Tempted Much? Sermon on Feb 21, 2009
Feb 21, 2010
Scripture: Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Sermon: Tempted Much?
By Rev. Doreen Oughton
In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, today is the first Sunday in Lent. Lent is a 40-day period of preparation for Easter. Well, 46 days, minus the 6 Sundays between Ash Wed and Easter that are subtracted out and considered mini-Easters. You may or may not know that Lent is not a biblical practice, but did start early in the history of Christianity, certainly by the middle of the fourth century. St. Athanasius of Alexandria urged the people there to start the practice of fasting for 40 days before Easter that he’d seen everywhere on his trip through Europe. That was in 339 AD.
There may be several reasons this practice was started. It used to be that one of the most important ceremonies at Easter was the baptism of converts on Easter eve. As part of their education and training, the initiates went through a period of several weeks of education and spiritual disciplines. As Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, a period of self-renunciation was required of all Christians. The number 40 is significant in the bible. You may recall that after Noah built his ark it rained for 40 days and nights. And it took the Israelites 40 years to cross the desert into the promised land. And we have the story of today’s gospel reading – Jesus out in the wilderness for 40 days of testing. This had nothing to do with his crucifixion, preparing to die or be resurrected. It was actually in preparation for his public ministry.
So let’s dive into that story, and see what we can learn. Gospel writer Luke has Jesus being baptized amongst a crowd of others being baptized. And after that, when Jesus was praying, the Holy Spirit descended upon him and God’s voice boomed from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved.” Luke then gives a genealogy, from Joseph’s side. Luke starts of, Jesus was the son, in parentheses, as was thought, end parenthese, of Joseph, son of Heli, son of… etc. all the way back to Adam, son of God. And it is after this genealogy that Luke tells us that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit was led by that Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil.
Such interesting temptations, aren’t they? Prove you are the son of God by turning this stone into bread, by testing what the prophesies say about angels protecting him. And the third test isn’t about proving something, but about taking power and glory. I was at a workshop once with clergy on Lenten scripture passages and we were playing the “I wonder” game. In this game you listen to a passage and let your mind wander, or wonder about it, without any need to have an answer. Someone said, “I wonder what would have happened if Jesus succumbed to these temptations.” It got me thinking. Now I can see how it would have been disastrous if Jesus took power and glory from Satan, as he would be beholden then to Satan. But what about the other things? Would Jesus’ message and mission have been side railed because he turned a stone into bread and ate? Because he tested God by having the angels rescue him? What is the problem with proving to Satan who he really is? I wonder.
As I suggested in the children’s sermon, perhaps Satan is really those unbidden, unwelcome thoughts that pop up. What was Jesus thinking when these thoughts popped up for him? Again, just before this episode, he heard from God that he was God’s son, beloved. Then Luke recounts a genealogy of his earthly father. Could Jesus have been wondering who he was? What it meant that he was both God’s son and Joseph’s son? He was human, subject to appetites and insecurities, vulnerable to temptation. And he was divine, having the power to satisfy his appetites, steam roll over his insecurities. What to do, what to do…
Can we identify with this struggle at all? Certainly we are all human, subject to appetites and insecurities, vulnerable to temptation. Do we also have at least a spark of the divine? Do we have power to satisfy our appetites or steam roll over our insecurities? I believe we do, and that insecurity about our identity, over who we really are, is a deep one. Whether it is a voice outside of us now, or one from our past, or one in our head, how often do we hear, “if you were a good parent…,” “a responsible person…,” “if you really loved me…,” “if you believed enough, had enough faith…,” “if you were a daughter who cared…,” “if you were really part of this family…” And fill in the rest – your children wouldn’t have such trouble, you wouldn’t be in this mess, you would do anything to make me happy, you wouldn’t be addicted or ill or gay or an artist or a lawyer. You would never be tempted to do wrong. You would call more, you would share more, you would be more, you would be different, you would be better.
I believe that the evil temptation is not to do something wrong. After all, that is part of being human – to make mistakes. The evil temptation is to hold attitudes and beliefs about God, about ourselves, and about the world that lead us away from God, that sap our faith and hope. The voice of Satan is the voice of doubt, both doubt in the goodness of God, and self-doubt, doubt about who and whose we are. Now this is different from the self-examination that happens when we try to be honest about our mistakes and limitations in order to do better. This is a self-doubt that tears down whatever good has been built up, judging it as not good enough, never good enough, so what is the point of even trying. This is the worldly cynicism that says the world is a cold, hard place, a place that wants to put people in boxes. This is the religious skepticism and pain that sees God as a harsh judge, a jealous, vengeful power that wants strict obedience to the laws. The evil temptation is to walk away from hope and faith and God, to deny that you are a child of God, made in love in God’s image, with a purpose.
What’s happening to Jesus in these temptations, and what happens to us, is that someone else tries to define the terms of our identity. Satan says that doing such and such will prove to me that you are the Son of God,but that is not what God said. Other people tell us what we should do to prove who we are. And we do it to other people, ask them to prove something, outline the standard they are to meet. The evil temptation is to judge, judge ourselves and judge others, as if we know what God has in mind for them, or as if someone else knows what God has in mind for us. And it is this temptation, to judge, that truly leads us away from God.
Jesus, in dealing with his temptations, turned to the word of God in scripture, and how it spoke to him. Now after Jesus’ first two responses, Satan saw that Jesus was a sucker for scripture, so used it as part of his final temptation, used it to set up a standard of judgment about another. How often do we hear about that going on? Using scripture to judge others, usually with condemnation. Jesus continued to resist the temptation to let anyone but God define who he is, who he was to be. I wonder what it would be like to do the same, to turn our insecurities about our identity over to God, to focus only on the judgment of a loving God – Creator, supporter, comforter, enabler, strength and hope. Tempting, isn’t it?
