"The Temptation of 'If'.'" A Sermon from Littlefield Presbyterian Church on the First Sunday in Lent.

"The Temptation of 'If'"

Luke 4:1-13

If you were here on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, you remember that when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved.  With you I am well pleased.”

            At the age of 30, the man Jesus of Nazareth came to know that he was the beloved Son of God.

            Afterward, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil.  The wilderness is hot and barren.  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."  And Jesus remembers John...   the Jordan River...  the sky opening and a voice thundering, “You are my Son...  the beloved."

            But now there’s a different voice:  "If you are God's Son...   if you are God's Son."   A rounded stone could become 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.

            The first temptation in the gospel story is to choose the easy life.  We end up hungry for the wrong things.  The life focused on security…  worldly success… or play...  or earthly pleasure-- is a life spent looking for substitutes for communion with God.

            We're tempted to avoid hard things like forgiveness.  Somebody says something thoughtless that makes you feel stupid...   or devalued.  Someone you thought was your friend hurts you deeply.  We should forgive. 

            Or we’re faced with a situation where someone needs to be protected, or where we need to stand up for what’s right and just.

            These are the times when it’s hard to follow Jesus. We’re tempted to do what’s easier.

            Jesus understood the temptation of the easy way.  "One cannot live by bread alone. 

            The adversary tries again.    “If you will worship me, all the kingdoms of the world will be yours.”   Jesus could have chosen success… and prominence or wealth-- instead of the way of self-giving love and redemptive suffering.  But he didn’t.

            The tempter tries again.  “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple…”   You know what the scriptures say, “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.   

            Did you notice?  Jesus responds to all three tests with Scripture. All three responses are from Deuteronomy, the part of the Torah that details what covenant relationship looks like, that tells and retells the story of who God is…and who God’s people are… and how God works.  Jesus comes back to the faith that had formed him, the rote prayers repeated so often that didn’t leave him when he needed them the most.

               

            Knowing who you are and whose you are is essential to your 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 to get you to forget who you are.  The Adversary wants you to lose your identity…  and your sense of belonging to the family of God.

            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 about this temptation: “If you are a child of God, why don’t you act more like one? 

When we’re tempted to forget who we are, we’re in a kind of spiritual desert.  The word “wilderness” or “desert” has often been used as a symbol for being lost spiritually.  Sometimes we don’t feel or act like children of God.  Sometimes it seems as though we’re wandering around in a wilderness, not knowing who we are. 

Being in a wilderness place is an unavoidable part of the Christian walk.  We fight some of our greatest spiritual battles when we’re out in the wilderness.  It’s a time when we’re confronted with ourselves.  and we need to clarify what it is that we want or desire more than anything else.             

            When we're tempted to forget who we are...   when we're tempted to take the EASY way--   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 need to remember this story of Jesus in the wilderness. 

There were no witnesses to this event but Jesus.  So, he must have told the disciples-- in the hope that they would remember. 

            Remember that we have a savior who understands our struggle.  Remember how Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee and made it clear what his mission was in his inaugural speech in the synagogue in Nazareth:

            “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

            Remember who you are:  a beloved child of God, claimed by God’s grace… and called to work in partnership with Christ to embody God’s love and to work for reconciliation and justice and peace in the world. 

            Following Jesus sometimes leads us into the wilderness, where we are tested and prepared by God for ministry in this world.  It isn’t a comfortable place to be, but there, in the wilderness we come to rely more and more on God as the source of our strength.  In the stillness of the wilderness, we quiet ourselves to hear God’s voice and to meditate on God’s word.

When we’re tempted, everything is at stake.  As Christians we’re called to carry on Christ’s saving work in the world.  God has an important plan for our lives.  So, as we journey through Lent, let us seek to follow Jesus more intentionally. 

The good news is that, beginning with our baptism, God claims us and calls us and by the Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to carry Christ’s saving love into the world.

Thanks be to God!

Amen!

Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor

Littlefield Presbyterian Church

Dearborn, Michigan

March 10, 2019

             

"The Holy Spirit is Still Blowing into our Lives." A sermon preached on Pentecost Sunday at Littlefield Presbyterian Church, on Acts 2:1-21

In some parts of the Christian church, they celebrate Pentecost with sheet cake with birthday candles... and maybe some red punch.   People call it the “Birthday of the church,” which I think is partially true.  But it is just that--  a partial truth.  And it’s a very tame way to celebrate Pentecost.   So I think if we really get what Pentecost is about—we probably won’t celebrate it by singing “Happy Birthday” to the Church.

The story we just heard from Acts is no sweet, sentimental birthday story.   At the so-called birth of the church, there was no organ.  There were no pews fastened to the floor.   There were no greeters handing out bulletins.  There was little resemblance to what the church has become in the early part of the 21^st century. 

On Pentecost, the disciples were gathered together, waiting and hoping for the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.  And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

What happened was truly “bewildering,” “amazing” and “astonishing!”  That’s how the crowd gathered in Jerusalem experienced what happened.

