February 25, 2007

THREE TEMPTATIONS, ONE HELP

Luke 4:1-13

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. I would imagine this is one of the most intriguing accounts of Jesus. There is primal power in the simple description of our Lord being lead into the wilderness where the Devil had his best shot, at least for a while.

And there are worse Lenten disciplines than to consider the nature of the temptations of the evil one. So lets examine them. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Satan begins with the most obvious temptation, the temptation of materialism. Today, of course, few of us are physically famished. Quite the opposite. Most of us could stand to lose a few pounds. But we hunger after other things, don’t we? The bigger house, the nicer car, the longer and more exotic vacation, on a more sophisticated vein, the better school for our children. And if we can bask in some of their Ivy League glory, well there are worse fates. Oh Satan may have failed with Jesus, but he still finds fertile ground among us.

6And 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. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” I see this as the temptation of power. This is our course, one of the strongest temptations. Why do people spend decades of their lives and hundreds of millions of dollars to run for political office? Certainly not for the salaries they receive. Rather it is for the power they can exercise. It is easy to castigate the politicians. Actually I think we need to reexamine our views on this area but that is the stuff of another sermon. But let’s face it; in our own kind and gentle ways, we seek to gain power over those around us, over our families, over our coworkers, over our friends and neighbors. In one way or another we seek to have them do our will or at least agree with us. Make no mistake about it; Satan knows what he is about with these temptations.

9Then 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, 10for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,

to protect you,’

11and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

I view this as the temptation of manipulation. What Satan cannot achieve by out and out bribery, he attempts to obtain through devious means. There is subtlety here. He is affirming that Jesus is the Son of God, but simply asking Him to prove it in some fashion. Surely a little miracle cannot hurt. It is even alluded to in Scripture. One of the greatest mistakes that Christians can make is to underestimate the cunning of the evil one. He is far brighter than even the most brilliant of us and to forget this even for a moment is to put oneself at grave risk.

13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time. Oh and one more thing, Satan is patient. This makes him even more dangerous. God and Satan have at least this one thing in common both are wise stewards. Satan knows full well when we are strong, when things are going well, when we are walking particularly close to God. When he sees these signs, he bids his time. He can wait. But rest assured, he never loses sight of us. He is always there lurking in the shadows of our souls.

Now admittedly, I have dealt at great length with the law in this sermon. This is deliberate. Sometimes we have to have a good dose of the law for our spiritual health. But where do we find the Gospel? Just where Jesus did, in God the Father. For God understands the trials we face and never, never leaves us alone. Just as the Father was with the Son in the wilderness, so the Heavenly Father is with us, not only when we are aware of His presence, but especially when He seems far off. He is as near as our prayers and our sighs and our tears. God is always with us. This is the Gospel that we proclaim and the Gospel that saves us. Amen.