Shaped by Testing

Sermon planned for Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Texts:
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7; Matthew 4:1-11

Last Wednesday I was reading a news article about the NASA space program and the Shuttle Discovery. At the bottom of the online newspage were several comments from readers. One read: “If we shut down the NASA shuttle program, we’re reverting to our time in the cave, when we lived as brutes. What defines us, as humans, is that we left the cave and courageously ventured out and upwards.” Despite this guy’s exaggerated words, I think he was right in one sense. Humanity is defined by our constant need or desire to venture out and beyond ourselves. We are hungry for more. We are curious. We are explorers.

An infant starts out by just lying there; eventually she wiggles around and starts kicking her legs. Then as she learns to roll and sit, she begins to dream of crawling and walking. She needs to explore her environment. She needs to satisfy some inner hunger or curiousity. The young boy needs to know what an oven element feels like. The girl longs for a friend to play with and imagine new worlds. The young man longs to know more about the opposite gender: how they look, talk, feel. As women and men – we are desiring beings that constantly hunger for something beyond ourselves in order to be fulfilled. We live with a certain ‘lack’ – an emptiness – that sits at the bottom of who we are? Why?

Why are we so curious about what’s up in space? NASA is discontinuing its space shuttle program – not because it’s curiosity is satisfied. Not at all. President Barrack Obama has mandated NASA to reach even farther out into space and develop a program that shoots far beyond the near-earth exploration we’ve been doing these past many years. We are hungry – we long for more – and we reach further and further outside of ourselves to find what we’re looking for. As pop-singer Bono, from the band U2 so aptly puts it: “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Those words describe humanity at its core. But why do we long for more?

This Lent, as we journey towards Jesus and the Cross, we’re faced with the question: what does it mean to become authentically human? What does it mean to become who we really are – and what we were created to be? This morning’s passages from Genesis and Matthew tell us that to be human means to be tested. Temptation is a basic part of our human journey; and at least part of the reason for that is because we’re constantly on the hunt for something to fulfill us. Most of the temptations we as Christians face are related to our efforts at fulfilling basic human desires and securing ourselves against certain fears. We succumb to greed because we long for security and we fear scarcity. We succumb to lust because we desire sexual pleasure and because we fear loneliness. We succumb to gluttony because we desire food and pleasure, and because we fear discipline and hard work.

In the scriptures set aside for this morning, we encounter three humans – Adam, Eve and Jesus. All three face temptations, desires, wants, and longings – but, as we heard earlier, they took radically different paths towards filling those needs. They each long for a fulfilliment that comes from outside of themselves; but they reach in opposite directions. Adam and Eve reach toward the goal of becoming their own gods; Jesus reaches out to His Father in complete obedience.

We begin with the passage from Genesis chapters two and three. Having been created in the image of God, the foundation of human existence is built on a relationship with God. Our beauty, our knowledge, even our breath, is dependent on God being who He is – because we’re created in the image of God. And so, as his images, you and I are dependent on God. This means that on our own, we are beings that long for more. On our own, we’re not full, or fullfilled, because we are created to be in relationship to something else – to God.

In our passage we read that the serpent was craftier than any other animal that God had made. At least part of this craftiness was that the serpent recognized this lack of fullness in us. The serpent saw it and exploited it. The message we hear from the serpent is: “are you sure you can trust this God? What did he tell you about the tree? You’ll die? Really!!! Trust me! You won’t die, you’ll be like God.” The serpent’s first step was to convince us that our lack – our emptieness – was something that we had to remedy. We needed to take control and reach for divinity ourselves.

Being created in the image of God, you and I are fundamentally creatures that long to trust and be trusted. We long for trust, and the serpent attacked the trustworthiness of God. He basically caught us in one of our weakest areas – our insecurity. The serpent’s offer: trust me instead! You won’t die! You’ll be like God, knowing good and evil. Don’t trust God for power and security – power and security are within your grasp!

