Sermon for Sunday, February 17

Here is the sermon from this past Sunday, preached February 17, 2013.

Into The Wilderness: Dealing With Temptation

The moment seemed right.  His target was in view.  He knew that this man had just come off of an experience that was probably a pretty significant spiritual high.  He had received God’s approval first-hand.  He knew that God was on His side, and that God cared for Him and loved Him.  But then, somewhat inexplicably, He had then been led out into a place of desolation.  He didn’t seem prepared for what was in store.  There wasn’t much food to eat.  He didn’t have any interaction with other people.  He was in a dry place, all alone, without any food.  If this wasn’t the perfect time, then when would there be a better time?

Hey Jesus, food’s been a little scarce out here.  I bet you’re really hungry.  So why not just show off your power and turn these stones into some bread.  No need to walk all the way back into town before you eat.  Okay, well that didn’t work.  Let’s see.  About a month and a half ago, you heard your Father say how much He loves you.  Don’t you want to hear some more of that kind of praise?  If you rule the kingdoms of the world and do what will make them happy, they’ll sing your praise just fine.  Okay, strike two.  How about this, Jesus?  You want people to notice you and to recognize who you are, just like they did in that weird moment when your cousin John baptized you?  Let’s go to the highest point of the temple, and you can jump off.  I bet you don’t end up being splattered all over the ground.  Just think about how much people will notice you then.  Don’t you want that kind of attention?

The moment seemed right.  Catch Jesus while He was coming down off the high of His baptism.  Get Him when He was hungry and all alone in the desert.  No human being could possibly resist those suggestions when they were at a weak moment like that.  And yet, that probably should have been his first clue that Jesus wasn’t any mere ordinary human being.  Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations.  It might have seemed that way to the devil, but it wasn’t the opportune time.  And so our account of that temptation that we heard today ends with Luke writing that the devil left Him until a more opportune time would present itself.

Let’s switch gears a little bit for a moment.  The devil left Jesus to wait for a more opportune time.  But let’s focus on ourselves for a moment.  Is there ever an opportune time for you to find yourself on the devil’s radar?  Jesus was out in the wilderness all alone, hungry, and had just heard God the Father’s great declaration that He loved Jesus and approved of what He was setting out to do.  A great high in the life of Jesus, no doubt.  And as He came down off that high, hungry, and all alone, He found Himself on the devil’s radar.

Is there ever a time for us when it would be a good time to be on the devil’s radar?  I would dare say that it’s highly unlikely.  We have a hard enough time dealing with the fact that we are sinful by our very nature.  We can’t get away from the temptations and desires that come from our very own bodies.  When you add something or someone on the outside who’s going to also be working against us, well, we pretty much come up with a situation that seems very challenging, to say the least.

So, as if that weren’t enough, we also have to recognize that our adversary also knows that we are going to have times in our lives when we are more likely to stumble and fall than other times.  Let’s do a brief survey this morning.  When are you more likely to be tempted to snap at someone else, when you are well rested, or when you are tired?  Are you more likely to be tempted to snap at that same person when you are hungry, or when your belly is nice and full?

When are you more likely to take your faith life for granted?  Right after you go on some great spiritual retreat where you were with your fellow Christians and experienced some great moments of faith, or after you’ve been away from your fellow believers for a few weeks?  At times, we might seem to downplay the importance of our time together with each other, but how might we be putting ourselves onto the devil’s radar if we’re doing that with some kind of regularity?

When are you more likely to be tempted away from someone you love?  When they are going out of their way to show that they love you, or when you feel neglected?  And as we think about the loved ones in our lives, especially since we just celebrated Valentine’s Day a few days ago, are we placing ourselves and our loved ones on the devil’s radar if we aren’t taking the time to show them that we love them?

Brothers and sisters, the devil is not dumb.  You agree?  He knows that there are times in our lives that are better for him to deploy his forces than at other times.  And he knows that we already have our points at which we are particularly vulnerable.  He pays attention.  He observes, and he learns just what buttons he can push on us.

Now, you may be feeling like I’ve painted a pretty bleak picture for us this morning.  Not only do we have the sin stuff inside of us that we have to battle against in the first place, but we also have an adversary who knows what buttons to push, and watches for some good times to push them.  Is there any good news for us at this point?  And I should point out that there definitely is.  Let me read a few words from the first of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 11-13.  “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”  As a brief aside, while Paul is talking about the Old Testament, we can also think the same way of the New Testament in our time, which applies even to stories like the temptation of Jesus we’re focusing on today.  “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

A couple of things in there.  First, we all face common temptations.  But we should also recognize that each of us has a different mix, or recipe, when it comes to our major temptations.  What tempts you may not be the exact thing that tempts another.  Let me give you a quick example.  In our household, a bag of Doritos has very little chance of surviving for more than a day.  The other day, I went out to buy a bag for my wife and I.  I think it was gone within two hours.  We have that in common.  Now, for her, chocolate is something that doesn’t tend to last very long, but it’s not something that really cries out to me.  On the other hand, a box of crackers in the house better run and hide if it wants to stay around very long.  While these may not exactly be temptations, the same thing applies to us in dealing with temptation.

We all have a different mix.  You’ve probably found yourself wondering why someone has such a hard time dealing with something that really isn’t that much of a problem for you.  That particular thing may not be much of a problem for you.  But I bet you have something that troubles you that really isn’t an issue for that other person.  

None of us is immune.  Our mix may be different from others, and as we see others struggling with things that don’t bother us, we may think that we’re standing pretty firm.  And that’s where Paul warns us to take heed.  And yet, even in the struggle, even when we think we’re doing well as we watch others struggle, Paul also points out something important to us.

God is faithful.  God provides the way of escape.  But here’s the thing.  The escape isn’t going to rely upon you or your strength, or your ability to get out of the situation.  If that were possible, then all we would need would be willpower lessons.  But in another letter, Paul points us to the real place that we find the escape.  Listen to these words from his letter to the Roman Christians.  (Read Romans 6:1-11)  The way out of temptation isn’t by your strength or effort, or you being clever enough to find the way out.  It comes from your baptismal connection to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Our story ended with Luke writing that the devil left Jesus until a more opportune time.  Here’s the thing, though.  That time never presented itself.  Jesus never stumbled or faltered when it came to going astray from any part of God’s will and design.  In the end, there was never an opportune time for the devil to tempt Jesus, since Jesus lived perfectly.  

You are connected to that same Jesus through the water of your baptism.  The way of escape that Paul wrote about in those verses from 1 Corinthians comes through your connection to the death and resurrection of Jesus, where your sin of falling to temptation has been paid and covered.  You’re connected to one who never faltered along the way, and you have a connection to His perfect life.  Even though the devil will take advantage of your weak moments, and of the sinful desires that still live in your body, you have already died to it.  You are connected to Jesus.  God has proven His faithfulness to you, and has provided the way out.  It doesn’t rely on your strength or willpower, but upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, which you are connected to through your baptism.

Every time we gather together for worship, we ask God to keep temptation at arm’s length from us.  We have that one brief line that we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, and lead us not into temptation.  As we bring our reflection time to a close this morning, I think it’s beneficial for us to think about the meaning of that prayer.  “God tempts no one.  We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice.  Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.”  My friends, the victory has been won over them.  They have been overcome, through the one for that never presented an opportune time for Satan.  And you are connected to that victory through your baptism, as you are connected to Jesus.  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift that is ours through our Lord Jesus.  In His holy name.  Amen.  Please pray with me.