Sermon Title: "The Four-Minute Temptation "
Date: March 13, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  Matthew 4:1-11

The first thing we need to do this morning is rewind the tape.  Remember those days when you would rewind the VHS tape on your VCR, either back to the beginning or to replay a certain portion?  Well, today we need to rewind the tape on where Jesus is in his ministry.  Last Sunday, we observed the transfiguration—halfway through Matthew’s gospel—where Jesus’ appearance glows as two of his disciples hear a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased.”  Now today, the first Sunday in Lent, the traditional Gospel reading is the story of Jesus’ temptation after spending forty days in the wilderness.  It is at the beginning of his ministry, right after his baptism, the first time a voice from heaven declared, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

So here we are in Matthew chapter four, at the beginning of these forty days of Lent as Jesus is tested in the wilderness.  We could consider this his time of preparation for his ministry.  Rev. Susie and I spent three years in seminary after college preparing for ordained ministry.  Most professionals—physicians, dentists, lawyers, teachers, professors—undergo specialized schooling and training beyond their undergraduate degree to prepare them for their chosen profession.  Yet back in Biblical times, there were no formal educational requirements for ministry.  Apprenticeships yes, but no degree programs.  So Jesus’ forty days of fasting and meditation in the wilderness and subsequent tempting by the devil was a testing, a preparation for his three year ministry which followed.

Let’s look first at how Jesus overcame each temptation.  As the devil tries to sabotage the unique quality of the relationship between God and his Son, he begins with a seemingly small, even innocuous test of Jesus’ power.  What is so wrong about Jesus miraculously transforming stones into bread, as the devil requests?  Jesus is famished, after all.  The problem, the temptation offered here, is if he would override God’s will by creating bread in this wilderness, Jesus would participate in an act of willful disobedience against God.

In the second trial, the devil takes Jesus to the “holy city,” a common synonym for Jerusalem.  The devil carefully sets Jesus “on the pinnacle of the temple” and encourages him to leap off.  Surely God’s angels would bear him up.  Once again Jesus refuses to take the devil’s bait, this time offering words from Deuteronomy 6:16 to denounce the tempter’s suggestion.

The final temptation the devil offers is the most recognizably messianic of these three tests.  Feeding himself and taking a grandstanding high dive off the temple would serve only to call attention to his own needs.  But if the devil could really offer Jesus the keys to secular power, the dreams and ideals of a redeemed and rejuvenated relationship between Israel and God might actually be achieved here on earth, in Jesus’ own day.  But to gain this secular power, the devil insists Jesus must acknowledge and worship the devil’s self-proclaimed pre-eminence in this world.

As before, Jesus utterly rejects this satanic offer by squashing him with a biblical word that directly informs the assertion Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6:13, that we must “worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

In the face of this rebuke, the devil leaves, and the promised angels of Psalm 91:11, referred to earlier, swoop in to minister to the needs of the tired, hungry Jesus.  This temptation narrative foreshadows the whole of Jesus’ ministry by indicating that in order to remain obedient, this Messiah must claim the way of humility, service and suffering.

Jesus’ time in the wilderness and temptation lasted most of 40 days.  “Forty” was a number commonly used to denote any long period of time, and the number is prevalent in the Bible.  The Israelites sojourned for 40 years in the wilderness; Moses stayed alone on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights; Elijah took 40 days to complete his journey to Mount Horeb; there were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and his ascension into heaven.

Is there anyone alive on this planet today who could resist four hours of temptation, let alone 40 days of continuous temptation?  Isn’t it true that most of us, subjected to four minutes of temptation, may likely succumb?  How long can we last?  I daresay that if I were to put a freshly opened box of See’s candy before you, within four minutes at least one piece would be gone.  Now I know I could withstand that temptation . . . just don’t place a bowl of mixed nuts in front of me and expect me not to eat a handful!

What temptations do we face today?  What are the things, which if we do, disconnect our relationship with God?  How can we learn to resist the four-minute temptation?

First, we must look at what we stand to lose by giving in to temptation.  Spend just four minutes thinking about the consequences if you were to succumb.  Stray in your marriage?  Will you ever be able to face your spouse again with a clear conscience?  How about your children?  Cheat on your diet?  It won’t hurt anyone else, but it will negate the progress you’ve made.  Pad the figures on your expense account or your taxes?  Maybe no one will ever find out, but you have to live with yourself.  To any of these temptations, if you give in once, who is to say that will be the only time?

Second, temptation is so often connected to impatience.  You want something that is really quite innocent in itself—a piece of bread, a chance to be a leader, a sign from God—but you get into trouble because you want it now.  You’re unwilling either to wait for it or to work for it, so you take shortcuts—and end up getting into trouble.

You’re hungry, you crave an elegant meal, so you walk into a five-star restaurant.  You order up a four course meal, with wine pairings—equivalent to half a month’s grocery budget.  You enjoy it immensely, and then charge the whole thing on your credit card.  Then, because you can manage only to make the minimum payment on your monthly balance, you pay for this dinner for years and years, and your hundred-dollar plus meal ends up costing you thousands.

If not a gourmet meal, you can apply this same illustration to buying clothes, the flat-screen TV, or a vacation beyond your means.  The easy availability of credit combined with impatience easily allows one to submit to temptation.  The problem is wanting it now.

Third, we may be tempted by many things, but ultimately we are the one to give in.  Speaking of his 1997 movie Devil’s Advocate, director Taylor Hackford said, “The people in this story who get into trouble are people who have made certain choices.  I don’t believe in blaming the Devil for these terrible events; when people have the opportunity to exercise their free will, they choose to damn themselves nine times out of ten.  We wanted to show that you make your own choices in life—the Devil is merely the impulse inside us to choose what we know is ethically wrong.  It’s not some guy with a forked tail—we ourselves are responsible.”  Hackford sounds more like a theologian than a movie director!

How to overcome temptation?  Consider the consequences.  Will it break a vow you made, such as to stay faithful in your marriage?  Do you really need it now, or need to do it now, or can it wait?  Who is in control of whether you succumb to temptation or not—someone else or yourself?  Realize that resisting temptation once will not end it forever.  We are enticed with countless temptations—great and small—every day.

Temptation did not end for Jesus either at the end of his forty days in the wilderness.  It often recurred.  It came again with terrific power when the cross neared, and when he prayed in Gethsemane.  But Jesus had made his answer in the wilderness, and chosen his path.  His answer could serve us as well:  “Not my will, but thine, be done.”  (Luke 22:42)