Those who were gathered together waiting and praying were filled with the Holy Spirit.  The miracle of Pentecost is that the Spirit gave them the ability to speak in other languages so that the people from all over the known world were able to understand. 

The miracle of Pentecost is clear Gospel speech.  On Pentecost, Peter was given the power to preach the Gospel clearly and boldly,  to proclaim the coming of the Messianic age preached by the prophet Joel,  a time when all people will preach the good news of Jesus the Messiah, as the world awakens to the great gift of the Gospel.  “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

But what does that mean?  What is the gospel for our time?  We are in a time that I think can be spiritually bewildering… and discouraging.     I think a lot of people are wondering, with Ezekiel::  “Can these bones live?”

We are living in a time of huge change… and cosmic SHIFT:  technological, cultural, political, and religious.   Think about it:  When I was in the process of moving here to Dearborn 18 years ago, I was a fairly early adopter, with an email account, and a few of you had email.  Technological things that we take for granted now—websites, Google searches, Facebook, Twitter, Pintarest,  e-books, etc.—we didn’t have any of them 20 or so years ago. 

A few weeks ago, the Pew Research Center for Religion & Public Life reported in a massive study that 22.8 percent of Americans identified with no organized religion, a dramatic rise from 16.1 percent in 2007, the last time the nonprofit research group took such a sweeping look at religion in America.. [1]

Other things have been changing fast in our society and in the world, and it’s hard for a lot of people—especially older people.  The Presbyterian Church voted last June to allow same-sex marriages in states where it is legal.  Yesterday, voters in traditionally conservative, Catholic Ireland chose overwhelmingly in a popular vote to change their nation’s constitution to allow for same-sex marriage. 

Society is changing.  And, according to Harvey Cox, we are now experiencing the biggest shift in Christianity since the 4th century.   So it’s no wonder we feel bewildered… disoriented… and  maybe afraid.

But I think we’re in a time when God is trying to do amazing new things.  The Spirit is on the move!

Harvey Cox has been saying that we’re living in the “age of the Spirit,” which began around 1900.  Diana Butler Bass says we’re living in a time of “awakening.”  Whatever we call it, it’s a time when we need to open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit to help us discern what the good news is for our time and to empower us to proclaim it.  

A few years ago, I heard Diana Butler Bass suggest that some people in the church have been functioning like we’re on the Titanic-- when actually we are on the Mayflower.  We’re headed to a new world,  as we creatively re-appropriate the core practices of what it means to be Christian:  prayer, worship, hospitality, mission, discipleship, spiritual formation, and praise.

In order to respond effectively and faithfully as the church…  we need to creatively imagine anew,    and embody again what it means to follow Jesus Christ into his coming kingdom in this new world today.  On the feast of Pentecost, we are reminded that the Holy Spirit still blows into our lives today.

            One of the primary ways in which we see the Holy Spirit working in the story we heard from Acts was as a TRANSLATOR--  the one who carries the meaning of the mighty acts of God, particularly the mighty act of God in Jesus Christ--  to all those present.  This translation is necessary because God has done... and is doing something new in the world--  something which both creates and requires understanding...  and love...  and unity. 

            The Holy Spirit translates God’s redeeming work to us...  and our deepest desires and thoughts to God...  and in that translation, binds us together with God and with each other.

            When we are divided by our differences in the church, I believe that the Spirit has the power to translate from a language of division to a language of unity... from the language of exclusion, barriers, and closed doors--  to the language of open doors...   from the language of individualism, isolation, and competion--  to that of fellowship and koinonia. 

            The Holy Spirit is still in the business of filling us with the boldness we need to respond to those who question...  still in the business of helping us break down barriers and build bridges...  still in the business of spreading the word that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  That business is called “The Church.”

            At the end of an all-day meeting for the purpose of reform of  one of our sister denominations, one of the pastors stood up and said that he thought reform was impossible.  The old structures are too entrenched, he said.  People are too slow to change.   Et cetera.

            “What gives you any hope that we will now or ever change?”  he asked the assembled crowd.

            They sat in silence.   But then a voice called out from the rear of the room, “THE HOLY SPIRIT!”         

            Amen!

            There are times when it’s hard not to feel discouraged.  But we have Christ's promises--  to be with us always...  and to lead us by his Holy spirit.  And so--  let us not lose hope.  

            We are kept on tiptoes--  expectant, eager, maybe even a little nervous!  For the Holy Spirit that gave birth to the church continues to prod, cajole, and urge us forward.   

            It’s been this way since the beginning of the church.  Just when we get settled down, comfortable with present arrangements, our pews bolted securely to the floor, all fixed and immobile--  the right number of pews-- there comes a rush of wind, or a still small voice...  a breath of fresh air...  tongues of fire.

So let us keep gathering together and praying and listening for the Spirit, and know that the Spirit is being poured out afresh on us, empowering us to carry the Gospel into the world.

Come, Holy Spirit!

Rev. Fran Hayes, Pastor

Littlefield Presbyterian Church

Dearborn, Michigan

May 24, 2015

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[1] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-becoming-less-christian-study-finds-unaffiliated-group-grows-n357561