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The Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Morey, Pastor
Scripture: Luke 4:1-15
Focus
Temptation is real. It is a part of everyone’s life. When we are tempted to do wrong, when we are tempted to cross those boundaries set by God. That is evidence God is at work in our lives.
Notice that this scripture says that after Jesus was baptized, and the Holy Spirit had come upon him, the Spirit led him into the desert, where he was tempted.
Temptation is actually a tool used by God to sharpen and deepen our faith commitment.
We were created to be creatures of free choice. When God made us, God wanted to make a creature who would love God by choice.
Temptation always presents a choice. Temptation serves to cause a debate in us, an argument that requires a decision. Because we are tempted, we know God is allowing us to be presented with choices that cause us to choose a focus for our lives. Temptation is evidence that God is at work in us.
It is no sin to be tempted. Temptation serves to strengthen our faith. If we resist and stay true to what God says is right, our faith grows stronger.
The Holy Spirit is always with us to help us choose what is right. We know what to do, which choice to make. The Holy Spirit dwells in us so the laws of God are written in our hearts.
Satan knows he doesn’t own us, so he has to try to persuade us to choose his way.
If Satan came to us dressed in black with lots of eye makeup and tattoos everywhere and blood dripping from his lips, we’d stay away from him for sure. But Satan is about deception. He is about lying. Jesus called him the “father of all lies.”
It is Satan’s desire to make us believe that “right is O.K. but it is boring, old fashioned, out-of-date. You need some excitement in your life, some action. After all, your life is your own. Your body belongs to you. You can choose to have a good time with it. Wrong is not so bad, it can be fun, it may even open up something new and wonderful that God has kept hidden from you.”
Temptation comes to us in the form of stepping across the line to appease our physical appetites. “Turn these stones into bread. … You are hungry. … After all, you are only human, you have biological needs”
Jesus replied, “Man shall not live by what satisfies his appetite alone, [Matthew 4 adds] but by the word of God” How does the word of God give life?
Jesus was saying that the human individual does not get life from satisfying biological needs, but that the human is alive because of the creative activity of the word of God.
We read in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” That creative power of God that “Word,” had come in the form of God’s Son, Jesus.
When we are tempted to give in to our physical appetites as though they are responsible for giving us life, we have missed the truth.
We are real, we are alive, not because we appease our physical appetites but because we are made by God. That spark of life in us is put there by God. When that spark leaves, there is no life. Satisfying our physical appetites as the focus of life never brings life, but death. That is what Satan is all about. He wants us dead in our sin, dead toward knowing God, and finally literally dead when we can no longer choose God’s way.
“Worship me and all these kingdoms can be yours. This is the shortcut. You don’t have to suffer. You don’t have to face life’s problems. You don’t have to go to the cross.
“You don’t have to go to school; you don’t have to do the homework. You can get a job and have your own place now. Recognize that I am the reason you have a good life, worship me, and just look at what I can give you. This is a shortcut.
“You don’t have to wait until you are a responsible grownup with a job and a home and married, you can have a sexual relationship now. Your body is capable now. This wonder of wonders can be yours if only you take this shortcut. Besides, all your friends are doing it. You don’t have to be true to your spouse; no one will know. You are entitled to this good pleasure now.”
Focused on God’s Kingdom, Jesus replied, “Worship the Lord and him only shall you serve.”
On every hand we are tempted to abandon our faith. That is what Satan wants. He doesn’t care what becomes our focus so long as serving God is not the focus.
Satan came to Jesus again. “Look Jesus, let’s get this cleared up once and for all. Look below you at all those people in the Temple. From the top of this pillar you can see there are literally hundreds of people looking for the Messiah. If you are so confident it is you, jump. Let them all see God’s angels catching you as the Psalms say. Show them you have God’s protection. This is your chance to prove you are somebody worth paying attention to. Give them the Messiah they are looking for. Jump.
What did Satan want? He wanted anything that would cause the immediate death of Jesus, which would put a stop to God’s plan. What does Satan really hope to accomplish in tempting us? Does he want to give us opportunities to strengthen our faith?
He wants us dead. He wants to tempt us into dangerous situations, huge risks, telling us that a “real man” could do it, “a capable woman” who is really better than a “real man” could do it; all we have to do to prove it is just to take the leap.
“What’s wrong? Jump. You believe God loves you don’t you? Well, then, even if something terrible happens, this will be God’s chance to prove just how much he loves you. You say you love God, and trust God, then give God a chance to prove it. He will stop the physical laws of gravity and rescue you. Then everyone will know just how great you are.
“Jump. God will fix anything that may go wrong. Even your mistakes, God can use. Go ahead and buy it, go ahead and kiss her, go ahead and call him, go ahead and take it. This may be your only chance to prove yourself. Jump. It is now or never.”
Jesus replied, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”—which means, don’t assume God’s place, don’t think you are in control of what God is doing. We cannot deliberately jump into something we know is wrong, saying that we are giving God an opportunity to prove himself. God doesn’t have to prove anything. He is God.
In closing, I want to read verses 13, 14, and 15 of Luke 4:
When the
devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune
time. Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned
to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding
country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by
everyone.
Even when we stay true to our faith and resist stepping across the line into sin, and have emerged from the temptation victorious, the victory is temporary. The devil may leave us for a time, but he will be back at an opportune time.
He will be back when we are down and out and feeling blue. He will be back to blame God for life’s downturn. He will be back when you are flying high and everything is going great, to give you the credit for your success. He will be back when you have stopped reading God’s word and the weight of life begins to press in on you. He will be back. He doesn’t give up.
In the meantime, filled with the Holy Spirit, we can return to what God has for us to do feeling stronger and more capable than ever. As we go about doing what God has called us to do, living in relationship to God, we must keep an eye out when we are tempted to lose our focus.
If we keep our focus on God’s Kingdom and not our own, we will want to study God’s word and we will want to spend time with God, and our faith will grow stronger, and when those opportune times come for the devil to return and present us with his next good deal, we can keep resisting, and keep growing in our faith.
Amen.
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Luke 4:1-15 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. (From the
New Revised Standard Version of the
Bible) |
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