Reflection: "Temptations"Year after year, when the first Sunday of Lent arrives, we read about Jesus wandering off into the wilderness again. And while the Bible is full of spiritual retreats, this one doesn't follow the typical pattern.
One day, on the banks of the Jordan River, Jesus shows up, seemingly out of nowhere. He's come to be baptised by his cousin John, the Spirit descends on him like a dove and God speaks from on high. It’s good stuff, the kind of event that almost makes up for four centuries of unfulfilled Messianic expectation. It's the sort of positive you’d want to build on to let the people know that their long-awaited hope has finally arrived. That is, unless you're Jesus. If you're Jesus, you do none of those things. If you're Jesus, you show up out of nowhere and then immediately move on - to nowhere - a desert wilderness. Conventional wisdom suggests that he goes to the wilderness after his baptism to prepare for what’s to come. Like Moses, Elijah and other spiritual leaders before him, Jesus must spend some time alone with God before he can carry out his mission. But, unlike all those other folk who had previously spent time in the wilderness, Jesus doesn’t go out into the desert to listen to God - he had already heard God loud and clear at his baptism. And when Jesus goes out into the desert, he encounters “Divine Enemy Number One” – the Devil. The gospels all agree that this spiritual detour wasn't Jesus’ idea at all – they say that Jesus is led into the middle of nowhere - by none other than the Holy Spirit, or in Mark’s Gospel, it says that Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. That’s the very same Spirit that descended on him like a dove at his baptism. The good news for us is that Lent didn’t come easily to Jesus, either - it took the Spirit to get him there. So why does the Spirit drive him into the desert, if not for a deeper connection with God? It’s because the newly crowned Messiah has a date with the devil, to face temptation. It’s understandable, then, why he doesn't build on the expectations that had been raised by his dramatic baptism. Maybe that event was technically his first temptation - to live up to the crowd's appetite for Messianic ambition. It’s a bit uncomfortable for us to believe the idea of Jesus being temptable at all, but the gospels are unwavering in their witness that he was, in fact, tempted. From this we can see that temptations actually work, because they certainly grabbed the attention of Jesus. When he responds to Satan, he's not reciting trite responses, but the words from the old Jewish scriptures. There’s no protective force-field reserved for the Son of God, so he uses the Word of God. It gives us a good idea why Jesus would tell his disciples to always pray the words "Lead us not into temptation." One of the most powerful messages that the life of Jesus leaves us with, is that no one is exempt from the power of the tempter, not even the best of us - maybe especially not the best of us. We’re all vulnerable to temptation - though what tempts us may change. The devil's taunts are prettied up in the noblest of intentions - these are truly temptations worthy of the Son of God. They prey on his goodness and they tell us something about Jesus' own heart. The devil doesn't announce himself - temptation doesn't wear a nametag, red lycra suit, or carry a pitchfork. For Jesus, and for all of us, the voice of evil sounds an awful lot like the voice of good. "Take care of yourself," "Save the world" and "Prove your faith." None of those sound particularly self-destructive on the surface; but this is what temptation looks like for Jesus. When psychologists talk about temptation, they’re usually describing the irresistible urge to do something that we already know will destroy us. The kind of temptation that looks like temptation right from the start. eg. an alcoholic raiding the hotel mini bar, or a husband spending too much time with an attractive co-worker. Stuff we know is wrong - but we’re drawn to it all the same. Christians who celebrate Lent certainly wrestle with those obvious forms of self-destruction, but the goal of the season is to help us recognize the more potent tools of the tempter - the temptations that don't look like temptation - until we see them in the rear-view mirror. The ones that are the most dangerous sound the most like good - sound the most like God talking to us. Jesus had every good attribute we can imagine. Character, integrity, faith, a moral compass that’s unmatched and yet, even he is tempted. The antidote, then, to temptation is not strength, it's not moral fortitude, or depth of character. You know, especially when we imagine ourselves religious enough, mature enough, moral enough to be exempt from temptation, it’s just a matter of time before we end up giving in to it. But our temptations probably won't be the hotel mini bar. Instead, they’ll be played out on the road paved with good intentions. When we’re led by our own wisdom, when we’re led by our own desire to see the good done, when we’re tempted to take shortcuts to get there, we’ll always find ourselves vulnerable. And the greater our moral character, the more tailor-made we’ll find that our temptation is. The only vaccine to temptation, that I know of, is obedience. Jesus' escape from the tempter is not a matter of weighing pros and cons and making the best decision; it’s his wilful decision to obey God’s word - over and over again. Maybe his temptations are necessary, so that he’ll be better prepared for the trial that will come to him later. This is a dress rehearsal, a preview of what awaits Jesus deeper into his ministry. When Peter, the chief of the apostles and the rock of the church, tries to coax him into a kinder, gentler, way of saving the world that doesn't involve his own execution, Jesus recognizes the voice of Satan. When he hangs dying on the cross and the crowd tries to bait him to save himself, he knows better. Then, as now, it’s obedience that will deliver him. The one who teaches with authority, will live under the authority of the one who sent him. Which brings me back to our own time in the wilderness - this mysterious season of self-denial and other things that don't come naturally. Lent isn't strength-training for the soul, or about exercising our spiritual muscles. It’s about obedience, reliance, dependence and the awareness that every good door that opens is not necessarily the will of God. It's about learning to be led, or if necessary, driven out to the desolate place within ourselves where our hungers and our dreams and fears all take turns trying to shut out the voice of God. In just a few weeks, we’ll follow Jesus to a garden where, just for a moment, his own desires will conflict with the path he's called upon to take. "If you can take this cup from me, please take it away," Jesus will pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. But his prayer is not finished. "Yet, it’s not what I want, but what you want.” Lent doesn't come naturally, even to the best, but that's exactly why Lent is our only hope. If we can learn to recognize the voice of the tempter here in these forty days of self-denial, perhaps we’ll be wise enough to know him when he speaks with our own voice. There are some places God intends to take us, that we’ll never reach if we’re left to our own devices. We’d never go there if we’re following our own compass. But somewhere in the desert, alone but not alone, Jesus chooses obedience. "May God grant us the grace to do the same - to choose who we will be and whose we will be. In the wilderness of this holy season, and wherever the road takes us on the other side." Pastor Rick
1 Comment
Lena Beryl Blok
4/3/2022 08:45:16 pm
Hi Rick,
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Pastor
|