Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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“Who are you? Do you know?”

On the First Sunday of Lent, we confront the wilderness—not as a place of punishment, but of clarity. The most dangerous word in the Bible is two words long. It is “IF.”

We are tempted not by what is but by what could be.

Jesus’ temptations are not about bread, angels, or political power. They are about identity. They are about whether he will trust that he is God’s beloved Son.

In this sermon from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Malcolm Clemens Young explores:• Why satisfying desire never satisfies• Why we secretly want God to make exceptions for us• The way achievement culture tempts us to measure our worth• And how Lent invites us back to our true home in God

The devil’s voice still whispers “If…” But Christ gives us back to ourselves.
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The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA 2E4, O5
1 Lent (Year A) 11:00 a.m. Eucharist
Sunday February 22nd, 2026

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11