"Are You Ready?" "Do Not Put The Lord Your God To The Test." Luke
4:12
Psalm 91:9-12, Luke 4:1-13
The Rev. Dr. Sandra R. Brown
February 29, 2004
The Lenten season has begun and during these 40 days it is an opportune
time to examine our faith, our relationships, and ourselves. It is an ideal
opportunity for communities of faith to join together in empowering peace
around the world at a time when injustice, brutality, and terror appear
to be unstoppable forces. Such forces are not new as evidenced in Mel Gibson’s
"The Passion of the Christ" where the physical punishment is relentless/ruthless
and the psychological torture is overwhelming/exhausting. Whether or not
you agree with the specific content or artistic liberties in the film,
the visual experience of the final hours of Jesus’ ministry is painful
and powerful. Jesus’ unyielding obedience and dying sacrifice give poignant
witness to the meaning of the cross and the empty tomb. Billy Graham was
reported to have described the film as a "lifetime of sermons in one movie."
Luke wrote that Jesus reveals himself in the breaking of the bread. Gibson’s
film shows that Bread being broken for our sakes.
When thinking about this opportune time of reflection, repentance, and
service, the question often is asked, "where does one start?" Attention
is focused on Jesus as he prepares for his ministry. Being full of the
Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where for
40 days, he ate nothing, and by the conclusion of his fasting, he was famished,
exhausted, and depleted. It was an opportune time for the devil to tempt
Jesus with various ploys to turn his back on God and to sell his soul by
worshipping false gods.
Such temptation is never very far away! Have you ever been tempted? Maybe
I need to rephrase that question to ask—have you been tempted recently?
— By lusting for things that would take pain or tribulations away or by
hurting others for personal gain? Of course, I am not going to ask for
a show of hands, so you can relax, but I am encouraging each one of us
to search our hearts, especially when life takes unexpected turns—declining
health, job loss, family brokenness, death—and meaning in life seems pointless,
what then?
I do not know about you, but there are times when I long to be somewhere
other than where I am, or I fantasize about unrealistic options or escapes
to avoid feeling pain. Temptations are seductive because the grass does
look greener on the other side of the fence, but the fact is that it seldom
is greener. Adoration, power, and prestige can be intoxicating lures toward
self-deification.
Temptations are crafty in enhancing one’s self while denying the presence
and promise of God. Temptations often lead us astray from our best intentions
of leading a consistent life of faith, obedience, and gratitude to God.
Think about it—you are sitting at home and have every intent to give thanks
for the blessings in your life, but instead you pick up the paper or watch
CSI; or a friend calls and offers you a gift involving unlimited authority,
and you are faced with deciding whether to use this power to change injustices
of our day in our community and in the White House or to strive to gain
personal recognition? Yes, temptations are real, and they often emerge
either when we least expect them or when we can least handle them in the
wilderness experiences of feeling alone, helpless, and forgotten. Evil
forces wait for such opportune times to seduce us away from God through
means of distrust, disrespect, and doubt.
Luke gives us insight into the cunning ways the devil approached an exhausted
Jesus for it was the evil one’s intent not to let Jesus move easily or
smoothly into his ministry of serving God. Such deflections were not surprising
to Jesus, nor should they be to us. Emil Brunner, a Swiss theologian, said,
(The Scandal Of Christianity, p.76), "Sin is not that I have done something
wrong. Sin is that I have separated myself from God." It was an opportune
time for the devil to cast sharp hooks for the purpose of achieving personal
political, and religions gains.
On the personal side the devil tempts with deeds of which much good can
be said—much recognition can be received—by turning stones into bread in
order to feed the hungry. "If you are the Son of God, command this stone
to become a loaf of bread." If and command equal prove your authority!
On the political side the deceptive one offers power and control designed
to trick Jesus into selling out his soul. "The devil led Jesus up and showed
him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world,"…and said, "to you I will
give their glory and all the authority. If you, then, will worship me."
As if this trickery wasn’t enough, the devil seduces the religious dimension
by trying to coerce one’s faith by utilizing supernatural powers. "The
devil took Jesus 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
He will command His angels concerning you, to protect you." (Psalm 91:11)
In every instance Jesus’ knowledge of and belief in the Scriptures, as
proclaimed from Deuteronomy, countered the temptations. Jesus saw through
each destructive effort of appealing to the powerful and not to the powerless.
As Fred Craddock remarked, (The Interpretation of Luke, p.56), "The tempter
in Eden did not ask, "Do you wish to be the devil?" But, rather "Do you
wish to be as God?" He went on to say, "no self-respecting devil would
approach an individual with offers of personal, domestic, or social ruin."
