take this moment and decide

if we meant it / if we tried

A sermon from Jesus' temptation; Matthew 4:1-17

There’s so much to say about the temptations, but to begin I want to talk about superhero movies…

My problem with most superhero movies is that the stakes are so darn high, I CAN’T relate. I mean, I have no idea what it’s like to carry the fate of the world! …I can barely carry the weight of my own fate!

So I’ve got to confess, after witnessing Jesus’ tete-a-tete with the devil; I feel a little similar to the way I do after leaving an Avengers movie…

Yes, like the rest of you, I am no stranger to the devil’s wiles. But, not on as large of a scale! My temptations are smaller, and so are the stakes…

I mean, movies have been made about Jesus’ temptations! Has that happened to anyone here? …Yeah, me neither.

So as we watch Jesus and the devil face-off, there seems to be this great chasm between us and the action…

It’s worth nothing, though, that our scripture begins right after last week’s, Jesus’ baptism. No sooner is Jesus baptized, anointed with the Spirit; than that very same Spirit sends Jesus out into the wilderness to be tested!

At first, the devil bides his time. But once Jesus has fasted for forty days, when he’s good and hungry, the devil shows up. He takes Jesus up to some rocks, and tempts him to turn them into a little afternoon snack. 

But, quoting scripture, Deuteronomy, Jesus tells the devil food isn’t really going to satisfy him. …What he really needs is God’s Word, and Jesus isn’t about to accept any substitutes.

The devil isn’t put off so easily, though.

*Remember that.* 

So the devil takes Jesus up to the Holy City, up to the peak of the holy temple; and quoting holy scripture himself (Psalm 91), the devil tempts Jesus to throw himself down.
“God will have to catch you,” says the devil…

But Jesus, familiar as he is with scripture, goes to Deuteronomy again, and tells the devil you don’t manipulate God, or scripture for that matter, like that. God’s provision and promises can’t be be tested, they can only be gratefully received…

Finally, the devil puts all the pretenses aside, and lays it out. 

He takes Jesus up a great mountain, shows him all the godless kingdoms of the world, and promises to give them all to him, if Jesus will just bow down and worship the the devil, even for just a moment! 

To which, Jesus tells the devil they’re done. Quoting scripture one more time, still Deuteronomy, Jesus tells the devil worship belongs to God, and God alone. 

Having met his match; the devil has no choice but to obey Jesus, and leave. And so he does. 

Then, Jesus start preaching…

Now there’s so much to talk about; the way the devil goes after Jesus. How Jesus quotes, and interprets scripture. We could spend the entire sermon on that. But the trouble is, how much of it actually relates to the likes of us?

Watching the big back and forth, with all the stakes; it’s easy to feel like we can relate to this about as much as we can relate to Tony Stark in the Iron Man movies…

But, that would be to give the devil too much credit. Because while his form may vary; his content turns out to be very similar over all these ages…

Watch the way the temptations plays out again. But this time, don’t focus on the temptations in particular, watch where the devil takes Jesus.

First, the devil takes Jesus up to a few stones. When Jesus says no, the devil takes Jesus higher up, to the peak of the temple. Then, when Jesus doesn’t fall for that, the devil takes Jesus up as high as he can go, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world…

…Did you catch that?

Each time the devil tempted Jesus, he took Jesus a little higher! The devil’s temptation is to try and take Jesus out, above the fray of the world!

That’s significant! Because, while I know this might sound like a stretch; I bet that is something you can relate to…

In fact, I bet one way or another, that’s what the devil’s been throwing your way lately. Because January is a hard month, isn’t it? And usually, no sooner do we realize how hard of a go we’re having, than we try and get out of it. RISE above it. Shake off the funk of the season…

We do this, not just with this time of the year, but any time we find ourselves in the fray; when we mourn, can’t catch a break, feel like we’ve stalled out…

Any time we find ourselves there, the first temptation, is to try and get out of it. Rise above it. 

In other words, do the very thing the devil tempted Jesus to!

Turns out, we do know a thing or two about Jesus’ temptation! 

Or, more accurately, he knows a thing or two about ours. That’s why Jesus our high priest is able to sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15)

And that, that’s the real different between Jesus’ temptation and ours! 

Not how large it is. Not how high the stakes are. Not even how Jesus manages to clearly see what the devil’s up to! 

No, the real difference between Jesus’ temptation and ours, is the way Jesus stays faithful! How he refuses to leave the patch set before him!

Any time God’s people find themselves on the low road, the devil shows up and tempts us to RISE above it. Leave it behind…

That’s how temptations work! They dangle the tantalizing fruit before us, that we’re too good, privileged, special or whatever; to have to suffer through the difficult places of life.

Every time we grow famished from the grind of life, the devil shows up. His temptations are the same every time, too! RISE above it. Leave it behind. Get out of it! 

Do like Adam and Eve all over again, and reach our hand up to take the fruit that dangles above our heads!

And it’s a mistake every time. Every time

Not just because it’s the devil tempting you. But because the path he tempts you to, is one that doesn’t exist! There is no path of life that is so charmed, it is free of rough patches.

And Jesus is for those of us who have had to sit in the all too real places of life!

…Once Jesus rebuffs the devil, the first thing he does is move to an unlikely place, like the low roads of life, and starts preaching. And that’s still what he does! 

The devil tempted Jesus to leave the place where life actually happens. And thanks be to God, Jesus didn’t take the bait! Jesus refused to be put off from his path! He remained determined to do his work in these low places; where we’ve all found ourselves from time to time!

So if that’s where you are today; you are right in the place where Jesus gives his best sermons! 

That’s why you shouldn’t take the devil’s bait and try to get out of these rough places of life! They’re the ones Jesus does his best work!

Jesus’ didn’t go UP with the devil. Instead, he committed himself with these low places! And in them, Jesus doesn’t send angels to do his work, he does it himself!

He feeds you, but not with stones turned to bread, but himself turned to bread. Bread, broken and given to you. He makes his his place, not in the pinnacle of the temple, but in your laid-low and broken heart. He brings his kingdom, not to the splendid places of the world, but the squalid ones where we’ve made a mess of things!

And I know. I know how tempting it is to try and get out of these places; but the promise you have—by right of Jesus’ faithfulness, and your baptism into it—is that these are the places Jesus comes to! The places he does where he does his ministry! 

The devil couldn’t put Jesus off these places, and neither can we!

We’ve all fallen for the devil’s wiles, haven’t we? We reached up; only to fall all the harder. 

But the ground we fall to is the place Jesus comes to. And not to lecture us, but to be there for us. Feed us a meal. Vanquish the darkness we’ve been sitting in. 

Life can be hard. Sometimes harder than others. And the temptation is always the same, isn’t it? Get out of it. Rise above it.

But this place, with all its rough edges, is the place God loves. The places Jesus is committed to. The place Jesus will save, come hell or high water! 

You; you who've mourned. You who are having a rough go of it. You who sit in darkness; light has dawned! 

This is a hard place to be, I know. But what Jesus refuses the devil’s temptation for, is to meet you here. Preach to you, here. Give himself to you, here. Right here, in the midst of all this. 

Jesus isn’t hiding anywhere else. He’s not waiting for you to get your act together and pull yourself out of this.

Our Gospel began with Jesus being led by the Spirit and being tested by the devil. We know what it’s like to live between those two forces, don’t we? Led by the Spirit and tested by the devil.

It’s a hard place to be, but it’s the place Jesus is committed to. The place he refuses to leave. The places he loves to preach.