Recent Sermons
"SERMON FOR FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT"
Genesis 2 v 15 – 3 v 7. Matthew 4 vv 1-11
Last month I spent some time with one of my god-daughters who is bright, beautiful and very self-aware. She also suffers from an eating disorder which first manifest itself when she was a young teenager and so for some years has been the victim of a compulsion which has the potential to be frighteningly destructive. She’s currently trying, through a 12 step plan very similar to that which recovering alcoholics follow, to resist the temptation to abuse herself.
On this first Sunday in Lent we face the subject of temptation, the urge to do something which harms us. And through hearing again of the encounter in the Garden of Eden we’re reminded that from the very beginning of our species human kind has battled with the desire to do things which aren’t in our best interests. We’re invited once again to use Lent to discover our dependencies and to exercise the kind of self-discipline which will help us to reconsider our health and well being.
Temptation: in common parlance we tend to talk about ‘giving in’ to temptation. I collected my daughter from university yesterday and in the car told her that I was preaching about temptation this morning. ‘What do you do with temptation?’ I asked her. ‘Oh I just give in to it’ she replied, and instantly proved the case by telling me that despite deciding to give up eating chocolate for Lent this year she had already consumed a bar of it by the end of Ash Wednesday evening.
It was an amusing conversation and we all talk lightly about ‘giving in’ to temptation but as my god-daughter’s story reflects, if we’re really to resist short term pleasures which have darker consequences we need insights and powers which are much more sturdy than that phrase suggests.
So let’s consider the temptation of Jesus as described by Matthew. You’ll realise that by the nature of this event there were no eye-witnesses so even if Jesus relayed his experiences at a later date what we’re listening to is a stylized narrative which conveys Jesus’ quest to walk a path of obedience to God. Straight after his baptism Jesus withdraws for a period of solitude: cut off from daily distractions he spends time alone questioning what it means for him to be obedient to God in the way ahead.
The temptations which assail Jesus here were things he battled with throughout his whole adult life. Matthew shows us that by repeating the taunt we hear here at the very beginning of Jesus’ public life again at the crucifixion, as almost the last thing ever said to him. The tempter comes to him and says “If you are the Son of God...command stones to become bread, throw yourself down and worship me.” And as Jesus hangs on the cross Matthew tells us that those who pass by cry the same, “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross.”
Just like us Jesus was tempted by big life choices but which are woven into the everyday moments throughout his life. He was never rid of them.
• Will he use his resources for ill or only in the pursuit of his own pleasure?
• Will hubris get the better of him in the way he does things?
• Where does his ultimate loyalty lie? Would he rather believe comforting lies than uncomfortable realities?
Matthew’s scheme of imagining Jesus facing up to these human seductions in a single moment may be somewhat artificial but it reinforces what we know to be true: that resisting things which offer us pleasure rather than life and liberty has lifetime consequences. It’s rather like the challenge of eating healthily: it may be something where we only see the result in the long term but the habit is formed daily meal by daily meal.
The other advantage of focusing Jesus’ temptations into one encounter is that it reinforces that our choices do really matter. Placing Jesus here in the wilderness is significant because it recalls the two archetypal story of human disobedience so familiar to Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries.
• They would remember Genesis and the delights of a garden lost by the Fall of Adam and Eve who then enter a more barren world. Man and woman eat of the tree forbidden them by God and ever after want self-sufficiency rather than dependency on God.
• They would also remember the people of Israel, rescued from slavery in Egypt but then wandering the wilderness, not for 40 days but for 40 years, because of their lack of trust and disobedience.
Both of these stories show us that temptation is about choice and who we are is reflected in those choices. Whilst our temptations are so often about us trying to escape realities they end up highlighting what we’d rather not know about ourselves.
