The Origin Story of Sin

February 26, 2023 First Sunday of Lent Year A The Origin Story of Sin Prelude Welcome Call to Worship Happy are those whose sins are forgiven. Happy are those whose sins are cast away. Rejoice in the Lord! Be glad! Sing out! Shout for joy! Rejoice in the Lord! Rejoice! Amen! (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Bill Hoppe) Opening Prayer God of Grace, as we begin this Lenten season, thank you for the ways you surround and sustain us, even when we turn our backs to you. Help us repent – turning once more to fill our hearts, minds and spirits with you. Teach us once more to keep our eyes focused on you as we travel this 40 day journey of prayer, repentance and sharing our financial resources with those who are in need. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Song What I Survey the Wondrous Cross UMH 298 Children’s Sermon So everyone should have gotten a piece of peppermint when you came in. I know, this is the perfect candy for passing out and eating in church. As you come into church, you have your candy – and told that you couldn’t eat it. The candy represent our theme for today -temptation. The more we are told not to do it – the more we want to do it anyway. What was your reaction to being told not to do it – did you say who are you to tell me I cant do something, were you like now I really want to candy. Or were you like okay. We are all different and have different reactions to being told no. Today we focus on two different reactions. We focus on the story of Adam and Eve and how they were told not to eat something – and they just had to eat it. And Jesus who was told to do whatever he wanted, and he was able to say no. Are we supposed to be more like Adam and Eve or Jesus? Of course like Jesus. Lent is our time to practice being like Jesus – and realizing that I don’t have to do everything that I want. How can we practice being more like Jesus in our everyday life? PRAYER OF CONFESSION O God, you offer us so much, forgive us for sharing so little. You have called us to your ways, forgive us for ignoring your call. You have given us the gift of family, forgive us for not giving thanks. You have given us countless blessings, forgive us for taking your love for granted. And now, gracious God, be merciful to us in our sin and indifference, through Christ, our Savior. Amen. From Joel N. Martínez and Raquel M. Martínez, Fiesta Cristiana: Recursos para la Adoración (Abingdon Press, 2003), 148. Psalm 32 UMH 766 Scripture Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Sermon The Origin Story of Sin Someone once asked me, "Where was the Garden of Eden located?" I looked at him and said, "The Garden of Eden was located at 803 Blue Street in Hope, Arkansas." A surprised look crossed this man’s face. For a moment he was speechless and then he asked, "Arkansas? I thought the Garden of Eden was supposed to have been someplace in the Middle East." "Well," I responded, "I don’t really know where the biblical Garden of Eden was located. But, I know that my Garden of Eden was on Blue Street in Hope, Arkansas. I was only a young boy (four or five years old) and I did something that I knew was wrong. My father usually put his change in a caddy on his dresser. I took a quarter without asking and went down to the store and bought myself some candy. As I ate the candy, shame overwhelmed me, guilt gripped at my heart, and sin became a reality for the first time in my life. My Garden of Eden was lost and I was embarrassed by my sinfulness. The lush, secure world of a little boy had evaporated and I headed home from the store aware that what I had done was wrong. Sin was no longer something only found in Bible stories. Sin was now a reality in my life." Imagine being set in a lush garden with all kinds of flowers, plants and trees. There are lemon trees, fig trees, olive trees, date palms, oranges and apples. Thhe Lord says, "You may freely eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." How hard could it be? All those trees, boughs lush with so many succulent and delicious choices. How could you get caught with your mouth full of the forbidden fruit! The subtle pressure of a smooth-talking snake doesn't seem sufficient to explain such audacity or stupidity. Put us in a garden and perhaps we could handle it! Or how about a desert? Jesus is in a swirl of sand and sun, of Satan's remarkable and recurrent presence, of prowling beasts and the beat of angels' wings. We might believe, foolishly, that set in a garden or a wilderness we could resist temptation. Give us a chance to try it in a space set apart from the routines of our daily lives -- to mark the tree, to identify the enemy and gather grace to resist. A garden is a beautiful place to start our Lenten journey. The Garden of Eden is full of metaphors and meanings. It is the origin story of sin, humanity, suffering, and our journey in life in general. Adam the first human lived in a garden. A garden is a plot of land that has been cultivated, planned and is intentional. That is in contrast to the gospel story of Jesus Temptation when he goes into the wilderness – plot of land which is wild, natural and untouched by human hands. Adam is the first man and Jesus is the new Adam. – But as they go into nature, both are challenged by temptation. Both are seeking a relationship with God – but on the other hand their journeys are very different. One of them pulls us all into a world of sin, the other shows us the way out. Our reading for today conveniently skips all of the verses that talk about Eve. But in this sermon, Adam and Eve are a couple- they are working together with a shared destiny. So, Eve is implied in everything that I said about Adam. So Adam and Eve live in a lovely garden – not paradise, but a place in earth. They are free to go wherever they want, do whatever they want and even eat as much as they want. With all of that freedom – they start to focus on the one thing that they can’t do – eat of the tree of knowledge. Now most of us learn in adulthood that freedom always has some limits. – you can’t do everything that you want. But most of us, like to focus on our limits and not our freedom. If there is one thing we cant do- that is what we want to do. For Adam and Eve it is the tree of life. That is the first step into temptation – an unwillingness to accept limitations as humans. The second step for all of us into temptation – the need to have all of the answers. That is the whole point of the book of Genesis – it gives the answers to all of the questions about life – who are we, where did we come from, why do we take care of the earth, who was the first man, how did our families start, why is life so hard, why do we have fear, what is the point of shame. Genesis answers all of those questions, but the more answers that we get, the more we need to know. The young man and his father were headed into New York City for a Saturday outing. It had been some time since they had spent much time together, and the father reasoned that a day such as this was just what was needed. As they crossed The Tapanzee Bridge into Fun City, the son asked, "Dad, what is the name