Göttinger Predigten
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Lent 1, 03/09/2014
Sermon on Matthew 4:1-11, by Beth A. Schlegel
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, "‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said 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,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
It may be last on the list, but it is a dangerous stumbling block. It's not usually so obvious for us as it was for Jesus in the wilderness, and that makes it all the more dangerous for us.
It might be said that we have this account of Jesus' wilderness trial so clearly set before us so that we can learn what to look for, no matter what disguises it might wear.
What is "it"?
I am speaking of covetousness - the last of the commandments.
To covet is to want something that belongs to somebody else and to seek to possess it.
A classic example is the story of Snow White, whose beauty was coveted by her wicked stepmother, who then sought to kill her.
More ordinary is the example of two high school girls going to the prom - once Miss Popular shows off her gown, Miss Wannabe runs out to buy the same one.
Adam and Eve were perfectly happy in the garden until Satan, that sly serpent, told them what the tree was that the Lord had forbade them - that eating of it would make them "like God, knowing good and evil".
That was something to be coveted - being like God.
Even though they were surrounded by an abundance of everything they needed for life, an abundance of food, beauty, work, and love - purpose and value - still, humanity was not content.
We had to have this "more".
We can recognize covetousness in our own human nature - it is the root of discontent, of low self-esteem, and of greed.
It is the emptiness or longing that we seek to fill by providing for ourselves the "more" that we think will -finally - make us happy.
Covetousness is also one of Satan's most powerful weapons against faith.
When Jesus walked out of the waters of the Jordan baptized, anointed with the Spirit and declared the Son of God, he immediately faced the same circumstance as Adam and Eve.
Jesus had everything - the fullness of divinity, the love of the Father, the inheritance of the Son, the power of the Spirit.
Nothing was lacking. In him was the abundance of God.
It was for our sake that the Spirit led Jesus from the lush waters of the Jordan to the empty wilderness.
And just so we could not claim that he was some superhero out there in the wilderness, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.
He emptied himself. He entered the full weakness of the humanity in which he was clothed.
He was famished. He was in need. He had been stripped of abundance.
There in the wilderness, Jesus wanted for everything - and yet, he was left there to pray, "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want."
And when the devil came to entice him to provide for himself what was lacking, Jesus refused - not for his sake, but for ours.
Sure he could have turned those stones into bread, but then he would not have trusted the Father to provide.
Then, he could not have shown us how to trust God to take care of us.
And he would not have done the greatest thing of all - overturning the failure of Adam and Eve to live by the Word of God alone.
They died by trusting the serpent's word - Jesus lived trusting God's Word.
And now, in Christ, we also live.
But the devil is persistent and knows the weakness of the human heart.
Having been defeated with regard to physical needs, the devil spurs Jesus to prove himself by throwing himself down from the top of the temple.
Who doesn't like to show off! We covet the esteem of others, we seek the approval and admiration of those around us.
In the garden, it was the serpent that Adam and Eve wanted to impress by eating the fruit. They didn't want to be considered sissies. They didn't want the serpent to think they weren't masters of their own destiny.
It was too late when they discovered the truth - that the only destiny they were master of was rebellion against God and death.
In the wilderness, Jesus overturned that failure, too, by refusing to take the bait.
Jesus did not need to impress the devil or prove anything to anyone.
It was enough that the Father had called him "Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased".
It is an act of God's abundant grace toward us that it is precisely this declaration that is made of us when we are baptized.
We are now free to let go of our covetousness for approval, our ambition to prove our worth, for in Christ, God has already declared us worthy and beloved.
Because Jesus did not exchange the Father's esteem for the devil's, we are able to share in his inheritance by baptism.
Once again, Christ's victory over this trial becomes our victory as we live in him.
Amazing grace!
But the devil really wants to pry us away from God. Just as in the garden, Satan seeks to persuade us to shift our loyalties to satisfy ourselves.
All the kingdoms of the earth - all power - all authority - all yours, Jesus, if you just worship me.
Just pay your dues and you can have it all.
And under his breath, he mutters "you know you want it, you covetous creatures."
Of course, the sales pitch does not include the truth - that in paying the devil his dues, all heavenly wealth is forfeit.
Jesus would be relinquishing his eternal inheritance for a mere mortal one, just as Adam and Eve traded immortality for mortality by seeking to be like God.
At another time, he would remind us of this reality: For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? (Mt. 16:25-26)
Covetousness blinds us in its essential lie - that we can have it all.
It blinds us to the truth that the devil has nothing of his own to give. All is God's for the giving; not ours for the taking.
But so easily blinded we are. So juicy does that fruit appear. So harmless.
How could God possibly not want us to have something so good?
Covetousness draws us to judge on the basis of what we see, what we think is good, what we want. It makes us forget or ignore God's word.
For the third time, Jesus - the living Word of God - wraps the weakness of human nature around him like a cloak, looks the devil in the eye and takes his stand: "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, "Worship the Lord your God and serve only him."
Jesus obeys the first and the last commandment - having no other god but the Father who called him Beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit and coveting nothing except what was given to him by God.
His stubborn refusal to trust anything but God's Word - his obedience to the God who had given him everything in trust - was rewarded by the swift response of God's servants the angels to minister to him.
Like Job, who endured his trials in steadfast faith in God, Jesus received all that was his to begin with: life, abundance, and love.
And we, who of our own nature would so quickly forfeit everything for temporary pleasure, are invited to live with him, to follow him, to share in his abundant wealth.
I am come, he said, that you may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
Here in the wilderness, he shows us the way, the truth, and the life - himself as the one to follow to the greatest treasure of all - the garden of the new creation in the palace of the eternal and Almighty God.
Here in the wilderness, Jesus begins to exercise the power of God in weakness by which we are delivered from Satan.
Here he begins to show us what it means to be the Son of God - what it means for us to be the children of God - and what it means to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
It means being emptied of ourselves so that we can be filled with God.
It means being content in weakness and trusting the power of God to save us.
It means refusing to believe Satan's lies and putting God's Word into action.
The three traditional disciplines of Lent help us: fasting from excess, praying - spending daily time in conversation with God, and almsgiving - caring for the poor and needy.
With these weapons of God, we can share in Jesus' victory over Satan and live in the freedom of the abundant kingdom that is our baptismal inheritance with him.
For it is surely true, as St. Paul writes (Romans 5: 17): If because of Adam's trespass, death exercised dominion through that one man, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Today, children of the heavenly Father, we receive this abundance of grace so that we may live victorious over Satan's wiles.
All because of Jesus.
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen