"Tempted?"

Temptation. Have you done much thinking about temptation? Garrison Keillor, the Lake Wobegon theologian, writes about his childhood in Minnesota. He says, "Sweet corn was our family's weakness. We were prepared to resist atheistic Communism, immoral Hollywood, hard liquor, gambling and dancing, smoking, fornication, but if Satan had come around with sweet corn, we at least would have listened to what he had to sell. We might not have bought it but we would've had him in and given him a cup of coffee." (Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home, xv-xvi.)

          Temptation. Everybody has temptations. We just wish they were as delicious and harmless as sweet corn. As Luke reminds us, Jesus faced his own temptations. And notice when and how the temptations came. Luke says, “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.”

          Despite what we might assume, Jesus was tempted not because he was unfaithful but because he was so very faithful. As one scholar puts it, “In fact, it is those who are most engaged in the way of God who seem to experience most intensely the opposition of evil. If Jesus struggled, who is exempt?. . . temptation is an indication of strength, not of weakness. We are not tempted to do what we cannot do but what is within our power. The greater the strength, the greater the temptation.” (Fred B. Craddock, Luke in the Interpretation Commentary Series, 55-56.) If you and I are struggling with a temptation, maybe it’s because God is trying to do good through us, and evil, “the devil,” is trying to destroy the good God would do.

          Luke says that after a forty-day fast (forty not necessarily a literal number here but a way of saying “a long time”), after a forty-day fast Jesus was famished. And this is when the first of three temptations came. (Doesn’t it often seem our temptations come when we’re tired, hungry, sad, and lonely? And how we respond during those difficult times reveals something of our character.)

          Luke says “the devil” tempted Jesus. What do we educated, twenty-first century Christians mean by “the devil”? Well, the whole notion of the devil developed during the intertestamental period, the time between the writing of the Old and New Testaments. The exact origin of the devil is murky. A fallen angel, maybe? But in biblical understanding, the devil is a powerful, cunning, evil force that rebels against God and opposes God. The devil, evil infects every part of life–governments, organizations, businesses, religious groups, churches. The devil, evil is always cloaked as good, something that seems attractive and reasonable at the time, tricking us into choosing wrong. And the devil is also experienced personally, as a force operating within each one of us, a pride to have things “my way,” not God’s way.

          But for all evil’s scary power, ultimately evil is puny before the awesome power of God’s love. The New Testament proclaims that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, evil has already been defeated, and what we experience now are the death throes of a vanquished opponent. Evil is like a rattlesnake chopped in half by the machete of God’s love--mortally wounded, but writhing and biting and still capable of inflicting death and destruction for a time. 

          To a famished Jesus, the devil said, “If you’re God’s Son, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” We might call this the temptation of self-sufficiency. And what’s wrong with that? Wouldn’t it be great to have somebody who could produce food on command? We could feed all the hungry people in Haiti, in Sudan, in our own country.

          And aren’t we self-sufficient anyway? What’s all this talk about a God who creates, redeems, and sustains? What’s all this nonsense about a God who demands our highest allegiance, our time, abilities, and money? We have the technology. We can grow our own food. We have the medicine. We can heal ourselves. We have our families,  friends, communities, ourselves. We don’t need God. We’re self-sufficient.

          But Jesus didn’t get that. He quoted Holy Scripture, “One does not live by bread alone.” There’s something more to life that just food. There’s something more to life than self-sufficiency.

          Then the devil tempted Jesus a second time. In an instant, he gave him an I-Max, panoramic view of all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said, “I’ll give you all this radiant splendor and power. After all, this has all been handed over to my keeping, and I give it whomever I please. It’s all yours. All you have to do is worship me.”

          And again, what’s wrong with that? We live in a world torn apart by war, ravaged by hunger and disease. An economy in a shambles. An ineffective United Nations. A divided, bickering partisan Congress. Towns, cities, states squabbling and scrambling for disappearing dollars. An environment decimated by pollution. Jesus, for heaven’s sake, quit messing around, come in and take charge. Whip this world into shape. All you have to do is worship the devil.

          What’s being offered here? Prominence through possessions and power. The devil says to Jesus, “All the dazzling stuff of the world, all the self-glorifying power that comes with it, is yours. All you have to do is worship me.”