of this bridge?" The father answered, "Son, I don’t know." Later they were driving along Fifth Avenue and the son asked his father, "Dad, is that the Empire State Building?" Replied the father, "Son, I don’t know." Later still, they were driving along Riverside Drive and the son asked his father, "Is that Grant’s tomb?" And replied the father, "Son, I don’t know." Nevertheless, they had a grand time of it and their closeness was restored. As they headed home in the evening, the son felt a bit remorseful about asking his father so many questions and said, "Dad, I’m sorry I bugged you with so many questions." Answered his father, "Oh that’s okay, son, how else are you going to learn?" Undoubtedly, the father would answer in the affirmative the question around which we want to build our talk together: Must we have all the answers? Sometimes I think it is not the questions that get us in trouble, it is the need to know everything. In Adam and Eve’s case, God tells them that not everything is their business. No matter how much we may know – we can just never know all about God. For matter, there are things that we can never understand about life – and yet we continue to ask why is this happening to me. Maybe we ask so many questions so that we can feel that we are in control. We want to be in control in our life. I have told this story before. There is an ancient story about the time God was confronted by a man who argued, “It’s easy for you God. You tell us we must do this and we can’t do that. What do you know of the struggles of people like me? You are God. It is easy for you.” But God argues, insisting that being God was no picnic either. “You only have to look after your own little self,” said God. “But I have to look after the entire world and that is not easy. In fact, just to show you, Ill change places with you for 24 hours. You’ll see then. So God gave the man one day to see what a hard job is was to rule the world. Twenty four house later, God returned and said, “You see? It wasn’t as easy as you thought”. Then God prepared to be God once more. But the man wouldn’t give God back his power. He found that he liked playing God. Since that time, man has played God. That is why the world is as it is today, so the legend goes. That is probably why lent is so important. Occasionally, we have to be reminded of what it means to be human – in relationship with an omnipotent God. The story of Adam and Eve is not a story really about sin – there is nothing in the bible that says that they were wrong. It is more a story about them being human – and doing things are human nature. They struggled with what it means to be human, in relation to God. – so do we. When God comes to look for them, God does not know that they did what he told them not to. But they know, and they start to have fear, doubt, and shame. And instead of taking responsibility – they place blame. That is what happens when we go against God’s intentions for our lives. “Not Responsible for…” Have you ever gone to a restaurant, hung up your coat, and noticed a sign warning that the management is not responsible if it gets lost or stolen? Ever read the small print on your airplane ticket? The airline takes no responsibility for any delays or missed connections, and if your baggage is lost, they only have to pay an amount agreed upon at a convention they held in Warsaw in 1955. Park your car in some high-priced garage or lot, and a sign will tell you that management is not responsible for any items lost or stolen from your vehicle. Do those "Not responsible for..." disclaimers bother you? They do me. It seems no one takes responsibility for anything anymore. I read about a man who was suing a hospital. A doctor had performed staple surgery on his stomach to help him lose weight. A couple of days after his operation, he raided the hospital refrigerator and stuffed himself with everything he could find. This tore open the staples and forced another surgery. He was suing the hospital for having a refrigerator near his room. He claimed the temptation was too great. Thus, his complications were not his own fault but the hospital's fault! A little girl was sent to her room for misbehaving. Sometime later her mother happened to pass by her door and heard her praying. "God, I am stuck up here because of YOU, you know. Last night I prayed for you to help me be a good girl. Well, you didn't, so it's your fault!" David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc. Along with shame and blame comes guilt. There once was a stern-faced, plainly dressed man who could be seen standing on a busy street corner in the heart of the city. As pedestrians hurried by on their way to lunch and business appointments, he would solemnly lift his right arm, point to the nearest person and loudly yell, "Guilty!" Then, without any change of expression, he would resume his stiff stance for a few moments before repeating the gesture. Then, again, he would raise his arm, again he would point at the nearest person, and again he would yell, "Guilty!" The effect of this strange pantomime on the unsuspecting pedestrians was extraordinary. They would stop in their tracks, they would stare at the man, they would hesitate for a moment, they would look to see if he was, perhaps, pointing at someone else, they would look at the strange man one more time, then they would hurry on their ways. One man, who had been singled out, turned to his companion and asked, "But, how did he know?" "Guilty! Everyone is guilty," is what this strange man on a busy street corner seemed to be saying. And so we are! We are guilty of sin and we know it. We have struggled with right and wrong and we know that there have been times when we have given in to sin. We know the reality of sin in our lives. We are all guilty of something. We are all guilty of being human. We are not perfect, we don’t have all of the answers, we have limitations – we all have something to work on in our relationship with God. The bible defines sin as disobedience to God’s laws, doubt of God’s word and a desire to be like God. Sometimes it is just getting ahead of ourselves. There are a lot of things that remind us to slow down – like lent. Jesus was an example for us in dealing with the hardship of life. Jesus is a better example of how to deal with temptation then Adam. Jesus is an example, because in each test that he faced, he had an opportunity to not just do the right thing, but to be the person God called him to be. He was the son of God. He had integrity to live out his calling. Not only did he know who he was – but we also got to witness his character for ourselves. His temptation was a test. A chance for him to fulfill his true hunger. Jesus does not have to serve 2 masters. He trusted God, so God can trust him. He remained faithful to who we was called to be in the midst of a test. God didn’t ambush him, God examined his character. The key to Jesus being faithful, is that he knew his scripture. Every response that he gave the devil is a verse in the bible. Psalm 32:10-11 says that the bridge between temptation and obedience is hope and trust. