"A Crisis of Identity"
Matthew 4:1-11
It’s no accident that Jesus is out in the wilderness. After he was
baptized in the muddy waters of the Jordan, he was led out into the wilderness
to be tempted—or tested. (The Greek word
in the original text can mean either.)
Throughout the scriptures, the wilderness
represents a place of preparation… a place of learning to trust in God’s
mercy. Moses fasted for forty days on
Mount Sinai as he received the words of God’s covenant with the
Israelites. Elijah fasted forty days and
nights in the wilderness before he received a new commission from God. The people of Israel wandered around in the
wilderness for forty years after they were liberated from slavery in Egypt-- until
they could learn how to be free people.
When he was baptized, Jesus heard a
voice from heaven proclaim, “You are my son...
my beloved. In you I am well pleased." Then the Holy Spirit leads Jesus out into the
middle of nowhere to decide what kind of son he's going to be.
Can you imagine? The wilderness is hot and barren. The hills are dust heaps. The rocks are jagged. The wind howls at night. It's been
days... weeks-- since he's eaten. The gospel tells us that "he was
famished."
From somewhere comes a voice: "If you are God's Son, then command this
stone, so that it becomes bread."
The devil is tempting
Jesus, suggesting that the reality of his identity is the question: “If you are
the Son of God…” Are you really? Can you prove it? But Jesus’ responses show him pondering an
entirely different question: What does it mean for me to be God’s beloved son?
How shall I live out that identity in the world?
"If you are God's Son, then
command this stone, so that it becomes bread.
If you are God's Son.”
Could Jesus turn a rounded stone into
a loaf of bread? Who could it
hurt? If he is God's child-- then why
shouldn't he have what he wants? The temptation
is to turn away from the way of sacrifice.
Every day we’re besieged by advertisements and other
messages that seek to touch us in our sense of insecurity and inadequacy, to
undermine our God-given gift of identity with the promise that if we buy this
car or use that deodorant or make our teeth brighter we will be acceptable. The
message of the consumer-consumption culture is simple: you are not enough.
Not skinny enough, smart enough, pretty enough, strong enough, rich enough to
deserve respect, love, and acceptance. It’s a lie-- a demonic attempt at a kind
of identity theft.
Each day, we’re tempted to be less
than God created us to be. We’re tempted
to choose what is easiest… or comfortable-- without thinking about how much
more is possible. We’re tempted to reject
our God-given identity… and God’s dream
for us.
Every time we choose what seems the easiest
path-- we become less. Jesus understood
the temptation of the easy way. He was
tempted to take the easy... comfortable
way too.
"One cannot live by bread
alone. Obedience is more important than comfort.
The adversary tries again. This
time it's from the highest point on the temple roof: "If you are God's son, throw yourself down. You know what the Bible says, “God will
protect you."
As Shakespeare pointed out, “There
is no error so grave but that some sober brow will not bless it with a proper
text." Even Satan quotes scripture.
First century Jews believed that
when the Messiah came, he would reveal himself from the temple roof. Jesus could be the Messiah the people wanted--
if he would do what they expected.
Today, we may be tempted to follow the rules and keep up a Christian appearance...to
look like good religious folk, in a conventional sense of righteousness-- even
as we lower our expectations of what we can be for God. If we take that approach, we slowly but
surely choose comfort over concern...
success over sacrifice... respectability
over radical, self-giving love.
The tempter’s voice comes back with promises
of palaces and kingdoms: "Compromise
and it's all yours." Jesus could
have chosen success… and prominence.
But Jesus came to proclaim and to bring the reign of God. By
choosing not privilege or power but rather obedience to God, Jesus has already
begun his journey to the cross.
It might be easier for us if the Evil One appeared in a red suit with a
pitchfork, so he's easy to identify. But
often the tempter appears as a sensible way to meet our needs-- or at least our
selfish desires. We might hear the
devil's nagging voice in our desire for success and self-sufficiency. Or it might nag us with the fear that there isn’t
enough-- worries that we need to hoard for ourselves, because there isn’t enough
for everyone to have of what we need.
The temptation might be a nagging fear of how dangerous the world is and
how we need to be afraid.
Jesus was continually tempted to
make it easier for himself. Jesus was
never freed from temptation, and we won’t be either.
What’s at stake here is a question
of identity. Who is Jesus? Who are we?
The most important thing about you-- is who you are.
One of the saddest conditions a
person can face in life is amnesia-- not remembering who you are. It’s frightening when a person doesn’t
understand what life is about… when life
has no meaning or purpose.
That’s what made Willy Lohman such a
pathetic character in Arthur Miller’s play, "Death of a Salesman." After Willie committed suicide, his son Biff
says that the heart of his father’s problems was that he didn’t know who he was.
Knowing who you are and whose you are is essential to our wholeness
as God’s child, and to your awareness of what God wants you to do with your life. Satan’s primary objective isn’t getting you
to do something wrong-- but getting you to forget who you are.
The ways Satan tries to convince us
that we don’t deserve God’s love are subtle and clever. And these temptations-- like the temptations
of Christ-- are far more treacherous than an impulse to disobey one of the commandments.
Think about this tricky question: “If
you are a child of God, then why don’t you feel more like one? This can be deadly, because sometimes we
don’t feel much like a beloved member of God’s family. The temptation is to believe that-- if you’re
not feeling like a child of God-- then maybe you aren’t.
Or this temptation: “If you are a child of God, why don’t you act more like
one?
The way Matthew tells the story of
Jesus in the desert, there were no witnesses. So, Jesus must have told the disciples in the
hope that they would re-tell the story and remember.
Whenever Martin Luther was
confronted with temptation, he would remind himself: "I have been baptized." He remembered whose beloved child he
was. We need to remember whose we are.
Beginning with our baptism, God claims us as God’s beloved child and
calls us to carry on Christ’s saving work in the world.
When we're tempted to forget who we are,
we're called to follow Jesus’ example.
Jesus went back to the scriptures that he learned as a child… the
stories he’d heard at home and in the synagogue. He remembered the things God had done for
him. He recalled the truths God had
spoken.
That’s what we’re called to do.
We're called to remember the stories of what God has done and the truths
God speaks to us. As a community of
faith, we need to hang out together and remember together.
We need to remind one another that we are beloved children of God. Because that’s who we are, we have value and
worth and purpose. We need to keep
reminding one another that we are enough and that there is enough to go around…
and that we don’t need to live in fear.
Thanks be to God!
Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor
Littlefield Presbyterian Church
Dearborn, Michigan
March 5, 2017
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