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| This must be one of Lord Technology's friends. |
(First Sunday of Lent (A): This homily was given on March
1, 2020 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Psalm 51:3-17;
Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4: 1-11.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: First Sunday of Lent 2020]
How are they doing?
I wondered about that recently.
How are they doing?
Who are “they,” you ask?
“They” are the three gods of the late 20th
century that I introduced you to on the first Sunday of Lent way back in
1998—22 years ago.
I heard they’re still around. In fact, I know they are. Here’s how I described them in ‘98.
God
number one is known as “Lord Technology.”
Lord Technology is a peculiar-looking fellow. He has a head like a computer monitor and a
body like a laboratory test tube. His
arms and legs are shaped like nuclear missiles, and laser beams shoot out from
his fingertips. But he’s very
smart. He understands the most complex
theories of mathematics and science. And
he’s always promising us that the solution to all of our personal and social
problems will come with the next great scientific discovery. The only problem with Lord Technology is that
he doesn’t seem to understand the concepts of right and wrong. If you make an attempt to speak to him about
“moral laws” and “commandments,” bells will immediately go off, his circuits
will overload, smoke will come out of his ears and he’ll say, “Error,
error. This does not compute!”
So
much for Lord Technology. The next god
of this modern pantheon is “Lord Politics.”
Lord Politics, I must admit, is a very classy dresser. He could easily make the cover of GQ
magazine. In fact, the only negatives to
his appearance are his eyes—his shifty, beady, little eyes. But you hardly notice his eyes once he opens
his mouth. That’s because Lord Politics
has quite a way with words! He could
sell you one acre of swampland in Florida for a million dollars and you would
think you were getting a great deal! The
only problem with him is that he seems to have a one-track mind. Everything to him is politics. If you ask him, “What’s the most important
thing in life?” he’ll answer “Politics.”
If you ask him, “How can we solve all our personal and social problems?”
he’ll say, “Politics.” He’s convinced
that the only reason people do anything is for a political motive.
Finally,
we come to god number three: the one and the only “Lord Entertainment.” Now, it’s hard to describe this god with any
consistency, because he’s always changing.
He has no convictions. He’s not
at all interested in promoting what’s true.
His only concern is to amuse people.
Consequently, to achieve this end, he sometimes dresses in a three-piece
suit like Lord Politics. However, at
other times, he dresses like Bozo the Clown.
And then, every once in a while, he strips down to his “birthday suit”
and wears “nothing, nothing, nothing at all.”
You see, if it will get a laugh—if it will sell tickets to a movie—if it
will get high Nielsen ratings—Lord Entertainment will do it, or say it, or sing
it. He’s been spotted quite often at our
local casinos, but he’s also to be found on radio and on television. He’s even in some art museums. He’s wherever people use vulgarity and immorality
to entertain. And in today’s world, that
means this god really gets around!
Now why do I re-introduce you to these three deities this
morning? Simple—these are the very same
“gods” that Jesus battled in today’s gospel scene from Matthew 4. That may not be immediately obvious to us,
but it’s true nonetheless. These are the
false gods that Satan was desperately
trying to get our Lord to worship.
Which means they were around long before 1998!
First, Lord Technology. Satan says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command this
stone to turn into bread.” Now
there’s a technological accomplishment if there ever was one—making bread out
of rocks! (Believe me, the people at
Wonder Bread would love to get their hands on a machine that could pull that
off!) Jesus answered, “Scripture has it, ‘Not on bread alone is
man to live, but on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God.’” Jesus was reminding the devil that God’s moral law must be primary in all human activity. And so Jesus would say that ‘technology plus morality’ is good; technology, used in conformity with the laws of God,
is a great blessing. But, our Lord would
add, technology without morality is
dangerous and destructive. And isn’t
this what we’ve seen so often in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries? The abortion pill; artificial
contraceptives; chemical weapons; illegal, synthetic drugs; pornography on the
internet—all the result of the misuse
of technology; all the result of people falling down to worship this false god.
So how is this god doing today? Well, I’m sad to report that he’s doing
better than ever! The number of deaths
from the drug Fentanyl and the number of babies killed by Planned Parenthood
every year—those two statistics alone make it abundantly clear that Lord
Technology is alive and well in the modern world.
Satan then shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and
says to him, “I will give you all this
power and the glory of these kingdoms; the power has been given to me and I
give it to whomever I wish. Prostrate
yourself before me, and it shall all be yours.” That was the temptation to worship Lord
Politics. Satan knew that Jesus had come
to this earth out of love for the human race.
He knew that Jesus wanted not only to save the world from sin (which was
his primary mission); he knew that our Lord also wanted to make the world a
better place for people to live in. And
so Satan says to him, in effect, “Jesus, let me tell you how to do it: the answer
is politics. Forget that conversion and
repentance stuff; don’t bother telling people they need to give their hearts to
God the Father—the solutions are all political. Get in power, change government structures,
institute a few nice programs, and you’ll make the world a much better place
for those little earthlings you say you love so much.”
Jesus did not fall for the lie—but many people in our
modern society have! They think politics
is the answer to everything!
Although I will say this: This is the only one of these three
false gods who has probably lost some of his power in recent years. Or at the very least his image has been badly
tarnished. I say that because many
people have been disappointed—let down, big time—by their political leaders in
the last three decades. And that’s made
some of them angry and even cynical—which is another problem in itself.
Finally, Satan takes Jesus to the very top of the Temple in
Jerusalem, and he says, “If you are the
son of God, throw yourself down from here.”
That was the temptation to worship Lord Entertainment. In essence, Satan was saying, “Jesus, give
them a show. You want these people to
listen to you—then jump! For heaven’s
sake, JUMP! Everyone will see it. The angels will catch you, just like it says
in Psalm 91. Then you’ll get a standing
ovation. You’ll be a hero! You’ll get an interview with Sean Hannity or
Chris Matthews—or both!” Jesus
answered, “You shall not put the Lord
your God to the test.” Jesus would
not pervert God’s truth for the sake of a few minutes of applause. But that happens all the time in our society,
doesn’t it?
And it’s not just people like Bill Maher and the cast of
“The View”—who openly attack the things of God.
What’s even more disturbing to me (and what I think sends a horrible
message to young people) is when those in politics or the entertainment
industry engage in immoral activity and are then rewarded with their own TV or
radio show! Eliot Spitzer, for example,
who resigned in disgrace as Governor of New York in 2008 in the midst of a terrible
prostitution scandal, eventually got his own news program on CNN! Charlie Sheen, who was fired from one
television show for bad behavior, was rewarded with the starring role in
another.
Which leads me to wonder, what great opportunities will be
coming Harvey Weinstein’s way in the near future?
So how are Lord Technology, Lord Politics and Lord
Entertainment doing these days?
Unfortunately, for the most part, pretty well. That’s the bad news.
But the good news is that Jesus Christ resisted and overcame
their temptations 2,000 years ago, and so can we today—if we rely on his help
and know his truth!
Notice that Jesus overcame Satan’s three temptations by
quoting Scripture to him. He knew the
truth of God’s Word, and he used that truth as a weapon to defeat these three
enemies. If we want to win that same
victory in our lives, then we need to follow Jesus’ example.