This same tempter strikes again in our passage from Matthew. These two passages display a battle between humanity and the world, and between Jesus and the world. In Genesis, we see the typical battle played out – the one that you and I have been a part of countless times. We encounter a temptation, and we fall to it. Life is chalked full of temptations to fall to, and lies to believe in. Our failures in these moments don’t surprise me all that much. If I were a betting man, in the battle between me and temptation, or the battle between you and temptation, I would bet against humans every time.

Who wins out in your life: Human desire or a disciplined will? These tempations we face are very good at exposing who we are. They quickly expose our wants and desires; they display our understanding of who we are and whose we are. You’d think that Adam and Eve would have confidence in their God-given identity, with God joining them for strolls in the Garden; and yet they make the typical human mistake. They take their meaning from someone or something other than God. They look for fulfillment in something outside of their relationship to their Creator. Their temptation exposed their lack of self-confidence and their desire for secuity. Their temptation displayed their failure to understand and celebrate their identity as images of the Living God.

If I’m betting against us – in this battle between humans and the world – then what hope do I have for living a good life? Can a man or woman do anything good? I took a class from Jim Reimer, recently deceased theologian, who taught at Conrad Grebel in Waterloo, ON. We were talking about whether or not people get better, morally speaking. Do we become better people with age? Jim Reimer argued that Christians need to completely rethink, if not abandon, our teaching about becoming holy, or better Christians. He pointed out that many people he knew, who had been Christians for years, were still miserable disiples. He knew many senior Christians who displayed few, if any, of the Christian virtues. Instead, Jim knew many cranky seniors that gossipped, lied, bickered and had not an inch of Christian joy in their hearts. He insisted that Christians do not get better with age.

Is that what I’m saying now, when I say that I would bet against us in our battle against temptation? Should we give up on the whole notion of becoming better Christians when you and I fail so miserably? Let’s leave these questions on the back-burner and return to them later.

For now, let’s see if the story of Jesus’ temptation can help us understand. But, first of all, we need to get some doctrine straight. Anyone who wants to dismiss the serioussness of Jesus’ temptations in the desert – because of his divinity – needs to remember that Jesus was fully human – these two natures are undivided, but also not to be confused. In sharing our humanity, Jesus also hungered for food, longed for friendship, desired security; and if we hear the cries of Gethsemane, and the agony of his despair on the cross, we need to realize that his humanity and his neediness went all-the-way-down to the core of his identity. He was fully human; and so, let’s not forget that as we hear his story of testing.

In the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Father to not lead us into the time of trial. The first line of our passage this morning reads that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness in order to be tested. The Spirit’s goal, of course, was not to cause Jesus to fail, but to bring glory to God the Father. This was a test designed to show the quality of the Son. Adam and Eve’s temptation showcased how they understood themselves. They wanted to be separate in their relationship to God. They wanted autonomy. Temptation and trials tend to display who you really are. This test was designed to showcase Jesus’ identity even further, as it had been explained at his baptism. It’s interesting, then, that the first words out of Satan’s mouth, when he was tempting Jesus, were questions about Jesus’ identity. “If you are the Son of God… turn these stones to bread and jump down from the temple.” In both cases, Jesus’ reply was that his life was completely entrusted to God. Jesus knew that his identity was completely wrapped-up-in who God was.

Being human is not fundamentally about receiving bread to eat, but about paying heed to every word from the mouth of God. In his reply, Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy, where God’s people were reminded about their experience of exile in the wilderness and how they were fed with mana from heaven. For the second time, our Adversary offered food that would solve our problems – but this time Jesus made the right choice, where Adam and Eve failed.

