Monday, March 14, 2011

Rooted in the Word

On Sunday I preached my first sermon in church. I preached the evening service at First Reformed which meant that I not only preached, but also led the entire service.  To say I was nervous would be an understatement.  I'd had some conversations with Mom in the days leading up to it, and she'd been asking some rather pointed questions about where my church was, when I was preaching, how I got to church....I'd become a little suspicious and even told my roommate that I thought maybe mom would show up and surprise me.
The service was starting.  I'd given the welcome and call to worship.  We were singing the first hymns and I was getting ready to pray before the scripture reading.  I'd pretty much gotten my nerves under control (I'd spent the first 3 hymns praying and asking G-d to fill me with his Spirit, and I had a whole bunch of people praying as well, so it wasn't really me that had my nerves under control, but G-d).  I looked out at my (small) congregation and almost had a heart attack.  Mom and Isaac were walking in the back.  I almost lost it.  I wasn't sure whether to cry or laugh, whether to try and keep going as if nothing had happened or to stop and acknowledge them.  I opted to keep going, though my face did give me away...I will discuss this choice with my pastor later and we will decide if this was the best choice or not.
I preached from a manuscript, but didn't follow the manuscript exactly. I've tried to make some edits in my manuscript to better reflect what I actually said, but it isn't exact.  For those of you interested, what follows is my manuscript from the sermon.  If you choose to read it, I pray that it blesses you and I invite your feedback.  If you choose not to read it, that's fine.  Nothing comes after it so you can stop reading now.


