Unceasing Temptation
David C. Myers
February 10, 2008
Lent - 1st Sunday
Genesis 2:15 - 17; 3:1 - 7
Matthew 4:1 - 11
Text: "After His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil." . . . Matthew 4:1
Today marks the first Sunday in Lent, a season of the Church liturgical year known for penitence, preparation, prayer and fasting. Being raised in Maine and serving as a pastor in Massachusetts for 30 years or so, I can also say that Lent is also a season that many hardened New Englanders treat as they might treat the cold, dreary winter - something we have to endure to get to the excitement and new life that spring and Easter offer. Those of us from the northland - we wear our winters as a kind of badge of honor. "Oh, last year wasn't so tough, why, I remember the winter of '60 when we had back to back 3 foot blizzards with seven foot snow drifts." And we did. I have the pictures to prove it.
And my kids know that during the winter I had to walk a mile to and from school, and strangely enough it was up hill both ways, with no boots or socks or mittens, and with a minus 50-degree wind chill - every day of January and February.
But Lent is more than a season to endure, or to look at as something that we survive as a character tester. And this morning I would like to briefly reintroduce the season of Lent to us, so that we might understand this season as a character shaper.
1.) First of all, Lent's beginning focuses sharply on Jesus. That in as much as He was fully Divine, was also fully human. Every year the first Sunday of Lent presents us with the story of Jesus' temptation. In Matthew's Gospel it happens so immediately after His baptism by John in the river Jordan that it seems that He was still wet from the waters of His baptism. But Jesus was being led by the Spirit. Led by the Spirit, that is into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. His three temptations were very human temptations, beginning with the most basic needs of life and ascending to the most superfluous.
After forty days He was hungry and the devil said, "turn stones into bread." It was the temptation of survival needs.
The second temptation was that of safety - to make you safe from the dangers of the world. "Go to the top of the temple and jump, surely God's angels will save You." Satan said.
And the third temptation, once survival and safety issues are dealt with, was the temptation of power and vanity. The devil took Jesus to the mountaintop and showed Him the Kingdoms of the world and said He could have them all, if Jesus would worship the devil.
And so from this story we learn that Jesus, even though Divine as the Son of God, was also fully human and would not be immune from the same temptations that you and I face throughout the various phases of our lives. Just as we suffer we want to survive, just as we crave we want security, and just as we lust for power and vanity - so Jesus faced the same temptations.
2.) The second point is that being religious will not protect you from these temptations. The church is not a place to come to seek shelter from the problems of the world. Let's not forget that these temptations happen immediately after Jesus was baptized. There was no post-baptism family gathering or celebrative dinner. No, "After His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil."
The temptations don't come about because Jesus has turned from God's will. Indeed, it is almost to the contrary. Jesus has just made His un-categorical assertion that His life was dedicated to God's ministry - and then the temptations came.
Sometimes we like to look at our lives in the church as an escape from our worldly problems. Sometimes we like to look at the church as a place where the good people gather - away from the ugly realities of life - people needing food, people needing shelter from abusive relationships, people reeking from the smells of alcohol, drugs or homelessness. Let us not forget the words of Jesus, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but to save sinners." (Luke 5:31f) Indeed, we do not join the church because of our worthiness, for the church is not a museum of saints, but a hospital for sinners.
I loved what Louis Paul said to me moments before the Choir sang the introit one day last fall. He looked up at the words over the entrance of the Narthex - nice words, reminding us that we are entering a house of worship; and then said, "When I worshipped at the American Church in The Hague the sign over the entrance to the sanctuary was "Servants Entrance". And isn't that what are called to be? Servant ministers in Jesus' name.
You know those clever ads that used to be on TV for the Yellow Pages? The ads showing absurd things happening like a man smashing a boom box with a sledge hammer and them zooming in on a category in the Yellow Pages called, "noise silencers". Or an over-stuffed chair doing a strip tease to David Rose's song, "The Stripper" and then zooming in on "furniture stripping". And then comes the tag line . . . "If it's out there, then it's in here." And that's the way it is with the church - a gathering of imperfect people struggling to gain meaning from one another. Indeed, "if it's out there, it's in here." We are all tempted, all broken, . . . and all forgiven and all loved.
3.) The third point is that temptation is not to be seen as a private morality game, but as a contest about the shape and nature of ministry in the midst of the whole world. In Luke's Gospel we discover that soon after His temptation experience Jesus went to Nazareth and preached His first sermon that both describes and defines His ministry. Jesus said He was anointed to preach Good News to the poor, release to the captives, liberty to the oppressed, to cleanse the lepers, give sight to the blind, and allow the lame to walk. His ministry was aimed at, and identified with the so-called "daughters of Jerusalem". That was the term used in His days for the disenfranchised, the poor, the illiterate, the homeless, the illegal aliens, and the minorities - in short, the have-nots of this world.
The devil is in our midst. And like Jesus before us we are in a wilderness of temptations.
One of my favorite stories comes from William Willimon telling about the time that Bishop Carvalho from then Communist Angola came to the United States. He was speaking at a seminary, most likely Duke. And the end of his speech he was asked a question by a student that sums up the temptations of today's times. The student asked, "Bishop, could you tell us how difficult it must be to be a Christian in a communistic country?" Bishop Carvalho immediately answered, almost indignantly, "Certainly, it's not difficult at all. Oh, we have had some troubles - like when they barred us from forming women's groups and youth groups. And at first we thought it was tough when they jailed many of us. But when things like happen it keeps you focused on what is important. And while we were in prison God's Spirit taught us that being in jail is a great place to do evangelism. People can't get away from your praying and preaching! And we all became real clear on where our true freedom came from.
"When we were released from prison the church was so much stronger and much larger and we were so much clearer on our resolve as Christians." Then the Bishop paused, and posed an interesting thought, "I think it would be much harder to be a Christian in a capitalistic country. I don't know how you folks focus on your spirituality and being a servant in the midst of all the distractions and all the things and all the wealth that you have."
Indeed, our life is full of distractions and temptations. But as Jesus reminds us in Luke's Gospel, so also is the Kingdom of God in the midst of us (17:21). Temptation is unceasing in all levels of our life. Lent is the season of the year that helps us examine who we are in the face of our daily temptations and to see where in our life we can also find the Kingdom of God in our midst.
I encourage you to join in the Christian tradition of Lenten discipline. It may be daily prayer. It may be daily Bible study. It may be a form of fasting - and I would be happy to talk to you about various forms of Lenten fasts.
Lent is the season to help us shape our character so that our celebration of Easter on March 23 will indeed be one of resurrection of the new life within us.