Satan Sunday

Luke 4:1-13  3-6-22 Lent 1

 

I don’t believe in the devil.

I mean, that is if we’re talking about a being that

exists outside of us wandering around wearing red leotards and horns and

sitting on people’s shoulders tempting them I don’t believe in THAT.

And I don’t believe in the stereotype that the movies have

shown us of magical figures conjuring up

contracts for people to sign away their souls.

All that would be easy enough to avoid.

And I don’t believe that just a few certain people

are possessed by Satan like in the Exorcist or the Omen or any number

of other movies that came out in the 70’s.

The Temptation of Christ
J. Kirk Richards

 

I’m not sure that I even buy what’s depicted in

this haunting painting of Jesus or others like it.

These all put Satan firmly outside of ourselves

where we believe it can be avoided or shrugged off

or run away from. I believe that Satan

is much more sinister than all that.

 

I do believe that there is a force of evil in the world

I believe that this force is crafty and ingenious

and I believe that it is working every day to try and take us

away from God and God’s way of doing things.

And I do believe that it is in each one of us, waiting for

each of our opportune and vulnerable time to tempt each of us.

And I do believe that only way artistically, in scripture, painting,

and movies –and even in sermons, by the way—

that we have been able to depict this force inside us

is by showing a being outside us.

 

But don’t be fooled into thinking we’re safe from this force

just because we don’t see this separate being.

And don’t think that we can just avoid THOSE evil people.

Because this force is in each of us, and given the right

set of circumstances, can make us behave in ways that

would surprise and disappoint all of us.

 

Thanks for listening to my Ted talk about Satan.

Now, on with the rest of the sermon.

 

This week , Jesus is tempted by Satan.

He’s just been baptized and he is driven out into the desert

where he doesn’t eat for forty days and forty nights

and there he is tempted by the devil,

that shrewd figure who knows just what to say to everyone.

 

When we say the word temptation in our modern world,

we often think of two things: lust or dessert.

Right? Temptation is sex or chocolate cake.

I’m not sure why these two things but still.

I think we like to tame temptation down to a moment’s decision.

Something that we might want,

but we clearly know that we shouldn’t have.

But is that how the devil works? I don’t think so.

 

Probably the most well known story of temptation

is in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.

God tells them not to eat the fruit of one certain tree

they could have everything else but not that one.

God tells them that on the day they eat that one, they will die.

And they don’t eat from that fruit until they meet the serpent.

 

The serpent starts talking to Eve and asking her questions

“Did God say you couldn’t have any fruit in the garden?”

“No”, Eve says, “just that one tree in the middle.

God said if we eat that we’ll die.”

Then the serpent tells Eve, “that’s not true, you won’t die”

Then the serpent basically says, “God lied to you.”

The serpent goes on: “God doesn’t want you to eat it because if you eat it,

you’re eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil.”

And so they went to the tree and they ate the fruit

 that they were told not to eat.

Now what did that serpent do there?

Did he tempt them with lustful things? no.

 Did he tempt them with how delicious the fruit was? no.

Did he even tempt them with the power of knowing good and evil? no.

 

What the devil did is what the devil is really best at.

That is to sew doubt and mistrust,  He says to them:

“God told you you’d die, but you won’t

God just doesn’t want you to eat that because

God doesn’t want you to be all that you can be.

God wants to keep it all for himself,

God doesn’t care about you.”

 

The devil said basically, “Don’t trust God.

You can get what you want without God.

You need to look out for number one in this garden.”

 

This mistrust damages the beautiful relationship between

God and humans, and the relationship

with each other and all creation,

this gets passed down through their children

and it eventually infests all of creation.

That’s the lesson of Genesis 3.

The reality of what we live with today.

 

And when we look at the story of Jesus today,

that same temptation has come to meet with him.

It tries to lure Jesus away from the ministry

God has given him to do and Satan

uses the same tactics as the serpent.

By attempting to sew mistrust.

By putting a wedge between Jesus and God,

By trying to fill Jesus with doubt and suspicion.

  

-What if you go hungry? What if you don’t survive?

The whole mission will be lost.

