The sermon at today’s Lenten service focused on temptation.
The pastor opened by confessing that he had an immense sweet tooth.
He could eat a whole box of Twinkies in one setting, supplemented by
glasses of whole milk. He is tempted to prioritize his sweet tooth over
other things that are important to him, such as being healthy enough to
live a long life to be there for his grandchildren.
Our temptations tell us what we truly love and value. In Genesis 3,
Eve initially expresses love for God, affirming God’s command not to eat
the forbidden fruit. But the serpent tempts her to desire other things
more than God: wisdom, being like God, and the desirable fruit itself.
We can even blame God for our failure to face temptation with
success. In I Corinthians 10:13, Paul states that God will not allow
Christians to be tempted more than they are able, but will provide a way
out. If we give in to temptation, we can easily blame God for not
providing that way out, or (more accurately) not seeming to do so. God
must not have strengthened us sufficiently with his Holy Spirit, we
reason.
The pastor then commented on the story of Jesus’s temptation in
Matthew 4. The first temptation, that Jesus turn the stones into bread
to assuage his hunger, relates to our desire for our needs and wants to
be met here and now. That is a temptation in this age, when so many
things are immediately accessible. With one click of the mouse, we can
access the entire library of the Vatican.
The second temptation is the desire to be noticed. Satan was tempting
Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple, a public place. God would
deliver Jesus before all those people, and Jesus would be noticed by
the public. We desire to be noticed, to be seen, and we resent when
people fail to give us so much as a “Thank you.”
The third temptation is that of power. Satan tells Jesus he will give
him all the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus would fall down and worship
Satan. We feel vulnerable and powerless in this world and would like to
be in control.
We face and meet temptation head on when we remember that Jesus is
with us. Jesus underwent temptation and prevailed over it, and he
delivered us from the slavery of the devil.
In listening to this sermon, I identified more with the problem than
the solution. I would like to be noticed and am upset when I am not,
which occurs more often than I would like. I would like the ability to
manipulate my environment to my liking: to say the right things to
people in the right way, and that would make them like me, to use an
example. I also desire certain things deep down, and they overshadow
whatever love for God I have: acceptance from others, knowledge, sex,
money and the security that comes from that, political podcasts. I have
spiritual wants and needs, which is why I pray to God and read the Bible
and other religious literature: to feed my Spirit, to find comfort, and
to find nourishment in what is righteous and wholesome. But to love God
more than other things? God may be more valuable, inherently, than
those things, since God is eternal and perfect, but to give things up
would be to make life barren, unless God replaces what is lost with
something greater and more enriching. What is more, can I give up my
desires, which are a part of me?
How does Jesus deliver us from temptation? Is it through his
presence? I remember reading a rambling post defending
once-saved-always-saved, and the blogger said that his attitude changes
towards pornography on the Internet when he remembers that Jesus is
sitting right next to him. Jesus, in that context, is not wagging his
finger but is an accepting friend. That discourages the blogger from
surfing for porn. True? False? Somewhere in between?
Does Jesus also deliver us from temptation through the hope that he
provides? Because of what Jesus did, we have the hope of eternal life.
We have acceptance from God. We need not get bent out of shape when
people do not notice us, for God notices us. We do not have to stress
out about getting all of our needs and wants met here and now or in this
life, since we have the hope of eternal happiness. And, when things do
not go our way, we can recognize that God is sovereign. Maybe these
things can help us counteract temptation. The challenge is truly
believing them.