10-02-21 - Sermon - Year C - Lent #1 - Verse Luke 4:1-14

Luke 4:1-14 The Temptation of Jesus

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. 

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.

SERMON:

Frank Craddack notes: "... There is nothing here of debauchery; no self-respecting devil would approach a person with offers of personal or social ruin. The ruination is in the small print at the bottom of the temptation”

He goes on:

If anyone is having trouble believing that Jesus was really tempted, then he or she needs to keep in mind that temptation is an indication of strength, not weakness. (again)

temptation is an indication of strength, not weakness. 

We are not tempted to do what we cannot do... 

We are only tempted by what is within our power. The greater our strength, the greater the temptation. 

How much more so for Jesus than any of us as he has just been baptized... just been named the beloved son of God... just headed out into the wilderness for 40 days to wrestle with temptation.

Temptation is deceptively attractive. 

---

This week in what appears to be a heartfelt apology to the world, we heard Tiger Woods say these words:

The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated."

“Fame and fortune played a role”, he said. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard throughout my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. Thanks to money and fame I didn't have to go far to find them. I was wrong. I was foolish. I didn't get to play by different rules." 

At the pinnacle of an outstanding career... as the spokesman for sport and hard work and fair play... as a role model for so many young athletes - especially African Americans... Tiger Woods had a long way to fall. Rich beyond imagination, powerful... and tempted... most of us do not face the reality that unlimited money, drugs, sex, power, stuff offers. 

And he’s right on the money... and you can hear the self justifying logic at work “I worked hard, I deserve this, I can have all that I want... and now... by his own words... it’s foolish... he is not above the law. 

This is the same for all of us... only when Tiger Woods falls... the fall is so much more public and spectacular... and he fell into such public and spectacular temptation... and the pictures and film like all great gossip was just too impressive for most people to not stare at.

But the point holds for all of us... where we have power and a self justifying attitude, our hidden temptations, the little selfish things covered over or ignored or explained away... this is where we are tempted to selfish action... tempted to grab for a little more power... blind to how we might fall and hurt others and ourselves. 

And so we pray in the Lord’s prayer “Lead us not into temptation.” Our catechism says it this way. “God, indeed, tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by temptation, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory. 

Where we have power is where we will suffer temptation.

---

Take a look at your bulletin cover... I think it gets to the heart of this matter quite clearly... we’ll see that Jesus is being tempted where he has power.

I see a tired and haggard Jesus - the wilderness is not an easy place to be for 40 days. He’s wrestling with identity... with scripture... with the great temptor. 

Behind him, the image of a winged serpent person trying to place a crown on the head of Jesus. The devil - that old serpent - is here offering a crown of gold... And what a deceitful temptation... 

It’s the sneakiest kind of temptation that is being offered... one that would appear to have the potential to do so much good for both Jesus and the world or... at the very least, what could it hurt? ... if Jesus would just take the crown think of what could be accomplished. 

Look again at this picture... and now the task is to put yourself into the picture... are you the tired beaten down one being tempted? Or are you the one tempting the Christ to be a God conformed to your own standards?

Think of how Jesus overcomes the 3 temptations:

Look Jesus, “If” you are the son of God, turn these stones to bread. And why not? Jesus is hungry and will in fact feed many people... why not start now? He could rise up in power and be the bread King. The hungry of the world sure hope he will do more of this... I wish Jesus would... enough is enough Jesus... make the bread... 

But Jesus knows that he’s not coming to merely fill bellies with bread. He says “One does not live by bread alone.”