Yet this narrative of Jesus’ temptation doesn’t only remind us about the power of disobedience and distrust it also asserts that human life can resist such destructive forces. Jesus didn’t succumb to abuse and it’s helpful to notice the three ways in which Jesus managed the destructive compulsions of human life:
i) He articulated what he believed. He quoted the Scripture which he had inculcated. We might do the same. We might articulate our values, what we expect of ourselves, what are we aiming for if we want to reflect the character of being God’s child. If you publish your values with your family and friends then you’ll know more clearly when your behaviour stops being aligned with those beliefs. If you’re lucky and encourage them, they might even tell you when you’re going astray.
ii) Jesus then says “Away with you, Satan!” He puts distance between himself and the voice of the tempter. He doesn’t keep company with things which he knows he finds difficult. Surely the first key to facing temptation is knowing our weaknesses and putting ourselves in a place where we’re more likely to be strong. My daughter may have got further into Lent with her chocolate ban if she hadn’t carried around a bar of her favourite Dairy Milk in her pocket. My god-daughter maintains a careful nutritional plan and has weekly trips to the dietician as part of her attempt to achieve a different sense of safety and control. It’s our habits which protect us and build our defences.
iii) Articulating our beliefs, saying ‘away with Satan’, and finally Jesus had angels ministering to him. All of us need angels who watch over us and wait on us. We can’t face our compulsions and destructive tendencies alone. Sometimes we need a mentor who acts like a spiritual or moral personal trainer. Sometimes we just need to have the humility to rely on our family or friends who care for us. Very shortly in this service we’ll be re-commissioning our splendid Lay Pastoral Assistants who are often the ministering angels of our community. They’re ever there to help in times of need or temptation and this morning we thank them for all they do on our behalf.
There’ll be few of us who find it easy to put long term security and a commitment to reality before our short term pleasures and satisfaction. All of us have to face up to the temptation of things we enjoy but which do us no good. I’m saddened by the plight my god-daughter finds herself in but I also know that she’s not alone and that indeed few of us get away without knowing what addiction means: the dependency on something which we want but which is harmful for our body or soul. Lent is a time for looking honestly at our addictions.
And when temptation is so very strong, when our compulsions chase us down and never go away, as we do battle with them there will be angels to minister to us as there were to Jesus, to let us know that whether we succeed or fail there’s always God; who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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On this first Sunday in Lent we face the subject of temptation, the urge to do something which harms us. And through hearing again of the encounter in the Garden of Eden we’re reminded that from the very beginning of our species human kind has battled with the desire to do things which aren’t in our best interests. We’re invited once again to use Lent to discover our dependencies and to exercise the kind of self-discipline which will help us to reconsider our health and well being.
Temptation: in common parlance we tend to talk about ‘giving in’ to temptation. I collected my daughter from university yesterday and in the car told her that I was preaching about temptation this morning. ‘What do you do with temptation?’ I asked her. ‘Oh I just give in to it’ she replied, and instantly proved the case by telling me that despite deciding to give up eating chocolate for Lent this year she had already consumed a bar of it by the end of Ash Wednesday evening.
It was an amusing conversation and we all talk lightly about ‘giving in’ to temptation but as my god-daughter’s story reflects, if we’re really to resist short term pleasures which have darker consequences we need insights and powers which are much more sturdy than that phrase suggests.
So let’s consider the temptation of Jesus as described by Matthew. You’ll realise that by the nature of this event there were no eye-witnesses so even if Jesus relayed his experiences at a later date what we’re listening to is a stylized narrative which conveys Jesus’ quest to walk a path of obedience to God. Straight after his baptism Jesus withdraws for a period of solitude: cut off from daily distractions he spends time alone questioning what it means for him to be obedient to God in the way ahead.
The temptations which assail Jesus here were things he battled with throughout his whole adult life. Matthew shows us that by repeating the taunt we hear here at the very beginning of Jesus’ public life again at the crucifixion, as almost the last thing ever said to him. The tempter comes to him and says “If you are the Son of God...command stones to become bread, throw yourself down and worship me.” And as Jesus hangs on the cross Matthew tells us that those who pass by cry the same, “If you are the Son of God come down from the cross.”
