Lent 1

Lent 1 ARE YOU DEFENSELESS? 2/13/05

So long as we are living, we are facing “temptation.” Where would the church be without “temptation”? What would I preach about, what would we pray about, what would become of confession if not for “temptation”? One fact I’ve learned for sure, a fact supported in our Old Testament and Gospel lessons today: If you don’t want someone to do something, telling them what they can’t do will not usually work! When we are told “No!” , we only want it all the more. I would think that God would understand this, but apparently God was giving Adam and Eve---and each of us---the benefit of the doubt. God must have actually thought we human beings would listen to Him and obey. “Temptation” has been around since God first created humanity and I don’t see any evidence that “temptation” is going away any time soon!

Sin’s persistence was born in the temptation outlined in our Genesis reading. Two important and powerful human feelings have featured “roles” in this passage: delight and desire. They both figure prominently in “temptation.” In Genesis 2:6 we read: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” “Delight” and “desire” exsist in our lives, but I caution us from asking God to remove this reality from our lives. “Delight” and “desire” can lead to great joy, or great brokenness…the difference is determined by our choices.

The persistence of “temptation” is also revealed in our Matthew 4: 1-11 reading. Satan personally presents “temptations” to Jesus no less than three times…first, the basic temptation of hunger after a 40 day fast; second, the basic temptation of pride, as this dwells close to the human heart; and third, the basic temptation for power…nearly irresistible to humans, so Satan may have saved the best for last! Satan appealed to what humans innately “desire,” and it worked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Jesus, on the other hand, experienced “delight” in knowing God’s Word and fulfilling God’s will…this was Jesus’ highest desire and greatest defense. Unlike Adam and Eve…and, perhaps, many of us…Jesus refused to enter the “argument” trap with Satan. Jesus kept the conversation short and based entirely upon Holy Scripture. Knowing God and His Word provides the only adequate defense when we face “temptation.” Ignorance of God’s Word leaves one defenseless!

Surely, we will always be tempted, and we will always sin, and the Church must respond. Our Matthew text is instructive in this regard. Consider the context of Jesus’ temptation, what came before and what immediately followed. Immediately before the temptation is the account of Jesus’ baptism, and immediately after is the beginning of his ministry…leaving Nazareth and moving to the town of Capernaum. It is here that Jesus begins to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Mt. 4:17) It seems that temptation is first identified after baptism and persists throughout Jesus’ ministry. This remains true for us today.

I believe Jesus’ response to temptation---as compared with that of Adam and Eve---can be instructive for our lives as these lessons are read early in this First Sunday in Lent. Jesus quickly identified the “temptation” as “temptation.” This diagnosis is critical! It is all too easy to dismiss bad behaviors and habits as “simple mistakes” or as a “momentary lapse in judgement.” This is how “temptation” wins and claims a place in our hearts. Our lives are punctuated not by the “big things,” but by the little “temptations” to which we succumb each day. Left unattended, these daily temptations quickly become our form of familiar behavior. I once read: “Thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, and habits become our lifestyle.” The devil knows this and uses this to his advantage.

Jesus identified the “temptation,” but did not stop with this diagnosis. Identifying the “problem” is not the same as knowing the solution…recognizing the “enemy” is not the same as offering up a defense! Look at what Jesus did once the “temptation” was identified: Jesus rebuked it, relied on persistent prayer, sought shelter in God’s love as promised in baptism, knowing and quoting God’s Word as offered in Holy Scripture, and then Jesus moved on in his ministry. This is an excellent template for our own dealing with “temptation.” Recognize it for what it is; pray about it; rely upon God’s love promised at baptism; read—know—study—apply God’s Word offered in Holy Scripture; and move on in ministry…your ministry, my ministry, our ministry, God’s ministry through this congregation!

We are called to move on in ministry and that ministry must be centered on the cross of Jesus Christ. Resisting “temptation” is not easy, so I won’t lie to you and tell you it is! Resisting “temptation” is futile and destined to fail if we face it alone and apart from the Word of God. Hear the words of Martin Luther as he writes of this in the great hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”: “The old satanic foe has sworn to work us woe! With craft and dreadful might he arms himself to fight. On earth he has no equal.” When facing “temptation,” which example will you choose to follow: Adam and Eve or Jesus Christ? You decide. Amen.