Sermon - February 17, 2013

1st Sunday in Lent – Year C 

Luke 4:1-13

God Doesn't Leave when Trouble Comes

             I apologize for repeating myself, but I wanted to say a bit more about a topic I included in my e-devotion on Thursday.  At the Region 9 Campus Ministry Conference, we got into a discussion about Lent.  Two of my colleagues began to speak of how they address the season of Lent among their students. 

“We cut it short.” one said.  His rationale is that in a parish you have 52 weeks to cover the story of Jesus.  5 weeks is one tenth of the whole.  The academic communities we serve have a 30 week life.  To observe all of Lent means giving over one-sixth of the year.

The other spoke of acknowledging it, but not really delving into it.  “They are already aware of rejection and betrayal.  Why do I need to tell them more about that.” He said. 

        I do not want to be heard to be defending Lent from all critics; nor would I ever insist that something which isn’t helpful MUST be endured by God’s children.  However, I do wish to speak of why I hope we never cut short our 40 days and ignore the themes and messages and images associated with this period in the church year.  There may only be 30 weeks in the academic year, but our hope (and expectation) is that you will find a worshipping community for the 22 weeks you aren’t in Clemson.  As for the harshness of the Lenten message – my experience tells me that the way to address the pain of life is to speak to them and about them – rather than ignore them or minimize their potential to hurt and harm.  If speaking of such things adds to your pain, I offer repentance.  But the message I want you to leave with this morning is that God is no fare-weather friend; that God (as witnessed to in the scriptures) does not abandon us when we experience hardship.  Rather – God moves all the closer to us to assure us and strengthen us and save us.

            This is why we begin every Lenten season with a reading of the temptation of Jesus.  This story acknowledges that life is difficult, and seldom a bowl full of cherries.  Sometimes the journey of God’s children looks more like Dante's Inferno than a trip to Disney World.

In writing of Jesus’ experience in the wilderness, Mark precedes the description of what is about to happen with two very clear reminders of how it happens.  Luke 4, verse 1 begins:  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.  Jesus is "full" of the Spirit; Jesus is "led" by the Spirit.  What is about to happen to him is not the result of God's absence; it is the direct result of God's presence.

Led by the Spirit, the Ac­cuser comes to visit and sets before Jesus options which may prove more appealing, simpler, or easier to understand than the path desired by God. 

The temptation begins, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."  Scripture tells us that Jesus was a person of compassion.  He heals the sick and binds up the broken.  How much of their suffering was the direct result of need?  Had the basic necessities of life been available to them, many if not most of their illnesses would have been avoid­ed.  "Command this stone to become a loaf of bread," is more than a temptation for Jesus to satisfy his own hunger.  It sets before him the opportunity to eliminate human suffering.

Some of those who call upon the name of Christ would have us believe that Jesus did change the stone into bread.  They are the ones who claim that as a result of their faith they have never experienced want or need.  They are the ones who tell us that if we give our life to Christ all we could ever want will come our way. 

Luke's gospel calls a halt to such ways of thinking.  Jesus doesn't do it.  Jesus understood his mission to be something different.  He was not going to eliminate our need or want - he was going to reveal to us the path of faith.  Regardless of the claims made by some, Jesus does not take away all our need.  He joins us in it.  He does not change the stone to bread in order to satisfy our hunger, nor his own.

The next stop on the Tempter's tour is a vantage point from which one sees all the kingdoms of the world.  Forget for a mo­ment the question of ownership, whether these are indeed in the possession of Tempter.  The temptation which is set before Jesus is to establish a new world order; to eliminate corrupt governments, to make the kingdom of God synonymous with the kingdoms of this world.

There are expressions of the faith which still see this as their goal.  They live out their lives in obedience to the notion that Jesus accepted this temptation and that we are to work to bring it to completion. They want the mission of the Church to be defined as the process of making all persons comply with the wishes of the Church.  You see this mind set at work each time someone juxtaposes the Word of God with some piece of legislation.  It comes into play whenever someone tries to reduce Jesus' conversation about the kingdom of God into a political agenda or endorsement for some charismatic leader.

It would be a wonderful world if everyone did obey and see themselves as citizens of God's Kingdom.  But Luke reminds us that Jesus said "No!"  He did not agree.  As a result we will never live in God's kingdom on earth.  Ours is an imperfect world and always will be. 

Maybe the Tempter hoped to play upon Jesus' strength of conviction, for the last temptation comes almost as a dare.  "Since you are so high and mighty," the Accuser seems to say, “throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple.  Prove that you are the one sent by God, the one whose Word reveals the way to salvation."  Of all the temptations set before Jesus, this is the one that would have done the most to make our job easier.  Jesus is being offered the chance to prove that all the things he says are indeed true. 

What a missed opportunity.  Jesus performs so many other miracles, why won't he do the one that would prove he is who we believe him to be?  All it would take would be a little show of power; a simple demonstration that God would protect him and never let any evil come his way.  But again Jesus says, "No!"  He doesn't do it.  And we who call upon his name are forever left with the impossible job of explaining why we believe.

I don't know why Jesus doesn't meet our every need, establish his kingdom, or prove his truth.  It would be simpler; it would be easier if only God would.  But to each of these tempta­tions Jesus says "No!"  And we are left with a call to faith, call to trust that in the midst of our ambiguity, in the midst of our continual pain and suffering, God's will is being done, God's purpose is making itself known.

During our forty days of Lent, we will wrestle with the way of the cross.  We will struggle to understand why this is the way of God.  But we will refuse to ignore the realities or close our eyes to the witness of scripture.  It may be tempting to speak of a God who removes all suffering and doubt and hardship from our lives, but that is not the way of Jesus and it is not the witness of scripture.  That way assures us that when hardship is close at hand, Jesus is even closer.  Remember the information in verse 1:  The Tempter only comes when the Spirit is already present.

Amen.