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: Jesus was able to overcome the temptations of the devil just by being the person, God had called him to be in the first place. Temptation is anything that leads us to live life in any way other than what God intended. We all know that at the end of chapter 3 in Genesis – that God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden of eden – They have to go live in the harsh real world. From there, Genesis reports the first murder, the affects of jealousy in a community, violence in the family. It all stems from that original temptation. As I read the rest of the story of their family in Genesis, I am not sure that they ever get beyond fear, shame, blame and guilt. Jesus story of temptation is a lot different. Jesus moves beyond temptation. He walks out of the wilderness on his own, and he begins a life of service to God. We should try to be more like Jesus. Lent is an opportunity to follow Jesus. Forty Days for Recommitment Lent was originally established for new Christians, those who experienced a call. They were to spend forty days and forty nights preparing for their baptism. If at the end they still wanted to follow Jesus, then on Easter Eve they would be baptized as the sun was rising in the east, signaling the new day, the new era, inaugurated because of the Resurrection. I am sure it had a powerful significance for them, to have prepared for their vocation as Christians the same way that Jesus prepared for his vocation as the Messiah: forty days of introspection and self-examination. But later the Church used the forty days as a time of renewal for those who were already Christians, because at a certain point everyone in the empire became a Christian, everyone was baptized as infants. So the time of Lent was used as a time of renewal and recommitment to the Christian life, examining our lives in light of the one we are supposed to follow. Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc. We don’t have to move beyond being human, as a matter of fact we need to accept that we are human. Human in relationship with an omnipotent God who loves us fiercely. We don’t always have to have all of the answers, but we do have to have faith. "BELIEF--which is an act of the mind "TRUST--which is an act of the heart "OBEDIENCE--which is an act of the will." (2) There is a lesson that we can learn from Adam and Eve getting kicked out of the garden for giving in to temptation. It was all a part of God’s plan. Perhaps God never intended for them to be in the garden forever. In moving forward, their faith in themselves and in God grew. They would have never thought that God would be with them in the midst of all of the hardships of life. Their fear, shame and blame turned into belief, trust and obedience. Their newfound faith set the stage for Jesus to come and show us all how it can be done. I wonder how our faith needs to grow right now? Amen. Song Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley TFWS 2112 Pastoral Prayer Loving, Creating God, you are in covenant with your people. You have pledged to be our God and ask us to be your people, trusting in you in all our ways. But we find many excuses to prevent us from really trusting you. We erect barriers before our faith journey even begins. Our time, obligations, energy, all become part of the bricks and mortar which fashion this barrier. We can give lip service to the journey; we can daydream about what it would be like to truly place our hands in yours and follow you. But when it comes to actually making the journey, our time constraints and weak commitments loom largely before us. Help us to tear down this barrier. Make us ready for the journey by replacing the fear in our hearts with a sense of joy and challenge of self-discovery and discipleship. Remind us that in service to you, helping others, we will also find our selves made more fully whole. As we have spoken the names of our friends, and family members, and others situations in which healing and comfort are needed, let us remember that we, too, stand in need of prayer and healing. Make us ready to receive your good news and then to be witnesses to your love to all your people. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Stewardship Moment Invitation to Offering In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, Satan appears to Jesus, asking him to turn his back on God. Instead, Jesus offers scriptural responses to each of the three temptations, rejecting what Satan held out to the famished and exhausted Jesus. This 40 day season of Lent gives us time to get clear about we can offer from our own lives (whether we’re famished and exhausted, simply plugging along, or filled with energy and enthusiasm). For some, Lent is a time to “give up”. For others, these 40 days provide enough time to form a new habit, “taking on” the traditional 3-prong prayer, repentance and alms-giving. Is there some outreach or mission effort you might support with a weekly gift for these next 6 Sundays? Do you want to support a particular ministry of this congregation (name a specific one, if you can)? Are you eager to join with others in a new church-wide response to a need you can identify? This first Sunday of this season is a great time to launch our own Lenten discipline of giving. Consider what you might do, and make a start today! Prayer of Thanksgiving Holy God, thank you for your steadfast love and presence. We’re eager to let our actions help share your love with a weary and worn world. Please accept these gifts, the good intentions of our hearts, and the deep desire we have to help grow your Realm here on earth, as it is in heaven. Fill us with hope and confidence in you, even as you help multiply these resources and our energies for action. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Beloved people of God; I invite you, in the name of Christ, to observe a holy Lent by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by works of love, and by meditating on Gods’ word. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Book of Common Worship) Community Time Benediction As you depart this space and enter the wilderness of the world, know that God is with you. Whatever may come, let God be your safe place to go and your soft place to land. