Sunday, March 6, 2022
/The First Sunday in Lent
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11; Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16; Romans 10: 8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
The Rev. James M.L. Grace
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
I want to speak today about temptation, something Oscar Wilde famously once said was the only thing in the world he could not resist. In the Gospel reading today, Jesus confronts three specific temptations: (1) the temptation of instant gratification (“turn this stone into a loaf of bread”). (2) the temptation of worldly power (“if you then, then, will worship me, it will all be yours”) and finally (3) the temptation of authority over God (“if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here . . . for God will protect you.”)
Although there appear to be two characters in today’s story, I would argue there is only one. There is Jesus, of course, who is like us in this regard – he is alone, vulnerable, hungry conditions which make temptation especially alluring. And there is one whom I choose to call the tempter. The tempter, I argue, is not separate from us, it is the corrosive voice all of us have inside ourselves which pushes us toward the easy answer and the quick fix. It is a most persuasive voice.
Temptation, though it is all around us, is powerless over us. We are the ones who permit ourselves to be tempted. There are donuts in our parish hall. They are not forcing me to eat them. They are just sitting there, in the box, all glazed and pretty. But nevertheless I hear the tempter’s voice in my head – even now – just eat one donut. It’s so delicious. One donut will satisfy you. If I choose to be persuaded by the tempter’s voice – which is really my voice - I am culpable, not the donut.
The first temptation – the temptation of instant gratification. Jesus is in the wilderness, fasting, he is hungry. He is told that he has power to transform a stone into bread to eat. If he gives into the temptation, he will eat the bread, and no longer hunger. He refuses. He chooses discomfort – hunger – over gratification. We live in a world of instant gratification. Instant Rice. Instant Coffee. Instant Credit. I have a sign on my wall which says, “the path that offers the greatest challenge is often the one leading you in the right direction.”
The second temptation – the temptation of worldly power. Jesus sees all the kingdoms of the world and is told he can have it all if he only would worship…himself. Make himself God.
Our culture is permeated with self worship. How many of us have created our own narcissistic and self-centered universes in which we are the center and every one else orbits around us? I have. It never works. Jesus’ rebuttal – “worship the Lord your God and serve only him” saves him - it humbles him. When we fire ourselves as the manager of our lives, and hire God instead to manage our lives, our lives become a thousand-fold more interesting and worth living.
The third temptation – the temptation of authority over God. Jesus is led to the top of the temple in Jerusalem, some 180 feet from the ground. He is persuaded to jump from the temple, and even quotes the Psalm to say that God will not allow him to be injured. His stronger self prevails, and he refuses, and in doing so teaches that none of us – even Jesus – should play God.
I close with a story. Growing up, my mother firmly established three rules for the teenage boys living in her home: no babies, no drugs, no dogs on the couch. She later added a fourth: if you get arrested, do not call her. My older brother tested this fourth rule, and in high school was arrested. He got his one phone call and called mom. Mom answered the phone in the middle of the night, and after hearing my brother’s sob story, said to him “well, I hope you can find someone to bail you out.” Tough love. That is what happens in the wilderness. Jesus learns God’s three rules: do not seek instant gratification, do not be misguided by worldly power, and do not try to play God. That might sound like tough love. To me it sounds like grace. AMEN.