The Devil Biding His Time 

Luke 4: 1-13
March 4, 2001
1st Sunday in Lent

FORTY DAYS

There are forty days in Lent (not counting Sundays). These 40 days are analogous to Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. Moses and Elijah, Jesus' companions in last Sunday's lesson on the Transfiguration, (Exodus 34:28, I Kings 19:8) spent 40 days in the wilderness. The Children of Israel, en route from bondage to land of promise, spent 40 years in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2-6). And while we watch the weather reports on TV and keep a nervous eye out the window, let's not forget that in the days of Noah it rained 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7: 12)!

WILDERNESS

Where is the wilderness? The Sinai Peninsula is one answer. Another is the wilderness of Judea, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, where Jesus was tempted. When you ride through that wilderness and look out the window, you see round stones on the ground, for all the world resembling round loaves of bread.

Once on a ride through this same wilderness where Jesus was tempted, a guide pointed out some Israeli army tents and explained that new soldiers were going through basic training. "They're young and away from home, often for the first time. We take them out here where there are no temptations!" He did not understand that even in an austere setting, powerful, high stake temptations are indeed possible.

Where is the wilderness? It can be a place of testing, of loneliness, of vulnerability. The 20^th century Christian poet, T. S. Eliot wrote,

"The desert is not remote in the southern tropics,

The desert is not only around the corner,

The desert is squeezed into the tube-train next to you,

The desert is in the heart of your brother."⁽¹⁾

FAST

Maybe we should "give up something for Lent." Prunes and spinach? Not much of a sacrifice there. Meat? With hoof and mouth disease abroad and talk of mad cow disease, why take a chance? No sacrifice there either. Fatty foods? But if your doctor told you to watch high cholesterol foods, you get no points for sacrifice there either. Alcohol? Who will admit to touching the stuff? Deserts? Let's not become religious fanatics!

There are more responsible approaches to fasting. Clarence Jordan in his book on the Sermon on the Mount suggested that when you fast, you should get rid of what ever in your life slows you down, whatever keeps you from being up to speed, whatever keeps your from keeping pace, whatever keeps you from going fast enough.

JESUS' TEMPTATION AND OURS

We need to make a distinction between Jesus' temptations and ours. Certain things are uniquely Jesus'. That's why the well intentioned "What Would Jesus Do?" test for personal decisions doesn't always work. If we all did only what Jesus did, the human race would be extinct in one generation since he never married and never had children. No, there is a difference between the Savior and you and me in certain aspects of temptation.

I will never be tempted to turn a stone into a piece of bread. Even in these days of angel mania and self-absorption I will never be so stupid or suicidal as to do a cordless bungee jump just to coax my guarding angel into making a game saving catch. And I will never be so paranoid as to think there is any chance the kingdoms of this world will bow down to me. Those temptations are for Jesus.

But he was "tempted in all points like as we are" according to Hebrew 4:15. Not the same temptations but similar. What strikes me this year as the temptation story reappears on the first Sunday of Lent is that Luke 4: 5 has the temptation of the kingdoms of this world stated in temporal terms. The Devil shows them to Jesus "in an instant." In Matthew 4: 8 the temptation comes with a spatial reference. Jesus is taken to a very high mountain.

The temporal and spatial nature of his temptations makes a powerful connection to us. To have more time and to be in certain places rather than others - these are very real temptations to me. To have more time to do what I want to do, I am tempted to cut corners on the things I ought to do. To get to certain places I want to be, I am tempted to by-pass some areas where I need to spend some time. Only God can be in more than one place at one time and only God can transcend time - for us to try to go beyond our boundaries of time and place is not just self-destructive over scheduling; it is sinning against the God who made us a certain way.

Time and space - the limits of humanity, the boundaries of finitude - these are points where we surely are tempted "like as he was."

SATAN

Some of us have trouble believing in Satan. With apologies to my sisters and brothers who at 3:30 p.m. today will be rooting for Duke, we are beyond those medieval pictures of a devil with horns, a tail and a pitchfork. (I do sometimes suspect that certain basketball coaches, given their behavior, may have pointed ears!)

We may think we are beyond believing in an old fashioned rendering of the Devil. But we are not beyond having to deal with our own dark forces that are personal, powerful, persistent and purposeful. We are not so modern after all, are we, when we sometimes call these forces our demons. They are against us. Satan means "the adversary," the one who is over against us. Now we begin to see that Satan, our adversary, the sum total of our demons is no relic of ancient superstitions but a very real and contemporary force in our lives.

