Preface: Over the last month, we have been
looking at some of the more challenging scriptures, the one’s that make us
question the nature and character of God.
Some have been do-able as we’ve looked at culture, sentiment, and the
larger picture of scripture. Others have been a little more off-putting with
fewer answers and less clarity. But
we’ve pushed through, recognizing that God lies in the mystery and in the hard
questions. And, to be honest, we had
another tough scripture ready for us this week, one from 2 Samuel about David
and the son Bathsheba bore to him.
That’s what we were going to talk about today, but it wasn’t working for
me. Not that we couldn’t do it, but 4
weeks looking at these passages that draw us to question so much of who God is
felt like enough. Don’t get me wrong, I
think it’s perfectly healthy to question the nature and character of God. I
also think that in doing that we need to spend time examining the positive and
affirmed nature of God, not just what we don’t like, but also what we DO
like. Most of us could easily spend LOTS
of time picking at what we think God did or didn’t do according to our
standards and measures. But as people of
faith our blessing is to look for the miracles that God does do and the answers
God does provide because it opens our eyes to the limitless ways God touches us
with grace and mercy. And in the midst
of picking apart the character of God, we can easily lose sight of God’s grace
and mercy.
And
while today’s passage isn’t all about God’s grace or God’s mercy, it’s more
focused on righteous responses, it does prepare us for the season of Lent (our
time of preparation to receive God’s ultimate gift of grace AND mercy) so that
we might be focused on God in these coming 40 days.
Let us hear now the Word of God:
Next,
Jesus was taken into the [wilderness] by the Spirit for the test. The devil was ready to give it. Jesus
prepared for the test by fasting 40 days and 40 nights. That left him, of
course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the devil took advantage of in the
first test: “Since you are God’s son, speak the word that will turn these
stones into loaves of bread.” Jesus
answered by quoting Deuteronomy, “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s
mouth.”
For
the second test, the devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the
temple and said, “Since you are the Son of God, jump.” The devil goaded him by
quoting Psalm 91, “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you
so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.” Jesus countered with
another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your
God.”
For
the third test, the devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the
earth’s kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, “They’re yours, lock
stock and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me and they’re yours.”
Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a quotation
from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”
The
test was over! The devil left. And in his place angels! Angels came and took
care of Jesus’ needs.
This is the word of God for the people of God, thanks
be to God.
Throughout the scriptures, the
wilderness represents a place of preparation, a place of waiting for God's next
move, a place of learning to trust in God's mercy. For forty days and nights
Jesus remains in the wilderness, without food, getting ready for what comes
next.[1]
- Forty: the days and nights that Noah and his family endured the deluge on board the ark, after which God made a covenant never again to destroy the earth with a flood (Gen 7:4, 12; 8:6; 9:8-17);[2]
- Forty: the days and nights Moses fasted on Mount Sinai as he inscribed the words of God's covenant for the Israelites (Exod 24:18; 34:27-28; Deut 9:9);[3]
- Forty: the days and nights Elijah fasted in the desert before receiving a new commission from God (1 Kgs 19:8);[4]
- Forty: the years the Israelites wandered the wilderness in preparation for their arrival in the Promised Land (e.g., Exod 16:35; Deut 2:7);[5]
- Forty: the days that Jesus spent preparing himself in the wilderness to be tested by the devil.
Let’s take a look at each of the temptations to see
what is taking place and how we might find ourselves similarly tempted in our
own lives, and consequently what we might do to resist such temptation.
1st
temptation:
Where:
wilderness
What:
stones à bread
What
is tempting: physical needs
Reply:
We aren’t sustained only by the physical—but by God’s provisions.
What
distracts us physically: hunger, pain, fatigue
·
Distraction is easy to come by in our
world. (Solicit examples)
o
Busyness
o
FB
o
Email
o
TV
o
Food
o
Alcohol
o
o
o
o
·
By being distracted, we don’t allow God
to fill our needs or sustain us. We seek
all kinds of alternative methods to relax us, engage us, and motivate us, and
sadly many, if not most, of them are employed before we ask God. God becomes our failsafe, our last resort,
instead of our first answer.
·
Using those things as our source of
comfort or hope or simply distraction is the temptation, but there is a
different answer. There are other things
we can do that focus us on God and make us seek God as a first answer.
Disciplines
that challenge us/remind us of the need for God:
·
Fasting challenges us to see how often we
resort to the “thing”, whatever it might be and instead to seek out God
o
Food
o
TV
o
Facebook
o
Shopping
o
Busyness
o
Technology fast example—Friday….how many
times my mind went to check my phone
·
It’s not enough just to stop those other
things, it’s a huge first step, but we also have to put something in their
place
o
Meditation—practice of slowing down and
listening, being ok with being and not doing
o
Prayer
2nd
temptation
Where:
top
of the temple
What:
throw
yourself off, the angels will protect you (Psalm 91)
What
is tempting: forcing God’s hand, making God show God’s power
Reply:
Do
not test the Lord (Deuteronomy)
What
is tested: Doubt and faith
·
This way of doubting God goads us to test
God at a ridiculous level (“throw yourself from the top of the temple”). It’s not doubt or questioning of God that is
the issue, it’s this ridiculous test. Let’s
look at a couple of examples:
o
Deb example: “protected” at UCLA, walk to
and from classes or the library by myself at night, assuming that God would
protect me or that if I were assaulted God would have wanted that to
happen. At some point, I came to realize
I could participate in my own protection.
God did want to protect me, of that I am sure, and God could use campus
security, attentiveness, and best practices to do that. I didn’t have to “test”
God to see if God’s protection would endure.
o
“God will provide”
§ Participate
by fiscally responsible. God provides,
but we also have to be good stewards of the provision.
§ Good
kids are a product of good parenting. We
have to participate in it.
o
We test God’s forgiveness
§ But
just because we know forgiveness is offered and granted doesn’t mean we should
dabble in sin.
How
do we fight this temptation?
·
Study and learn the scriptures
·
The Devil used scripture to tempt Jesus
(much like the snake used some of God’s words to tempt Eve)
o
But the more we learn the truth in
scripture the more we have to fight and resist such temptation.
§ Ways
to start learning the scriptures: Upper room, UMW prayer book
3rd
Temptation
Where:
highest
mountain, overlooking all the world’s kingdoms (implies this was a vision or a
dream)
What:
Worship
me and all of it will be yours
What
is tempting? Power, ego, and pride
Reply:
Beat it! Worship God alone (Deuteronomy)
How
do we fall into this?
·
Fantasy: seduces us into believing that
if we just had ______________ life would be better. If we had more money, if we had more love, if
we had more power, if we had more things, if we had more attention, if we had a
better reputation, life would be better.
That’s the seduction, but it’s not the reality. None of these things satiate us. We don’t
leave feeling satisfied, we leave craving more of the same.
o
Gambling (for all the fortune we could
have and all the ways we could spend it)
o
Adultery (an overly romanticized
relationship that doesn’t carry the burden or hardship of what you have)
o
Power
o
Pride
§ You
don’t need God, you can just have it if you say the word.
How
do we fight this temptation?
·
Humility
·
Service to others
·
Generosity
·
Investing in our relationships
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