One of the readings for Ash Wednesday was about not making a show of one’s piety.

As written by Eugene Peterson from The Message – a version of the Bible in the language closer to what we use today the passage says "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding. When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don't make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won't make you a saint.”

Often we talk quite openly about what we’ll give up for Lent – our bad habits that hurt our bodies or minds, our bad behavior which hurts our relationship with God and with others, our bad and abusive treatment of our resources. We make a show of telling people what we’re willing to suffer – how we’re going to ‘do without’ – which is sorta funny because most of what we say we will give up is not good for us anyway. And then after talking a good game – trying to ‘stay the course’ for 40 days – we go back to those same habits and behaviors – not having to deal with them until – oh sometime next year when the word Lent pops up again.

So here’s an idea – this Lent try a new tactic – gnawing on and digesting the Word of God in Scripture. The same Eugene Peterson who put together The Message also wrote a book titled, Eat this book . Peterson talks about how we should gnaw on the scripture the same way in which a dog or cat gnaws on a bone…turning it over and over, with soft purrs and low growls as we taste and savor, anticipate, and take in the sweet and spicy, mouth-watering and soul-energizing morsels - words – “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Peterson began translating the Bible into contemporary language not because he was a translator but because he was frustrated that in a Bible class on Paul’s letter to the Galatians the people were spending more time concentrating on how much sugar they put in their coffee rather than grasping what the Scripture was saying. He came to the next class having translated the original Greek into ‘American language’ – and the coffee cups were abandoned. Then he began a practice of working with the class trying to get Paul’s Greek into the language the people spoke when they weren’t in church, the words and phrases they used when they were at work on the job, at home playing with their children, out on the street. They kept at it – testing metaphors – throwing out clichés - all the time trying to preserve the sharp edge of Paul’s language. Eventually he published a small book on Galatians. Later an editor encouraged him to do the whole Bible and he did.

Peterson believes that in this business of living the Christian life ranking high among most neglected aspects is one having to do with the reading of the Christian scripture, reading it formatively, reading in order to live. Often I have heard people say, “We should do more Bible study.” To which I usually reply, “Can you tell me what you mean by Bible study?”

If you mean learning the history of the Bible, who supposedly wrote what and when it was written, the historical background of the times, that is one way to study the Bible.

If you mean an in-depth exegetical exploration, where even one word can take hours of research, that is another way to study the Bible.

If you mean reading the Scripture and taking it literally, trying to make sense out of it or looking at a passage like a fortune cookie to be opened to learn what lies in store for you, I can’t help with that kind of study.

But if you mean gnawing on it – savoring it – turning the words over and over – exploring the story, the characters, imagining the scene, getting in touch with the emotions, the story behind the story, then that is an entirely different kind of Bible study and one that is bound to lead you into a deeper relationship with Scripture and with God. This kind of study is best done with in a small group of 8 to ten people, because this way everybody gets an opportunity to talk. No one is the expert, the know –it-all. Everyone has the ability to ask questions, to research a place in the bible or an event. If we don’t chew on scripture, ingest it, live with it, the scripture will always be just words on a page to us.

Verna Dozier, who was one of the most prominent educators in the Episcopal Church, is quoted as saying, “I think any understanding of the biblical story that fails to see it as a human response to God is itself an idolatry. Look, for example, at the irony of the people of Israel’s call to leave slavery in Egypt and live in their own promise land. That call was to witness to a new possibility for humankind, to be something new in the world. But it is a sorry story, as the people of God long for ‘the fleshpots of Egypt,’ the lures of a consumer society with all of its glitter and gloss. Over and over the people of God succumb to the temptation to be just like the people around them.”

Let’s look quickly at today’s gospel where Jesus is tempted three different times by Satan. It reminds me of a commercial I was watching while waiting for the Olympics to come on TV. There, for one half-hour was a tempting array of oldies but goodies to buy – songs from the 60’s – songs to which I know at least the first verse of every one. Familiar words – faces evoked from the past – good times recalled – and all, all for only $29.95 and it comes in a special holder that is shaped like a radio. “Ordinarily”, the announcer said, “most sets like this could cost you well over $100 but if you call right now, it is only $29.95” And the number flashed on the screen. Then the announcer said, “But wait, wait, there’s more. If you order now, you can get another CD filled with instrumentals from the 60’s – Al Hirt – Herb Alpert and so on. All this for only $29.95!” And the number was flashed again on the screen. Then the announcer said, “But wait, there’s still more. If you call right now you’ll save on the shipping cost, worth over $17.95.” It was all I could do to keep from picking up the phone. I had already written down the number. I hid the pen under a table. Sat for awhile – made myself listen again. Oh that $29.95? That’s one of five payments for $29.95 which comes to a total of $149.75 cents. Hmmm. That great deal is now not looking so good after all.

Scholars, commentary writers, raise the question of who or what Satan was for Jesus, that those tests, those come-ons from Satan could really come from within Jesus himself. Others imagine a voice like that of the TV huckster – seductive in offering very good things to Jesus, ”But wait, wait there’s more.” No one pictures a creature with horns or a pointed tail. If we were to sit in a group and talk about this passage we might find that within the three temptations of Jesus are the same ones that we wrestle with in the world today – power, greed, wealth, consumption and personal appetites. If you saw any part of the interview that Tiger Woods gave over the weekend you would have heard him say, “I believed I was entitled to whatever I wanted.” He heard that voice telling him that he could do anything he wanted and take whatever he wanted.

If we met as a small group we would read the passage together and then discuss it. We would reflect on the fact that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness – the same Spirit who called him Beloved at his Baptism. We would ask questions about Jesus, his ministry, his destiny, perhaps wonder where the world would be if Jesus had not resisted those temptations. We might ask ourselves where we resist or give in, what voices try to turn us away from living a life of meaning, of contributing to health and well-being of the world, of actions that are life-giving to us and others.

Our Episcopal tradition commends the reading and studying of Scripture to us. In our Prayer Book, on the Sunday closest to November 16, the Collect for the Day reads, ‘Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.’

After worship in the Abbey on Iona Scotland, at the ending of the Scripture lesson, the reader says, ‘For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us. The congregation replies, “We give thanks to you O God.” This to me implies the epitome of gnawing on the Word. When we really focus on God’s word it becomes a part of us – lives among us in the community and within our very selves.

This Lent – don’t worry about giving up chocolate – especially since we’ve learned that it’s actually good for you. Don’t worry about giving up bad habits and behaviors if you’re only giving them up for Lent. Those are things that should be given up because deep down inside you really want to be whole and healthy and that is the way to attain wholeness.

Instead – gnaw on the Word of God – if possible get a Bible or two. Differing translations help give us differing insights. If you already have a Bible…actually read it. Start by reading the scriptures for each week in Lent. On the table in the back there are bookmarks which list the lessons through Easter. Turn down the pages you like – underline words that you don’t know or understand – write in the margins. Read, mark, and inwardly digest. Savor the experience. Dine with others. Bon Appetite!