Search This Blog

Friday, February 17, 2017

No Short-Cuts

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 19, 2017.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 4:1-11.


            As we continue with our sermon series “Beyond the Manger”, looking at the early life of Jesus, we pick up right where we left off last week.  Jesus has just been baptized by John.  The Spirit of God descends and alights on him.  A voice from heaven says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
            And then, we’re told, Jesus went off into the wilderness and fasted for forty days.  I’m sure at least part of that time was spent in prayer, but I think Jesus was also trying to figure out what he was supposed to do next.  Yes, he knew he was the divine Son of God sent to earth to save the world, but just exactly how was he going to do that?  What’s the next step?  How does he proceed from here?  I would think he spent a lot of time in prayer trying to work that out.
            And while he’s doing that, the devil comes and tempts him.  Now Jesus is really hungry, obviously--he has not eaten for forty days.  But he’s also--well, not confused exactly, but uncertain.  He’s trying to figure out how he’s supposed to do what he’s supposed to do.  And it’s just then, when he’s both physically weak and uncertain about what to do next, that the devil comes and tempts him.
            So there’s a lesson for us right there.  It is when we’re weak that temptation hits us the strongest.  It’s when we’re uncertain about what to do that temptation is the hardest to resist.
            And this is true no matter where the temptation comes from.  I do believe that temptation can come from Satan or from demons, but temptation can come from other places, too.  Temptation can come from other people.  Temptation can come from inside of us, from our own sinful nature.  But wherever it comes from, this is when temptation hits us the hardest--when we’re physically weak and when we’re struggling mentally or emotionally.  That’s when temptation is hardest to resist.  And that’s when the devil came to Jesus to tempt him.
            But Jesus was ready.  Jesus was ready because the Spirit of God had come to him.  He was ready because he had spent those forty days praying and seeking God’s will.  He may have been physically weak.  He may have been uncertain about what to do next.  But he was spiritually strong.  He had opened himself up to the Holy Spirit.  He was determined to go where God the Father wanted him to go and to do what God the Father wanted him to do.  And so, no matter what his condition was, he was able to resist the temptations of the devil.
            And that’s what you and I need to do.  Because we have times when we’re physically weak.  Sometimes we’ve been working hard and we’re tired.  Sometimes we get sick, and sometimes the illness is something really serious.  Sometimes we get older and our bodies start to break down.  And sometimes we struggle mentally or emotionally.  That can happen for all kinds of reasons.  Life throws a lot of stuff at us, and we would not be human if it did not get to us sometimes.
            And that’s the time when temptation is likely to hit us the hardest.  But if we’re ready, we can resist.  And we’ll be ready if we’ve opened ourselves up to the Holy Spirit.  If we’re determined to go where God wants us to go and to do what God wants us to do, even if we don’t understand what’s going on or why, we can resist those temptations, just like Jesus did.
            But it can be hard sometimes.  Because temptations sometimes can be things that seem like they’d be really good things to do.  They just are not the way God wants things to be done.
            Here’s what I mean.  Look at what Jesus was tempted to do.  The first one is “tell these stones to become bread.”
            Nothing wrong with that, is there?  Jesus was hungry.  Why not make some bread?  It would not hurt anybody.  In fact, why not take this to a larger scale?  Why not make stones all over the place turn into bread?  Think of all the people Jesus could’ve fed that way.  I mean, we have the one time in the gospels where Jesus fed five thousand, but turning rocks into bread?  He could’ve fed five hundred thousand.  He could’ve fed five million.  He could’ve fed five billion!  I mean, just think of all the rocks there are in the world.  There’d be an almost unlimited supply of bread.  Why not do it?
            It had to be really tempting for Jesus.  After all, he knew how many hungry, even starving people there are in the world.  He must’ve wished he could feed all of them.  But what does Jesus answer?  He quotes Deuteronomy and says, “People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
            Jesus could’ve fed everyone in the world.  It’s seems like that would be a good plan.  But it was not God’s plan.  It was not the reason Jesus came to earth.  Jesus did not come to earth to feed the world.  He came to earth to save the world from its sins.  There’d have been nothing wrong with feeding people, but it would’ve distracted him from his mission.  Jesus’ main purpose was not to take care of our physical needs, even though he sometimes did that.  Jesus’ main purposes were to teach us how to live and to save us from our sins.  Turning rocks into bread, while it might seem like a good thing to do, was not what Jesus was sent here to do.  And so, as tempting as it must have been, Jesus refused to do it.
