"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

             

"A Crisis of Identity": A Sermon from Littlefield Presbyterian Church on the First Sunday in Lent

"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.

                       

            In the final temptation, the devil promises to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus will worship him. The implications are stunning. The devil assumes that all authority in the world belongs to him, to give to others as he chooses. But Jesus orders Satan to leave, quoting from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”[1]

            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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[1] Deuteronomy 6:13