In the name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Every
first Sunday of Lent, our Gospel reading narrates the story of Jesus being cast
out into the wilderness after his Baptism to be tested by the devil. And
generally, sermons on the first Sunday of Lent focus on what it’s like to be in
the wilderness or how we might resist temptation. Those make fine sermon
topics, and I’ve preached them in years past, and will likely do so again. But
today, I’d like to consider this passage from a different perspective.
Typically,
when we hear stories from the Bible, we want to apply their wisdom to our
lives. And in doing so, we try to find a way to insert ourselves into the story
– so when we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, we wonder how we would
have acted in such a situation. But this reading from Luke is short on
characters for us to identify with. There’s Jesus and there’s the devil. Often,
this text is approached as a guide for resisting temptation and sin, so we try
to emulate Jesus. But that may well prove to be a fool’s errand. We are not the
Son of God. Lest we forget the lesson of Ash Wednesday, we are not perfect.
In
this narrative, and throughout the entirety of the Gospel, Jesus triumphs over
evil. But that isn’t our task. Through Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection,
sin and death were overcome. Overcoming evil was Jesus’ mission; ours is not to
refight the battle that he has already won, but rather is to live in that
victory. Our mission is to take the next steps in ministry in Jesus’ name, not
to have the same struggles in each and every generation. Obviously, evil still
exists in our world. Jesus may have defeated evil, but he did not vanquish it.
So resisting evil is still a part of faithful living, but instead of fighting
evil our call is to embrace love. It may well be two sides of the same coin,
but which side of the equation we focus on will make a big difference in our
lives.
So
if we see ourselves not as Jesus, then the only other possibility in this
narrative is that we are the devil. I know we prefer not to see ourselves in
that role, but read through that lens, this narrative has a lot to say to us
today. It’s important that we understand what the term “devil” means. The
Biblical devil has no horns or pitchfork. Linguistically, the term “devil” is
distinct from “Satan,” so in this context, the devil isn’t necessarily the
personification of evil and opposition to God. Instead, the term “devil” means
“slanderer,” which perhaps makes it a bit easier to apply that term to
ourselves. To slander is to speak an untruth, it is to commit idolatry. And
that is what the devil in this narrative tries to get Jesus to do – to put
faith in places other than God, a sin of which we are all guilty.
It
is also worth pointing out that the devil doesn’t really tempt Jesus, but a
better translation of the word is “to test.” This isn’t about the devil trying
to trick Jesus into committing a sin, but rather it is about testing him to see
what sort of a Messiah he will be. It’s not a trap set to catch Jesus in a
moment of weakness or confusion, it is a test to see what he will claim as his
identity. There are three ways in which the devil tests Jesus, and which, in
turn, we put God to the test.
The
first test comes in the form of survival. Jesus is out in the desert with nothing
to eat. And so the devil tests him to see how he will use his power. There is
nothing innately sinful about producing something to eat when you are hungry,
that is why it is not a temptation. Instead, the test is to see if Jesus will
embrace the evil within the logic that “the ends justify the means.” And this
is a place where we play the role of the devil and put God to the test.
So
often, we do evil things and claim that the ends justify the means; that the
end result was worth sacrificing our morals along the way. Sometimes we can
achieve our desired outcome, but the price is just too high. Don’t we do this
all the time with convenience? “Well, we’ve just had such a busy week, we
really need time to rest, and isn’t rest a good thing? So we’ll skip church
today.” “Money is just so tight right now, and maybe I should just wait and see
the end of the quarter results before I give any money to charity.” “ISIS is
committing such atrocities in Syria, and they pose a threat here at home, so
perhaps it’s okay to kill some innocent people with drones if it means that we
kill terrorists too.” “I know that I really shouldn’t take that pill or have
that drink, but it’s been such a stressful day, I just need a little something
to help me relax.” “I don’t think the government is doing a good job and can’t
be trusted, so it’s actually being patriotic to fudge a bit on my tax return.”
As
followers of Jesus, we are called to be peacemakers, to reflect the Light of
God to the world, to love our enemies. So often though, we betray that calling
and that identity in the name of achieving some other, and often good, thing.
We test God by taking these moral shortcuts to see if God will condone such
actions or not.
Next,
the devil tests Jesus to see if he will embrace the lure of power and glory. It’s
a question about how we use and view power. Is power something that we will use
for God’s purposes, or our own? Will we worship a false god if it gets us what
we want? When we are gripped by fear, will we turn to the false security
obtained by stockpiling weapons or violating privacy rights? When we “don’t get
anything out of church,” will we turn to brand of religion that better suits
our personal beliefs or preferences? When we feel called to do ministry, do we
evaluate it based on what we can afford to do or what the world needs us to do?
When we hear something that we disagree with, will we listen to learn more, or
reject it because it challenges our worldview? Will we use the Bible and God to
advance our own causes, or will we allow ourselves to be used to advance God’s
dream for this world? Will we look around and see evil and suffering and assume
that a good God would not allow for this to happen, and in turn reject God? In
essence, will we only believe in God if God conforms to what we think God
should do with power, or will we put our trust in the God who is? Do we seek
safety and certainty, or do we embrace vulnerability and uncertainty that come
with the mystery of God? We slander God’s power when we take power into our own
hands instead of leaving it in God’s.
The devil’s final test is
based on identity: “If you are the Son of God, then prove it.” From time to
time, we all test God with a sort of “if you do this, then I will do that.” “If
you just get me through this illness, I promise I’ll be in church every
Sunday.” “If you would just show me a sign, I’ll believe in you.” “If I win the
lottery, I’ll give away half of the money.” “Bad things happen to me, so God
must not love me.” We put God to the test by asking for God to show off a bit,
to prove that God is God. We sometimes test God by asking what God is doing for
us instead of asking what we can do for God.
It’s worth pointing out
these things which the devil tests Jesus with are not inherently bad,
especially to those who are lacking them. To those who lack food, they hope
that the Messiah will turn stones to bread.
To those who are oppressed, they hope that the Messiah will take control
of the empires of the world. To those who have doubts of God’s goodness and
love, they want to see God’s glory on display. These are not bad things to hope
for from the Messiah.
The issue is that we
often seek the Messiah we want instead of embracing the one we are blessed to
have. This is why we killed Jesus – he didn’t pass our test of providing
comfort, power, or glory. And still today, we test God, slandering the reality
of God by taking moral shortcuts, by expecting God to serve us instead of us
serving God, and by making belief conditional. You’ll notice that the devil in
this passage can quote Scripture really well. It’s a good reminder that just
because you can support your position with Scripture, it doesn’t make you
right. But more than that, the devil knows Scripture, while Jesus lives
Scripture; and that is how he passes the test and conquers evil, by being
rooted in the reality and love of God. Our call this Lent is to focus on Jesus
as the root of our faith, the root of our strength, the root of our salvation.
And being rooted in Jesus, we are then empowered to be his branches of love and
ministry into the world today.
May Almighty God grant us the will and
strength to submit to God instead of testing God. This Lent, may we draw closer
to God and reach out further in service to the world. Amen.