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Tena Nock) Additional Illustrations The Really Big Sale He had finally got his chance to make the Really Big Sale. He was going into the final interview on the biggest contract he had ever written. As he was ushered into the office of the executive buyer, an assistant brought her coffee and left. The atmosphere was cordial, and he knew he was giving his best presentation ever. Then the assistant tapped on the door, re-entered the office and spoke briefly with the executive. She stood and said, "I apologize, but I have to tend to a matter. I'll just be a minute or two." And she followed her assistant out of the room. The sales representative looked around the beautifully appointed office. He saw her family pictures on her desk. Then he noticed a contract on her desk. She had evidently been studying a bid from a competitor. Leaning forward, he could see the column of figures, but it was obscured by a diet soda can. He was tempted to move the can and see the bottom line of his competitor's bid. What harm possibly could there be in reading her private information? After all, she had left it out in plain sight, almost. After wrestling with himself a while, he finally decided to take a peek. As he lifted the soda can, he discovered that the can wasn't filled with soda at all. Instead it was a bottomless can filled with 1,000 BBs which gushed out, and ran all over the desk and cascaded onto the carpet. His attempt to short cut the competition was exposed. Not every temptation is so obvious. Not every failure is so embarrassing. But every temptation is a challenge. Not even Jesus was spared the choosing. Mickey Anders, Six Flags over Jesus Deliver Us From... A mother was teaching her 3-year old daughter the Lord's Prayer. At bedtime, she repeated after her mother the lines from the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo. Mom listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some E-mail. Amen. Traditional We Help Each Other When Edmund Hillary, who passed away just a few weeks ago, was at the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, he had a partner in his success. He had climbed the mountain all the way to the top, the first man ever to do that. The thing that impressed me about the whole story was not that Edmund Hillary climbed the mountain, but that he had a companion who climbed the mountain with him. Nobody ever hears his name. His name was Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing, however, climbed the mountain with him and on the way back down the mountain, Hillary fell and was almost lost. He would have been lost without Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing Norgay literally pulled him back up the cable and saved his life and Edmund Hillary lived to tell a great story because of this help from an unknown man. When someone asked Norgay why he didn't make more of it, why he didn't brag about it, he said, "We mountain climbers help each other." What a great model this would be for our church. We Christians have no need to be on television or make millions of dollars putting out a show. It is time we reversed the process and touched people and say very simply, "We Christians help each other. That's who we are." Calvin Miller, Moving From Entertainment to Servanthood No Easy Buttons Staple's, the huge office supply chain store, has a new commercial out that illustrates the power of the devil's various temptations. In their ad whenever an individual confronts a difficult situation, all they have to do is reach over and push a red, over-sized, glowing button that reads, "easy." Got to pick up three kids, make dinner, finish that report at work, and be supportive to your spouse? No problem, just push the big easy button. Need to do a risky surgery never performed before? Hey, just push the big easy button. Faced with the need to balance economic growth and stability with environmental safety and the welfare of worldwide ecosystems? No problem, just push the big easy button. Big problem: there are no easy buttons. There's no easy button to free us from the trials and tests of diabolos. Jesus taught us to pray, not "save us from temptation," but "lead us not into temptation." Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com Even When We Know Better: Our Temptation We are often tempted by material things, opportunities, and possibilities of contemporary life - items that we generally know will only lead us away from God. The choice to avoid such temptations is ours and, thus, we must be wary of their allure. A Native American folk tale describes this problem: One day an Indian youth, in an effort to prepare for manhood, hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees and decorated with many lovely flowers. There he fasted and prayed, but on the third day he looked up at the surrounding mountains and noticed one tall and rugged peak capped with snow. He decided that he would test himself by climbing this mountain. Thus, he put on his buckskin shirt, wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, and set out to climb the peak. When he reached the top he looked out from the rim to the world so far below. Then he heard a rustling sound and, looking around, saw a snake slithering about. Before he could move, the snake spoke to him, "I am about to die. It's too cold for me up here; I am freezing. There is little food and I am starving. Please put me under your shirt where I will be warm and take me down the mountain." The young man protested, "No. I have been forewarned about your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up you will bite me and I might die." But the snake answered, "Not so. I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special to me, I will not harm you, and you will receive whatever you want." The young man resisted for some time, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful diamond markings. At last the young man tucked the snake under his shirt and carried it down the mountain. Once in the valley he gently placed the snake on the ground. Suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and then bit the man on the leg. "You promised me!" cried the youth. "You knew what I was when you picked me up," said the snake, which then slithered away. Richard E. Gribble, Sermons For Sundays: In Lent And Easter: Building Our Foundation On God, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. In August of 1991, a priest, Father Alexander Borisor, demonstrated how the power of faith was greater than the power of fear. It was the Christian''s greatest weapon. Fear was beginning to grip the hearts and minds of the Russian people. So this man of God, propelled by faith in God, found himself passing out Bibles right smack in a midst of the uprising in Red Square. The Soviet military was in position to silence the voice of the people yearning for freedom. He took to the streets with Bibles--the military was ready with bombs and bullets. So the priest and the members of the local bible society actually climbed onto the tanks and began passing out Bibles. They passed them out to the soldiers on the streets. They stopped the tanks with nothing but arm loads of Bibles, and when they had opportunities they would climb on top of the tanks and throw the Bibles inside. One morning a soldier was given a larger size children''s Bible because they ran out of New Testaments. It was larger than would fit in his front pocket. Realizing this and wanting to keep the Bible with him, he emptied his pocket of bullets so the Bible would fit. Yes, when faith in God replaces the fear and timidity in us--the giants of life fall down in defeat before us. Yes, the power of fear can be deadly. However, the power of faith can be transforming and victorious. We believe, because Jesus Christ is Lord, that the Bible and its truth are always greater than bombs and bullets. A legend from India tells about a mouse who was terrified of cats until a magician agreed to transform him into a cat. That helped him to control his fear for a while . . . until he met a dog. So the magician changed him into a dog. The mouse-turned-dog was content until he met a tiger--so, once again, the magician changed him into what he feared. But when the tiger came complaining that he had met a hunter, the magician refused to help. "I will make you into a mouse again, for though you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse." (1)

