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The
Easter Road (1) "TEMPTATION"
Readings:
Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-16, Romans 10: 8-1, 3Luke 4:1-13 Preached at Baldwin Presbyterian
Church on February 21st 2010 This being
the first Sunday in Lent we are once more on the Easter Road. Along the Easter Road we will encounter
many different experiences and learn many different lessons. That road leads
us today into the realms of temptation. We all
know about temptation. We pray every
time we say the Lord's prayer that we shall not be led into it. But our Easter road, just like our lives,
leads us there time and time again. Now
there's nothing intrinsically wrong with temptation. It's how we handle it that makes the
difference. We are given in Luke's
gospel a picture of how Jesus dealt with the three challenges that the Devil
threw in His path. Let's follow Jesus
into the desert and think about how we face our challenges. BREAD INTO STONE. Jesus was
in a desert feeling very hungry. I
sense that the way both European and American cultures are right now, people
are in a kind of spiritual desert, and many are hungry for some kind of
spiritual nourishment. In such a
situation, the thought of some kind of "Instant Supernatural Fix"
can be most tempting. The
temptation the Devil throws at Jesus is along the lines of. "C'mon Holy
One. You've got the power. Turn the
stone into bread and be fed. An instant Supernatural Fix is the answer to
your cravings". In reply Jesus answers that it is not for any man to be
nourished only on bread. When
Scripture elsewhere expands that verse, it tells us that we need also the
Word of God. The Word
of God is not a narrow concept meaning only the written words of a few sacred
books. Jesus Christ is the Word of
God. Creation is one of God's Words to us.
The love that flourishes within relationships can be another. And like
any relationship our spiritual relationship with God can not be obtained in
an instant. The blessings of God are
not just something we can switch on or off.
Discipleship is a life long commitment. Being
baptized, whether as an infant or an adult, does not mean we are today
following the path of discipleship.
Being confirmed doesn't make us a disciple. Joining a church some
years ago doesn't mean we are being faithful today. Having a memory of a day when we went
forward at a Revival meeting, asked Jesus into our heart, and resolved to
follow Him, doesn't mean we are seeking to follow Him now. We are called to
have an ongoing every day walk with Jesus Christ. There are no one time,
instant supernatural fixes. To be
truly Christian, to be one of the disciples of Jesus Christ today, depends on
where we are in our walk with God in the
present tense. If we are living on the bread of past
experiences, (however meaningful they may be), we are not living by the Word
of God. There was
one disciple amongst the twelve who believed in quick fixes. He heard the call and followed. Like the others he had a marvelous
testimony. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his life as He worked
alongside the other disciples in mission.
He was admired and respected by his colleagues. They trusted him enough to take care of
their money. His name? Judas Iscariot. Somewhere
along the Easter Road, Judas got the idea that turning stones into bread
would be a good thing. He decided that he didn't need the Word of God, but a
little bread could be useful. Jesus was betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. Don't rush
spiritual things. That seems to be one of the problems Judas had with
Jesus. Things weren't moving along as
quickly as he had hoped for. So he
took matters into his own hands and paid a terrible personal price for doing
so. Avoid the temptation to seek for quick supernatural fixes. Love God and
love your neighbor. Just doing those two things will take the rest of your
life. IT'S ALL YOURS. The Devil
next offered Jesus power and dominion over all the Kingdoms of the world, if
only Jesus would bow down and pay homage to him. Jesus again counteracts the Devil's lies with a Scriptural quotation. "You
shall do homage to the Lord your God; Him alone shall you adore." For me
this temptation talks of the danger of compromising upon what we believe in
order to get what we want. We are all
people with needs and desires. There
are things that we want and things we know probably wouldn't do us much good
if we had them. It is as though we have an angel on one shoulder directing us
the right path to follow and a little devil on the other telling us to take
the opposite road. Every one
of us at every stage of life, in so many areas of life, are faced with the
temptation to get what we want by compromising on what we believe. It's about
the things we do and say. It is so easy to come out with negative things
about people rather than offer words that might encourage or help them. It's about how we spend our time and spend
our money. It's about every day decisions and the grounds we make those
decisions upon. Every time
we compromise we are playing into the Devil's hands. We are saying, "Sure I'll do things
your way if it gets me what I want right now." It is not enough to
"Always let our conscience be our guide". Sometimes what feels so right can be so
dreadfully wrong. "So
look here, Jesus" says the Devil, "All the kingdoms, all yours. All
you've got to do is bend the knee… just this once and give me a bit of
respect". "No Way" is the reply of Jesus. "Worship God
and God alone. Pursue the things of God’s Kingdom. Don't set your heart on
the things this world can offer. There
are higher things and higher principles to chase after" LET'S SEE IF GOD'S REALLY ALL GOD'S MADE OUT TO BE. Jesus is
taken to a high tower. He has Scripture quoted at Him and then is challenged;
"Why don't you throw yourself off and let's see if the angels really
will come and rescue you like God promised.
You know He can do it. Prove it to yourself". In reply Jesus says "Don't put the
Lord your God to the test". Why do we
presume so much on the love of God? I think it is partly because we lose
sight of the fact that our sins not only harm others but destroy ourselves.
We are not immortal. We are not superhuman.
There is a
saying that goes, "It's all right what you do in life as long as you
don't hurt anybody else". That's
not true. In Gods eyes it is not all right to do things that hurt yourself or
that divorce your life from the influence of Christ’s love. We are all special to Him. It's
presumptuous to think otherwise. It
makes a nonsense of His love if we saddle ourselves with the thought that
somehow our lives don't matter or that our sins don't count in the eternal
order of things. Habits and
self destructive behavior become so ingrained in us that we don't even
recognize them as sin. That's a
dangerous way to be. The tragic thing
about the disciple, Judas Iscariot, was that he failed to see the
consequences of his betrayal. He ended his life a destroyed and broken man.
He lost sight of the love of God Presumption
is dangerous. We are not to put God to
the test. If we stubbornly pursue a
course of life that God's Word tells us is not right then it will lead to
trouble. It may even lead us to the point that we have so deceived ourselves
that we see ourselves as beyond God's reach. It is not that God can't help
us. It is not that His power is unable
to change us. It's just that sin is
capable of blinding us to that possibility.
No wonder Jesus tells us to pray, "Lead us not into
temptation". CONCLUSIONS Discipleship,
walking the Easter Road, is a life long adventure. The tempter tells us otherwise. "Turn
the Bread into Stones" he says, "Find something that can offer you
an instant supernatural fix. That's
all you need to get by." Don't listen. There are no quick fix options to
being a Christian. It's an every day walk with Jesus that matters. To be a
disciple we face daily choices. One voice whispers "Do it this way"
another tells us, "No, do it that way". Don't compromise on what
you believe to get what you want. Let
God's Word and the inner voice of the Holy Spirit be your guide. To be a
disciple we must not be presumptuous of God's Grace. The temptation is to see how far we can go
with doing as we please and still stay within the love of God. Be careful. You can push to far. If you persistently refuse to learn, refuse
to see, refuse to hear, then you create a person who has not learnt, nor can
see, nor can hear anymore the loving call of Jesus saying, "Come to me,
be forgiven, be made new". Temptation.
It touches us all. It's not something we should go out looking for. By the Grace of God may we make the right
choices. May we know His Word well
enough to counter the Devils lies. May
God, by God’s Grace, lead us through the desert of our own temptations and
towards the celebration, of His Risen life. Adrian Pratt |