In particular, the number “forty” is special also for its religious significance. For forty days and forty nights, Noah waited out the flood. For forty years, the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness. The Spirit pushed Jesus out into the wilderness for forty days and nights to be tempted by Satan. Forty, in ancient times, was a lot. In the story of Ali Baba and his forty thieves, forty is as likely to mean “many” as it is to represent an actual number. An Arab proverb suggests that “To understand a people, you must live among them for forty days.” (Wikipedia – 40) Forty years marks a generation. Forty days and nights is an eternity to experience no land in sight on a ship full of animals. Forty days and nights is excruciating if one’s only company is the constant companionship of the devil. Forty days among a strange people, and one begins to understand who they really are. Forty is significantly – long enough.

The liturgical season of Lent, too, is based on a 40 day cycle. From Ash Wednesday to Easter we count 40 days, and in the Western calendar we subtract the Sundays since they are considered holidays from the solemnity of the season. We mark this long season of prayer as Winter melts into Spring, as the despair of Jesus’ inevitable condemnation and crucifixion give way to the glory of his resurrection. Though our particular branch of the Christian family has not always had clear expectations for the keeping of this tradition, the Lenten discipline has a rhythm that is rooted in ancient inclinations about both the power of numbers and the passing of time. I’m not typically a numerology person, and yet, there’s something fascinating about how certain numbers have been interpreted with meanings beyond those of their mathematical properties.

Mark’s gospel happens to contains the shortest description of Jesus’ temptation by Satan, but we still read that “For forty wilderness days and nights, he was tested by Satan.” Here’s the number forty showing up even when the entire conversation between Jesus and Satan is dropped. So if nothing else, we’re supposed to get the sense that this wilderness experience took quite a long time. This was a full blown test of his human endurance, and he passed. With the howls of wild animals and the knowing eyes of the angels, Jesus somehow got through it. In Mark’s rendition, we are left wondering what happened out there. But then again, maybe we don’t want to know. Forty days – alone and tempted; forty nights – sweating out the next anguished hour, and the next – perhaps it’s better left unsaid what exactly did go on.

Jesus emerges from this extreme experience to find out his friend John has been arrested, so he goes to Galilee to continue in his cousin’s footsteps by preaching God’s Word. “Time’s up!” he says, “God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” Forty wilderness days put a fire in his belly. Forty nights, and his attention was focused. Get people to see what he was seeing. Take them on the same journey. Show them a new way of living. Convince them that the devil has no sway over God’s beloved Son. Assure them that God forgives them and loves them no matter what they’ve done.

Surviving forty days of solitude with the devil on your back seems like something I would not want to repeat. I’ve grown comfortable and complacent with life as it is in my nearly forty years of day to day humanness. But what if it only takes forty days of commitment to make certain paths in the human brain permanent? Brain research has come a long way towards being able to show us how even attitudes are formed. Forty days of resisting the devil actively and completely, and maybe that was key to how Jesus could live the perfect life. Forty days of prayer, and prayer may become the habit we’ve always hoped it would be. I don’t think I’ve ever exercised for forty days in a row – but those gym trainer types tell me that I’d never want to miss a day again if I got even that far.

Somewhere deep in the human psyche, the number forty is a cross over number. In years it’s mid-life, according to the actuary tables. In days, it represents a time frame in which minds and hearts can be changed. But in our time crunch, multi-tasking society, is there anything, anything we’d commit ourselves to for forty days in a row? Would you take 6 weeks of vacation to give to something important? Could you carve out daily time for prayer, or meditation, or time with God that was more than say, 15 minutes a day? Could you for forty days resist temptation – the temptation to anger, or greed, or lust, or sheer laziness? That’s what the Lenten rhythm is about.

What has been prescribed for Lent, the giving up of meat or dessert, or otherwise some other dietary sacrifice is minimal. It was a way of suggesting something that anyone or everyone could do together. I’d suggest that you try on a forty day commitment that could really make a difference somewhere other than one’s waistline. What about forty days of committing to show your love and affection to your family? What about forty days of giving away something every day? What about forty days of praying for the people affected by whatever today’s top news story happens to be? What about forty days of reading the Psalms? The thing about a spiritual forty day commitment is that if you make it for all forty days, I bet something will happen. A change will take place inside of you. I can’t tell you what that will be. Maybe you’ll be more loving or generous. Maybe you’ll have more courage or a stronger connection to God. Maybe forty days will just be the beginning.

Another couple years, and my children can officially say that I am MANY years old. The beauty of living many years is that there is a spiritual growing that takes place beside our other kinds of growing during those years. This scripture lesson reminds me that there’s also intense spiritual growth that can happen in about a month and a half. Hopefully for you it won’t be by flood or by waiting out the devil. But when we pay attention, God gives us opportunities to deepen our love by opening our hearts and hands for service. May God bless you – for forty days.

Amen.