Coming Upon Lent

March 5, 2017 First Sunday of Lent Year B Coming Upon Lent Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Easter comes a little late this year. But no matter how late Easter is, lent always comes upon my unexpected. I am never to start lent, and every year I am faced with that proverbial question, what am I doing for lent. What am I going to give up for lent. I was surprised that the host of Windy City Live were having this conversation on Ash Wednesday- about what to give up for lent. Each of them named a bad habit they were going to give up.they decided that whomever did the forbidden activity for the next 40 days had to put money in the jar. They even argued about how much money was appropriate. So apparently it has become a social statement to give something up for lent. But what struck me was that even though they were talking about it, they were all totally ignorant about the meaning and point on lent. Life is not so simple. Not one of them even made a promise to change their behavior. They all admitted that they would probably fail, so the charity that was going to get the money was going to do well. Because all they had to do was to put money in the jar. No reflection, no self discipline, and more importantly, no relationship to God. God doesn’t want our money, or our guilt. And giving up something for lent is symbolic. God wants our hearts. When Easter comes we should be changed, transformed but more importantly much closer to God. I was going to give up sugar for lent, but after watching that episode on Windy City Live – I decided that rather than worrying about a symbolic act – to open my heart and to invite the spirit to come and live with me for 40 days. To work with me, challenge me but to stay close enough for us to be friends in the days to come. So I thought that this morning I would have us look at the scripture from Genesis this morning. On the first Sunday of Lent I usually focus on the gospel of Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days as an example. But I thought that Genesis has a deeper message on who we are as people, why we have those bad habits, and important lessons about what lent is all about. If you are going to give up something for lent – have the power to give it up. Genesis teaches us about an important concept to prevent us from having to keep money jars around all month- it teaches us about temptation. Of course what tempts us is very different. But with the things that tempt us, we know that there is always a chance that we will give in, or else it would be a temptation. But our faith teaches us that we always have the power to overcome. Genesis starts with the story of God creating Adam, and teaching him to care for the rest of creation. God instructions were to Adam not Eve, It was Adam who passed the information onto Eve. I make that distinction because in our popular telling of the story – we blame Eve and think of Adam as just going along. But I digress. My point is that the story starts with Adam having a direct relationship with God, he was so close to God that they could have a conversation about life. About his purpose, and even about the consequences of his actions. He tells him that he is to till the land, that he is to enjoy the fruits of his labor, he is free to do whatever he pleases. God puts one boundary on that freedom – don’t eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or you will die. God wants us to be free, to be happy, to enjoy life. But in order to do that, God knows that in order to have true freedom, there has to be some boundaries around that freedom. There has to be some context around our freedom in order for it to have meaning. We have been hosting a class from Garrett at our church this semester, and one of the things that professor taught us was that the word religio – the word that religion comes from means to fence in. Religion fences in our freedom so that we can enjoy use it and enjoy it. It helps us to be in control of our lives, instead of our lives being in control of us. God put Adam in control of the land and creation. The first words of our text says that God took the human and settled him in the garden of eden to farm and to take care of it. God continues to order his creation. The text shows that God took man, God commanded, God said. God knew what God was doing and God did it. We know how the story goes, one day a serpent comes and talks with the woman and questions everything that God has done and said. Did God really say that? Did God really mean that? The serpent goes as far as to take the boundaries off of God’s freedom. You wont die! As a matter of fact, says that serpent, God knows that if you eat of the tree of knowledge that you will be just like God, knowing good from evil. And that has been our problem every since the beginning – once the boundaries have been broken down in our lives, we want what God has. We want to be God in our lives and in the lives of all of creation. There is an ancient story about the time God was confronted by a man who argued, “ It is easy for you God. You tell us we must do this and we cant do that. “What do you know of the struggles of people like me? You are God. It is easy for you. But God argued, insisting that being God was no picnic either. You only have to look after your own little self, said God. I have to look after the entire world, and it is not easy. As a matter of fact, just to show you, I’ll change places with you for 24 hours. You will see then. So God gave the man one day to see what a hard job it is to run the world. Twenty four hours later, God returned and said, You see? It wasn’t as easy as you thought. Then God prepared to be God once more. But the man wouldn’t give God back his power. He found he liked playing God. That is why the world is as it is today, so the legend goes. You will notice in this story the serpent did not have any power in this story. All he did was question God and that was enough to get Eve going. To tearing down those boundaries and wanting to be free from what God had taught her. God has already given them control of the land and creation, but she wanted to be in control of God’s commandments – do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. She didn’t eat the fruit because it tasted good- but because it would make her equal to God – or so she thought. Usually when we give in to temptation and do those forbidden things, we are not happier. We are more miserable. Eve and Adam did not die immediately, but life was a lot harder for them. There is a reason that God has put a fence around our freedom. It is not freedom that makes us happy, it is freedom in the context of boundaries. It is freedom that can be channeled, guided, informed, and used