Who’s Tempting Who? – sermon on March 5, 2017
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Matthew 4: 1-11 After his baptism, Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Sermon: Who’s Tempting Who? Rev. Doreen Oughton
We say all together it at least once every single week. Maybe you say it more if you pray at other times and places, pray in the words that Jesus taught. “Lead us not into temptation..” Has anyone else ever wondered about that line? Do we see temptation as something God has or would lead us into? Such that we must implore God not to do that to us? What do you make of it?….
The lectionary gives us two passages on temptation this morning. First, the familiar story of the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve are free to live and enjoy, and eat of everything but the fruit of this this one tree – the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God tells them it is not safe to eat – that they will die if they do. What do you think, does this make God a tempter here? There seems to be a general acceptance that “forbidden fruit” is tempting just because it is forbidden, right? Maybe its curiosity, maybe willfullness, an independent streak, a need to find out for ourselves. Whatever it is, we often have trouble just flat out accepting a limit set by someone else. I believe that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Pushing against limits is really the only way for progress to happen. But for me, this raises the question of God’s purpose of putting that tree into the garden, accessible to Adam and Eve, and then forbidding them to eat of it.
And we have the passage from Matthew. Right after Jesus is baptized, just after he sees the heavens open, and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; right after hearing God say, “This is my son, the beloved, in whom I am well pleased” – he goes out to the wilderness. And did you catch the part about how it was God’s Spirit that led him into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil? Again we have God as an architect of sorts of this temptation experience.
Then we have the immediate, more obvious tempters. In the Genesis story, it is the snake, who targets the woman with distortion and enticement. Snake implies that God is the liar, the manipulator. Snake promises that the fruit will do more than please the palate, it will open her eyes, it will make her like God. And the woman, in turn, offers the fruit to the man. Did she become a tempter in that act? In Matthew’s story, Satan is doing the tempting. It is likely that Matthew’s understanding of Satan is like the Satan portrayed in the book of Job. In that book, and possibly here, Satan is part of God’s team, taking on sort of a prosecutorial role. Everything Satan does is done with God’s knowledge and permission.
Does Jesus know he has been led out to the wilderness specifically to be tempted? Has he been anticipating this encounter? Or did he think the Spirit was leading him out for some other purpose – perhaps to meditate on the ministry he would begin, perhaps to fast and pray, attuning himself to God’s will. At some point the tempter is there, scoping out the places of vulnerability. “Ah, he is famished, let’s start there. Turn this stone into bread. After all, you are the Son of God, aren’t you?” Jesus draws on scripture, from the book of Deuteronomy – “we don’t live by bread alone, but by the word of God.” In response to the temptation, Jesus clarifies his purpose. He is not in the wilderness to feed his body, but to feed his soul. So Satan takes Jesus’ defensive use of scripture and tries to twist it for the purpose of a new temptation. Again Satan focuses on Jesus’ identity as the beloved Son, saying, “Go ahead and prove it, to yourself, to me, to others. You are the Son, so surely the angels will come save you if you throw yourself down.” I learned that first-century Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would reveal himself from the temple roof. The tempter is telling Jesus that he can be the Messiah the people want. He can be a great religious teacher and skip the hard parts. Jesus is clear that it is the will of God he seeks to serve, not the will of the people. It seems to me the Devil wants to show Jesus that perhaps God isn’t offering him the best deal. Satan can offer more – more power and property – all those kingdoms and their splendor. And with that, Jesus sends him away, responding that Satan has nothing to give that can compare to the glory of God.
Adam and Eve were tempted and succumbed; Jesus was tempted and resisted. I’m guessing that people here can identify with both scenarios, having sometimes given in and sometimes strengthening your resolve against temptation. How do you feel when you resist? Stronger, clearer, empowered, proud – different feeling than what you might have if you just aren’t ever tempted, right? I no longer buy chocolate. I don’t have any in my house. Once I’m home, it doesn’t take any particular effort to not eat chocolate. But if I am out at a gathering where there are lots of yummy-looking chocolatey desserts, and I don’t eat any, it is because I reminded myself why I don’t eat chocolate. I become more clear about who I am and what I really want.
How do you feel when you give in to temptation? Weak, satisfied (?), justified, self-righteous(?), guilty, ashamed? That’s how Adam and Eve felt – ashamed. They started covering themselves up with fig leaves. I know when I give in, I try to minimize it. No big deal, so I had one bite of cake. I deserve it. God loves me anyway. And it is true that God loves me anyway, but I have, at least for a little while, lost touch with who I really am and what I really want. If I continue to minimize and deny it, it will be that much harder to get back on track. For us, the tempter isn’t red and carrying a pitchfork. It has a certain reasonableness to it – “what’s wrong with wanting a little something for yourself, you are the child of God after all. God is on your side, knows you have a good heart, so don’t worry about anything.” And I’m guessing that the little bit of chocolate isn’t as much the problem as these justifications, these lies I tell myself that bring me further away from God’s intention for me.
The thing is, we have to start where we are. Perhaps temptations are tests that help us get a better picture of where we are. If we “pass” them, great, we feel strong and clear and ready to move on – perhaps into deeper wilderness. If we “fail” them, if we give in to temptation, forget our intention and purpose, AND we can try not to side-step the truth of that, it is a “failure” that can help us. Like when I child isn’t doing well in school, and so the teacher works out different ways to teach; or when an athlete is falling behind, the coach gives her new training exercises. We start where we are, and can trust God to meet us there. It is staying in relationship with God that allows us to live the life God intends for us. Take stock. Examine your feelings. Do you feel clear and strong in your service to God? Or do you feel like you are flailing? If you are flailing, there are things you can do to strengthen that relationship.
Prayer – available any time and any place. Waking up and going to bed, at meals, when facing a decision, when agitated or upset. Pray more and you will likely see your relationship with God growing. Study scripture – recommend as a group activity, but if you read at home alone, make note of your thoughts. Maybe journal and pray, converse with God about it. Engage in spiritual direction or even psychotherapy. Have someone committed to helping you know you better. Temptations serve a purpose. They are an on-going tool for insight into our relationship with God, with ourselves, with each other. What if we started looking at them that way? What if I started to ask about things that tempt me – is this God’s test or invitation? Does this lead me closer to God and God’s will for me, or further away? Is there a spiritual muscle in need of some exercise here? I don’t know. Maybe I’d find myself changing the words of the Lord’s Prayer to “Lead me, O Lord, into temptation, that I may be delivered from evil. Amen.”
