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Morningside Lent I Temptation “And
Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted”.
Matt 4 When Simon circulated the
rota for services for February, I discovered I was down to preach for this
Sunday. As is usual, I first
looked at the readings for to day.
My wife, Jean asked me what I was thinking of preaching about, I replied
“Well it looks like Temptation.” To
which Jean said, “That’s
right up your street, you know a lot about temptation”. Well
I guess Temptation is something each one of us knows something about.
We all have our own experiences. Most of us, I think, talk
about temptation as something that is negative.
It is something that ought not to happen. or at least we wish that it
didn’t happen. Some speak of it as though
it only happens to some people and not to others.
People who we might think of as particularly good or holy, surely they
not tempted. How wrong they are! I remember how one member of
my congregation was surprised when they discovered that I as a clergy person was
tempted, and believed that somehow I was able
to avoid such experiences. Or as the
story goes of a member of a congregation who said to the a Rector after he had
preached a sermon, “Rector,
we didn’t realise what sin and temptation was until you came here”. Well we will leave sin aside
for this morning, and look at temptation. What
do we find? We read that Jesus was
led by the Spirit to be tempted. Jesus had just been
baptised, when the Spirit of God spoke to him,
“You are my son, my beloved my chosen one.”
a dramatic moment, they were
words of affirmation and confirmation of who and what he was.
BUT we then see Jesus led by
the Spirit to be tempted. It would
seem that this is all part of God’s plan.
We then hear “He was in all points tempted as we are” It was real for Jesus
as it is for us. By
his baptism, Jesus is immersed into the life of the world.
In the same way in our baptism we are immersed into the experiences of
the real world. Being tempted is part of that experience It was a very real
experience for Jesus. This was not
make believe. There have been times
when some have claimed that Jesus was pretending to be tempted.
How could Jesus the Son of God be tempted?
BUT For Jesus this was not a pretence.
It was for real. And this was not just a
single event there in the desert. Throughout
the life of Jesus this experience
continued even to the end there on the cross, If you are the son of God,
then save yourself. For Jesus temptation was
real, and it continuous. And the same is true for all of us.
How are we to face this
situation? It would be better if we
looked at Temptation, not in a negative way, as though at every turn God wishes
to trip us up. The word translated
as Temptation does really express its meaning . A much better translation of
that word would be Being
Tested
When a marriage is tested,
it can reveal weaknesses, but it can be a time of growth for maturity, an
opportunity to strengthen the relationship. Temptation or testing seen
in this way is not something negative; a thing that we wish didn’t happen,
But an opportunity for
growth,. to discover new ways forward.
When we pray, “Lead
us not into temptation” seen
in this way , means “Let me not be
overcome in a time of testing”
- An opportunity for growth, for strength
to do the good, to be creative, not
destructive Testing
is something to be expected, recognised for what it is, and even welcomed as a
God sent opportunity. What will this mean?
Lets look again at the experience of Jesus and see how this might apply
to us. “If
you are the Son of God”
Here we see Jesus being tested, not just here at the beginning of his
ministry but also at its completion on the Cross.
IF you are the Son of God,
If you are who you think you are,
If you think you know what you are called to be and do,
Here is a real test for
Jesus in his understanding of himself. Of his
own identity. Jesus had
just had that great experience of his Baptism, and now he is alone, as he prayed
and fasted as he prepared himself for his task.
BUT immediately is challenged to doubt who he is, and what he is called
to do. But Jesus is not to be put
off. He knows who he is; in
those words “You are my Son”
his mission has been confirmed for him.
Jesus makes a stand and finds that he is no longer alone. We hear that
Angels came and ministered to him. Jesus
goes from strength to strength. And that is how it can be
for us. There will be times when we
have been inspired to undertake some venture,
some change in our lives, some new piece of work, We are full of
enthusiasm, we feel excited, but then doubts creep into out minds, “Dare
I do such a thing?” “Who
am I to think I could do that?”
We begin to feel very much alone,
But when we offer both our doubts and our determination to God, we turn
to Jesus and we go forward, and
YES even Angels in various forms come and support us. A time of growth,
renewed confidence, new discoveries. Then within that general
testing time, we hear to-day some specific challenges faced by Jesus, and can
see how they might relate to our own experiences. First
then, For Jesus this was not the
moment. Not the right time use his
power to meet his own needs. There
were to be times when he and his followers were hungry, and he provided them
with food. There were times
when he was tired. We are told there
was much coming and going, and Jesus says, come you apart and rest awhile,
He knew there was a place for rest and relaxation, sometimes alone,
sometimes with his close friends. He learnt the right balance. Caring for
himself and caring for others. How important that is for
us. We are meant to care for others
but these are times when we can be so active in helping others that we
neglect our own health and welfare and even more
the needs of our own families. Well
this can certainly true of some clergy. I
know the temptation to fill every inch of the diary.
On the other hand it can be the other way round
for others. To indulge
ourselves, seeking only pleasure for ourselves, demanding our own needs first,
looking after ourselves and ignoring the needs of others, the homeless the
refugee and the lonely. God calls us to get the
balance right, to be mature in our decisions. A real testing time for some of
us. Something really creative for
Lent. Then
next; we hear how Jesus is up on the pinnacle of the temple, the place where
each sunrise the priest blew a trumpet to call people to worship. For Jesus the
test comes; “If you are going to
get people to follow you, perform some great miracle,
make a great display of yourself, prove how powerful you are. That will
attract the crowds, that’s what people are wanting to see. It
happened again sometime later, people came from his home town. Jesus had upset
them the last time he had been there, Here they were now begging him to come and
perform some of the miracles that he was able to do in places like Jesus knew that was not the
way forward. He knew from experience
that if he was to perform a miracle at the request of the crowd, this would lead
to requests for more and even more greater miracles, and they would never be
satisfied. There was more to Ministry than performing miracles. As we as a congregation plan
for our ministry here in Yes let this Lent be a time
of Testing, but as we face the testing, let it be
a positive experience, an opportunities for growth; a new awareness of
the power of God at work in us, and a new discovery of ourselves as people loved
by God called by him and led by the
Spirit.
John Williams, Lent I. 13th February, 2005 |
