The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Greeneville, TN
The First Sunday in Lent
February 22, 2026
I remember being a child and going to the store with my grandfather. I loved those trips. Not because I remember us needing anything in particular, but because I knew that before we left, he would almost always buy me something.
It didn’t have to be big. Usually, it was a candy bar or a small toy. Something hanging there, right there at the checkout line. You know the place. That last stretch before you pay. Candy. Gadgets. Those little “must-haves.” The things we didn’t know we needed until they were placed directly in front of us.
Now that I’m a father and a grandfather, I see it a bit differently. Marketeers are masters of temptation and Stores are designed with care. Milk is never near the entrance. You have to pass the pastries, all the bright packaging, the sale signs. And the checkout aisle! That’s no accident. It’s a final appeal. It’s the last whisper, “You need this.” Marketers understand something about us in our humanity. They understand temptation.
As children, we depend on adults to say no for us. Even when we protest. Even when we throw a fit. But as adults, who helps us say no? Who steadies us when desire clouds our judgment? Who keeps us grounded when the whispers grow loud?
Because temptations don’t disappear when we grow up. It just changes shape. And if we are honest about it, this isn’t only about candy bars and impulse buys. We are living in a season in our nation when temptations swirl around us constantly.
The temptation to believe every clickbait headline before we verify it. The temptation to demonize those who disagree with us. The temptation to respond to anger with more anger. The temptation to grasp for power, security, or certainty at any cost. The temptation to despair, or to withdraw or wallow in fear, or to say, “It’s not my problem.”
These are wilderness moments for us in our time. And they are wilderness moments for our souls. In the Genesis story, we hear of the first great temptation. God tells Adam and Eve when they are in the garden that they may eat from every tree, except one.
It is, in many ways, a parental word, “No. This one is not for you.” But the serpent whispers, “What would it hurt?” And they listen. That’s often how temptation works. Not as a shout, but as a whisper… a small justification.
Then, in the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus is driven into the wilderness after his baptism. There, he is hungry, vulnerable, and alone. And there he encounters what the Greeks call the "ho diabolo," the tempter or deceiver.
The first temptation is simple: Jesus was hungry, and the tempter says, "If you’re hungry, turn these stones into bread.” Now bread is not bad. Bread is necessary. We must eat to live. Jesus does not deny that. But Jesus reminds us: “One does not live by bread alone.” We all have deeper needs than consumption can satisfy.
In a culture that constantly urges us to consume more... more goods, more media, more outrage, more success, Jesus reminds us that our lives are grounded not in what we accumulate, but in the Word of God. The Church must feed the hungry we do, and we must. But in order to feed others, we must also be fed ourselves, nourished by love, truth, mercy, and grace harvested from what we learn of God from Holy Scriptures.
The second temptation is a little more dramatic. The tempter takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and says, in effect, “Prove yourself. Make a spectacle. Let God catch you.” Prove who you are and everyone will believe! This shows us that even Scripture can be twisted to make the point.
Isn’t that familiar? Words... holy words, mixed with constitutional words, patriotic words... Holy Words that are bent to serve agendas. In our society, faith is being co-opted more and more as a prop for the empire. And God is being invoked to justify what God NEVER intended. But there on the pinnacle of the temple, Jesus refuses to test God. He will not manipulate the holy for personal gain. Jesus will not confuse spectacle with faithfulness.
In our time, we are constantly tempted to believe that louder is better, that flashier is truer, that if we can only win the argument or get the most attention, we have won the day. But Jesus shows us another way... quiet obedience, steady trust, and humility before God.
Finally, Jesus is taken by the tempter to a high mountain. Jesus is shown ALL the kingdoms of the world. “All this can be yours,” the tempter says, “if you will only bow before me.” Jesus is offered power, influence, and control. The offer is breathtaking. And it is false.
False, because the kingdoms of this world don’t truly belong to the tempter—or to us. They, like everything else, belong to God. And Jesus responds, quoting Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” There it is. There’s the heart of the matter. We become like what we worship.
If we worship power, we will be consumed by power. If we worship fear, we will be ruled by fear. If we worship a party, a tribe, or an ideology, we undoubtedly serve those masters. Jesus shows us there is only one worthy of worship. The Lord Our God…
Because what we learn from all these passages, from Eden to the wilderness, is this... temptation is real, but it is not unstoppable. Jesus, fully human, faced temptation in its rawest form and yet did not succumb to temptation. That means that in our own smaller, daily struggles... in the store checkout line, at work, in our conversations online, in voting booths, and in our family tensions... we are not helpless. We are not alone.
When the quiet voice inside of us says, “No. This is not the way,” that may well be the Spirit of God guarding your heart. When you feel the pull to speak harshly but choose gentleness instead, God’s grace is at work. When you resist the urge to dehumanize someone on the other side of an issue, that is Christ forming himself in you.
There is nothing to be gained by wrestling in the mud with the tempter. Because when you do, you both get dirty! The deceiver promises clarity but only delivers confusion. The tempter promises control and delivers chaos. Promises glory and delivers emptiness.
So we pray together, as we do every week... “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” That is not a prayer of weakness. It is a prayer of wisdom. It is the prayer of people who know they are human. And it is the prayer of people who trust that God is stronger.
In these days of restlessness in our wilderness of life, and in the quiet checkout lines of our own lives, may we remember who we are. May we remember to whom we belong. And may we worship the Lord our God, and serve only him.
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