Resisting Temptation

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, September 19, 2021.  The Bible verses used are Luke 4:1-13.

            We talked last week about our need to confess our sins.  But there’s a larger question that we did not talk about.  Why do we sin in the first place?

            We acknowledge, of course, that we are fallen, sinful people.  We know that none of us is without sin.  But think of a specific sin.  For most of us, we’ve got a lot to choose from, but just think of one.  And ask yourself:  “Why did I do that?”

            I cannot give the specific answer for anyone but myself.  But I suspect there is at least one factor that is common for all of us.  In the short term, we thought that our sin would benefit us in some way.  I don’t necessarily mean that we were being selfish, although we certainly might have been.  But we thought that things would be better for us if we committed that sin.  We may have convinced ourselves that things would be better for someone else, too--maybe for lots of people.  But we also thought things would be better for ourselves.  The chances are, when we choose to commit a sin, there is some way we think we will be better off if we commit it.

            And sometimes we are--in the short term.  After all, that’s what makes sin so tempting--we think it will make us happy, and in the short-term it may.  But if it is sin, there will be long-term consequences, and those consequences will not be so happy.  But the way Satan attacks us with sin is by trying to keep us from thinking about those long-term consequences.  Satan tried to keep us focused on our short-term happiness, not what might happen in the long run.

            That’s one of the things we see in our reading for today from the gospel of Luke.  Jesus is out in the desert.  And Satan comes along and tempts him to sin.  

            One thing we need to realize, as we hear this, is how real those temptations were for Jesus.  When we read this, we tend to think, well, he’s Jesus.  He’s the divine Son of God.  Of course Jesus can resist temptation.  And of course he did, but it was not that easy.  Jesus was and is the divine Son of God, but he was also fully human while he was on earth.  And the temptations of Satan were not easy for him to resist, any more than they would be for you or me.

            The first temptation was for Jesus to turn a stone into bread.  Now, think about this.  Jesus was hungry.  He’d been fasting for forty days.  “Hungry” is probably not really a good-enough word to say what Jesus felt.  He was starving.  And the devil comes along and says, hey, you can do something about this.  Just turn that stone into bread.

Think of how tempting that had to be.  It’d just be a little bread.  No big deal.  Just a little something to eat.  Who would it hurt?  Besides, who’d know anyway?  Jesus was out in the wilderness.  There was no one else around.  Yeah, it might be a little selfish, but so what?  You deserve it.  It’s not like Jesus would be taking food away from anyone.  It’d make things better for Jesus, it would hurt no one, and nobody would even find out.  Why not do it?

Jesus did not do it.  At least a part of him had to want to.  But he did not.  He knew he was not supposed to use his powers to benefit himself.  And he knew that somebody would know.  Two somebodies, really.  One of them was God the Father, and I’m sure Jesus did not want to let his father down.  But the other one was the devil.  The devil would know.  And there would be long-term consequences.  Because, you see, that’s another thing about temptation.  If we give in to it once, it becomes that much easier to give in to it again.  And that’s where the long-term consequences would come in.

Jesus knew he had pretty much unlimited power, at least in human terms.  Yes, he could use his power in this case to benefit himself.  And maybe it would not hurt anyone.  But once he did that, it would be that much easier to use his power to benefit himself again.  And then again.  And then again and again.  Think of the times he was on the road, with little to eat and nowhere to sleep.  He could’ve just turned a stone into a comfortable bed for himself.  Think of the times he got frustrated with the disciples.  He could’ve used his power to make them smarter, give them more understanding.  Think of the times Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees.  He could’ve just given them a good zap to change their minds.  Think of when Jesus was on the cross.  He could’ve come down from there with no problem whatsoever.  It would’ve been easy.  And if he’d given into temptation this one time, he might have given in those other times, too.  And he would not have fulfilled his purpose as the divine Son of God.

The second temptation was to take power.  The devil says, here Jesus.  You can have authority over everyone and everything on earth.  All you have to do is worship me.

Think about how tempting that one had to be.  Satan says, think about this, Jesus.  Think about all the good you could do with that kind of power.  You could heal everyone.  You could end war.  You could make end poverty.  Just imagine it.  Imagine no possessions.  I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger.  A brotherhood of man.  Imagine all the people sharing all the world.  And all you have to do, Jesus, is worship me.  You don’t have to do it in public.  Nobody needs to know.  We could have heaven right here on earth.  It’d just be making the world like it was supposed to be in the first place.  Why not do it?

Short-term gain.  Not just for Jesus, but for lots of people.  But Jesus did not do it.  Again, at least a part of him had to want to.  But he did not.  He knew that, no matter how good his intentions might be, taking power in this way would not work out. It might have been good in the short-term.  But again, there would be long-term consequences.

What Jesus knew is that, in the long-term, if he obeyed God the Father, he was going to have authority over everyone and everything on earth anyway.  He did not need to worship Satan to get it.  Yes, in the short-term, some people might have been better off.  But in the long-term, humans would have lost salvation and eternal life.  And that was too big a price to pay.

The third temptation was for Jesus to demonstrate his greatness.  The devil takes him up to the highest point of the temple.  He says, jump.  Jump off here.  You won’t get hurt.  Go ahead.  Do it.

And that had to be tempting, too.  Think what would’ve happened.  There’s Jesus, on the top of the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem.  He jumps.  He lands, unharmed.  Instant fame, right?  He’d have been a celebrity.  Everyone would’ve listened to him.  And everyone would’ve believed him.  Everyone would’ve known Jesus was the Son of God.  An incredible short-term gain.  No having to travel around.  No having to gather a bunch of disciples.  He could take a short-cut.  All the disciples he needed would be right there.  And they’d worship him.  Simple.

Short-term gain.  But Jesus knew the power he had, and he knew how he was supposed to use it.  Yes, he was going to work miracles, but they would be miracles of healing.  They would be miracles of feeding people.  They would be miracles to benefit other people, not miracles to benefit himself.  Showing off in that way might have made things easier for Jesus in the short-term, but it would’ve made Jesus’ ministry all about himself.  It would’ve made his ministry a cult of celebrity.  That might’ve worked, for a while, but Jesus’ message—God’s message—the message of loving God and loving others--would’ve been lost.  There would’ve been a short-term gain, but there would’ve been terrible long-term consequences.  

And there’s one more thing about this.  Jesus resisted these temptations, but that was not the end of the story.  It was just the end of one episode.  And at the end, we’re told that the devil “left him until a more opportune time.”

That will happen with us, too.  Resisting temptation will not make temptation go away.  It may go away for a while, but it will come back.  Satan will come back at us, usually at a point when we’re weak.  It’s something we constantly need to be on guard against.  And the way to do that is to stay close to God, just like Jesus stayed close to God.

What’s tempting you right now?  Whatever it is, I suspect it’s something that looks like it would really help you, in the short-term.  It would make things easier.  It might even save you some trouble--in the short term.

But what are the long-term consequences?  Because there will be some.  Satan is trying to keep you from thinking about them.  Satan is trying to keep you from recognizing them.  But they’re there.  Pretending they’re not won’t make them go away.  Any time we sin for short-term gain, even if we convince ourselves we have good reasons for doing it, there are long-term consequences for that, and they’re never good.

Jesus was subject to temptation all his life on earth.  And so are we.  We always need to be aware of the temptations around us.  They look good at first.  They seem to be for the best in the short-term.  That’s why they’re so tempting.  But in the long term, they’ll come back to hurt us.  And they won’t be following the will of God.

Jesus resisted temptation, and so can we.  If we stay close to God and do our best, we can follow God’s will.  And God’s will is always the best, in the short-term and in the long-term.