciling the world to himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Therefore, from Scripture (especially these passages), you learn this truth: Jesus is the Savior of the world. But, you can also discern this truth: If Jesus is the Savior of the world, then He is the Savior of each person, individually, that is part of the world.

This morning’s Gospel finds Jesus of Nazareth having left Nazareth, after passing through the people unharmed as they sought to throw him over the brow of the cliff on which the town was built—the end of last week’s Gospel. He had returned to Capernaum, teaching and amazing His hearers. He spoke with authority…His own authority. He didn’t merely repeat what had been repeated by teachers before him and teachers before them: “You have heard that it was said…but I say to you…” (cf. Matthew 5:21ff)

I often wonder what it would be like if I were to return to my “home” congregation as a guest preacher.

For a little bit of background, I’ll say this: My grandparents were long-time residents of Tampa or the surrounding suburbs. When my grandparents married, there was only one LCMS congregation in the Tampa area. As the metro area grew, especially in the 70s and 80s, several other LCMS congregations were established; almost all of them began in my grandparents’ house. Not to boast, but the name Wagner is almost synonymous with Missouri Synod Lutheranism in the Tampa metro area.

That’s why I often wonder what it would be like if I were to return to my “home” congregation in Carrollwood (a Tampa suburb) and be about a task of ministry there. They know me there. They’ve seen me when my family would drive down from Ft. Gordon in Georgia for a holiday break. They received me as a member when I went away to college, and often saw me during that time. In a sense, they saw me grow up and certainly heard stories of me (and the rest of my cousins) from my grandparents. I was ordained in that congregation and was a first-time celebrant of the Sacrament there that afternoon. While it’s not the same for a pastor who grew up and spent every Sunday of their young lives in the same congregation, there is a certain renown that I have with Lutheran circles in Tampa that most others don’t share.