Saying Yes Means Saying No

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down ; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, and he said to him, “All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written.
“Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

~ ~ ~

“Imagine being brilliant – Massachusetts Institute of Technology brilliant.” That’s the opening line of an article in Christian Century. (Some of you here don’t have to imagine – you are… brilliant. Then there’s the rest of us who have to really crank up the imagination to think of ourselves as brilliant.)

The article continues, “You’ve aced the course work in electrical engineering and computer science” and you’re ready to embark on a career track that will take you to the heights. “But there’s one test left, and it has absolutely nothing to do with electrical engineering or computer science. You have to swim 100 yards.”
“That’s the situation Stephanie Yeh faced in the spring of 2006 according to Douglas Belkin in the Boston Globe (May 8, 2007). MIT is one of a handful of top schools in the country that require students to pass a swim test before they can graduate. Stephanie Yeh, who had never learned to swim, wondered about the rationale for a swim test… is this test really necessary?”

Now you can probably see how this story relates to our passage. Were Jesus’ temptations or tests in the wilderness really necessary? In Matthew’s Gospel, he’s already made a strong case for the divinity of Jesus – the miraculous conception, the strange visit from Magi from the East, and that voice from heaven at his baptism – “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” …and this in only the 4th chapter of Matthew! That’s quite a résumé and yet the text says that the Spirit led Jesus to a test in a place of desolation.
It’s a bit confusing. “The Spirit led him…” Does God test us? Put temptation before us? You could point to the story of Job. . . or Adam. Was God testing them? In the New Testament James is very clear: that God is not the source of our temptation; instead, we are tempted by our own desires. Jesus taught us to pray that we be not led into temptation. (Seems we can do a pretty good job of finding it on our own).

I don’t think that God is the author of evil, but when it presents itself, grace can turn evil to good purpose. A simple illustration: we tell a “harmless little lie” that mushrooms into a painful situation with serious consequences. Do we hide and hope not to be exposed? Or confess our lie and accept the consequences. Our response can be an exercise in character growth, or shrinkage. Suppose we tell the truth and it hurts, but it also helps us discover a deeper respect from others. It feels clean.

So why is Jesus tested? I suppose from Satan’s point of view, and here I am not trying to conjure up Halloween images of a fiendish devil or red pajamas with a pitchfork, Satan personifies all that is opposed or adversarial to God and what God intends. From Satan’s point of view it’s a tactic worthy of any Machiavellian character in history: plant seeds of doubt early on before the opponent picks up momentum, while there may be an advantage gained in the early stages. Even to divert one Christian from his mission by a few degrees can put him way off course later. Now is when he is vulnerable. Strike!

Start with the little word “if,” all three temptations are introduced with “if” and have to do with Jesus’ identity: “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself from the pinnacle of the Temple.” “If you will fall down and worship me…”

Why is Jesus tested -- from God’s point of view? What purpose does the temptation of Jesus serve?
You could conclude that the tests further confirm not only Jesus’ identity but also demonstrates the way God chooses to act in this world. A test, like a crisis, reveals what’s in a person. In this case, the Tempter places choice before Jesus and says (1) choose your comfort or the well being of many; (2) choose to manipulate God getting God to jump through your hoops or realize that God isn’t put to the test, we are; and (3) choose between the tempter with every material and sensual splendor or the sacrificial way of love.

There is more here. You see that these are not just Jesus’ tests also that he must pass in order to be named Son of God, Messiah, Savior. They are ours, too. Matthew would have us see that long before they were Jesus’ temptations, they were Israel’s. He underscores “that Jesus in the wilderness is undergoing precisely the same tests and in exactly the same sequence as Israel did in the wilderness when it was making its way to the promised land.” Notice: Jesus is tempted first by hunger. It echoes the children’s cry, “Did you bring us out here to die?”… and God gave them manna. Secondly, in Exodus 17 the children of Israel quarreled and tested the Lord. “Is the Lord among us or not?” And the Lord provided. The third corresponding event had to do with worshiping a golden calf. In each case they failed; God was faithful. Jesus was faithful. The temptations Jesus faced are not his alone. Israel faced them and what’s also critical to the story… we face them. “The ways in which Jesus was tested symbolize all the possibilities for doubt, misdirection, faithless, fearful choices and deluding distractions to which God’s people are ever at risk.” We’ve always been tempted this way, but where we fail, Jesus emerged obedient and true to his identity.

Now for some practical or applied life lessons from this account. There is an overabundance of riches in the story and certainly an overabundance of contemporary and personal applications.

Go back to that swimming test for graduation from MIT. The author states there are a number of ways that students respond. “About half the first year students jump in and pass it during the first two weeks on campus. Others procrastinate. Still others, those who can’t swim, take a Swimming 101 class. For many, it is daunting: these are MIT students after all.” They over think. “They want to know the best angle to hold their arms,” said an MIT lifeguard. “I just tell them to go ahead and try.” Avoid or face up. Even when we know avoidance only heightens the tension, we still find a million reasons to do something else. I know… from way too much personal experience. Perhaps it could become one of those Lenten disciplines.

Akin to avoidance, and very clearly seen as part of the story, is the temptation to take the easier way… or what appears easier. Can I do the swim test with swimmies? It’s still covering the same distance of clear chlorinated H2O. The easier way. It very often involves short term benefits at the expense of long term and greater reward. We all know it, but the tendency so powerful in this culture is to grab for the immediate gratification. It was C. S. Lewis who said, “The longer way round is the shortest way home.”

A third applied theological point: If the tests were all introduced by a two letter word “if,” the response was essentially a two letter one – No. I am well aware that “just say no” is a bit simplistic, often easier said than done. But as difficult as it is we have to learn to pronounce it and stick by it. Often it means first saying “no” to ourselves, but there are other places and roles that need our no. We’d rather say “yes”. It’s easier.

A pastor tells of a father saying to him that the toughest job of a parent was “the courage to look your children in the eye and say ‘no.’” It’s a particularly tough challenge in a culture where most of what we hear supports the notion that our job as a parent is to work hard to give our children everything their hearts desire. Or, we’d rather say ‘yes’ just to shut them up. Self-denial is not a virtue in this culture. Why should I? Because if you can’t say ‘no’ your ‘yes’ doesn’t mean much. If you can’t say ‘no,’ you write checks you can’t cash. If you can’t say ‘no,’ you are the victim of your own self-indulgence and may never discover the depth of love that said ‘no!’ in the wilderness that He might fulfill a commitment to us. Therein is the good news of No.  On our behalf Jesus said “No” in order that we might hear God’s divine “Yes” to us.

AMEN

Saying Yes Means Saying No

A Sermon by

Dr. J. Lawrence Cuthill

February 10th, 2008

Winter Park Presbyterian