February 21, 2010 - Lent 1

Jesus Does Not Face Temptation Alone
Luke 4:1-13
February 21, 2010 – Lent 1

A few years back, there was a TV show called “Jericho”. It wasn't on TV long – I caught its 1 full season after it came out on DVD. It was kind of this post-apocalyptic scenario, set in the small town of Jericho in rural Kansas. All at once, nuclear bombs detonate across the country in all major cities. Jericho isn't hit, but finds itself cut off from the outside world, isolated, with no idea of what is going on “out there”. TV, radio, internet – all forms for communication are disrupted by the attack. No one knows for sure the extent of the damage, if the national or state governments are still functioning, when help might come.

Suddenly, without warning, the people of Jericho find themselves plunged into a situation they never could have imagined. They are afraid, uncertain, vulnerable. No one knows how long it will be until life goes back to normal, when food might be delivered again, when the situation will be resolved. So, you won't be surprised to hear how the people react. Even though they've all been friends and neighbors for years, the crisis brings out the worst in people. They squabble over food and supplies and medical resources, they battle over who should have power and control of the town's government & who should get to make decisions for the group. In a pure struggle for survival, it becomes a struggle over what is good for the one vs. what is good for the many. And sometimes the clearer heads and better nature of folks wins out, but sometimes, fear, anger, selfishness get the upper hand. Because when people are scared and worn-out, they don't always make their best decisions.

It's why we can relate to this story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. It's always the story we hear on the 1st Sunday in Lent, whether it's from Matthew or Mark or this year from Luke. Each gospel writer tells it a little differently, with slightly different details (or almost no details at all, in the case of Mark). And here in Luke's version, we hear that Jesus was tempted by the devil for 40 days in the wilderness. All that time, he didn't eat anything, and by the end, he is famished. Not just hungry – Jesus is starving!

Imagine this situation – Jesus out alone in the wilderness for 40 days – no friends to keep him company, no radio or TV or computer or books to distract him or keep him from getting bored, no comfy bed to sleep in – probably no shelter at all, really, and no food. I think lonely, isolated, uncertain all probably describe his state of mind, on top of famished. And for all we know, he had no idea how long this state of affairs would last – we know that it was 40 days & out, but did Jesus? It's into this situation, at the end of a long 40 days that the devil comes again with 3 final tests for Jesus.

“Hungry, Jesus, son of God? Go ahead, just turn that stone into bread. God couldn't fault you for getting some food, right? Oh, not interested? Well, how 'bout this – you see all the kingdoms of the world laid out in front of me? Well this could all be yours – but wait, there's more! You could have their glory & authority over every nation, for the low, low bargain price of worshiping me. Act now, this deal won't last long! Not buying, huh? Well, how about you prove this God to be a God of his word – If you really are the son of God, God wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, right? Let's see what happens if you throw yourself off the highest point of the temple...”

We hear this story, and Jesus' temptations maybe don't seem so related to the temptations we face in our own lives every day. How often does the devil show up & identify himself & whisk us off to different locations to tempt us? Our temptations tend to be much more subtle, not so black and white. Our temptations are not often so clear-cut and obvious, less easy to identify as temptations to sin. And yet the types of temptations that Jesus faced are similar to the ones we encounter – the temptation to rely on ourselves to get what we think we need, to grasp and reach and struggle, much like the people of Jericho did, looking out for number 1 – instead of trusting God to provide enough; the temptation to follow the voices of the world that say it's more important to be successful and powerful and admired than it is to be faithful to who God says we are and are to be; the temptation to avoid pain and suffering at any cost, to make it a test of God's love for us, rather than holding fast to God's promises within us. From the slightly shady business deal to the embellished resumé that makes us look better than we are to the many ways we numb ourselves to our own pain and the pain of the world, temptations are all around us, and they are hard to fight on our best days, let alone the times when we have been wandering, famished and alone, in the wilderness of pain and fear and uncertainty for awhile.

The people of Jericho face temptations in their wilderness time too, one after another in a series that seems like it will never end. And it went off the air too soon for us to know how their situation would have resolved in the end. Would the good guys win, or the bad guys? And how could you really be sure who the good guys and bad guys were, anyway? But we know how the story ends in the Bible. Jesus faces the tests of the devil, and one by one, he overcomes them. One by one, he conquers the devil's lies with God's truth. But he doesn't do it alone. Right back at the very beginning of this reading, we hear that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit in the wilderness. Just as God led the people of Israel for 40 years through the wilderness, the Holy Spirit was with Jesus that whole time, leading him in his own wilderness experience. Jesus has been soaked in the baptismal waters of the Jordan, soaked in scripture, and he does not fight this battle alone. When the devil tries to twist God's words and God's intentions for Jesus' life, Jesus turns back to the Spirit and to scripture to sustain him.

And the good news for us in the face of our temptations is that we never face them alone either. The Holy Spirit is within us – she came as a gift in our own baptismal waters, when we were washed clean of our sin; when we died to our old selves and were raised again to live a new life in Christ. When that sign of the cross was traced on your forehead, the pastor said these words, or something very like them, “Child of God, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.” The Holy Spirit is part of you, leading you and guiding you, helping you to hear God's voice over the voices of temptation, calling you to seek God's way instead of the quick and easy way, to believe God's promises instead of temptation's lies, to trust God more than yourself or the world, knowing that whatever happens, we are marked with the cross of Christ, who went before us, who knows the temptations of the wilderness, who walks with us still, and will never let us go.

Thanks be to God. Amen.