that makes us happy. And if we continue to look at the text. Eve and Adam did not die. As a matter of fact life went on for them. They even gained the knowledge of good and evil, but once they attained the knowledge, they were forced to use it. They put on fig leaves and were put out of the garden of eden forever to live their lives with the knowledge that they had been given. I believe that this is a story of life as it is, and not as it should be. In other words – Idont think that this is a story of what would have happen if Eve and Adam had lived in the garden forever. God knew that they would fail, God knew that they would not remain innocent forever, God knew that they would sin and have to live with the consequences of their decisions. No matter how familiar the story – there is always something that we can learn that will help us in our lives today. The lesson that I learned this lent season from the story of Adam and Eve is that alongside the tree of knowledge was also –planted right to it the tree of life. God did not forbid them from eating the fruit of the tree of life. The tree of knowledge God said brought death, but the tree of life bought life, strength, common sense, joy, fulfillment, true understanding. Everything that you needed in order to live the life God intended. God always gives us a choice, and life is about the choices that we make. If we decide to do wrong, we can also decide to do right. When we are faced with temptation we also have the tools we need to resist our temptation. We don’t need to put out money jars for lent- because if we can decide to do wrong, we have the power to decide to do right. As a matter of fact, the prophetic story was about man and woman making the wrong decision, the gospel story was about Jesus in the face of temptation having the power to so no. to resist temptation. To keep the boundaries of his faith, his connection to God, his focus on life – not death. That is our task this Lenten season, not to worry about giving something up. But to repair the fences in our faith that life has torn down. To look at our relationship with God and to shut down all those extraneous voices and to listen only to God. Let us turn now to the deeper meaning of this passage. At that level it is of course no longer speaking of something that happened long ago, but addressing life in the present. It shows us “man” confronted with a choice: “You may freely eat...”, “You shall not eat...” “Man” can either work for God and find happiness and freedom in serving him, or he can go his own way thinking he knows all there is to know, and live with the inevitable consequences. This is the most fundamental choice that any of us is ever called upon to face, the choice between God and ourselves, between real freedom and the illusion of it, between Paradise and Hell, between life and death. It is our choice and our choice only. God cannot interfere, otherwise it is not a genuine choice. But how anxious he is that we make the right choice, how devastated when we make the wrong one! There is an ancient legend of the cypress Tree of Life. It tells that when Adam was dying, he sent Seth to the Garden of Eden to fetch him some Oil of Mercy. Seth could not release the oil, no matter how much Seth begged, but the guardian angel gave Seth instead a sprig, or seed, from the Tree of Life, which he as told to plant upon his father’s grave. When Adam died, Seth did as the angel had said. From that seed grew a tree which, years later, gave Moses the wood for his wonder-working rod. Later the tree was cut down and cast away. As a rejected tree, it was picked up and used . . . to fashion the cross on which Jesus was crucified. It was truly the Tree of Life. He is truly the way, and the truth, and the life. There is something so very curious about the man from Galilee. He has captivated the imaginations of people throughout twenty centuries. He transcends time and place, culture and custom, race and language. Something there is in Him that always speaks clearly to us. We see it throughout the gospels, everywhere He went, in everything He said and did. Son of God and Son of Man, we know He became one of us. While He is the answer to all our struggles, we see Him struggling with the things He faced. And, as He finds the way for Himself He finds the way for us as well… Temptation: Just Don’t Look A pastor once told his congregation, "I learned a great lesson from a dog." He said, "His master used to put a bit of meat or a biscuit or some kind of food on the ground, and he'd say to the dog, 'Don't eat that,' and the dog would run over and eat it, so he'd hit the dog. And he put another piece of meat on the ground. He'd say, 'Don't eat that.' The dog would go over and eat it, and he hit him again. Well, after awhile, the dog got the message: eat meat, get hit. So the dog decided he wouldn't eat the meat." But the man telling the story related how that the dog never looked at the meat. The dog evidently felt that if he looked at the meat, the temptation to disobey would be too great, and so he looked steadfastly into his master's face and never took his eyes off him, and thus the temptation never caused a problem. John Macarthur, How to Overcome Temptation An overzealous preacher felt it was his calling to aggressively "make" people become Christians as they would ride on the city bus system. One day a man who was obviously intoxicated stumbled onto the bus that the preacher was on. The preacher sprang into action and shook his Bible in the face of the inebriated man and yelled, "Did you know you're headed for Hell?" And the drunk replied, "Oh, no, I'm on the wrong bus again!" Even worse, many of us are unwilling to take responsibility for our transgressions. And since we refuse to take responsibility, we make the same mistakes time and time again. We are like Adam blaming Eve for their transgression, and Eve blaming the serpent. Two men were watching a western on television. As the hero rode on horseback toward the edge of a cliff, one man said, “I bet you $50 he goes over the cliff.” “You’re on,” said the other man. The hero rode on straight over the cliff. Being a sportsman, the second handed over the money. The first man looked at it and said, “I feel guilty about winning this. I’ve seen this film before.” “So have I,” said his friend, “but I didn’t think that cowboy would be stupid enough to make the same mistake again.” The first step in dealing with sin is to take responsibility for it. Quit doing the same stupid thing over and over again. The lines have at last met. If when we try to restate the meaning of this story in modern terms, everything is not as neat and tidy as we would like, that is because of the story form. It is removing to the past and concentrating on an uncomplicated pastoral stage what is in fact the root cause of this whole complicated universe’s present misery. That root cause is the strange mixture of ability and arrogance, of success and failure, of hope and remorse, of knowledge and guilt which is human sin. It has set an unbridgeable gulf between the human race and its Father in heaven—a gulf at any rate unbridgeable from its side.

