Hespeler, March 9, 2025 © Scott McAndless – First Sunday in Lent
Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13
The story of the temptations of Christ is told in three of our gospels. But only one of the stories, the one we read this morning, ends with a curious note. The Gospel of Luke sums up the tale of the temptations by saying, “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.”
And I don’t know about you, but every time I read that ending, it has always made me ask one question: when? When is the devil going to return with more temptation? What is the more opportune moment that he is waiting for? The Gospel itself doesn’t seem to answer that question.
After the Devil Departs
It is true that, once the Devil departs from Jesus in the wilderness, he doesn’t appear again in this gospel, at least not in the same form. Satan does appear in the twenty-second chapter, when he is said to enter into Judas, prompting him to betray Jesus (v. 3). But that is not really the same kind of visionary tempting presence, is it?
So, we are left waiting. The tempter is apparently out there, waiting for his moment, but we, the readers, are not told when that might be. This is, I suspect, quite intentional. I believe that the gospel writer is giving a subtle nod to his readers. He is warning us that the opportune time may arrive at any moment. He is telling us to be prepared.
But the evil of this world does have a limited playbook. By telling us the things that Jesus was tempted with in the wilderness, he is also suggesting to us that we will be tempted along the same lines.
Wilderness Temptations
But when? Well, I am pretty sure that the author of this Gospel was probably thinking of the temptations that the church was facing as he was writing this. But that is not the only time to consider. I am sorry to tell you this my friends, but I believe that we are living in one of the opportune times that that gospel writer is referring to.
The temptations that are described in this passage are wilderness temptations. They are temptations that you face when you are not in charge, when you are cut off from the mainstream of society and you are struggling because of it. That’s always what the wilderness represents.
But the Christian Church in the Western world has not spent much time in the wilderness over the past approximately 1700 years. Christianity has been in the mainstream of society; it has largely set the agenda and enjoyed a most-favoured religion status.
Compared to that long history, however, the church is now facing much more of a wilderness time, isn’t it? And in such times, we are facing wilderness temptations.
Feeling Famished
For example, the first temptation that Jesus faces is very relatable today. It came, we are told, because Jesus “was famished.” I think that the church is feeling kind of famished these days. Resources feel scarce. Our churches struggle, for example, to pay bills and balance budgets. And what is the temptation when you feel as if everything is scarce?
“The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to ‘become a loaf of bread.’” The temptation is to focus all of your energy – all of your being – on getting the basic staple food that people need to stay alive. The temptation is to focus only on survival.
Focussing on Survival
Of course, we see this tendency in many churches these days as they cut everything external – all of the mission and the outreach and charitable support – to focus only on maintaining the internal systems.
That is perhaps an understandable temptation, but we need to listen to the response of Jesus. “Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’”
Mere survival, mere taking care of the basic staples of staying alive is never enough for the church. When all we have left as a church is working to keep ourselves alive, we are already dead for all intents and purposes. But giving our energy only to survival is something that we keep falling into.
The Temptation of Power
The second temptation of Christ is also one that is striking many churches in this wilderness time. “Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.’”
Now, I realize that that particular temptation might not seem to be hitting the Presbyterian Church in Canada right now, and it isn’t really. But there are churches that are grappling with it. They have been throwing in their lot with various movements in an effort to gain political power and influence.
Some churches, for example, have been seeking power by tying themselves to extreme political movements. There are nationalist, racist and other similar movements that are eager to use the church to promote their goals. They are eager to partner up with churches as a way to give their message legitimacy.
There are many perks to those Christians who go along with this. In the United States, for example, Christian nationalists have just recently been put into the Vice Presidency, cabinet and special advisory positions. They have a lot of power and I have no doubt that they will use it to promote their understanding of what might make a Christian society.
Comes at a Price
But, as the devil makes clear, in the wilderness such power comes at a price. “If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” The price comes with bowing down to worship someone other than God, which, of course, Jesus rejects immediately. I’ll leave it to you to decide who those Christian nationalists who have attained such power might have to worship to keep it.
