Turning Away

by Pastor Kathy Barlow-Westmoreland

This week's focus scripture is Luke 4:1-13.

In the spirit of Noah’s 40 days and nights on the ark, Moses’ 40 days on the mountain with God, the prophet Elijah’s 40 days in flight to the mountain of God and Israel’s 40 years of struggle in the wilderness, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit into his own time of struggle. After just coming up out of the baptismal waters, he now has forty days of being led up and down the wilderness. Forty days with nothing to eat. At the end of forty days he was famished. His deep hunger is a tangible sign of his humanity. And being human we know that he was in a weakened state, vulnerable, perhaps not thinking clearly. In this state, in comes the Devil- literally called “The Slanderer”, and approaches Jesus with some very tempting possibilities. First take care of the hunger by turning stones into bread. Then political power – as part of an oppressed people, that had to sound so promising. Finally, the opportunity to provide a tangible sign that the power of God was at work in the world- how many would come to faith if they saw such a feat.

And yet he resists each one. We can come away from this episode from the life of Jesus either feeling defeated that we are just not that good because we never resist all the temptations, or ready to just relinquish responsibility and indulge ourselves because we aren’t the Son of God, so why even try? Yet either of those responses misses the point of this text.

This is not so much about the amazing power of the Savior of the World, like some kind of superhuman tale. This is a revealing of the true humanity of Jesus. First we see his hunger, and know that he knows what it is to be hungry- not just in a physical sense, for after 40 days, he had to be lonely, he had to be discouraged. The Jesus we see in the wilderness is indeed fully human. He experiences all the consequences of forty days alone in a desert. Why else could the Devil offer anything at all tempting, if he were not in a weakened state, physically, mentally, emotionally.

We see him struggle with these temptations and they are deceptively attractive. A real temptation beckons us to do what that about which much good could be said. That is what them attractive, they seem to be good choices. Stones to bread- who can say alleviating hunger is a bad thing? Certainly the hungry would cheer him on in this. Taking political control- the oppressed of the world would long for him to do that. The leap from the temple spires- those among us who long for proof of God’s power in the world would love to have him do that. Good could be said about taking any of these on, and yet it is a misguided sense of good- because in each case he would have to turn from God and turn to worshipping another. So what good would really come from that? And in each case it would be about what is good for him, and his purpose was never to serve himself. And they are easy paths to take and seldom is the easy path the faithful one.

We are also tempted by things that seem good. We are tempted as parents to so protect our children or grandchildren from failure or pain. And yet there is the danger that as they grow up they do not know how to face such situations, and cannot find within themselves voices to speak up on their own behalf, or how to handle difficult situations on their own. As adult children we can care so much about the safety or well being of our aging parents that we impose our choices on them to the point that they lose their ability to self determine. We can easily mistake social networking for real human companionship, because it is so much easier to say certain things when not looking face to face. And yet good could be said about each of these situations- we want involved parents, caring adult children, the ability to reach across the country or around the world and make connections- and yet when only the easy path is taken, that is where we have fallen into temptation’s trap. It seemed good, but there are consequences.

Temptation doesn’t always come under the guise of something obviously wrong or evil. Remember it was to his very close friend, Peter, that Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan!” What Peter meant as common sense advice, to not talk about dying, Jesus saw as the temptation to take an easier, less painful path, a path that would not lead him to the saving purposes to which he had been called. Sometimes the temptations come in well meaning packages.

Since we are not the Son of God, how do we withstand that which seems so attractive? Remember what Luke tells us in this story- Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, he had just been baptized in the Jordan. So far, he hasn’t anything we do not have. We too have the Holy Spirit, given to us in our baptism. He was led by the Spirit- we can be as well. Having the power of the Holy Spirit within him is what gave him the will power to turn away from what seemed so good and turn to God and the path of faithfulness. He did not succeed by the power of being the Messiah. Being committed to the way of God, even if you are the Son of God, does not exempt one from the struggle in the world. And so struggle he did.

But he came armed with scripture. Each of his responses came from, scripture, specifically the book of Deuteronomy. This was the book of the covenant renewal, of moving forward to the promised land after Israel’s time of wandering in the wilderness. So he turned to that covenant of hope that he too would leave this wilderness with the help of God. Even when the Devil uses scripture, Jesus will not be fooled. He knows the appropriate and inappropriate uses of scripture. Most any argument can be proven in scripture if one uses isolated verses and takes them out of their context. Jesus would not be swayed by that.

Scripture is also a resource for us. All the more reason for us to study it, read it, pray it, seek to understand it, rely on it. The Word of God is lamp to our feet, a guide to our path. The people of scripture have much to teach us, and because it is a living word, it never goes out of date nor grows obsolete.
Jesus started this time of struggle as human as we are. He was hungering, he was weak, he was not at his peak. But he doesn’t rely on some kind of special Son of God powers, like Superman. Rather he relies on the very same things we can rely on- the power of the Holy Spirit that strengthens and leads, and the Scriptures, which continue to guide and inspire and hold God’s faithful promises before us.

Struggling to be a good parent? Working through a rough patch in your marriage? Having difficulty getting through the pain of a loss? Worried about next steps in your work or school life? Discouraged by increasing health issues? These are our points of hunger, when the deceptively attractive temptations may come to us.

There can be temptations for us in the church as well, things that might be called good, but cause us to turn from God’s purposes for us. We can be lured into programs that promise more members or more money, but in the process we lose the essence of who we are as the body of Christ. In this day and age of comfort and convenience, it is tempting to water down the gospel, to compromise our calling, to take an easier path, or a more trendy approach without seeing if it calls upon us to turn away from God’s call to us.

We have exactly what Jesus had when he faced his. If we rely on the Holy Spirit and the scriptures as he did, we too can get through our wilderness and back on the road that God has for us. Turning away from what tempts us begins by first turning to God, knowing that God never has nor ever will fail us. Amen.

St. John's Westminster Union Church
1085 Neeb Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45233
(513) 347-4613