Journey to Temptation, Journey to Salvation

March 9, 2014 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Matthew 4:1-11 The Journey of Temptation, the Journey of Salvation 1st Sunday of Lent Year A The nature of the snake Iron Eyes Cody Iron Eyes Cody is a Native American actor who once did a TV spot for the Keep America Beautiful campaign. He was an Indian drifting alone in a canoe. As he saw how our waters are being polluted, a single tear rolled down his cheek, telling the whole story. This powerful public service commercial still shows up on TV screens after 17 (now 29) years. In 1988 Cody repeated an old Indian legend in Guideposts magazine. Here it is: Many years ago, Indian youths would go away in solitude to prepare for manhood. One such youth hiked into a beautiful valley, green with trees, bright with flowers. There he fasted. But on the third day, as he looked up at the surrounding mountains, he noticed one tall rugged peak, capped with dazzling snow. I will test myself against that mountain, he thought. He put on his buffalo-hide shirt, threw his blanket over his shoulders and set off to climb the peak. When he reached the top he stood on the rim of the world. He could see forever, and his heart swelled with pride. Then he heard a rustle at his feet, and looking down, he saw a snake. Before he could move, the snake spoke. "I am about to die," said the snake. "It is too cold for me up here and I am freezing. There is no food and I am starving. Put me under your shirt and take me down to the valley." "No," said the youth. "I am forewarned. I know your kind. You are a rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you will bite, and your bite will kill me." "Not so," said the snake. "I will treat you differently. If you do this for me, you will be special. I will not harm you." The youth resisted awhile, but this was a very persuasive snake with beautiful markings. At last the youth tucked it under his shirt and carried it down to the valley. There he laid it gently on the grass, when suddenly the snake coiled, rattled, and leapt, biting him on the leg. "But you promised..." cried the youth. "You knew what I was when you picked me up." said the snake as it slithered away. Bits and Pieces, June, 1990, p. 5-7. This story reminds me of the story in the news recently of the pastor who handled rattle snakes, he was bit and he died. When asked if he wanted to go to the hospital to get treatment, he said no, he would let God handle it. Well God already handled it. He created rattle snakes to attack when threatened and he created the posion on rattle snakes to kill human beings. We have to honor the laws of God’s nature. So it was a forgone conclusion that he was going to die. But I start out this morning talking about snakes – because Genesis starts our talking about snakes. Genesis says that the snake is the most cunning of all of the other animals. Why is the snake crafty? Now Genesis says that the word of God is so powerful that it can create something out of nothing. Genesis is full of God’s powerful acts. God formed, breaths, makes, takes, plants, commands On the other hand the snake doesn’t really do anything in the story. As a matter of fact, his words are not powerful at all. The snake didn’t really say anything creative. He just took what God had already said and repeated it in a crafty way. Today’s topic is temptation. And if you notice temptation is not a violation of your will. When you are tempted, you are not being forced to do anything against your will. Temptation is that crafty voice that speaks to you in a way to get you to change your will. Temptation gets you to change from doing the right thing to doing the wrong thing. You make your own choice. So the snake was not smart or intelligent, because he didn’t introduce anything new, he just took what was already there and changed it. This is the first Sunday of Lent – this is our journey from sin to salvation. The first step on that journey is temptation. How do we interpret temptation? Now we tend to interpret temptation as an invitation to sin. But the bible says that it is more than that. Let us go back to the story of Abraham. The bible says that God tempted Abraham to kill his son. Would God really encourage Abraham to kill his son? Or would God test the character of Abraham by putting him in a situation where he had to make a choice. I think that God puts us all in situations, where we discover who we really are and what we are really made of. I don’t think that any of us start out really good. But when we are put in situations where we make the right choices, we find that we can really trust ourselves, we understand what we will do and what we will not do. When given the choice to kill or not kill his son. Abraham chose not to kill his son, but to trust God. And he went on the become the father of our faith, because of his journey with God. As a matter of fact, this is probably the example that Jesus was thinking of when he went into the wilderness to journey with God. Matthew 4 is meant to be an example for us in dealing with temptation. This time it is not a snake but the devil himself. Temptation is a life test, it is not our choice to be a good person or a bad person. Scripture says that the holy spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, where he fasted for 40 days. And after the fast he was famished, he was hungry. He needed something to eat, but how did he fulfill that hunger? We tend to think that the best way to avoid temptation is to avoid being hungry. But Jesus was hungry. The bible does not say whether he was hungry for food or for something else. He may have been hungry for a deeper relationship with God. My point is that is is okay to be hungry. As a matter of fact in Genesis 2, when God created adam scripture says that God blew breath into him and made him a nephesh chayah. A nephesh is a clay man made human by having breath. And chayah means desiring. Adam became a