But it is not just a question of who they must pay homage to. There is also the matter of them going along with the very things that Jesus preached against by blaming the poor for their poverty and giving blessing to the rich. It is about them rejecting the outsider, the immigrant and the refugee that Jesus taught us to love. You have to ask what you can accomplish for the cause of Christ when you must give up the very essence of the gospel to get your power!
As Jesus said elsewhere, “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:36)
Third Temptation
So, you see that the first two temptations are very much ones that are hitting the church at this opportune time. But what about the third one? Here the devil tempts Jesus to throw himself down from the highest point of the temple – essentially attempting suicide.
At the same time, the devil promises him, correctly I assume, that God “will command his angels concerning you, to protect you… On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” So, what does this third temptation have to do with what we are facing in our wilderness times.
Jesus’ answer to the devil, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” is initially confusing. After all, Jesus was constantly berating the disciples for having little faith – for not trusting in God to save them when they were in a storm or worried about God not giving them food or clothing. He constantly taught them to step out in faith and expect God to meet their needs.
So how is that different from what the devil is proposing? Well, one key difference is that the devil is telling Jesus to make a spectacle out of trusting in God. The temple in Jerusalem was the most public site in all of Judea, constantly bustling with thousands of people. So what the devil proposes would have made a very public splash (no pun intended).
Making it About Us
But even more than that, it was a demonstration that would have been all about Jesus himself. If God were to save Jesus while he was attempting this kind of terrible suicide, God, whose grace knows no bounds, might do that, but it would only be in order to save him. There would be no greater purpose – no spreading of the good news, no feeding of the hungry or clothing of the naked.
And I think that that temptation to make it all about ourselves is definitely one that we are dealing with in these wilderness days. When we are feeling as if our church, our denomination, our congregation or traditional ways of doing things are at risk, we are tempted to spend whatever faith or energy or commitment we have on making sure that those things survive.
Jesus’ Commitment
Remember that Jesus’ commitment in this world is to the spread and the establishment of the kingdom of God, not the survival of your denomination. Remember that Jesus wants people to hear and experience the power of the good news in their lives, but he cares much less about whether people hear about how Presbyterian polity works. He is committed to the church of Jesus Christ, but that is not the same thing as being committed to your congregation.
Now, if your congregation and polity and denomination are actively participating in making the kingdom of God real in people’s lives, Jesus will be only too happy to bless them. But too often, I suspect, we get that turned around. We demand that Jesus save our churches so that, if we have a little bit of money and energy left over, we may consider doing something for the sake of the kingdom.
We make it all about ourselves and what we think we need. If there is one lesson we need to take away from the wilderness story today, I think it is this.
Buildings
How often have I heard stories about churches holding onto their buildings – their beautiful buildings that they love – and pouring everything into them, while any sense of mission and ministry or even of purpose (apart from maintaining a building) falls away?
A building is a tool. It can be beautiful. It can be something that enables outreach and ministry. But it can also be something that constrains or limits our ministry. Maintaining a building has never been the purpose or goal of the church. But often we test the Lord our God by demanding that God save our building, making it all about ourselves and what we think we need.
Things We Value More
And, of course, it is not just buildings. We make it all about ourselves when we are unwilling to let go of our pride – when we are unwilling to rejoice in what God might be doing in another church. We also test God when we value things like our independence, our name, our time of worship and being open each Sunday morning so much that we allow those things to become a stumbling block that prevent us from working with other congregations.
That could become a major problem as far as I can see because, in these wilderness times, Jesus is calling us to work in closer partnership with one another. The more we make it all about ourselves and saving what is important and precious to us, the harder it will be for others to work alongside us.
It is an Opportune Time
Don’t you find these gospel stories amazing? This one is not just a story about something that happened once at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The final word about the devil waiting for an opportune time is a warning to all of us that the opportune time is nearer than we think.
But if we are in an opportune time, do not fear. You can resist the temptation to prioritize survival above all else, to seek power at all costs and to make it all about ourselves. Jesus has shown us how. We resist, like he did by harnessing the Scriptures, by remembering what our true meaning and purpose are and by remaining faithful in an opportune time.