"Fighting Temptations" - Sermon, March 10, 2019

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Community UMC, Quincy
“Fighting Temptations”
Rev. Andrew Davis
March 10, 2019
Luke 4: 1-14

One of the biggest challenges in life any given day of the week can be a trip to the grocery store.  How many of you in here  find that to be the case, especially when going in and turning left inside Safeway and see that wall of Easter candy, or immediately inside the entrance when you go into SavMore, or when you go down the promotional aisles at Rite Aid, a Dollar Tree, or Dollar General?  Same goes for the snack aisle.  It’s especially true in that time period between mid-September and Easter which I always call the “candy holidays.” — It’s nearly impossible to pass up a brilliantly decorated display with bright colors and bags of candy that just scream “buy me!” Or, when you’re walking through the seasonal aisle, it’s hard not to notice the bags of candy corn in the Fall, candy canes and peppermint candies around Christmastime, those little conversation hearts and chocolates around Valentine’s Day, or theCadbury eggsjust before Easter.  Okay, so I’m admitting that I have a bit of a sweet tooth. -
At the same time, there’s always that dilemma of whether buy that treat, or not.   I debate that if I buy a bag of candy or potato chips, I’ll satisfy my sweet tooth or munchies - yet at the same time, I know the bag will pretty much be gone in one sitting and that I won’t be feeling so well later on.  On the other hand, I can save $2-$3 by not buying the bag of candy or chips an in turn, wont have that temptation before me.    Although I do make an exception when I go into Quincy Provisions, Grandma Janes, or Midtown as I believe strongly in supporting our locally owned businesses and it’s once a week.  —-
Our own journey of faith is full of many temptations along the way, particularly the worldly kind, although usually much bigger than sweets or food.  We often get lured in by advertisements pitching products we may not necessarily need, or get tempted by ‘get rich quick,’ ‘lose weight quick,’ and other things that look good on paper,  —maybe too good to be true.  On the other hand, we might be spending time and resources in ways that take our focus away from God.  — As we gathered for worship on Ash Wednesday this past week, we began our journey into the season of Lent, and recognizing that we are dust and to dust we will return, along with knowing we do fall short at times along this faith journey and need to take time to repent, or turn around.  In asermon titled “Lenten Discipline,” the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor explains that 
There is some evidence that early Christians fasted forty hours between Good Friday and Easter, but the custom of spending forty days in prayer and self-denial did not arise until later, when the initial rush of Christian adrenaline was over and believers had gotten very ho-hum about their faith.  

When the world did not end as Jesus himself had said it would, his followers stopped expecting so much from God or from themselves.  They hung a wooden cross on the wall and settled back into their more or less comfortable routines, remembering their once passionate devotion to God the way they remembered the other enthusiasms of their youth.  Oh, to be young again and to believe everything is possible.  

Little by little, Christians became devoted to their comforts instead: the soft couch, the flannel sheets, the leg of lamb roasted with rosemary.  These things made them feel safe and cared for – if not by God, then by themselves.  They decided there was no contradiction between being comfortable and being Christian, and before long it was hard to pick them out from the population at large. They no longer distinguished themselves by their bold love for one another.  They did not get arrested for championing the poor.  They blended in.  They avoided extremes.  They decided to be nice instead of holy and God moaned out loud.[1]                    

