LIFE AS A CHILD OF GOD

(Preached on Sunday, February 10, 2008)

Then the tempter came and said to him, AIf you are the Son of God,....@                                                                      -Matthew 4:3a

 

What is the worst temptation that can torment you?

Take a moment while I blather on a bit and let that question stir around in your brain. 

We are in the midst of a political campaign season and of course we might think of ways in which people running for office are probably tempted by power, by money, by their ideals, even, to compromise themselves in order to try to get elected so that they might work on and achieve their vision for the city, or state, or country, even world.

On a more personal level, what did you come up with?  Perhaps a sexual temptation; or the lure of the security or comfortable lifestyle that comes with riches; or the prestige that comes with career success or that job promotion.

 

Today I want to suggest that the worst temptation is the same temptation which Jesus faced in the wilderness.

So which of the three temptations do I mean? 

Actually, all three of them, for in truth, they are all one temptation.  It is the same temptation that lies at the heart of all the temptations we face.

The temptations or Atests@ which Jesus faced after his forty-day-fast in the wilderness weren=t so much challenged to DO something he wasn=t supposed to do.  They were more challenges for Jesus to BE someone he was not born to be.  The one temptation at the heart of each test is the same, and it is a faith crisis.  Jesus is tempted to doubt his status as God=s true Child.

 

We see this clearly in the Ahook@ in the first two temptations: AIf you are the Son of God...@  This story appears in all three gospels, Matthew, Mark & Luke, immediately after the story of Jesus= baptism.  Remember at the baptism how Jesus had heard the heavenly voice proclaim: AThis is my beloved child, with whom I am well pleased.@  Shocking news for any human being to hear.  News which will drive you automatically insane or into the desert to mull it over.

 

After mulling this announcement for 40 days, Jesus was tempted with how to live out this truth.  The first temptation was to do something wonderful for himself, and be extension, for the hungry, hurting world, because of this news.  If you are the child of God, do something meaningful, worthwhile, wonderful for the world.  Demonstrate who you are and show what you can do to solve the world=s problems.  After all, that is how we prove our worth, right?  That is how we demonstrate who we are to others; that is what God wants of us, right?  To use our talents and skills to do good in the world?  So, Jesus, if you are the Son of God, do something good with all that power!  Take matters into your own hands and change these stones into bread.  Feed yourself first, and then feed the world!  One of the things Israel/Palestine is not lacking for is stones!  They may not have oil under their patch of earth, but they have stones galore!  Anyone who could turn those stones into bread could feed the world for eternity!

 

The second temptation was to do something amazing that will get people talking about him.  If you are the child of God, do something miraculous!  Jump from the pinnacle of the temple to demonstrate your trust in God, who will surely save you and protect you, after all, you are the Son of God, and God will send angels to bear you up before you strike the ground.  Just imagine the spectacle it will cause when the crowds see you plummet earthward, expecting you to crash and burn, only to see you gently float down to the ground.  Why they will speak highly of you for years, for centuries.  They will sing your praises without a doubt.  Do something, Jesus, to get people talking about you.

 

And the third temptation was too take all the power and possessions in the world, in exchange for shifting his loyalty.  Just think of it, Jesus, if you claim your power, claim what is rightly yours as God=s beloved child, for surely God wants you to, just think what you can accomplish!  Then people will respect you and come flocking to your cause.  After all, people want to back a winner.  If you have power and prestige, lots of wealth and property, then you will wield influence and be able to truly make a difference and get things done.  Then the masses will flock to you.  They will love you and speak highly of you and you will have it all, you will have the world!

 

But Jesus says, AThat is a lie.@  That=s the greatest lie that leads us, you and me, into relationships of violence an destruction.  ANo,@ Jesus said, AI know who I am.  Because before the Spirit of God sent me out to be tempted, that same Spirit came upon me and said, AYou are the beloved Child.  You are my beloved Son.  On you my favor rests.@  Jesus heard that voice and he clung to that voice as he lived his life.  As people praised him, as people rejected him, as people said Hosanna, as people crucified him.  Jesus held on to the truth.  AWhatever happens, I am the beloved of God, and that is who I am.@  And that allows me to live in a world that keeps rejecting me or praise me or laughing at me or spitting on me.  I am the beloved.  Not because people say I=m great, but because I am the beloved, even before I was born.

Of course these temptations came to Jesus shortly after his baptism.  Shortly after his great moment of vision, when his sense of God=s calling and love was so dramatically confirmed, he had to face the whispering voices and recognize them for what they were: distortions of his true vocation C the vocation to be a truly human being, to be God=s person, to be a servant to the world and to other people.  Jesus had heard the voice of God proclaiming him God=s beloved child and he had to face the challenge to trust that voice and that message, or not.  Would he rely on his own power to do good  C or would he trust God to do good through him?  Would he try to do miraculous things so that people would adore him and talk highly about him C or would he cling to the knowledge that God already adored him and spoke highly of him, better than anything anybody else could ever say, and trust that to be enough for himself?  Would he reach out and grasp and take things to have them, even for the sake of doing good with them C or would he trust God to give him everything that he needed?  In his 40 days of fasting, praying, and meditating on the Word of God Jesus had grown in his trust of God that God loved him and that God would work through him.  He clung to that knowledge and that trust throughout his life and ministry, no matter what came his way.  By doing so he demonstrated for us all that this trust was enough C God would honor it.

 

Friends, God will honor the same trust in us, in you and me.

For the same temptation Jesus faced, we face.

We, too, face the temptation to do it all on our own.

We are tempted to do good things in our own power.

We are tempted to seek the good words of others.

We are tempted to grasp and reach and claim what we need at whatever cost, by whatever means.

And none of these are bad things, in and of themselves.  We are to do good.  It is nice for people to speak well of us.  God  wants us to enjoy the world and all that is in it.  These become temptations, they become bad for us, when we let them dictate to us who we are and when we strive for them under our own power. 

 

For then we stop believing what God has said to each and every one of us at our baptism: AYou are my beloved child, on you my favor rests.@  God=s love for us is God-given, not something we need to prove or earn.  As the apostle Paul put it: ABy God=s grace you are saved, through faith.  This faith is not your work, but it is a gift from God.@  God loves us and names us beloved children.  That is all that ultimately matters, God=s love, outpoured upon us all.