-Couldn’t you do better job for everyone if you took over

as the leader of this country instead of getting crucified by them?

-What if God doesn’t protect you?

-Maybe you’re not really God’s son?

-What if this whole thing doesn’t work out?

You need to look out for number one in this desert.

 

Not chocolate cake, not lust. But seeds.

Seeds of doubt and mistrust.

 

And that voice that is great within

does go on to offer Jesus sure things,

things that are right there immediately:

food, wealth, power, and security.

And in exchange Jesus has to just give up one little thing:

God’s path. That which God needs him to do.

 

We know what this is like.

How often does that voice do this to us?

 

Whenever we start on a new path,

something that hasn’t been done before

something that might be difficult or risky

that’s when the doubts and mistrust start coming in.

 

I know this whole venture is silly.

What if I’m not qualified. What if I’m not right?

What if this whole thing doesn’t work out?

What if I lose everything? What if I’m embarrassed?

Wouldn’t I rather have what’s right here instead of waiting?

Maybe my best bet is to look out for number one.

 

Haven’t you heard those things in your head before?

 

The devil loves to sew our mistrust in other people too

Watch out, everyone has an ulterior motive,

those people are different, they’re unreliable,

you don’t know what they’re thinking.

They’re the wrong kind of people,

don’t trust them.

 

The devil tries to sew mistrust and suspicion

between spouses, families,

friends, co workers, between neighbors,

in congregations, in governments,

between governments.

 

And especially between us and God.

Maybe God doesn’t care about me.

Maybe God isn’t even real.

Maybe God is out to get me.

Maybe God wants to punish me.

 

Temptation isn’t about lust or desserts.

It’s about insecurity, doubt, and mistrust.

mistrust of yourself, mistrust of others

doubt in ourselves and doubt in God’s promises,

These are the tricks of the devil.

 

The devil would love it if we were all alone

getting whatever we can,

looking out for number one, not helping each other.

The devil loves it when it’s just me or me and my family

or me and my people first,

and everyone else doesn’t count.

The devil loves it when we stop trusting God’s promises

to us and try to take care of everything on our own.

We’re called on as Christians to trust God

and also to trust each other.

To see other people first as Children of God,

to forgive them, to care for them, and to work with them.

 

The devil hates it when we care for other people

The devil hates it when we trust others and work together.

The devil hates it when we call on God for guidance

when we open up our hearts to one another

when we worship God together.

The devil hates alliances, and cooperation, and unity, and trust,

The devil hates peace talks, and diplomacy, and civil discussion,

and vulnerability, and understanding, and forgiveness.

The devil hates community.

 

The devil hates it when we do God’s work and follow God’s Way

and trust God to take care of the details.

 

And that’s what Jesus did here in the desert.

He denied the devil’s temptation to mistrust God,

to just take the matters into his own hands,

and take care of things himself.

 

Jesus leaves the desert, goes into Nazareth and gives that sermon

we heard just a couple of weeks ago which lays out his plans:

bring good news to the poor.

proclaim release to the captives

recovery of sight to the blind,

et the oppressed go free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

Which is a big and crazy plan that God gave him.

  

Jesus then goes out right after that and gets Peter

and James and John and the other disciples to work with him.

They don’t always do the best job,

but in the end, Jesus trusts his whole ministry to them,

and then to us.

Jesus refused to give in to the temptation

to go it alone and just do it his own way.

 

Jesus denied the devil and believed in the God that he knew,

the one that loves and cares for us and won’t leave us alone.

The one that gathers us in community

and teaches us forgiveness and grace.

 

And this is the image of God that Jesus has trusted us with.

The one that binds us together,

and that we can pass on from generation to generation.

 

Traveling on the devil’s road might have actually

been easier for Jesus.

God’s way was difficult,

it actually led to the cross.

But Jesus trusted God.

And that trust saved the world.

 

Let us pray.

God, it is difficult to trust what we cannot see. 
It is so easy to give into the temptation to go on our own.
Help us to trust your way and path, in our work,
with our families, with our money, with our hearts, with our church. 
And help us to trust the people that you
have put in our lives and to work with them.

And God, most of all help us to trust in you.