Close Encounters with Temptation

Matthew 4:1-11

            One thing you can say for sure about the devil:  he shows up. 

            He showed up in the wilderness to tempt Jesus. 

            And you can be sure he has showed up today to tempt the likes of you and me.  Maybe we aren’t tempted in the same way, or by the same thing as Jesus was.     

            Maybe you are not tempted to turn a stone into bread --  you’re not that hungry!

             And besides, you know you can’t. 

            But even so – there are temptations that the devil has, especially for you and me – and not just because it is Lent.  Some of them are big.  Some of them seem small. 

           

 

            How is God tempting you right now? 

            Because there is one thing you say for sure about the devil:  he always shows up.  He’s always whispering in our ears, like he whispered in Jesus’ ear….. appealing to your doubts, your uncertainties, your pride or your insecurity…

            But Jesus’ temptations are not ours. 

            The three temptations here are specific and unique to Jesus, because of who he is, because he is the Messiah.  

             They tell us something about Jesus, but they end up telling us something about us, too.  

            It’s worth noting that Jesus’ temptation takes place right after his baptism, where the voice from heaven declares him the Beloved Son. 

            God tells him that he is the chosen one, the Messiah, and then he goes into the wilderness where he fasts and prays and prepares for the ministry that God has given to him. 

            And after forty days and nights, the devil comes to him … and he starts with the obvious.  Jesus is hungry. 

            Forty days and forty nights he has fasted.  He is the son of God and he can do anything, right?  Why not make stones into bread?  Who will know? 

            What could it hurt?  But Jesus resists. 

            He will not do a miracle to relieve his own hunger.     

            And he points to the spiritual food that is most important for life – every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.   

            Next the devil tempts Jesus to do a spectacular thing – jump off the pinnacle of the temple, and call the angels. 

            The devil even quotes scripture!  If he is the Messiah, he can all the angels!  They will not let anything happen to Jesus.  And EVERYONE will be convinced that Jesus is the messiah. 

            Isn’t that the point, after all?  Put on a performance that will erase all doubt!  That is what the devil says.    But that’s not God’s plan for Jesus, and he knows it.  So he resists.

            Finally, the devil pulls out all the stops.  He may have been subtle before, appealing to Jesus’ hunger or quoting scripture.  But now he just says it.  Worship me, he says to Jesus, and I will give you everything. 

            The kingdoms of the world belong to me, the devil says. 

            If you want power, I am the one to give it to you.  Think of all of the good you can do.  Just worship me.

            Just as the serpent tempted our first parents, causing them to doubt and mistrust God, in the same way the devil comes to Jesus. 

            The temptations are just as real and just as hard as the ones that Adam and Eve heard.  But Jesus resisted.   

            He resisted  the impulse to take matters into his own hands, to think he knew better than God who the Messiah should be and what the Messiah should do. 

            Later on, of course, Jesus will do the miracles:  he will feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, not because he is hungry, but because they are.  Later on, of course, there will be a spectacle, but it will be a much different one. 

            While he is hanging on the cross, he will still recite from God’s word, but this time it will be, My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” 

            Later on, the people would pass by, and some of them would taunt him saying, “He saved others, he cannot save himself.  Let him come down from the cross, if he is the Messiah of God.” 

            But because he is the Messiah of God, he didn’t.    

            From the beginning to the end, Jesus trusted God. 

            He put his life in God’s hands.  He trusted the mission for which God had sent him:  to love, to heal, to bless the world, to turn us back to God. 

            He put his life in God’s hands, and that is where our lives belong too.  

            In God’s hands.  And to trust this – to trust God’s love for us – God’s life in us – is the most important, most essential thing.  Every.  Single. Day.

             That’s why Martin Luther said that we return to our baptism every day – to die and to trust that Jesus raises us again and again to new life.  It is the most important thing.  But it’s not so easy. 

             And it is so tempting – so tempting to trust ourselves more than we trust God, to doubt God’s goodness,  to think we are on our own in the world.

             It’s so tempting to believe that our salvation is in our hands, not God’s, that we can control the outcome.   

            All of our other temptations – all of our doubts and insecurities – go back to this one. 

            Some of us fall because we think too highly of ourselves.  Some of us fall because we don’t think enough of ourselves – we doubt that we too are created in the image of God.  

            Some of us fall because we think we don’t need God’s forgiveness.  Some of us fall because we don’t believe we are worthy of God’s forgiveness. 

            We doubt God’s word that he will pick us up and give us new life every single day. 

            I used to visit my dad in the nursing home.  When I was little, he used to sit on the edge of our beds and read us Bible stories, out of this book, ‘The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes.” 

            We taught us simple prayers, and how to pray the Lord’s prayer too. 

            He used to sing songs like, “Living for Jesus a life that is true…” and “O Jesus I have promise to love thee to the end…”  He showed me how to find my place in the hymnal, and sang the Baritone part on the three-fold Amen. 

            And there I was, visiting him in the nursing home, singing with him and helping him remember the prayers he first taught me. 

            One day when I came I could tell he was worried. 

            We sang some songs – he liked old standards, not just hymns, and talked awhile and looked at photographs. 

            But after awhile he confessed to me that he was worried about whether he was good enough for God.  He was worried about eternal life.   I think maybe the devil was whispering in his ear….

            “Dad,” I said, “Do you trust Jesus?”  Yes.  He said.

            “Well, then you’re okay.”

            “You mean, that’s all there is to it?”

            “That’s all there is to it.”

            One thing you can say for sure about Jesus, he always shows up.   He shows up in the waters of baptism, and he shows up in the wilderness.  He shows up on the cross, and he shows up every single day of our lives.

            Do you trust Jesus? 

            That’s all there is to it.

