The Rev. Robert Lundquist Lent I-A 2/13/05 St Paul’s, Fort Collins

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, 25b-6:10 - Online Text -

“The last temptation is the greatest treason;

To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

TS Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral

Temptation. We’re terribly aware of temptation, finding it in today’s gospel reading here at the beginning of Lent. We address our concerns about temptation in the Lord’s Prayer. But the term has been undercut, diluted in our culture and society. Where do we usually hear the word these days? In diet ads! We can succumb to our desire to indulge without guilt over blowing our diet. “Sweet Temptations” are candy bars, aren’t they? The very idea of temptation has been so trivialized that the word has almost lost its power.

The origins of the word temptation go back to the Greek, giving the idea of a “test” or experiment. This makes sense – temptation, and how we respond to it, tells us something about ourselves, and what we’re really made of. Little wonder that we hesitate to invite such a crisis – “Lead us not into temptation!” Maybe I don’t want to know that much about myself. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams suggests that there’s another prayer hidden in that phrase, a prayer that beseeches, “Give me enough self-knowledge that when the crisis comes I won’t be completely shattered, that I won’t be utterly overwhelmed and defeated.” Amen!

When we first encounter the idea of temptation in Genesis, it’s in the context of wanting to play God. The serpent beguiles Adam and Eve with the words, “You will be like God!” The first man and woman succumb to this enticement, somehow forgetting the larger truth: They have already been created in the image of God! How much more like God can we be? We are already like God, and learn again that temptations are so often built upon lies, false truths.

We see the same theme in the temptations of Jesus in the desert. And it’s important to behold the scene – scripture tells us that Jesus was “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” Sounds very pastoral. But the power of the moment is lost in translation. In reality Jesus was “flung, like a javelin” into the desert. And after 40 days he is hungry, weakened and fatigued, as would be any human. And this is when the Tempter appears, saying “Accomplish all your goals! But do it my way.”

The first temptation is to turn stones to bread. This makes sense – the world is full of starving people. So Jesus could feed them – and himself – if he would just use God’s power to magically turn stones to bread. The lie is that we need superhuman intervention to survive. Jesus’ faith in God-made humanity is displayed in his response: “Human beings are much more than digestive tracts. All that is necessary comes from the mouth of God.”

The second temptation: “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. Show thousands of witnesses that you are the Holy One. Prove yourself!” This scene always reminds me of Herod’s line in Jesus Christ: Superstar: “Prove to me that you’re no fool, walk across my swimming pool.” Our hyper-skeptical age continues to require proof from God. The lie is found in the suggestion that any proof would satisfy. Jesus puts this temptation in context by noting that spiritual gymnastics don’t reveal God and cannot coerce faith.

Lastly, the devil offers Jesus power over the earth, if he will simply worship the Tempter. Someone has said, “The strength of a temptation is found in the attractiveness of the goal.” Jesus is offered the ultimate shortcut – bypassing the Passion and Crucifixion, and gaining the power to accomplish his ends, painlessly. Of course, it’s a lie. For the devil mistakenly assumes that Jesus seeks worldly power. The world has seemingly always valued the love of power over the power of love. And Jesus has had enough: “Begone, Satan! Worship God alone!” In his vehemence we realize that perhaps this temptation above all the others has struck closest to home.

This ordeal both strengthens Jesus and reveals his vulnerability. I was deeply moved upon realizing that the only way this story about Jesus, alone in the desert, could be passed on to us was for Jesus himself to tell his closest friends, his disciples, what had happened to him in the wilderness. There were no earthly observers, only our Lord’s need to share his ordeal with those whose love and support he cherished. Do these temptations display a Jesus of superhuman strength? No, I believe they reveal in Jesus a perfected humanity. When you say, “I’m only human!” as an excuse or a plea for understanding, think again. The human condition is one of triumph, not defeat! We are marvelously made in God’s image, an image we see reflected in Jesus.

We all face temptations on a daily basis. Few are as epic as trying to feed all the hungry, prove God’s mercy or gain all power, even for benevolent ends. Nearly all our temptations are much more subtle. We’re tempted to go it alone, to cut corners and take shortcuts, to abandon relationships, to get in over our heads and to lose sight of what is truly important. When these beguilements raise their heads, we have a Savior who has gone ahead of us:

Jesus, flung by the Spirit into the wilderness and ministered to by angels, was never alone. Neither are we. Rely on the companionship of the Spirit!
Jesus took no shortcuts in the work he was called to do. We must do the work, St Paul – the work of grieving for the loss experienced, the work of letting go of hurts and releasing burdens of resentment and anger. Remember, we pray “Thy will be done” before we pray “…as we forgive those who trespass against us.” God’s will, of course, is that everything on earth be as it is in heaven, where forgiveness is a given. Pray on that connection, and call upon God to help you release that which holds you back.
Jesus treasured his relationships, and kept his eye on the goal of living in God, “in whom we live and move and have our being.” Our relationships with each other are sacraments of Divine Love, reminding us of God’s nearness to us in every moment.
Throughout his ordeal Jesus was grounded in complete reliance on and trust in God alone. As we prayed in the Great Litany, “By Thy Baptism, Fasting and Temptation, Good Lord, Deliver Us.” Jesus leads us, models for us a perfected humanity. May we sink our roots deeply into that Divine Love.

We’re tempted to play God all too often, to take matters into our own hands and act as if God didn’t care and wouldn’t help. Does this open us to doing “the right deed for the wrong reason?” When I reflect on my own weakness of trying to go it alone, I remember Moses before the burning bush, asking, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God answered, “I will be with you.” (Exodus 3:11) Notice that God doesn’t answer Moses’ question, but offers the promise of presence. In the wilderness, in the midst of testing and temptation, in the throes of sorrow, struggle and sadness, the answer is always the same: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

Amen.