February 10, 2008

Facing Temptation

by Rev. Dr. Jim Carlson

Matthew 4:1-11

Opening Illustration – My time as resident chaplain – a time of testing for pastoral ministry.

How do you respond to situations that confront you with who you really are and what you're really about?

We all go through situations where those questions are raised. Passage shows us that Jesus did too.

Story about Jesus being tested by the devil prior to beginning his ministry.

Jesus had just been baptized – Early life parallels story of Israel. (Slide)

This section parallels Israel's time in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted as they were, but he was obedient.

Three temptations – all of which Israel faced.

First Temptation – Create bread out of stones in desert.

Why this is tempting? He doesn't have to rely on God for his existence. He could easily convince people he was the Messiah.

What was wrong with making bread? Would demonstrate dependence on self rather than God for the understanding of his calling.

It wasn't the way God wanted him to announce God's kingdom. Jesus responds by paraphrasing passage in which Moses reminds the people of their dependence on God for existence.

You and I face temptation to be Christians and follow God's calling on our own terms. Amount of time, amount of resources, the things we do – sometimes we follow Christ in the way we want to.

Being Jesus' disciple requires us to let God define how we're going to live out our faith.

Sometimes we are happy to do the easy things, the things people know about. What about the hard things, the things we do when no one's around?

Second Temptation – Devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple. Throw yourself down. If you're the Messiah, God will protect you.

Why this was tempting: It plays on Jesus' insecurities. How sure was he that he was the Messiah? Why not test it out? Flick's tongue stuck to the flagpole.
Why it would be wrong – He wouldn't be able to be the Messiah if he had doubts about being the Messiah and needed to have God prove it.

We're tempted to play fast and loose because we expect God to protect us. Careless with our health. Don't always practice safety.

Shows a lack of regard for ourselves and a disregard for our calling as Christians.

Jesus responds by paraphrasing passage where Moses reminds the Israelites not to test God's mercy like they did by grumbling in the desert.

Don't test God. You're only testing yourself.

Third temptation – Devil took him to a vantage point where he could see all the kingdoms of the world. Offers to let Jesus have everything without a fight if Jesus will worship the devil.

Why this is tempting: Jesus has a difficult job being the Messiah. He was tempted to be a Messiah who, without the Devil's interference, could topple the Roman Empire and replace it with a Jewish empire.

Why this would be wrong: Jesus knew God wanted to reveal God's self to the world in a particular way. This way negates everything Jesus stands for.

Jesus responds by paraphrasing a passage in which Moses reminds the Israelites not to worship Canaanite gods when they enter the Promised Land, even if that might make it easier to take the place over.

We are often tempted to do things in life we know are wrong just to get along, fit in with the program.

Participate in friendships where we have to choose between doing something we know is wrong and losing a friend.

No one likes to lose friends. But sometimes we have to choose doing right over being loved by everyone.

Final Illustration:

In life we're tempted to take shortcuts, even in the way we live out our faith.

We don't want to wake up some day and realize we've been calling ourselves Christians because we go to church while really just picking and choosing how and when we're going to respond to God's claim on our lives.
We will be tempted to say, "This is how I'm going to do it and God will just have to be happy with it. That's the best God's going to get out of me."

Have faith in God's way of working things out in the world. Have hope that it's going to be OK and don't take any shortcuts just because it may seem easier.

We will be tempted in our lives by one thing or another. And we're going to give into those temptations.

But when we do, we can a least feel like God can relate. Jesus experienced some of the same temptations we do.

His sense that his life was centered on God's call – that's what helped him get over those temptations. In the desert times of our lives, that same sense of having our lives defined by God will keep us focused too.