Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

I can remember a few years ago,

an adult Sunday school class,

in which we got into an argument over this passage.

The book that we were using asked the question,

do you think Jesus really felt tempted

by all these things Satan was offering him,

or is that just a figure of speech,

to say that he was "tempted."

The answer that the book wanted,

which about half the class agreed with,

is that no, Jesus wasn’t really tempted,

because he was the Son of God,

and was perfect.

But the rest of us said,

of course Jesus was tempted;

after all, he was human.

And if he never felt tempted,

then it’s no big deal that he was sinless,

‘cause we could be sinless, too,

if we never felt temptation!

And I guess that’s how I still feel about it.

If Jesus wasn’t tempted,

even if only for an instant,

by all the devil’s clever suggestions,

then he doesn’t really know what it is to be human,

and he can’t be my savior.

What I think is so important,

is that Jesus did feel tempted,

and he overcame it,

and through him,

we have the power to do the same.

Now, the kind of temptation that I’m talking about,

the kind Jesus experienced,

is more than just the feeling you get

when you see a really large chocolate dessert

or a really fine-looking member of the opposite sex,

or the same sex, depending on your predilections.

It runs at a deeper level than that.

The goal of the tempter …

whether you think of the tempter

as a literal person such as Satan,

or whether you think of it more abstractly …

The goal is, to get us to think we’re in control.

That we can do, or have, anything we want,

at very small cost.

That was the tempter’s style

as long ago as the garden of Eden:

"You can go ahead and eat that fruit …

God won’t let you die."

And that’s also how he, or it, works today.

What’s interesting is,

that the three temptations Jesus undergoes

represent three different types of temptation

that we are all subject to, sooner or later.

The first one is perhaps the easiest to analyze:

Jesus faces the temptation to turn stones into bread,

so that he can have something to eat

after fasting forty days and forty nights.

You’d think that it would be all right

for Jesus, of all people,

to go ahead and do that!

But the temptation that this represents

is the temptation to use our own power

to get the things we need or want,

and forget that we’re supposed to trust God

to provide for us.

Now I realize that’s kind of tricky,

because we are expected to earn a living,

and provide the necessities for ourselves and our families

so long as we are able.

That’s true, but along with that,

there are two attitudes we need to watch out for.

One is, to look down our noses at

people who aren’t working, or can’t work.

We forget that it is only by the grace of God

that we are healthy, and skilled, and capable.

Second is, an attitude of pride

at being able to provide well for our families,

and forgetting that it is God who sends rain and sun

to grow the food that we eat,

and God who is ultimately responsible

for all the good things we have.

When we forget these things,

and give in to the temptation to misuse our own power,

that’s when you get stories like

insider trading on Wall Street,

or corporate financial shell games

that make the CEOs fabulously wealthy

while destroying the pensions of the "little people."

People who behave in such ways

did so because they came to believe that all the power was theirs.

That anything which could be done,

was okay to do.

They forgot that even they are subject to

higher laws, and a higher authority.

The second temptation that Jesus faced

is a much more subtle one.

The tempter told Jesus to throw himself off the highest tower,

and that God’s angels would catch him

so he wouldn’t get hurt.

Again, that’s quite possibly true!

But the temptation here, for Jesus and for us,

is that of putting God to the test.

Of expecting God always

to have to prove Godself to us.

Now of course, God is trustworthy

and does care for us.

But the kind of thing I’m talking about

is the sort-of pulling God’s strings

that we all do sometimes,

and some people do nearly all of the time!

The extreme example of this might be

a person who takes risks all the time …

driving way too fast,

experimenting with drugs, whatever,

and simply expects that "God will take care of me";

"God won’t let me die."

Most of us don’t take it quite that far …

We’re more like,

the kind of stuff I used to do in high school:

not study at all for a test,

and then pray like mad

that God would help me get a good grade.

Or something many of us have done

at one time or another in our lives:

buy too much on credit

and then expect God somehow

to get us out of the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Putting God to the test.

Trying to go along without God

for as long as we can,

till things are hopelessly messed up,

and then running back begging God

to save us from ourselves.

Sometimes, God goes along with it.

But that doesn’t make it right!

The third temptation is another tough one …

Jesus is offered all the kingdoms of the world

if he will only worship Satan.

Sounds rather simple.

But those kingdoms aren’t Satan’s to give;

they belong to God.

And we too are prone to that kind of temptation …

the temptation to get what we want

from someone or somewhere other than God.

Most of us aren’t into making literal bargains with the devil,

though it does make for high drama!

But we do, often,

put our trust in other things to give us what we want.

Lots of us place lots of trust in money.

We trust in other people

to make us feel worthwhile and loved.,

when in fact we ought to feel that way

simply because we’re children of God.

The problem, of course,

is that any time we place that amount of trust

in anything other than God,

we are inevitably going to be let down,

sooner or later.

And yet, how tempting it is.

How tempting all these things are.

The tempter knows how to get at

the human side of Jesus,

and he knows how to get at us.

But strange as it sounds,

we do have a kind of advantage

that Jesus didn’t have.

He had to stand it alone.

We have him to stand it with us.

To show us the way.

That is a great gift.

It is Christ who gives us the victory.

"We are people who yield to temptation

and do so regularly.

This is what Paul writes about

in indicating that we are all sinners,

fallen short of the glory of God.

We cannot be gods

even though we strive for the example of Christ.

… This text takes its value

precisely in our inability to be God.

We can take great joy at the fact

that God has sent one into our world

that is able to withstand temptation,

one who can atone for our weaknesses." [Source unknown]

In this season of Lent,

as we focus on our weaknesses,

our need for confession,

and our tempt-able-ness …

Let us remember

that Christ has given us the victory

to hang on against the tempter.

Thanks be to God!

Amen.

© 2008 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org)