——- As we can see, Lent is something that came about as a response to the need of returning to practices of self-denial and self-examination, even getting uncomfortable in the process even though we like our comforts that Rev. Taylor mentioned.  While the forty days of Lent has traditionally been a time of fasting and giving things up, Lent is also a time of going deeper in our relationship with God by adding spiritual practices into our daily lives, — adding things that will bring us closer to God, helping us to look deeply inside our hearts and minds, or plumbing the depths of our souls, which is where things get a little or very uncomfortable, because we have to come face to face with the ways we fall short and with our sin.  I know I don’t like coming face to face with my own crud and sin, but it’s necessary.
As today is the first Sunday of Lent, it’s quite appropriate that we begin this journey by talking about fighting the many worldly temptations that we will encounter. Our text from Luke’s Gospel from the fourth chapterfindsJesusbeing led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit for forty days and nights following his baptism in the Jordan River.  While the Spirit is with him, the devil is there too — waiting for Jesus.  Now, the devil is quite crafty and finds Jesus in a vulnerable place here, especially as Jesus is put to the test of having no food during his forty days in the wilderness.  All sorts of temptations abound in the wilderness and the devil knows it. Although the devil tempts Jesus with worldly temptations, such as power, or by challenging Jesus to jump off the roof of the temple to see what happens to him — or if angels will really come to save him.  Despite the devil’s best efforts,Jesus will ALWAYS have the upper hand over the devil.  
When the devil challenges Jesus to turn stones into bread in verse 4, He tells the devil “one does not live by bread alone” (Lk. 4: 4, NRSV).  When the devil shows Jesus how much power he can have in exchange for worshiping the devil, Jesus responds in verse 8 by saying “worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Lk. 4: 8).  Or when the devil dares Jesus to jump from the roof of the temple, Jesus responds in verse 12 with “do not put the Lord God to the test” (Lk. 4: 12). -- Apparently these answers were too much for the devil to handle and the devil retreats. -- In some ways, Jesus’s encounters with the devil reminds me of the roadrunner and coyote cartoons by Warner Bros. that I grew up watching.  No matter how hard he tried, Wile E. Coyote was always outsmarted by the roadrunner and oftentimes all his equipment from Acme Co. got the best of him, - much in the same way that Jesus outsmarts the devil.  
Jesus could have given into the temptations by turning those stones into bread while starving since he pulled off feeding 4-5,000 in all four gospels, similar to God providing manna and quail for Israel in the book ofExodus; Jesus could have followed the devil and had all the power he wants; or he could jump off the roof of the temple to see if the angels would come down and catch him, which is a leap of faith that I cringe at and likely the devil setting Jesus up to fail.  Yet, Jesus doesn’t do any of it. -- He doesn’t entertain any of the devil’s temptations and instead relies on God and follows the Holy Spiritwhich helps him fight those temptations and frustrates the heck out of the devil. - While the devil goes away, it doesn’t mean the devil won’t return. – Instead of giving into the devils temptations, “Jesus responds to the devil, not by attempting to argue [as] (arguing with temptation is often a way of playing with the idea until it becomes too attractive to resist), but by quoting scripture.  — The passages he draws on come from the story of Israel in the wilderness: he is going to succeed where Israel failed” during their forty years in the wilderness.[2]
 --  How do we handle the many temptations that come our way just like the Devil tempted Jesus? -- Do we dig our heels in and resist, or do we easily succumb to the worldlytemptationsthat are out there? -- How does our faith in God play a role in helping us stay close to God while being guided by the Holy Spirit, even when we find ourselves in the wilderness? –- Does giving into our temptations make us feel better or good? --- It might make us feel good in the short-term, but maybe not in the long-term.  It’s like if I get that bag of Cadbury mini eggs and don’t practice self-control by eating the entire bag in one sitting, I know I’ll have a bad stomachache later on, and spare the rest of the details.  My sweet tooth might be satisfied in the short-run, but I won’t be feeling so good and ask myself why I did that.  Thankfully, I only get myself a sweet treat once a week, then go walking after.  And there are much more harmful temptations out there than a bag of candy.  
—— The good news is that amidst the temptations around us and even in the times we do give into temptation, God is still with us and gives us another chance, - giving us another chance to practice fighting temptations for another day.  And God gives us that chance ALL year round, not just the forty days of Lent (which coincidentally do not count Sundays). When we are willing to be led by the Holy Spirit, we can fight many temptations that come our way.  ---  It is important to trust in God and trust the Holy Spirit…even when it feels like it’s easier said than done.  There are definitely forces out there to compromise our faith, much in the same way that Jesus was tested by the devil in the wilderness.  Yet we can overcome and walk with Jesus each step of the way, like the kids sang about earlier.  ---
As we begin this Lenten journey together, it is worth knowing that  “forty days is only a start on the lifelong work of renouncing the spiritual forces of wickedness and the rejection or casting out of the evil powers of this world, wherever we encounter them.”[3]These forty days may feel like they last an eternity, especially if  you gave something up, ——— although these forty days can be made even more meaningful when we incorporate practices that can deepen our faith such as spending more time in prayer, spending less time in front of the TV and more time in scripture, reading inspirational or theological books, prayer walks, etc..  This journey through the wilderness and through the season of Lent gives us an opportunity to take a long look at ourselves in the mirror, - seeing where we fall short with God and each other, - seeing where we need to go deeper, - and seeing what we need to give up or add in order to deepen our connection with God and each other.  It will make us uncomfortable at times as we journey through the wilderness, to Jerusalem, to the cross, and the grave.  Except we can’t avoid going through the messy or ugly parts either, especially as we journey towards the hope and new life that Easter will bring at the end of Lent next month.  Let us continue walking this journey together as we fight the many temptations we face in life and along our journey of faith.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the Church Say, AMEN!! 

[1]Barbara Brown Taylor, “Lenten Discipline” in Home By Another Way (Lanham, MD: Cowley Publications, 1999), 65-66.
[2]N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 44.
[3]“First Sunday of Lent, Year C” in Discipleship Ministries: The United Methodist Church, http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship/lectionary-calendar/first-sunday-in-lent-year-c-2016

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