Jesus thwarted each idolatrous proposition by quoting Scripture — "One
does not live by bread alone," (Deut. 8:3), "Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only God," (Deut. 6:13), and "Do not put the Lord your God to
the test." (Deut. 6:16/Psalm 91:11), Jesus knew that knowledge of and belief
in the Scriptures would keep the devil at a distance.
The struggles with temptation end for ‘now’, as Jesus did not fall for
the false lure of idols nor did he take up a political sword. He knew that
God’s response to human need and suffering was designed differently and
his reaction was one of trust that does not test and one of obedience that
does not waiver. Jesus departs from the wilderness and heads for Galilee,
but his trials and tribulations are far from over for the tempter, who
departed, continues to watch and wait for opportune times to wreck havoc,
then and now.
Indeed, when life tumbles in, and it has, it does, and it will for all
of us in countless ways. — When crisis pushes us into a lonely wilderness
where distrust, depression, and doubt prevail. It is possible for us to
confront destructive pressures that contribute to our denying God’s love,
to our turning away from the needs of others, and to our focusing primarily
on meeting one’s own desires and wants. Countering such tempting forces
means staying vigilant in discerning between God’s reconciling Spirit and
the human longing for instant relief from stress, disappointment, and fear.
As Jesus said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." Often you can
detect such testing when you hear others or yourself cry out in confusion,
fear or anger, "Why God are you letting this happen?" or "Where are you
God when I need you?" Could it be that behind such anguish is a subtle
way to blame God and others in order to avoid facing one’s own accountability
or to place unrealistic assumptions on God’s role in our lives rather than
accepting and dealing with our strengths and limitations — rather than
accepting our finitude?
It becomes obvious in this wilderness passage that being people of faith
and of obedience to the way of God in this world does not exempt anyone
of us from life’s struggles. Also, the presence of the Holy Spirit does
not guarantee the absence of temptations. For example, troubles — those
expected and unexpected, befall us for that is the human condition. Even
with the Holy Spirit being present, destructive voices arise within us
as seen in our giving up, wearing out, or walking away. The faith and struggles
of Jesus keep before us the awareness that the Holy Spirit is the available
promise and power of God for all of us to be reconciled with God. Such
reconciliation was true for Jesus, and it is true for you and me no matter
what our past or present situations have been or may be. As Elizabeth Barrett
Browning wisely wrote, "Whoso loves, believes the impossible."
Having heard about this being an opportune time to embrace and to believe
in God’s love even when one might be numb and cannot hear or see, someone
might be wondering — how does this temptation story help me in the here
and now? Luke’s wilderness passage gives each one of us present this morning
empowering ways to confront delicious temptations in the process of living
our lives and in manifesting our faith in God.
First of all, we clearly do not live by bread alone! It is an opportune
time to identify and confess hurtful attitudes and actions rather than
blaming and judging others. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer succinctly put it, "The
Cross of Jesus Christ destroys all pride." (Life Together). Through confession,
one needs to be courageous both in admitting wrongs and in making needed
changes that might have been self-serving rather than assisting others.
Confession and change require one to be disciplined and obedient in understanding,
believing, and applying the Word of God in our lives and in our relationships
with one another.
Secondly, we clearly are to serve others and by so doing, we are serving
God! It is an opportune time to take more initiative in reaching out to
others — to show love and concern for family members, friends, and yes,
even for our enemies. Often such initiative gets blocked by attitudes of
"he or she doesn’t deserve my time," or "I don’t have time," or "You have
got to be kidding!" Remember, we are to worship the Lord our God, and serve
only in the name of God, not in the name of temptation! So, it appears
that taking such initiative involves risks, which necessitate correcting
insensitive or hurtful words and deeds in our interactions with others.
In order to make corrections, we are charged to share love and peace rather
than blame and judgement.
Thirdly, we as the family of faith will be wise not to put the Lord our
God to the test! It is an opportune time for each of us together to appreciate
and accept diversity even more within the Church at large. We are genuinely
to love, respect, and share with one another regardless of backgrounds,
beliefs, gifts, and shortcomings. Knowing this church and many of you here,
I see how caring, loving and giving you are both within this congregation
and outside into the community. At the same time, we cannot let up for
we are charged, without ceasing, to correct policies and procedures that
imprison or entrap people rather than free people on local, national, and
international levels. By getting involved, our accountability and activity
will contribute to pushing tempters away. Otherwise, evil forces will continue
to devour souls through indifference or complacency.
As we prepare to depart from the wilderness, we are to use this opportune
time to put and keep temptation in its place. ? To make our lives more
meaningful through empowered faith in God. — To enhance the lives of all
persons entrusted to us through love. — To move beyond the walls of fear
and security to better challenge and change the world’s many wrongs, and
by so doing, to better carry out the mission of our Lord. The time is now!
Are
you ready?