Sunday, March 1, 1998
Joey Noble

"Meeting Temptation"

Deuteronomy 26: 1 - 11; Romans 10: 8b- 13; Luke 4: 1 - 13

I have one claim to fame. My grade school classmate is now an international opera star. Samuel Ramey. was one of nine in our class in Winona, Kansas. Sam has gone on from this class and solo work in our Methodist youth choir to be the most recorded bass voice in history. His success has been built on singing the many operatic devil roles; his rich bass voice has made the character, Mephistopheles, come to life. Mephistopheles is the devil in the Faust legend to whom Faust sells his soul. Sam received rave reviews for the recital of devil arias that he gave at the Kennedy Center two weeks ago. It seems ironic to me that Sam is so closely identified with these arias, because Sam is just such a nice guy! He is as nice a guy as Mike Webber, who delighted us with his devil's costume that he wore for the children's time last week. There was no type-casting there! And Sam, too, has not let fame nor fortune go to his head. He remains at heart a good ol' Kansas boy.

But then the devil is often disguised when we encounter him. We need to be on guard when we are tempted by material goods or false pride. We need to recognize what it is that pulls us away from God, what it is that blinds us to the holy around us. We sometimes focus so much on ourselves that we fail to see the holy, the Christ in other people, even when they have dirty faces or offensive personas. when we are tempted by material goods or false pride. We need to recognize what it is that pulls us away from God, what it is that blinds us to the holy around us. We sometimes focus so much on ourselves that we fail to see the holy, the Christ in other people, even when they have dirty faces or offensive personas.

Evil is real! This was very evident when we studied Walter Wink's book Engaging the Powers last fall. Wink says that the "powers" -- the evil in the world around us -- are absolutely real. The Powers are both outward -- in our institutions and in our relationships -- and inward -- in our spiritual understandings and in our openness to the Holy. We cannot live a whole life unless we take the powers seriously. Yet, it was only as Jesus was filled with the Spirit that he could withstand the temptations that wanted to seduce and compromise him. The Evil One asked Jesus to turn stone into bread, knowing that Jesus was famished after his time in the wilderness. He promised Jesus glory and authority over the world if only Jesus would worship him, the devil. Finally the devil asked Jesus to tempt God by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the Temple. Surely God would protect Jesus from death. Surely God would prevent Jesus from taking such foolhardy action.

The lectionary story of Jesus' encounter with Satan from the Gospel of Luke always marks the first Sunday of Lent. This is the liturgical season in the church that lasts 40 days -- leading us to the cross, and ultimately to the empty tomb. The Lenten journey begins with this story of Jesus in the wilderness. Luke tells us that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. It was this Spirit that gave him the power to confront the evil that wanted to drive a wedge in his relationship with God. Jesus' sojourn in the wilderness parallels Moses' forty days without food (Deut. 9:9) and Israel"s forty years of trial in the wilderness. "Forty" is a sacred biblical number that indicates a long period of time.

Beneath these three specific temptations -- to turn stone to bread; to have glory and authority over the world; and to trust God to save him from foolhardy action -- was the temptation to doubt who Jesus was. Twice the devil prefaced the temptation with "if you are the son of God". But God had already proclaimed Jesus' identity in his baptism: "You are my beloved child." To doubt that identity and succumb to the devil's "if" would lead to substitute identities through material goods, worldly power and glory, and foolish religion. These would displace his identity as God's child and shift his loyalty from God to the devil.

Jesus backed up that identity and his loyalty to God with three quotations from Deuteronomy to meet each temptation:

TO KNOW WHO ONE IS AS GOD'S CHILD IS THE BASIS FOR MEETING TEMPTATION.

This was true for Jesus; it is true for us. KNOWING THAT WE ARE BELOVED CHILDREN OF GOD IS THE BASIS FOR MEETING TEMPTATION. The Scripture lessons for today all emphasize this relationship with God. In the reading from Deuteronomy, Israel tells its history in order to affirm its identity as God's people.

In Paul's letter to the church at Rome, the early church confesses who they are with the words, "Jesus is Lord:". These creedal statements are constant reminders to God's people of who they are in the midst of the world's temptation.

Being God's beloved children does not set us above others. All are God's beloved children. In the adult education time this morning, the topic was "Is There Only One God for All These Faiths?" Deacon Sue Dollins related her own experience as director of ASSISST in encountering Buddhists and Muslims, and how their faith traditions gave them a basis for working together to meet some of the needs of Montgomery County's elderly. This shared concern united them as sisters and brothers. Sue believes there are different ways of being open to God's love, of being open to the Holy. For her, Jesus has shown the way. Other people have found other ways.

Marcus Borg in his book, The God We Never Knew. says that to affirm that Jesus is the decisive revelation and disclosure of God does not imply that Jesus is the only manifestation of God. He writes. "to many Christians it seems clear that manifestations of the sacred are also known in other religions in addition to Judaism and Christianity." So "decisive" does not mean "only". But for Christians, it does mean this: the figure of Jesus is the decisive disclosure of what God is like." (pp. 84-5 ) Borg makes a distinction between the pre-Easter Jesus -- the historical Jesus who was born around the year 4BCE, who had a teaching and healing ministry that attracted many followers, and who was executed by Roman soldiers because they feared that he had political aspirations -- Borg claims that this historical figure is very different from the post- Easter Jesus -- how Jesus came to be known after his death in the developing traditions of early Christianity. The post- Easter Jesus is the risen, living Christ who appeared to his disciples after his death, encouraging them to continue his ministry of teaching and healing The post-Easter Jesus is not a mortal flesh-and-blood being. Rather, the post-Easter Jesus is a spiritual reality who is one with God and who has all the qualities of God.

On this first Sunday of Lent as we begin our Lenten journey, it is important for us to connect with this spiritual reality. Some of us gathered on Ash Wednesday to have our foreheads marked with ashes, reminding us that we come from dust, and to dust we return We gather this morning to taste the spiritual food found in this bread and this cup. We eat this bread and drink from this cup to sustain us as we face the temptations around us. It is important for us to have this food as we stand up to evil that diminishes others, that worships "things", false gods of property and security. We can only find real security in the love of God. If we understand and truly believe that we are God's beloved, and that God calls us by name, then nothing

Our relationship with God is one that needs to be nourished. In years past, Christians were encouraged to give up something during Lent-- chocolate bars, movies., eating out. But I would encourage us to take on something new in these forty days. -- to take on something that will nourish our relationship with God. Maybe we can be more intentional about our prayer lives. I invite you to come share a time of quiet with others in the Meditation Room on Sunday evenings. Perhaps we need to give attention to a relationship that needs mending. Maybe a phone call or card would be appropriate. Use the Lenten Meditation Guide as you read the headlines of the Washington Post, and see how they inform each other. Is there a temptation that you need to resist? Re-read Jesus' encounter with the Devil from Luke's Gospel. As you look at your life, remember our words of assurance:

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