            Your life is in his hands.  AMEN

Resisting Temptation

The first Sunday in Lent is coming up.  Right after we smear ashen crosses on each other's foreheads, we tumble into that Sunday morning where Jesus goes to the wilderness and is tempted by the devil.

There are three temptations, which is to say, I suppose, a trinity of them.  I have often tried to crack the code around these three:  turning a stone to bread, going after worldly power and jumping off the pinnacle of the temple.  Are they three temptations unique to Jesus, the Son of God, or does some version of these temptations afflict all of us?  I know that I am not able to turn a stone to bread, no matter how hungry I am, and it is hard to imagine myself jumping off any real height (although you may be more courageous or foolhardy in this regard).  When I think of the word temptation, it is not these three situations that first come to mind.

I am tempted to buy things I do not need, for reasons that I cannot always express.

I am tempted to hold back when God is telling me to go, waiting for one more sign.

I am tempted to waste time, work too hard, worry, hoard, doubt.

I am tempted to remain silent when I should speak.

I am tempted to believe that the bread in my hands is just for me, not to share.

I am tempted to believe that the bread in my hands is only to share, but not for me.

What about you?

I can't help noticing this phrase with which he tempts Jesus twice, "If you are the son of God…"  I notice it because both he and Jesus know he is, in fact, the son of God.  He has just come from the river Jordan, and he is full of the Holy Spirit's power.  How is he going to use it?  For whom?  "If you are the son of God…. just think of the explosion you could cause in the world."

Just think.

Perhaps the question for Jesus is not a matter of his identity.  Perhaps it is more a question of what kind of son will be be?  How will he use his power?  Who will he live for?  What will he care about?  Who will he see?  Will he turn a stone into bread, or will he feed 5,000 people?  Will he rule the world, or will he empty himself?  Will he jump off the pinnacle of the temple, and count on the angels to bear him up?  Or will he raise Lazarus after he has been dead for four days?

Will he save others, or will he save himself?  

At the foot of the cross, those who taunt Jesus say these words, "He saved others; he cannot save himself."  They are making fun of Jesus, but in those words are the truth.  The Messiah is for others, not for himself.  

The temptations are not quite the same for us as they are for Jesus.  We may not be tempted to turn a stone to bread, but we might be tempted to believe that God's good gifts are for us, but not for others.  We may not be tempted to accumulate worldly power, but we might be tempted to believe that we are secure because we have assets, or a roof over our head.  

The temptations are not quite the same for us, but the weapon is the same one:  the power of the Holy Spirit, the water and the Word, the love that has named us, and that promises us the only true bread, the only true power, the only true life.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Early last week, I was on my way out of a local bookstore and coffee shop, when the proprietress thrust something into my hands. "Here, read this," she told me.

I took a look at the cover. It was a local publication called, "Lavender." The cover story was about a well-known (some would say infamous) pastor in our community. He has been well-known for his angry and vehement positions against Gay and Lesbian people in the church.

I didn't read the story right away. I was actually surprised by the headline, which proclaimed that this pastor "had something to hide."

Turns out, that Rev. Brock struggles with same-sex attractions himself. The article in question was by a "journalist" who infiltrated a confidential support group to get a story. Since then, the questionable ethics of "Lavender" have been as much a part of the story as the story itself.

I don't know Pastor Brock, but I've been familiar with his rants for a long time. He used to write mass letters to congregations in our region about abortion as well. He's also angry that we entertain any other position on Christ's atonement than the "correct" one, which is the theology of substitionary atonement.

Many have called Pastor Brock a hypocrite for deriding same-sex relationships publicly while secretly struggling with these same feelings. There's a particular part of the (supposedly confidential) meeting where he confesses that on a trip to Slovokia he "fell into temptation." Some have supposed that this meant that he "gave in" on that trip. But, not necessarily. Temptation to sin is not the same as succombing to sin. (Please be aware that I am not saying that I believe that homosexuality is a sin. I am just conceding that Pastor Brock does.)

However, it did start me thinking about temptation and sin, particularly as regards pastors. I remember once at a Bible study breakfast, saying something like, "Well, you know, I struggle with sin all the time." And though I didn't mention any specific sin, one of the men acted like it was still a little too much information.

One of the temptations that pastors face is the temptation to believe "the hype" -- that we are holy people, and because we are committed to the gospel and prayer and the life of the church, we are somehow immune to the struggles of other people. And it seems to me that when we are tempted to believe "the hype" ourselves -- that's when we are most in danger of abusing the power, the authority given to us. When we have to keep our struggles to ourselves, and pretend that we don't have any -- that's when we are most dangerous to ourselves -- and to others.

Just A New Purse

"Beware of enterprises which require new clothes." --Henry David Thoreau

In preparing for our short but exciting trip to Paris, I decided I needed a new purse. I usually carry a very small purse (on the advice of my doctor). But I wanted something of a lightweight fabric and slightly bigger, so I could fit a book and my new camera in it, and take them on the plane.

I don't go to department stores much any more. I go to the bookstore slightly more than I should (especially when I have gift cards), and I look in the window of one favorite dress shop on occasion. But I don't go to department stores much any more. I had a store credit though, so I thought it was the most economical idea.

I had a pretty good idea about what kind of purse I was looking for and found an acceptable one quickly. It was a new model LeSportsSac. everyday bag. What do you think?

What surprised me was how tempting it was to keep looking around. There were so many bags and purses in beautiful colors; there were many different brands of "green sacks"; there was the cosmetics counter, with women getting eye liner and blush applied; there was the jewelry counter (I've always had a weakness for earrings.) There was something seductive about the lights and the sparkles and the colors of the displays. I didn't need any of it, really; but I found myself kind of wanting this handbag or that pair of earrings.

What temptations a trip to Paris can bring on!