            The second thing Jesus was tempted to do was to jump off the highest point of the temple and let the angels save him.  Think of how cool that would’ve been.  The temple, from what I’ve read, was about a hundred fifty feet high.  Picture that.  Jesus jumps down from a hundred fifty feet.  He lands beautifully, gracefully, totally unharmed, guided down by angels.  You think that would’ve gotten people’s attention?  Lots of people would’ve seen it, and they’d have spread the word far and wide.  Pretty soon everyone would’ve heard what Jesus did.
            Think of how many people would’ve come to believe in Jesus after that.  How could they not?  Anyone who could do that, and be surrounded by angels doing it, would have to be the Savior.  Think of all the time and effort Jesus could’ve saved.  He would not have had to go around teaching and preaching and working miracles.  They’d have believed in him right then and there.
            It had to be really tempting for Jesus.  But he refused.  Because if people had believed in him then, what would they have believed in?  A showman.  Someone who did things to call attention to himself.  Someone who all flash and hype.  They’d might have believed in him, but they would not have been listening to what he said.  They just would’ve come for the show, for the spectacle.  And to keep their attention, Jesus would’ve had to keep topping himself, to put on more shows, more spectacles, to keep people from getting bored and wandering off.
            Jesus could’ve attracted lots of followers with a spectacle.  It seems like that would’ve been a good plan.  But it was not God’s plan.  Jesus did not want people who were just there to see the show.  Jesus wanted people who were dedicated to loving God and loving others.  He wanted people who were willing to surrender their lives to God.  And so, as tempting as it must have been to attract people in this way, Jesus refused to do it.
            And finally, the third temptation.  The devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.  He says they can all belong to Jesus, if Jesus will just worship Satan.
            We read that, and we think, “Well, of course Jesus won’t worship Satan.”  But think about this.  You’re Jesus.  The divine Son of God.  You can rule all the kingdoms of the world.  Think of all the good you could do for people.  You could end slavery.  You could end oppression.  You could end poverty.  You could end unfairness and inequality.  You could, almost literally, create heaven on earth for people.  And not just for now, but for thousands of years to come.  You could make life on earth better than anyone ever dreamed for billions and billions of people.
            That had to be so tempting.  Because, after all, Jesus had great compassion for the poor.  Jesus had great compassion for the oppressed.  Jesus had great compassion for those who were treated unfairly.  He could’ve put that all to an end.  Yes, he’d have had to worship Satan, but hey, if worshiping Satan meant helping all these people, how bad could it be?
            Well, pretty bad, actually.  Because what it would’ve shown was a lack of faith in God’s plan.  God had a plan for the salvation of the world.  God still has a plan for the salvation of the world.  It’s a long-term plan.  You and I don’t understand it.  We don’t understand how God’s plan for the salvation of the world can include so much poverty and oppression and unfairness.  
It seems like ending all that right now would be a better plan.  But it’s not God’s plan.  Satan gave Jesus a chance to end all that poverty and oppression and unfairness right now.  But Satan’s plan is not a plan for the salvation of the world.  Satan’s plan is for the oppression of the world.  Satan’s plan is for the slavery of the world, in this life and in the next one.  Jesus knew that.  So even though Satan’s plan had to be really tempting, Jesus followed God’s plan instead.
God’s plan is a long-term plan.  And when you think about it, what Jesus was really being tempted to do is take short-cuts.  Don’t let people stay hungry.  Feed them all right now.  Don’t take years to gather followers.  Get lots of them right now.  Don’t wait until someday to end slavery and oppression and poverty.  End it all right now.
And so many times, that’s what we’re tempted to do:  take short-cuts.  I need more money right now.  I need someone in my life right now.  I need a more fulfilling job right now.  I need a better car or a better house right now.
It’s not always things for ourselves, either.  It can be all kinds of things.  I fall victim to it for our church.  I want more people to come to church right now.  I want more kids in Sunday School/Faith Builders right now.  I want more money to come in so we can do more things right now.
The things we want are not necessarily bad things.  And they may even be things God wants, too.  But if they are, God has a plan for making them come about.  And it’s a long-term plan.  If we try to force things to happen before God wants them to happen, we’re going to fail.  If we’re going to succeed, we need to follow God’s long-term plan and not take short-cuts.  And the only way we can follow God’s long-term plan is to do what Jesus did:  let God’s Holy Spirit come into our lives.  Allow ourselves to be led by God’s Holy Spirit.
Jesus refused to take short-cuts.  God’s Holy Spirit was with him, he allowed himself to be led by the Holy Spirit, and he followed God’s plan.  If we open ourselves up to God, if we surrender ourselves to God, God’s Holy Spirit will lead us, too.  And then, we’ll follow God’s plan, with no short-cuts.  It takes time.  It takes effort.  It takes patience.  But when God’s plan comes together, the results are pretty awesome.

No comments:

Post a Comment