Just like us Jesus was tempted by big life choices but which are woven into the everyday moments throughout his life. He was never rid of them.
• Will he use his resources for ill or only in the pursuit of his own pleasure?
• Will hubris get the better of him in the way he does things?
• Where does his ultimate loyalty lie? Would he rather believe comforting lies than uncomfortable realities?
Matthew’s scheme of imagining Jesus facing up to these human seductions in a single moment may be somewhat artificial but it reinforces what we know to be true: that resisting things which offer us pleasure rather than life and liberty has lifetime consequences. It’s rather like the challenge of eating healthily: it may be something where we only see the result in the long term but the habit is formed daily meal by daily meal.
The other advantage of focusing Jesus’ temptations into one encounter is that it reinforces that our choices do really matter. Placing Jesus here in the wilderness is significant because it recalls the two archetypal story of human disobedience so familiar to Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries.
• They would remember Genesis and the delights of a garden lost by the Fall of Adam and Eve who then enter a more barren world. Man and woman eat of the tree forbidden them by God and ever after want self-sufficiency rather than dependency on God.
• They would also remember the people of Israel, rescued from slavery in Egypt but then wandering the wilderness, not for 40 days but for 40 years, because of their lack of trust and disobedience.
Both of these stories show us that temptation is about choice and who we are is reflected in those choices. Whilst our temptations are so often about us trying to escape realities they end up highlighting what we’d rather not know about ourselves.
Yet this narrative of Jesus’ temptation doesn’t only remind us about the power of disobedience and distrust it also asserts that human life can resist such destructive forces. Jesus didn’t succumb to abuse and it’s helpful to notice the three ways in which Jesus managed the destructive compulsions of human life:
i) He articulated what he believed. He quoted the Scripture which he had inculcated. We might do the same. We might articulate our values, what we expect of ourselves, what are we aiming for if we want to reflect the character of being God’s child. If you publish your values with your family and friends then you’ll know more clearly when your behaviour stops being aligned with those beliefs. If you’re lucky and encourage them, they might even tell you when you’re going astray.
ii) Jesus then says “Away with you, Satan!” He puts distance between himself and the voice of the tempter. He doesn’t keep company with things which he knows he finds difficult. Surely the first key to facing temptation is knowing our weaknesses and putting ourselves in a place where we’re more likely to be strong. My daughter may have got further into Lent with her chocolate ban if she hadn’t carried around a bar of her favourite Dairy Milk in her pocket. My god-daughter maintains a careful nutritional plan and has weekly trips to the dietician as part of her attempt to achieve a different sense of safety and control. It’s our habits which protect us and build our defences.
iii) Articulating our beliefs, saying ‘away with Satan’, and finally Jesus had angels ministering to him. All of us need angels who watch over us and wait on us. We can’t face our compulsions and destructive tendencies alone. Sometimes we need a mentor who acts like a spiritual or moral personal trainer. Sometimes we just need to have the humility to rely on our family or friends who care for us. Very shortly in this service we’ll be re-commissioning our splendid Lay Pastoral Assistants who are often the ministering angels of our community. They’re ever there to help in times of need or temptation and this morning we thank them for all they do on our behalf.
There’ll be few of us who find it easy to put long term security and a commitment to reality before our short term pleasures and satisfaction. All of us have to face up to the temptation of things we enjoy but which do us no good. I’m saddened by the plight my god-daughter finds herself in but I also know that she’s not alone and that indeed few of us get away without knowing what addiction means: the dependency on something which we want but which is harmful for our body or soul. Lent is a time for looking honestly at our addictions.
And when temptation is so very strong, when our compulsions chase us down and never go away, as we do battle with them there will be angels to minister to us as there were to Jesus, to let us know that whether we succeed or fail there’s always God; who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.