Lead us not into temptation

The Temptation of Jesus -- Matthew 4:1-11 (Mk 1:12-13; Lk 4:1-13)
Judy and I have been reading Lenten devotions written by revered Christian Henri Nouwen, a Roman Catholic Priest and profound speaker of the faith.
Sunday's devotion is on Jesus' temptation.  First, the story.  We pick it up just prior to the temptations.

Jesus has just had a fabulous . . . conversion experience?  . . . ordination?  . . . affirmation from God?  at his baptism.  I think it was all of those things.  It is where John the Baptist begins handing off the ministry to Jesus.  It is where Jesus accepts the mission before him.  It is where God publicly declares Jesus, "my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  If you look at the previous blog entry you will find these same words spoken at the Transfiguration, just before Jesus goes to his final days and fulfillment of mission that is set out at his baptism.

Immediately after this tip-top spiritual experience the Spirit drives Jesus out into the wilderness and he experiences three temptations.  There is some variance in the Gospels about which came when -- we will stick with Matthew's  telling.

1. "You're hungry.  Satisfy your physical needs miraculously.  Turn these stones to bread."  It is the temptation to ignore what God is calling Jesus to do and to focus instead on meeting physical wants, needs, and desires.
2. "Be a biblical fundamentalist.  The Bible says God will protect you no matter what, so throw yourself off this high building (temple wall) and prove God will protect you."  It is the temptation to not THINK about what God says, but to follow blindly when someone wraps themselves in the Bible and demands that we should follow, regardless of common sense.  Or, as Jesus says it, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God," which I would paraphrase, "don't be stupid and expect God to intervene."
3. "You can have all the power you need in the short-term to control whatever you want if you are willing to give me your soul in the long-run."  At this point Jesus dismisses Satan, "Begone!" and declares his course, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve."  He later declares this to be the greatest commandment.

Regardless of my deep respect for Father Nouwen I think he did not tie Sunday's devotion to the text.  His devotion focuses on God declaring Jesus "beloved son," and conferring that same status on us who are joined to Christ in our baptisms.  But then he digresses from the text. 

He calls us to resist the temptation to think ill of ourselves, to listen to the world that would tear us down.  I have no issue with this as devotion.  It is a valid call to believers to see ourselves as God sees us -- forgiven, and called to a place in God's mission.

But that isn't the temptation Jesus faced. Having just been touched by God and commissioned for mission the question becomes, "How shall I carry out what God has called me to do?" I think the temptation is to think too HIGHLY of himself, rather than not highly enough.

And you better believe Satan is right there with advice.

1. "Get their attention by giving them free food.  Show them what a great miracle worker you are."  While it looks good on the surface Jesus rejects it.   "It's not about me.  It's not about what I look like, it's what God speaks to us about our lives."  Just the opposite of what Father Nouwen says, the temptation is to see himself as the center of it all instead of God being the center.
2. "Don't you believe the Bible?"  Boy, this is the hot-button temptation for me.  How often in my life have I heard people try and coerce or beat up others with Bible verses.  "The Bible says THIS.  (They don't even says "I believe the Bible says this!)  If you don't believe that way, or you live differently you are wrong, bad, a non-believer, or, at the least not as good a believer as I."  Jesus doesn't fall for it.  Elsewhere in the Gospels he declares the greatest commandment is to love God with all our hearts, MINDS, souls and strengths.  And his answer, "Don't tempt the Lord your God," is good advice to us -- Don't do blatantly stupid things just because someone claims God said to.  That's what all those poor souls did who fell for Jim Jones.  They drank the poisoned cool-aide and died.
3. "I have the power.  You can short-circuit living out what God has planned for you and be able to do ANYTHING you want . . . in God's name, of course . . . if you give yourself to me."  How sad it is that the church has fallen for this temptation over and over again.  It is important to note that Satan is not lying about his ability.  Satan DOES have the power to give power over the realms of this world and all their glory (status, wealth, power.)  But Jesus rebuffs Satan with the essential truth and purpose of his mission:  We do not live for this life only.  The power of this realm is small compared to the power of God's realm and the life Jesus comes to give us.  "Worship and serve God only!"

So I'm saying that the temptations Jesus faces are not LACK of self-worth.  Just the opposite.  Satan tempts him to take himself (Jesus) and his own power much too seriously and overlook or forget that it is God who creates and commissions him, it is God who empowers him to face the toughest of all life, and it is God alone who is truly worthy of serving and following.

As it is for Jesus in these temptations, so it is for us.  "Choose this day whom you will serve."  Joshua says to the Israelites' before they enter the promised land.  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Yes.

One more note, patient reader.

The temptation of Jesus can legitimately be seen as what other religions call such things as "vision quests."  It is a common rite of passage in many cultures that when one comes to a crucial moment in his/her life that calls for the  acceptance of a new role or life-direction the person goes out, by themselves, in a wild and lonely place to confront their demons and seek their God.  It is a place where our faithfulness is tested and where God's faithfulness is found . . . for those who will face such trials as Jesus did:

1. We do not live by bread alone, but by what God speaks.
2. Use the mind that God has given you and don't be duped by religious hucksters.
3. For all the glitter that easy answers provide, only God and God's power endures forever.

Okay, so one MORE note.

Wild and lonely places can be found in the midst of a busy city or busy life.  It is about going inside ourselves and listening to the demons AND the voice of God.  It is about not being afraid to seek God in the thorny and painful events of life.

Lent is a great time to do such deep thinking and contemplation.  God guide us in our wilderness treks.