Matthew 4:1-11 (Genesis 3:1-7)
Temptation, Trust, and Identity
James Sledge March
9, 2014
How
many of you, on a regular and recurring basis, must resist the urge to commit
murder or to rob a bank? I hope it’s not very many of you. I know that we can
say things such as, “I’d like to strangle him.” But that’s just hyperbole,
right?
If
you watch the news or read the paper, you know that some people actually are
tempted to such things, but they are a very small segment of society. So what
are the things that actually tempt us? No doubt some of our temptations are
relatively trivial: temptations to have another piece of cake or watch one more
episode of “House of Cards.” But I’m interested in more serious temptations.
What are the temptations that can actually deflect us from the life we should
live? What are those things that might cause us, when we have grown old, to
look back and wish we had done things differently?
I
think that a lot of people picture Jesus tempted in the wilderness along the
lines of me being tempted to murder someone. Jesus can brush off such temptations
as easily as I reject robbing a bank as a reasonable solution for dealing with
an unexpected expense. But that is not at all the picture Matthew paints for
us.
Matthew
tells us that the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. This testing,
these temptations, are necessary in some way. They serve some purpose and so
they cannot be foregone conclusions. They must be actual temptations, not
unlike the ones that tempt us to be something other than we are meant to be.
Theologian
Douglas John Hall says that there are not really three temptations but three
variations on a single theme. Echoing the story from Genesis, these temptations
are about power. “You will be like God,” says the serpent. [1]
Who wouldn’t want to be like God. No waiting for God to provide. You can take
care of everything yourself. No need to entrust yourself to God.
What’s so bad about Jesus miraculously
providing something to eat when he is starving? What’s so bad about putting on
a display of divine power so overwhelming that no one could possibly deny Jesus
is Lord? These temptations go to the heart of who Jesus is and what sort of
Messiah he will be. Will he trust himself completely to God’s will, or will he
be the sort of Messiah people want him to be, the sort many of us still wish
him to be? Will he employ divine power on behalf of his people? Will he be
willing to use force when necessary? Or will he remain true to God’s call and
plan, even on the cross? Temptation will reappear there people taunt him. “If you
are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” If many of us were
scripting the story, that’s exactly what would happen.
We
in the Church are called to be, and told that indeed we are, the Body of Christ. And so it stands to
reason that we are also tempted to be something other than God would have us
be. That primal temptation to power, to “be like God,” is ever with us in countless
variations. Don’t trust in God’s commands;
trust your own judgment. Don’t embrace the cross; you can have Easter without
Good Friday. Seek your own good, be assertive, demand your rights, and pursue
political clout; you can be disciples without denying self, without becoming
truly vulnerable. Jesus resisted this sort of temptation, but the Church more
often has not.
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At a recent Saturday retreat attended by
the Deacons and members of the Session (what would be called “lay leaders” in
other denominations), we talked about our identity as a congregation. We
remembered some of your history and we reflected the question of when we have
felt closest to God in our work, worship, and ministry here. It’s not as easy a
question as it might seem. As Jesus’ temptations point out, the things that
impress us and move us are not always the things of God.
Perhaps another way to approach this
question, “Where in your worship, service, and ministry here have you most
profoundly experienced God?” is to ask where we have been truest to our
identity as the Body of Christ. Where
have we let go, trusting and giving ourselves over to God’s will and to God’s dream
for a new day?
In
just a few moments, a new class of deacons and ruling elders will take their
ordination and installation vows. The first of these questions asks, “Do you trust in Jesus Christ your Savior, acknowledge him
Lord of all and Head of the Church, and through him believe in one God, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit?” Lord of all. Head of the Church. But at the same time temptation
whispers, “It’s just a ritual. Don’t take it too seriously. Do what seems reasonable to you and what
people want, and everything will be fine.”
___________________________________________________________________________
When
Jesus faces his temptations, there is no doubt who he is. He is God’s beloved
Son, the one God loves and sends into the world. There is no question of his
identity. The only question is whether Jesus will be true to himself.
In
the same way, there is no doubt who we are. God loves us, claims us as beloved
children, and sends us into the world. There is no question of our identity.
The only question is whether we will be true to who we are.
Here
lies the essence of the Christian life. Embraced in God’s love, we are freed
from worries about whether we are good enough, whether we matter, or whether we
are impressive enough. We are
God’s beloved children. And as we fall deeper into that realization,
temptations to power, influence, wealth and so on have less and less hold over
us. We can live more and more into our true selves, into the way God sees us:
beloved children who are the Body of
Christ in and to the world, beloved children who can trust ourselves fully
to God’s will, to God’s hopes and dreams for us and for the world.
All praise and glory to the One who loves
us, claims us, and calls us to bear that love into the world.
[1] Douglas John Hall in Bartlett, David L.; Barbara
Brown Bartlett (2011-05-31). Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2, Lent
through Eastertide (Kindle Location 1819). Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle
Edition.
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