On the first Sunday in Lent,
The reading is always the story of Jesus tempted in the desert.
And the sermon often ends up being something like this:
Jesus got tempted.
We get tempted.
Jesus resisted temptation.
We should resist temptation too,
Here are three things to do.
I had a couple of goes at sermons like that,
And I wasn’t getting anywhere.
(Writing sermons can be flipping hard work sometimes.)
At one point I had a sermon about the importance of saying no
and how my youngest child, has that learned to a fine art.
At one point I had a sermon about the importance of reading the Bible
and that reading the Bible can save your life.
Then I had this little insight which flipped this story on its head,
at least for me.
This isn’t a story about how Jesus was a human being like us,
who gets tempted,
but it’s a story of how we wish Jesus would discover that he
isn’t the Jesus we want.
What kind of Jesus do we want —
We want a Jesus who can turn stones into bread,
We want a Jesus who would just take charge and fix the world,
We want a Jesus who would do something spectacular,
And so make it easier for all our friends, families, and colleagues to believe in him.
In other words, my little insight,
was to realise that really I think the devil was right,
and I wish Jesus would have given him a chance.
The story became for me how I’m more like the devil than Jesus.
It's the same kind of realisation,
That when you read the book of Exodus,
and discover you are more like Egyptians than the Hebrews.
Or that when you read the gospels,
and find you are more like the Pharisees than the disciples.
Let’s look at the three temptations.
‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’
Wouldn’t it be great to have a Jesus we could rely on to turn stones into bread?
A Jesus who chose ease over hardship,
who chose food over fasting.
A Jesus that chose health, wealth and happiness.
This kind of Jesus could surely then be relied upon to work the miracles we want:
healing from cancer,
job security,
a less difficult family member!
I wonder if you have ever said something similar to the devil:
Jesus, if you are the Son of God, please do this little miracle for me.
Isn’t this the basis of lots of our prayers?
‘I will give you all the authority and splendour of the kingdoms of the world
If you worship me.’
Wouldn’t it be great to have a Jesus who would just take charge,
and sort out Brexit, bring peace to Syria, stop Trump from tweeting,
a overcome all injustice?
Basically don’t we want a Jesus who could make the world a kinder,
more peaceful, and more equal place to live?
I wonder if you have ever said something similar to the devil:
Jesus, if you are the Son of God, just sort it all out.
Isn’t this also the basis of lots of our prayers?
‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the temple …
for as it is written God’s angels will save you.’
Wouldn’t a Jesus who acted like this, be more helpful
for those who people who don’t get Jesus, who don’t get faith,
Who are looking for a bit more proof?
A Jesus who could gather a crowd, create a mass following,
fill the pages of celebrity magazines,
would make it a lot easier
to fill our churches with new believers,
and make building projects a heck of a lot more possible.
I wonder if you have ever said something similar to the devil:
Jesus, if you are the Son of God, make it a little bit more obvious.
Isn’t this also the basis of lots of our prayers?
And to each of these attempts to mould Jesus into a image more of our liking,
Jesus say no,
I’ve got a different calling.
It’s stark reminder that while Jesus makes us his friends,
He doesn’t become our poodle.
To the first temptation Jesus says:
‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’
Jesus rejects a life of ease,
A life free of difficulty and strife,
Instead he chooses a life of radical dependence and trust in God.
'Jesus refuses to become God the self-sufficient one,
the one who doesn’t hunger, the one who doesn’t have to wait for a meal.
Jesus chooses patience, patience as endurance,
suffering the pain of unfulfilled desires,
instead of doing what he wants, doing what is within his power,
in order to serve himself, to get what he wants when he wants it.' [1]
At a later moment of temptation,
Jesus will say to God, ‘not what I will, but what you will.’
To the second temptation Jesus says:
‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’
Jesus rejects a short-cut route,
Which will see him become just another dictator.
The offer of the devil is not a break from the way of the world
but an embrace of that way. It is a false promise,
and to accept it would be a betrayal of his baptism.
Jesus recognises that while the devil appears god-like,
The devil is no-god.
To the third temptation Jesus says:
‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Jesus refuses to make faith into entertainment,
to make belief into fact,
to play with God for the sake of good publicity.
Faith in Jesus, is never on the basis of the veracity of a set of facts,
but on encounter with him,
which is why Jesus spent time with people,
eating with them, staying with them, walking with them.
Where we want a Jesus
who makes life painless,
the world safer,
and faith easier to accept.
Jesus give us himself on his terms,
choosing the path laid down for him in his baptism,
a path that will end in Jerusalem,
not though on the pinnacle of the temple,
but on a cross on a hillside outside.
Jesus trusts in the words spoken over him
in the Jordan waters at his baptism
and is not swayed by the words spoken to him
by the devil in the desert.
Jesus dissents to acquiesce to our desires,
because he knows the greater truth that he is desired by God:
You are my Son, with whom I am well pleased.
In this we come to realise,
that Jesus goes to the cross,
even though we want him not to.
Jesus chooses the way of God,
because it is the road to our salvation.
Jesus resists, where we succumb;
Jesus overcomes, where we wither;
Jesus saves, where we fall;
Jesus offers grace, where we sin.
Lent is a fresh opportunity
to turn from the Jesus we want,
to face the Jesus who is,
which is another name for repentance.
Let us pray:
In you, Jesus,
we find solidarity with our weakness and hurting.
In you, Lord,
we find understanding of all that tempts us.
(Pause for quiet confession)
As we bring our lives before you,
Help us to receive your kindness and grace:
Sins remembered no more,
Your ways being written on heart and mind. [2]
Living God,
enable us this day to be pilgrims and companions:
committed to the way of Christ,
faithful to the call of Christ,
discerning the mind of Christ,
offering the welcome of Christ,
growing in the likeness of Christ,
engaging in the mission of Christ,
in the world that belongs to Christ.
Amen.
[1] Isaac Villegas, 'Temptations'. Sermon delivered at Chapel Hill Mennonite Fellowship, Feb 17, 2013 http://mennonit.es/chmf/2013/02/temptations/
[2] Order for Baptist Ministry, Shorter Daily Office for Lent and Passiontide https://www.orderforbaptistministry.co.uk/?wpfb_dl=74
[3] 'Reflecting on our Roots'. A prayer included in the Daily Offices of the Order for Baptist Ministry
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