I described this Adversary as personal, powerful, persistent and purposeful. Those words were not mere sermonic alliteration. They tell us how our demons work.

The Adversary comes at us personally and tailor makes temptations to fit us like a glove. Have you noticed how the Adversary shifts temptations according to your time in life?

The Adversary comes at us powerfully.

He picks our weakest, loneliest, most vulnerable moments to approach, because in these times he is most powerful. Alcoholics Anonymous correctly speaks of our needs to draw on the resources of a "Higher Power." The Tempter powerfully exploits our powerlessness unless we turn to a Higher Power to enable us.

He uses the power of scripture to tempt us. Psalm 91: 11-12, our responsive reading, our solo! Consider demonic uses of unhealthy religion and shallow religious music!

The Adversary comes at us persistently. He bides his time until he can stage a comeback.

"We will not make the mistake of supposing that this one conflict ended His fight with Satan and temptation…This was the decisive battle, but not the end of the war. Many 'seasons' came. Indeed the temptations were almost continuous. The devil does not easily admit defeat. He never surrenders. He kept up his attacks on Jesus all the way to the cross. He came in enemies, came in false friends and what was most dangerous to us all, he came in the true and loved friends. Even the twelve, Peter preeminently, and the Mother beloved and the brothers of Jesus were used as instrument of temptation to Him. The poor and needy whom he loved and so longed to help tempted Him to turn aside from the high goal of Messiahship and devote himself to present relief and to material service."⁽²⁾

The Adversary comes at us purposefully.

The temptations attack our identity and the purpose of our lives. "If you are the Son of God…." Satan is echoing the heavenly voice Jesus had heard at his Baptism and would hear at the Transfiguration. He was purposefully attacking his God proclaimed identity. "Are you really who you are?"

Another point of his purposeful attack is on our human identity and sexuality. He seeks to turn inside out God's good purposes for creation. In creation God made us male and female and said it was good. Satan takes our God given sexuality and tries to overcome its purpose to tear us down. In creation God created us in his own image, with the power to love, forgive and reconcile. Satan takes our God made powers and tempts us to love the wrong way, to paper over lightly serious sins with shallow denial and to short circuit genuine reconciliation with superficial "forgiveness."

TAKING WHAT WE CAN FROM JESUS' TEMPTATION

What was the value of Jesus' temptation? The book of Hebrews says, "…he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

"Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."⁽³⁾

How can we take what Jesus did when he resisted temptation and bring it into our lives? Here are eight ways.

(1) Paul in Romans 13: 14 wrote, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

(2) James 4: 7-8 says "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Dear near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and our joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

(3) In our Family Dedication service we have a line about offering our children those resources "by which temptations are mastered." A healthy Christian family is a great resource for resisting temptation.

It worked for Jesus and it will for you and me. There is a story that Martin Luther once felt the presence of the Devil to be so near that he threw his inkbottle at him. It left a splatter mark on the wall of his monastic cell. Luther wrote, "The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him, one little word shall fell him." That little word is "no."⁽⁴⁾ "No" is a great resource.

(5) I Peter 5: 8-9a says, "Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith." Discipline is a great resource.

(6) Jesus drove away the Devil with three verses from Deuteronomy (8: 3; 6: 13; 6: 16). We have at our disposal the entire Bible.

(7) The Holy Spirit brings Jesus to temptation according to Luke 4: 1. Then he goes from it in the power of the Spirit according to Luke 4: 14. The Spirit is a great resource.

(8) Worship and Holy Communion are powerful resource. The faith and grace they represent are summed up in the ancient affirmation; "Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again."

CONCLUSION

"This is the threefold truth on which our faith depends,

and with this joyful cry worship begins and ends.

Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again.

On this we fix our minds, as, praying side by side,

We take the bread and wine from Christ the crucified;

Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!

By this we are upheld when doubt or grief assails

Our Christian fortitude, and only grace avails:

Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again.

This is the threefold truth which, if we hold it fast,

Changes the world and us and brings us home at last

Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!"⁽⁵⁾

1. ¹ T. S. Eliot, "Choruses from The Rock," The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950 [New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company] 1958, p. 98

5. ⁵ Fred Pratt Green, "This Is the Threefold Truth," Baptist Hymnal, Wesley N. Forbis, editor [Nashville, Tennessee: Convention Press] 1991, No. 408