SETTING THE CONTEXT

During this Lenten season, we will walk through the story of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke. While the Gospel itself does not identify the author of this work, as early as 175 A.D. church leaders were identifying the writer as Luke, the only Biblical writer who was not Hebrew or Jewish. Tradition tells us that Luke was a physician from Antioch, Syria who was a traveling companion of the Apostle Paul. He was not an eyewitness of the events, but he gathered information from eyewitnesses and gave an orderly account. Luke emphasizes the activity of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus and in the early church in his accounts called the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. ⁱ

Just before our passage takes place in Luke’s Gospel story, John the Baptist came to the region around the Jordan River proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon him. He was 30 years old when he began his work. Jesus’ baptism and the testing we will read about today are his preparation for his public ministry.

Read Luke 4:1-13

THE SERMON

There are different ways to take a journey. Some people like to know their destination so that they can figure out the fastest route, get in the car and go as quickly and efficiently as possible. George is this kind of traveler, but unfortunately he has several family members who need to make frequent rest area stops so he has had to adjust his approach. Other journeyers, like me, prefer to meander on their journeys taking side roads exploring interesting nooks and crannies. This approach has the possibility of great discoveries, but one must be careful not to become so distracted as to never reach the intended destination. This is true not only for journeys to places, but also true about life. I have met people who procrastinated on their true dreams to the point where some of them never attained them. “I always wanted to be a firefighter or to see the Grand Canyon or (you fill in the blank) but I didn’t because we didn’t have the money, we had young children, my spouse didn’t seem interested, I just never got around to it, I was too old, etc, etc, etc. “ George talked about procrastinating on joy last week. But let’s not get distracted. Over this Lenten season we are going to take a journey together to the Via Dolorosa to the cross.

Luke’s story this week tells us that Jesus starts his journey full of the Holy Spirit. Before he begins his public ministry, before he faces the crowds of people and all that they will bring to him, he is led by that Spirit into the wilderness where he is tested. Will distractions be able to lead him down side roads away from God? Will he be tricked and fooled by the Tempter? The thing about temptations is that they are not always bad things in and of themselves. It is the spirit behind them. It’s whose voice is behind them.

The first temptation was while Jesus was at his weakest, while he was starving the devil told him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” There are a lot of stones in Israel; he could have fed a lot of people. I call this the temptation of possessions. Jesus’ response comes from the book of Deuteronomy and it reaches into the story of God providing the manna or the bread from heaven in the wilderness to the Hebrew people. Jesus did not have to make a deal with the devil to get what he needed, he trusted that God provides. Later in Jesus’ public ministry God did provide him with the ability to do a miracle using bread to feed 5,000. God provides. Jesus most assuredly would experience people trying to tempt him using possessions during his ministry. Perhaps Herod will offer him wealth or maybe rich patrons will offer him land or animals or things if he healed them or their family members. The temptation of possessions is still around and it can get us into trouble. Isn’t that what out of control credit card debt is about or gambling is about? Lotteries are based on convincing people that buying a chance (even when one has a greater chance of being hit by lightening) but that buying that chance will gain them great wealth. My brother who lived on Social Security who my parents helped support bought lottery tickets every week because he was going to get rich. He never did, but the people who run the lottery they made a lot of money off of tempting him. Is gambling or using credit cards wrong? The answer to that depends on the spirit - does the gambling or credit cards use feed the greed or does it honor God? Bill Gates who gambled on an upstart business in a device called a computer is using his great wealth to vaccinate the world’s children. I’d say that is a God-honoring use of wealth. Since Bill and Melinda Gates began spending their great wealth to serve the world’s needy, I would be willing to bet (if I were a betting woman) that their lives have been transformed. “One does not live by bread alone.” What spirit is leading you?

The second temptation had to do with power. The tempter claimed to have authority that was not his. What is the word when someone tries to take the role of God? It is called idolatry. Idolatry can be someone worshipping another god or it can be someone trying to take the place of God. As Jesus went about his public ministry, as he healed and cast out demons with all that power, would he be tempted by that power and by the adoration of the crowds? I think there is a lot of truth in that old adage “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Does power still tempt us today? Well I guess all we have to do is look at how many powerful figures do really stupid immoral things. Just this week we heard

“I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. … I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them….It's now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.”ⁱⁱ

This is a portion of Tiger Woods’ apology. This allows me to take a slight detour because unlike Jesus, we sometimes fail the test and give in to temptation, so we need a way to come back from failure fortunately there is a sacrament for failure. OK, you won’t find this term in any hymnal or prayer book. Writer Leonard Sweet came up with the term and I think it’s a great way to describe this process of confession (admitting what you have done wrong), repentance (having a change of heart, mind and direction), forgiveness, and restoration (moving on).ⁱⁱⁱ It’s not just celebrities and politicians who fall into the temptation of power; we also can fall for the temptation of power. Does this mean that all power is corrupt? Absolutely not, Jesus had great power during his earthly ministry; he used his power to serve rather than be served. Jesus healed the sick, included the outcast, he taught about the character of God. When the time came for his journey on earth to end, Jesus gave up the power to save himself being obedient to God even willing to die a criminal’s death upon a cross. What happened, though? God gave him the power to overcome death itself. What is the difference between corrupt power and holy power? – The spirit behind it. What spirit is leading you and your use of power?

The final temptation had to do with pride. “If you really are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.” In other words, prove you are who you say you are. Did you notice that the devil twisted Scripture for his own purposes? This is one reason it is good to study and know Scripture and always check it out when someone quotes Scripture to you and it just doesn’t sound right. The story around the statement is as important as the statement. As Jesus went about his ministry, there would be many temptations related to pride. We know the Pharisees tried to trap him many times. Is pride still a source of temptation? How many stupid acts have started with words like,”if you really are …” “If you really are cool, you’d smoke this cigarette or this joint, you’d take this drug.” “If you really aren’t afraid you’d steal that candy, jump off that roof, snowboard through that forest, (you fill in the blank).” Pride gets us into all kinds of trouble. Is the temptation of pride getting you into any kind of trouble?

Temptation has been around since Adam and Eve and it will be around as long as there are human beings, so it is imperative we learn how to navigate this part of the journey. All along the wilderness way Jesus was led by the Spirit, he refused to be distracted or misled even in his weakened state. As Jesus was tempted he countered each temptation by quoting from his Scripture, from the Book of Law, Deuteronomy. And did you notice there were no excuses, just a simple answer that said, “I choose God.” This faithfulness to God flowed through his entire ministry, life and even death.^iv

In his Ash Wednesday sermon, George challenged us to give up something this Lent that is creating a barrier between us and God. I suggest that we look for temptations of possessions, power, or pride. These are not the only sources of temptations, but they cover a lot of ground. Why don’t we give up one of those as a Lenten discipline? As we take this Lenten journey with Jesus to the cross through the wilderness through temptation, let us go together led by the Spirit faithful to God. Amen.

Sermon delivered by Rev. Nancy Cushman on February 21, 2010.