From the "border country" of northern Massachusetts comes the old legend about Daniel Webster, namely that if you go to his grave in Marshfield during a thunder storm and call out "Dan'l Webster, Dan'l Webster!," the ground will tremble and he will reply, "How stands the Union, neighbour?"
Webster was a remarkable figure who served in Congress and as Secretary of State, but was best known as one of the greatest orators in American history. He was also a Whig Party leader who sought to have the problem of slavery resolved by diplomatic means to avoid the kind of bloodbath that, in fact, followed secession when the successor to the Whigs -- the Republican Party -- led the nation in civil war. In "The Devil and Daniel Webster," Stephen Vincent Benet tells a tale of a poor farmer named Stone who sold his soul to the devil and, then when Satan called the bet, engaged Webster as his attorney and won the heavenly case!
In today's gospel reading [Luke 4: 1-13], Jesus is given opportunities to sell out to the devil, but he prevails. Each of the temptations involves a particular sin to which we modern people are prone, so we can learn much from this story. First the devil challenges Jesus to convert stones into loaves of bread. This is an appeal to anxiety coupled with a lack of trust in God, and Jesus will not give in. Second, the devil shows Jesus all that nations of the world and offers him glory and authority over kingdoms, if he will but sell his soul. Jesus knows that this is an appeal to greed, vanity, and the quest for power and again rejects the temptation. Finally, the devil beams Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, challenging him to jump down, in expectation of divine rescue. This is a clear call to presumption and self-glorification. Jesus wins this final round as well.
Surely in modern times we experience anxiety that finds its root in a lack of full reliance and trust in God, placing confidence in our own resources instead. Surely in our own day we can find ourselves desiring wealth, power, and influence, instead of the sacrificial giving and servanthood to which the Lord calls us. Surely in our daily walk we presume on God. Do we, as Soren Kierkegaard pointed out, treat God as "cosmic bellhop," instead of seeking to know what is his will? These are all kinds of spiritual shortcomings -- openings for the Evil One -- that we can be strengthened against by our Lenten prayer, reflection, and disciplines. Don't sell your soul to the devil!
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