In Jesus’ tests and trials, he showed us his true colors. What did these tests say about Jesus’ deepest desires: they were shaped by His full trust in God the Father. Any anxiety or insecurity was tempered by his confidence in God Almighty. With every breath, Jesus proclaimed trust in God. This is what makes his last statement on the cross so haunting: “Oh Lord, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Even as his breath was leaving his lungs, Jesus saw His life as completely dependent on God. When you face trails and tests, what do your actions reveal about you? What do your actions say about who you trust?

Now back to the question raised by my teacher, Jim Reimer. Do Christians get better with time? Or should we drop any notion of sanctification and holiness in the Christian life? Are we like wine – getting better with age? No! We don’t get better with age. Christians don’t become holier the longer we live. Time and age is not the factor. In fact – age might have some hindering qualities, if stubborness and a self-reliant attitude sets-in. But if we don’t get better with age, then what?

Earlier I said that if I were a betting man, I would never place my bets on humans in their battle against sin. That’s true – but I will place all my bets, every time, on a specific human – Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. In seeking to save the lost, Jesus squared-off against humanity’s number-one enemy – Satan, the Deceiver – and he won every time!

This deceiver tells you that just one more taste of this or that sin isn’t going to hurt anyone. This liar tells you that your sin is so huge that God wouldn’t love you or forgive you. This Adversary convinces us that one more dollar and we’ll have enough to be comfortable. One more war and we’ll have arrived at peace. If you look this good, and your body is in this kind of shape, then you’ll finally be happy. And we believe these lies. We do… but Jesus didn’tt – and he fought for us. He squared-off against Satan in the desert. And in our baptisms we have placed all of our bets on Jesus.

We don’t get better with age – but we do get better with Jesus. Or, maybe to put it better, Jesus has opened up a new possibility for you and for me. Jesus has opened up the possiblity of a Spirit-led life – being reborn by Christ’s Spirit living inside us. This possibility alone moves us upwards towards holiness. I have never met anyone who’s age has given them the benefit of wisdom or holiness – there’s plenty of old fools in our world. But I am blessed to visit many seniors, adults and youth who’ve had the Spirit of God transform them into a closer likeness of Jesus. We don’t get better with age – we get better with Jesus.

And getting better with Jesus is what Lent is all about. Lent is not about giving something up so that you can focus on becoming a better person. If it’s about you becoming a better person, I’m putting my bets on things just staying the same, over and over again.

Lent is a journey towards Jesus. It’s about getting rid of distractions and placing our focus on Jesus. Sacrificing your early morning coffee, or your love of chocolate, or your addiction to facebook – all these sacrifices are only valuable if they make room for a renewed focus on Jesus – because it’s only with Him that you and I are changed and transformed. It’s only with Jesus that we are sanctified and made holy.

But, in a world of distraction – in a world of billions of voices telling us who we are and what we should desire – in a world of addiction and apathy: how is Jesus showing himself to you? Where is He pulling back the curtain of busyness, and giving you a glimpse of his heart and love? Keep your eyes on him. In a world that’s exploiting your hunger for more, for something beyond yourself to gain personal fulfillment: Where are you seeing Jesus humbling himself in love for others? What words is He speaking to you? What is He calling you to?

This morning our scriptures convince us that Jesus could do what we couldn’t – he could face sin and temptation and win. In his letter to the Romans, the apostle Paul argued that Jesus accomplished a reversal of what Adam and Eve had begun. With Adam and Eve, we saw the beginning of a continuous cycle of failure after failure. But something new was made possible in Jesus. Paul writes, “just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Jesus reversed this cycle in his own life, and in his own choices. He squared-off against Satan in the desert and he remained faithful to God. His victory was that he chose complete trust in God, whereas Adam and Eve doubted God. Jesus, in all his humanity, gave us a glimpse of what it means to be truly human – to live in complete trust and relationship to God. May you meet Jesus, this Lent, in a new way and place all of your attention on Him. And this morning, as we join together to break bread, may you meet Jesus at the Table of Christian fellowship; May His ever-present Spirit transform our hearts and minds so that we can ‘get better with Jesus’. Amen.