Temptations

Lent 1A
March 13, 2011
Matthew 4:1-11

In 1960, a novel was published that sent shockwaves throughout the world. In 1988, Martin Scorsese made this novel into a film that was equally as scandalous. Titled “The Last Temptation of Christ,” the novel is based off of the presumption that, though Jesus was without sin, throughout his life and ministry he was faced with every temptation that humans are faced with on a daily basis…doesn’t seem that bad right? But there is a twist. While hanging from the cross and being mocked, a young girl appears to Jesus, telling him he is not the son of God but that God loves him and is pleased with what he has done and now God wants him to be happy. The young girl helps Jesus down from the cross and escorts him into a happy, comfortable life…it is only, after a confrontation with Judas much later in life that Jesus realizes that this young girl is actually the devil, who has been tempting him all along…and upon this realization, Jesus goes back to a destroyed Jerusalem and begs God to be crucified so that the world would be saved. Both the novel and the film have caused outrage and both are still banned in some countries…but part of me wonders if this outrage is caused by our fear of what it means for Jesus to be truly 100% human, as we profess in the Nicene Creed…and in turn, what that means for us, who continue to be tempted day in and day out.
As we enter into this season of lent, these forty days of figuratively wandering through the wilderness on our way with Jesus to the cross, we do so having just heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Jesus had just been baptized in the Jordan by John and proclaimed God’s Son, and now the Holy Spirit has sent him into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus is alone in this wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights before the devil, also known as the false accuser or the tempter arrives. Jesus has spent these 40 days and nights with out food and is understandably famished when the devil begins testing him. “If you are the Son of God” he says, “turn these stones into loaves of bread”… “Throw yourself down from here so the angels can catch you”…here’s your chance to know once and for all if you truly are the son of God…or, you can forget about all that and all the worries and concerns that may come with being the son of God and just worship me. If you do that, I will give all of this to you and you will have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life.
In these temptations, the devil is using Jesus’ human weakness to try and get the best of him… the attempts he makes to get Jesus to show his power, to get Jesus to bow down to him, to establish himself as a self-sufficient deity…are all tests of Jesus’ trust in God. And even after having been in the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus’ trust in God out wits the devil. In not displaying use of his power to turn stones to bread, in refusing to jump and in not worshiping the devil, Jesus passes the test, showing not only his trust in God, but also his dependence on God, having given up his Godly powers and taken human form to live among humans and see first hand what it’s like to be us.
As I’ve been watching the news this week and seeing the ongoing protests and budget battles, I’ve continued to wonder where our biggest temptations lie. We all have our temptations…some of them less harmful…like an extra piece of chocolate or an extra hour of television instead of going for a walk…some of them more harmful…like tearing someone down in front of others so we feel better about ourselves or thinking that we are totally in control and self sufficient. I’m guilty of this last one…and have been since I was a child, when my motto was “all my by self.”
Actually, I think that the illusion of self-sufficiency and being in control are two of the biggest temptations that we face in this country…and it seems to be most prevalent in the Caucasian population than anywhere else. We come from cultures that praise the protestant work ethic, we preach that if we are going to be successful in life, you have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and make it happen…we preach that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That’s why we have become a country of over-worked, over-stressed, sleep deprived, individualistic individuals. We want to be successful, we want to live better lives than our parents lived, we want the job that will allow us to be able to have the stuff that society suggests that we need to have if we are going to look good to those around us, the newest computer or phone or car or clothes. We become ashamed to look to others when we are in need of help…even if it’s a couple bucks so we can buy milk and bread. There’s comfort in this illusion of self-sufficiency and control…when we live in this illusion, we have the power to succeed or fail…but we also have the ability to forget who we really need to trust in and rely on...the one who has our back unconditionally.
Living in the illusion of self-sufficiency and control has a tendency to be damaging, damaging to our relationships with others and damaging to our relationship with God. And that’s what we were created for, to be in relationship. God even says this in the creation account from Genesis 2 before setting out to find a suitable partner for Adam. But where Adam and Eve failed was not in their relationship with each other, but their relationship with God. The serpent tells Eve the truth about the fruit which God told Adam and Eve not to eat…and it causes her, and Adam (he’s not getting off the hook on this one) to question their trust in God. And in eating that piece of fruit, their relationship with God becomes fractured…but even though they must face the consequence of their actions by leaving the garden, God does not abandon them. In fact, God makes clothes for them before sending them on their way.
When we trust in ourselves over God, we are not allowing our relationship with God to flourish…and that leaves an empty spot in us, a spot that no car, or amount of money or collection of things can fill. And when we trust in ourselves rather than the community that surrounds and enfolds us, we are not allowing our relationships with others to flourish and we risk becoming isolated. To be in control and self-sufficient is truly a tempting thing, it gives us the illusion that we have the power to shape how things are going to happen…but this illusion can cause us to lose out…on relationships with others and ultimately on a healthy and thriving relationship with God. However, even when we give in to this temptation, God is there for us, giving us faith and, in turn, the courage to stand up when future temptations strike and triumph. This is part of the gift of God grace, a gift freely given, for God’s son knows first hand what it is like to be tempted, and what it means to trust in and depend on God. It was that trust and dependence that gave Jesus the courage to withstand the temptations of the devil, the strength to withstand pain and torture on the cross, and the love to lay down his life so that we could have life. Amen.