lies, promises, and Jesus

1st Sunday in Lent

Gospel of Matthew 4:1-11 

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written,
“One does not live by bread alone,
   but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’

 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you”,
   and “On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’ 
Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’

 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
   and serve only him.” ’ 

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. 

We begin every season of Lent hearing the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.  The forty days of Lent find their origin in this story and its relation to its predecessor stories about Israel’s 40 year journey through the wilderness, Moses’ and Elijah’s forty day sojourn on the mountain of God, and Noah’s 40 days in the Ark.  Jesus’ responses to the devils’ tempting offers  are all derived from the book of Deuteronomy, a law book describing true, loving obedience to God.  Jesus’ answers are the answers of a well-versed rabbi.  He knows the scripture and how it applies to his situation.  Jesus is tempted, and unlike his biblical forerunners, Jesus does not take the forbidden fruit.  As we heard in the Genesis 2 story, Adam and eve believed a lie and ate the fruit God told them not to eat.  Sin, understood as disobedience to God’s will, is preceded by a lie—a lie about God and a lie about human kind.  

The first lie is that God is a liar.  The first lie calls into question the truth about what God has said.  Do not believe what God has said is a step away from do not believe in God.  The second lie is that we can know everything there is to know, that we can avoid death by our own power, and that we can become like god---in control of our own lives and the course of human history.  The lie is that the world is no more than my autobiography, that I am the main and most important character.  The lie is that we don’t need God to have a good life, to have what we need and more.  All these things are present and available for our taking and use.  Everything available is consumable!  Made for my use.  Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus does not believe the liar or the lies the liar tells. Hungry? Turn a stone into bread.  Feeling vulnerable?  Jump off the empire state building and watch God save you.  Feeling weak and powerless?  Pledge allegiance to the king of all liars, who promises to give you a governments power and authority.  In every instance, Jesus denies the tempter and turns to the Word of God.  In the gospels, this supports the testimony that Jesus is the Son of God, the new Adam, greater than Moses, the one sent to rescue humanity from the lies we are prone to believe about God and about ourselves. 

What are the lies we believe?  Life is about the choices that I make.  I am a good person, deserving of what I have received.  I have, in fact, earned what I have in this life by my own power, intellect, instincts, or good fortune.  I am free to do what I want to do when I want to do it, within the boundaries of the legal system, without consequence or consideration for others.  I can spend my money as I see fit. I can use the resources available to me as I please for my benefit.  You pay what you owe and get what you pay for.  Self-interest on every level is the primary factor in decision-making.  (Gas drilling has largely been justified by this lie.  It is in the best interests of fuel consumers like us and it is in the best interests of Pennsylvanians because the rewards outweigh the risks, at least for the moment.) It’s not personal, its business.  I am the decider.  If it is new and improved, I need to have it.  If it is not, it is garbage.  Consumers make waste.  The more one consumes the more one wastes, but there is no limit or boundaries to my consumption or my waste.  Because it all belong s to me.  My self-security is more important than my neighbors.  When I am hungry, I eat.  When I am thirsty, I drink.  Self-denial is unnecessary in a world of plenty.   

God helps those who help themselves.  God blesses good people and curses bad people. What goes around comes around.  People always get what they deserve.  Revenge is justice.  When bad things happen to others, it is their own fault.  When bad things happen to me, its someone else’s fault, possibly even Gods.  When things are not going my way, I can ask God for help. When things are going well, I can pat myself on the back.  God is like a personal assistant, there to help when needed but not like an overbearing boss.  God is not demanding.  God is not involved in much of what happens in the world.  Human invention, innovation, decision, and ingenuity run the world.  People are in charge.  Life is short.  Death is bad.  God is responsible for both, he giveth and taketh away.  Such a one is not to be trusted.  Tomorrow you may die.  Then where is your saving , loving God?  The awful things that God has done, innocent children suffering, etc…is this a God worth believing in?  Is this God, who allows suffering, real at all?  Or is this God just an ancient way to talk about things we do not understand? 

The lies we are prone to believe.  We may not think of them or ourselves as evil.  We also believe that evil is only found in the particularly malicious---killers and the like.  And since we are not guilty of those things, we are not evil.  But to believe the lies is to become complicit with evil.  To believe the lies and to act accordingly means that someone somewhere suffers and I am responsible for it.  The lies diminish us, make us less human, distort the creator’s intentions and purpose for us. The lies elevate us at the expense of others more vulnerable than we.  Children die without bread and as long as I have a full stomach, I am responsible. The lies we believe prevent us from experiencing the fullness of life, prevent us from living in full relationship with God. They prevent us from seeing ourselves in relationship with others, in communion with others, such that my life and your life and the hungry  child’s life and the young black man in Lancaster county prison’s life, and the Arab Muslim-Americans life, and the young prostitutes life, and the drug addicts life, are intertwined, inseparable,  one life. 

Jesus rejects the lies.  Jesus shows us the truth, about ourselves, about God, about life and death.  The truth is this:  As weak, vulnerable, and insecure as we are, we have been adopted as God’s own children with an inheritance promised to us.  This inheritance is LIFE in its fullest sense.  We are promised to become recipients of the fullness of life.  Call it heaven or the new creation.  We are the heirs.  Truth is, we don’t earn or deserve it.  We do not work for it or create it for ourselves.  We do not bargain for it or purchase it on credit.  We do not have to mortgage anything to receive this.  We do nothing to gain this family identity.  God does it.  God chooses to love disobedient, dirty creatures because that is God’s way.  AND every one is equally valued.  No one is beyond redemption or blessing.  Whatever lies you have been told or you have come to believe, this Lent God is challenging them.  Would you like to find out what you really believe and to see if what you believe is true?  What if that was our Lenten journey? To find out.