Rooted in the Word


And Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted.   The desert.  Hot, dry, and inhospitable.  This is where the spirit led the Son of G-d.  I’ve never been to the desert before, so I can’t attest to what life in the desert is like, but from reading about it in books and on the internet, I can deduce that the desert is not a very pleasant place to live.  The days are scorching hot.  The nights are freezing cold.  Human companionship is lacking.  Food and water are scarce.  But this is where Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights. 
We don’t know what he did during those 40 days and 40 nights.  All the gospel writers tell us is that he fasted and was tempted by the devil. Perhaps he spent his days wandering around looking for a patch of shade to shield him from the scorching sun.  Perhaps he called out to his Father, asking why he had been brought to this place, this inhospitable desert. Perhaps he felt that this time of testing would never end. Perhaps he was not all that different from us when we go through times of testing.
The gospel writers tell us that at the end of 40 days, when Jesus was very hungry, the tempter himself appeared to him.  We can almost hear the challenge in Satan’s voice.  “If you really are the Son of G-d, if you are who you say you are, turn these stones into bread and eat.  After all, if you are the Son of G-d, you don’t need to be hungry.”  I can hardly imagine the thoughts that must have gone through Jesus’ mind with that challenge.  He had not eaten for 40 days.  He was hungry.  I’ve never even gone for 40 hours without food.  The hunger pangs must have been nearly unbearable.  Hunger tends to make people irritable and cranky, just ask a teenage boy whose dinner is late.  I imagine that this challenge of his deity grated on his nerves.  Of course He could have turned the stones into bread.  He was fully G-d just as He was fully human.   It would have taken just one word, one motion of his hand and he would have had more food than he could ever need.  But He didn’t.  Instead, He turned and looked at the Tempter and quoted a verse from Deuteronomy “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of G-d.”  These words were originally spoken to the Israelites by Moses as he reminded the children of Israel how G-d had provided manna for them in the desert, how G-d had provided their every need for them during their 40 years in the desert.  By recalling this event, by quoting these words, Jesus was giving testimony to His trust in G-d, testimony to the fact that He was trusting His Father in heaven to provide all His needs.   His trust in G-d was greater than His hunger. 
The tempter wasn’t finished with him yet though.  How often do we feel that we have overcome one trial or temptation only realize that another is waiting just around the corner, or in this case, on the highest point of the temple?   That is where the tempter took Jesus next, up to the very top of the temple.  Again, Satan challenged Jesus, but this time, he didn’t only challenge Jesus, but also G-d himself.  “If you are really the son of G-d, and if G-d is really who all you G-d followers say He is, jump. For didn’t He speak through His servant David and say that ‘he would command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone?’ Jump and let G-d protect you.” 
The temptation must have been strong.  By jumping, not only would he give evidence that he was the son of G-d, he would also give testimony to the fact that G-d was who he said he was.  This would be a way to show that no-good devil that G-d was infinitely more powerful than he was.  All it would take was one jump and the devil would have to leave him alone. 
But no.  He doesn’t jump.  He doesn’t stoop to the devil’s games.  Instead, he again turns to scripture, fighting the devil’s challenge which had come from the Psalms with a scripture from Deuteronomy “Do not put the Lord your G-d to the test.”  Again, these words were originally spoken by Moses to the Israelites, this time as a reminder of what a jealous G-d their Lord was.  Time and time again, as the Israelites wandered through the desert they put G-d to the test with their whining and complaining.  G-d never failed to provide for them, but over and over again, they continually tested Him.  And time and time again, their testing of G-d angered G-d and his wrath burned against them.  For Jesus, it wouldn’t have been much of test of G-d’s power.  He was fully G-d and he knew that G-d would protect Him.  There couldn’t have been a doubt in his mind that he would survive a jump from the top of the temple, but still, He wouldn’t jump.  He didn’t have to prove anything to Satan.  He didn’t have to prove anything to anyone. There was no need to play these games.  So, with those words, “Do not put the Lord your G-d to the test” he refused to give in.
The tempter was getting frustrated.  Twice now he had been foiled by Jesus. Maybe He didn’t quite understand just who Jesus was, or maybe he had deceived himself into thinking he had more power than he really did. For whatever reason, he decided to try one more time.  This time he took Jesus to a very high place, a place with a view. It must have been an incredible view, for the writer of Matthew tells us that he “showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”.   In desperation the devil cried out “Bow down and worship me!  If you worship me, I’ll give all of this to you, all these kingdoms, all this splendor.  Just bow down and worship me.”  At this point, I’m pretty sure the devil was deluded.  Even if Jesus had bowed down and worshiped him, could he really have given all these kingdoms and splendor to him?  Does it not say in the Psalms “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”?  Satan could no more have handed over the kingdoms of the world to Jesus than I could hand over the apartment that I live in.  They weren’t his to give.
Jesus had had enough.  He was tired of these games.  He was tired of Satan’s weak ploys to try and get him to stumble and fall.  I can hear the anger in his voice as He turned to him and said “Away from me Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your G-d and serve him only.”   This time He countered Satan’s request with a command, straight from G-d.  We know it from the 10 commandments “You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them;”  Jesus shot these words at the devil, along with a command for him to get away, and with that, Satan left and the angels came to attend to Jesus’ needs.
Three times Satan attempted to get Jesus to play his games.  Each time he tempted Him where He was vulnerable.  First, he tempted him in his hunger and need. He tempted him to give into what his human body wanted, to meet his own immediate needs instead of trusting in G-d to meet all his needs.  Second, he tempted him to put on a show of power, to demonstrate who he was and who G-d was.   He tempted him to make a name for himself, rather than remain secure in who G-d had made him to be.  Third, he tempted him with promises of wealth and splendor.  If he had all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, he would be somebody in the eyes of the world.  People would want to follow him because he was a great leader.  He tempted him to follow a plan that made sense in the eyes of the world instead of the plan that G-d had for him.
Three times Satan tempted Jesus by playing on His vulnerabilities, on the places where he was weak, and three times Jesus countered these temptations by going back to the Word of G-d.  He didn’t try and argue with the devil, he didn’t try and point out that the devil was deluded in his thinking that he could give Him all the kingdoms and splendor of the world, when they didn’t belong to him in the first place.  He simply went back to the word of G-d.
Throughout our lives we go through times of trial and testing.  We go through periods where we feel like we are in the desert. We wander through our days asking G-d when our time of trial will end.  We seek even a moment of relief from the scorching heat of our problems.  Then, just when we are at the end of our ropes, just when it seems as if things can’t get much worse, the tempter shows up.  He hits us where we are most vulnerable, suggesting easy ways out, twisting the truth ever so slightly, trying to catch us up in his lies.  He plagues us with doubts, trying to convince us that G-d won’t actually meet all our needs.  That maybe this time, this month, the money won’t be there to pay that rent check or buy those groceries or make the mortgage payment.  Or maybe this time, the relationship is too broken to be restored.  Or maybe, I’m in a mess too big for G-d to get me out of this time.  We start to worry and we start to stress.  We start trying to figure out ways to meet our own needs, to settle things on our own, without trusting G-d.
He attacks us in our very identity.  Just as he challenged whether Jesus was really the son of G-d or not, he challenges our identities as the children of G-d.  He tries to make us believe that G-d’s promises don’t really apply to us.  He finds our weak spots and attacks us there.  Maybe it is our youth.  Maybe it is our age.  Maybe it is our future.  Maybe it is our past.  Satan knows where we are weak and vulnerable and that is where he attacks.   We start to try and find ways to create identities for ourselves, identities that the world will recognize.  The plans of the world look tempting.  If we can make a name for ourselves through sports or music or drama or clever business deals, then maybe we will be somebody important.  Maybe if we get power or influence, people will listen to us and we will be a somebody.
But it doesn’t work that way. Following our own plans doesn’t work out.  Thankfully, we can battle temptation much the same way that Jesus did. Jesus did have an advantage over us by being fully G-d as well as fully human, but he fought the lies of the devil the same way that we can -by turning back to the word of G-d that never fails. Every time that Satan threw a temptation at Jesus, Jesus countered it with scripture, and every time, scripture won.
As I began to work on this sermon I became overwhelmed with my youth.  What words could I offer?  What had I experienced in my life that could possibly have meaning for anyone else?  In the grand scheme of things, I’m still not much more than child, a youth. I still have so many things to learn.  There is nothing inherently wrong about these statements.  I am young.  Nothing is going to change that, except time. And I still do have a lot to learn.  Nothing is going to change that, except time and experience.  However, for a time I let these doubts paralyze me.  I became so consumed with them that I just sat and stared at my computer screen.  I tried to talk myself out of them, but I couldn’t do it.  A few friends tried to reassure me that I really could do this.  I couldn’t bring myself to believe them.  I had e-mailed a couple friends and told them how much I was struggling with this task.  A wise friend e-mailed me back with a promise from 1 Corinthians 1 where it says “You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”  With those three verses she dismantled the lies that Satan was trying to feed me about my inadequacies.  Shortly thereafter the Spirit brought to mind a verse from 1 Timothy “Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers”.  The lies about being a just a youth were forced to crumble under the truth of G-d’s word and I was able to write.
I couldn’t talk my way out of the doubts.  I couldn’t reason my way out of my fear. Friends who tried to assure me that I was equipped for this task based on coursework that I had done couldn’t get through to me.  It was only when someone pointed me back to the promises in scripture that the fears and doubts could be defeated.   The Bible is full of promises.  Contained in its pages are promises for every situation in our lives. When Jesus was faced with temptation, these were the promises that He turned to.  Likewise, when we are faced with temptation, these are the promises that we can turn to.  However, in order to be able to turn to them, we need to know them.  We can’t use what we don’t know we have.   I encourage you in this time of Lent to make it part of your day to time in the Word.  Make it part of your daily life.  If you remain rooted in the Word, then the promise declared in Psalm 1 will be for you.  You will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever you do will prosper.
Amen.

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