Lead us not into temptation...

Our lessons today really talk a lot about temptation and sin.  It’s not a popular topic of conversation these days but it is what was happening in our lessons today.  Let's look at the circumstances of Jesus' testing.  He goes out into the wilderness - some translations say desert.  First of all, why is it call the wilderness - or desert?  Because it is deserted - it is a place where very little grows and very few live.  It is a place were you are alone - with little to eat or to shelter you from the heat.  

And Jesus fasted for 40 days - living off what little the land could provide - no contact with other people - utterly alone.  And at the end of those 40 days comes the temptation.  Jesus is hungry; he's lonely; he's in a physically and emotionally weakened condition.  This is one of the circumstances in life when we are most susceptible to temptation.   When we are strong and among our true friends, we can fight off temptation.  It doesn't control us.  

So Jesus is in a weakened condition - both physically and spiritually and the devil comes... -  this is a stumbling block for many people - the devil - some translations say Satan - other meanings used for the Greek word diabolos are false accuser, and slanderer.   Next our lesson calls him tempter - which is also translated enticer, tester.  

I once had a parishioner ask me if Satan was real.  Our catechism in the back of the prayer book never mentions Satan - it talks about human nature, rebelling against God, and sin, which it defines as seeking our own will over the will of God.  So I followed the catechismal party line and rather than talking about the person of Satan, I talked about the reality of evil in the world - and the need for people to personify that reality.  

But even at that, some people don't want to admit the reality of evil in the world today.  That's why you hear people say things like, he's just misguided, or she showed poor judgment, or they made a mistake, or they're just going through a dark period.  Any euphemism to keep us from having to confront the concept of evil and sin.

But there is evil in the world - people want to believe that it doesn't exist, but if evil doesn't exist, how do you explain things like 9/11, a parent who can kill his or her children, human trafficking, and all the other really evil things in this world that we don't want to face.  

Several years ago there was a show called Joan of Arcadia about a teenage girl who talked to God.  It was a great show because it dared to talk about realities of life and ways of facing those realities.  One episode had a discussion between two characters concerning evil.  Joan's mother was taking catechism from a former Roman Catholic nun turned surfer.  They were talking about Joan's father's boss - and the word evil is brought up by the nun.  Joan's mother said, "Evil's so ugly and foreign..."  The nun replied, "Evil is charming and beautiful - it asks for one small compromise after another until it whittles you down.  It makes you doubt yourself, and it functions best when no one believes in it."

You know, Satan is called the deceiver - and not without reason.  He lures us into a false sense of security weaving a tale of deception.  The three temptations of Jesus are an example of that kind of deception.

In the first temptation, the devil comes to Jesus with a temptation that doesn't seem so outlandish. "You are hungry.  You are the Son of God.  (the word translated "if" can also be translated "since" - Satan is not questioning Jesus' sonship, he is affirming it with a suggestion that Jesus make use of that relationship - to prove it.)  You don't have to be hungry.  You can do something about it.  Turn these stones into bread and satisfy your hunger." 

This is more than a temptation to satisfy the desires of the flesh.  It is a temptation to deny our need for God.  Nothing wrong with a little bread, but consider this difference - God gave the children of Israel manna from heaven - a free gift - they didn't have to do anything - it fell from the sky and they just picked it up.  But Satan is asking Jesus to take matters in his own hands - not wait for God's gift, but to make the bread himself - to be self-sufficient - not to rely on God's promise.  It's subtle - it looks like taking care of a necessity, when the issue is actually much deeper - putting himself in the place of God, denying even the need of God.

Next we find that Satan has taken Jesus up on the temple - and once again tempts him - "You are the Son of God.  You can do whatever you want.  Scripture says that God will send his angels to take care of you.  Go ahead - throw yourself off the temple - you won't get hurt." Jesus has already shown in the first temptation that he will rely on God, that Jesus will trust God to take care of him.  Since Jesus understands that, Satan is trying to encourage Jesus to 'call the shots' on how - and when - God is going to take care of him - it's actually an attempt to make Jesus seize control by forcing God's hand. 

And finally Satan takes Jesus up on a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world.  And he tells Jesus, "Fall down and worship me and all this will be yours."  Well, okay - we know Jesus is a king - king of the Jews, light of the world, prince of peace - what's wrong with taking up his throne now and then he can dictate what he's trying to teach to the people.  They'd have to obey him and surely he could have spread his message much faster.  

That would have been an attractive compromise that might look good on the surface - but what a difference it is from what God offers.  What Satan was offering was for Jesus to be king over an imperfect earthly world.  What God offered was for Jesus to be king over the redeemed kingdom of heaven.  A kingdom he would redeem himself.  Remember Wednesday's lessons - do we want our reward to be for a limited time here on earth, or in heaven for all of eternity?  Delayed gratification has its benefits.  Had Jesus chosen the earthly kingdom, then we would not be sitting here right now and we would not have the option of resting in heaven with Jesus at the end of time.  

God has planned for us something greater than we could ever imagine for ourselves.  But like Jesus, we have to be willing to wait on God's plan, in God's time.  But the evil that permeates this world would convince us that what we can gain through our own efforts in this place, at this time, is the goal we should aim for.  That we should settle for something less than God's plan for our lives.  The darkness that people talk about is what Satan uses to obscure God's plan by injecting his own end objective - that of drawing us away from the love of God - away from the help of God's saving grace.  Jesus is the light of the world - and he does shine out in the darkness - and in his light, Satan - evil - call it what you will - cannot hide.  After all we can't see heaven, we can't prove its existence.  It's a matter of faith.

So I suggest that, yes, we are tested - after all, there is a reason we pray, "Lead us not into temptation - but deliver us from evil."  We are led into temptation every day.  Temptation comes in all sizes and shapes.  Temptation 

to keep the extra change the clerk gives us

to fudge on our taxes

to tell a small untruth that might help us get ahead at work

to listen or pass on gossip about a neighbor or co-worker

to cut off that driver who’s trying to get ahead of the line

        to glance at your neighbor's paper when you don't know the answer to that test question.

And even though we are led into temptation - please remember that temptation itself is not sin.  Everyone experiences temptation.  The trick is to learn what is temptation for us, to recognize it for what it is so that we can avoid it, to turn away.  Sin (or evil) only comes when we succumb to that temptation - when we choose to act less than Godly in any given situation.    

Let us pray:  Almighty God, whose blessed Son, Jesus, was led into the desert to be tempted by Satan:  come quickly to help us who are surrounded by many temptations; and as you know the weaknesses of each of us, help us to find the strength to say "no" to every temptation. through Jesus Christ our Lord who overcame temptation, and died and rose again that we might be redeemed in this life and find eternal salvation.  Amen.