Fine... Then look Jesus, here are all the nations, you can have them only... you must bow to what this world says is important: And why not? Who can think of a better political leader that Jesus Christ? Think of all the good that a political leader who plays the games of politics well and honestly could do. Jesus seems to always know what people are thinking. He would be great at the job... we could all get those little bumper stickers that say “Jesus is my pilot...” and really mean it because he would actually control everything... no more temptation for us as we would have no power... 

but... if it were God’s will to simply lead through political power, to demand allegiance as a political ruler, than it would have happened already... and... God’s ways are not our ways. Our games of hoarding power and ruling over others while seeking lives of comfort... this is the world’s agenda. God craves relationship to all people... especially the lowly and those that suffer. Jesus says “It is written “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Fine... “If” you are the son of God, throw yourself off the temple and let all see that you are God, and that you will not tolerate pain, you will not get hurt, claim your power - never suffer again. And why not? Jesus is a great healer. Jesus has the power to do so much and... for all of us looking for proof of God’s power... why not give it to us? Why not send an angel into the sky to write messages in every tongue and language... rain down pixie dust on all and make us all feel better...

But Jesus responds “Do not put the Lord you God to the test.”

Fine... and the struggle ends... Jesus has rejected the way of flaunting miracles and he will not take up the political sword to rule us all. 

God’s way of being in the world is unexpected.

---

The first sentence jumps off the page this week. 

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordon (his baptism) and was led by the Spirit in the the wilderness...”

The Wilderness is always a reference the place of confusion, pain and being lost.   Why is one filled with the Holy Spirit out here in the place of exile?

Rabbi Shefa Gold puts it this way “The wilderness is the place where the skills of deep listening are refined. In the wilderness we listen to God’s voice as it speaks to us directly through the miracles of Nature. And we cultivate enough spaciousness and silence so that the “still small voice” within can be discerned and followed.”

When we think of being filled with the Holy Spirit... when we think that we are really making it in the world and are being blessed... we do not think of wilderness wanderings... we do not think of being in the desolate place... we do not think that painful realities should be part of the picture at all...

And yet... here is Jesus... full of the Spirit AND in the Wilderness.

Being tempted to do things differently... wrestling with competing scriptures for truth... listening for the will of God.

And here is the good news but also a hard thing...

Jesus the Christ, full of the Holy Spirit, comes to confront all the powers of sin and death, everything that separates us from one another, from God, and enters into the pain of life with all that are suffering. He resists the temptation to become what the world thinks of as important. Today, Jesus wins.

And yet it's not the final victory. 

The hard part of todays messages is that victory over evil involves Christ’s willingness to endure pain in confronting the powers that oppress and divide us. God enters into the reality of life not as a grand ruler demanding allegiance, but as the son of a carpenter, in a small town and... living a life among an oppressed people, knows of hurt, and the pain, and the loneliness of life with all it’s temptations and... Jesus journeys with us... journeys with all of creation... Christ did not come to overpower the the creation, but to redeem it.

Please note carefully that it is the devil, not God, who promises safety and success for Jesus. 

But it's God, working in Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, who wins today. This is, in the end, God's world -- and God enters in and fully is immersed in it.

---

Today, there is a battle for identity. Jesus is named and claimed, just as we are named and claimed in baptism. Jesus has his identity rooted in what God has said, just as our identity is rooted in the promises that God makes to each of us in baptism and at the Lord’s table. The temptation is to leave that identity behind and strive to be something we clearly are not.

Will the nation forgive Tiger Woods? Will Tiger have a family to keep? Will there be forgiveness for his temptations? Will anyone off him a sponsorship again? It’s unsure how that will play out. It’s part of the journey now.

However, for those claimed by Christ in baptism the answer is clear. Always you are named as a child of God. Always the God who claims the whole universe reaches out to heal, to hold, to forgive. Even as we inevitably use our power to fall into temptations, and hurt ourselves and others, we can know who we are to God.

42 days from right now we will celebrate Easter right on this spot. We know the end of the story - the glorious resurrection. God’s yes to us when we say no to him.

As you enter the reflective, repentant season of lent, remember the one who walks with you... 

the one who entered into suffering to know you...

the one who cries with you as you cry and confront life...

the one who laughs with you as you find the joys of life...

the one that rejoices whenever you turn away from temptation...

For the Christ, the one who names you in baptism, and always has a spot at the table for you.

Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God, for the ongoing life of Jesus...

Thanks be to God, for the Christ...

Amen.