          And we know this temptation ourselves, don’t we? As a country, we say the U.S. is the last remaining superpower. Do we revel in self-glorification? Prominence through possessions and power? Or, as someone else has said, “America is great because she is good.”? Which one is it?

          As a congregation, we celebrate these lovely buildings and our wonderful influential people. But do we wish to impress others with them? Or do we wish to impress others with God’s love in Christ?

          And as individuals, we enjoy wealth, status in the community, power to get things done. But do we use our wealth, status, power to force our way? Or do we seek the way of Christ?

          Once again, Jesus answered the devil with a quote from scripture. “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

          Finally, the devil took Jesus up high, to the pinnacle of the temple. And this time the devil quoted scripture himself, “If you’re God’s Son, throw yourself off. As it is written (a quote from Psalm 91), ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you . . .”

          What temptation is this? Henri Nouwen writes, “. . . the temptation to do something spectacular, something that could win him great applause . . . But Jesus refused to be a stunt man. He did not come to prove himself. He did not come to walk on hot coals, swallow fire, or put his hand in the lion’s mouth to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say. ‘Don’t put the Lord your God to the test,’ he said.” (Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, 38.)

          If you read The Daily Record, you may have noticed Kathleen Parker’s column on Friday. She talked about “proposed legislation in Uganda to execute gays . . .” As Parker pointed out, “Gays in Uganda already face imprisonment  for up to 14 years.” Despite these disgraceful laws, a number of American megachurch pastors who’ve been active in Uganda have been reluctant to condemn what’s happening there. One said, “. . . it is not my personal calling as a pastor in America to comment or interfere in the political process of other nations.” (Kathleen Parker, The Daily Record, Feb. 19, 2010.) Wonder how that flies with a God who calls us “to love justice, do kindness, and walk humbly” with our God, a God who said, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”? Wonder if these megachurch pastors are so concerned with the image of big churches and keeping everybody attending their churches that they wouldn’t dare take a stand that might be unpopular with their people. Just wondering.

          Just wondering how you and I also get caught by the temptation to be spectacular. What is it  we crave that will make us impressive, desirable,  special to make a name for ourselves instead of trusting that our names are written in heaven? What is it?

          This Lent, we rejoice that Jesus rejected all the devil’s temptations. He remained faithful to God and for us. And empowered by the living Christ, we  can be more faithful. We won’t be perfect. But we can be more faithful. It’s amazing how Christ works in some memorized scripture, daily prayer, weekly worship, service for others.

          In the movie comedy “Bedazzled” Brendan Frazier plays Elliot, a geek who desperately wants a date with a beautiful woman who works in his office. Poof! The devil appears in the form of the luscious supermodel and actress Elizabeth Hurley (told you the devil’s sneaky). She grants Eliot seven wishes in exchange for his soul. But at the movie’s end, Eliot has used up six wishes with disastrous results. And Eliot is in a jail cell with an ultra-cool African-American cell mate. The cell mate speaks to him.

Inmate: “So what you in for, brother?

Elliot: Eternity.

Inmate: Ooh. That’s a long time. You must've did some really bad [stuff].

Elliot: Yeah— I sold my soul.

Inmate: I hope you got something good for it.

Elliot: As a matter of fact, I got nothing for it.

Inmate: Well, that’s a really bad deal, if you ask me.

Elliot: Well, I'm not asking you.

Inmate: Doesn't really matter though. You can't sell your soul anyway.

Elliot: Oh really?

Inmate: It doesn't really belong to you in the first place. No way, no how.

Elliot: So who does it belong to?

Inmate: It belongs to God: that universal spirit that animates and binds all things in existence. The Devil's gonna try to confuse you. That's her game. But in the end, you gonna see clear to who you are and what you’re here to do. Now you’re gonna make some mistakes along the way; everybody does. If you’ll just open up your heart and open up your mind, you’ll get it.

Elliot: Who are you?

Inmate: Just a friend, brother. Just a really good friend.” 

          Praise God, our souls, our very beings belong not to the devil but to God.

And what a friend we have in Jesus, a friend who models a way to resist

temptation, and a friend who has conquered all evil and sin for you and me and the

world. Amen.