desiring being – a man with needs. In other words he became fully alive. Hunger is not just about a physical hunger, but is it spiritual and emotional. Jesus was hungry, and it is human nature to be hungry for all sorts of things. The lesson is in how you fill that hunger. You have a choice to fill it with something good or something bad. Usually when you fill it with the rights things you are satisfied, when you fill it with the wrong things you continue to be hungry. Now the story tells of 3 temptations or test that Jesus faced. This year I am not going to focus on them individually. I think that the biggest temptation that faces us all is the need to be in control. To be the boss of our lives. To fulfill our will and not God’s will. There is an ancient story about the time God was confronted by a man who argued, “It’s easy for you God. You tell us we must do this and we can’t do that. What do you know of the struggles of people like me? You are God. It is easy for you.” But God argues, insisting that being God was no picnic either. “You only have to look after your own little self,” said God. “But I have to look after the entire world and that is not easy. In fact, just to show you, Ill change places with you for 24 hours. You’ll see then. So God gave the man one day to see what a hard job is was to rule the world. Twenty four house later, God returned and said, “You see? It wasn’t as easy as you thought”. Then God prepared to be God once more. But the man wouldn’t give God back his power. He found that he liked playing God. Since that time, man has played God. That is why the world is as it is today, so the legend goes. Jesus is an example, because in each test that he faced, he had an opportunity to not just do the right thing, but to be the person God called him to be. He was the son of God. He had integrity to live out his calling. Not only did he know who he was – but we also got to witness his character for ourselves. His temptation was a test. A chance for him to fulfill his true hunger. Jesus does not have to serve 2 masters. He trusted God, so God can trust him. He remained faithful to who we was called to be in the midst of a test. God didn’t ambush him, God examined his character. The key to Jesus being faithful, is that he knew his scripture. Every response that he gave the devil is a verse in the bible. Psalm 32:10-11 says that the bridge between temptation and obedience is hope and trust. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: Jesus was able to overcome the temptations of the devil just by being the person, God had called him to be in the first place. Sermon Closer Harry Emerson Fosdick was one of the greatest American preachers of this century. He described his preaching as counseling on a large scale. Few people knew that as a young seminary student he reached the breaking point after working one summer in a New York Bowery mission. He went home and was overcome by deep depression. One day he stood in the bathroom with a straight razor to his throat. He thought about taking his own life. And then -- and then he heard his father in the other room calling his name, "Harry! Harry!" It called him back. He never forgot it. It was like the voice of God calling him. So I want to remind you today that in those times when you are in the wilderness, trying to find your way through, and when temptation comes and offers you the wrong answer, the wrong choice -- the wrong use of power, the way to popularity, the wrong kind of partnership -- then you remember that God has called your name: "This is my beloved son, my beloved daughter, in whom I am well pleased." And, you remember that because God has called your name He will see you through. Thomas A. Pilgrim, The Man From Galilee, CSS Publishing Company. Amen Those Tempting Crayons by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Matthew 4:1-11 • Lectionary: Lent 1 Item 6 of 13 | Back to Results Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. Objects: Some crayons and/or scissors. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to talk about a word that I am sure all of you have heard many times but you may not be sure what it means. The word is "tempted" or "temptation." How many of you have heard that word used before? (Let them answer.) How many of you know what it means? (Let them answer.) Those are very close answers. Let me see if I can help explain it a little better. I brought with me some crayons and some scissors. How many of you have crayons at home? Almost all of you. What do you do with crayons? (Let them answer.) That's right, you color pictures. Sometimes we use them in coloring books and sometimes we use them just on a piece of paper. That is the right place to use them. No problem and no temptation. But have you ever used them anywhere else, or thought about using them somewhere else? Have you ever colored a wall in your house, or thought about coloring the wall, or maybe a table or your bed? If you thought about it, and you wanted to do it, then you were tempted. You could almost hear a little voice that said, "Go ahead and color the table, or go ahead and color the wall. It's all right, no one will ever know." That is temptation. Of course, if you color it, then the temptation is over. You have done something wrong. But if you just think about it and you want to do it, and you think it might be all right, then you are being tempted. Jesus was tempted. Did you know that Jesus was tempted? He was. The Bible tells us how the Devil tried to get him to follow him rather than the Father in heaven. Jesus knew it was wrong but he listened to the Devil tell him how he would make him wonderful, and how he would give him land and all the food he could eat. Jesus listened to the Devil and he was tempted. How many of you knew that Jesus listened to the Devil, or as the Bible calls him Satan? (Let them answer.) That's a true story. Jesus was high in a mountain and the Devil came and tried to get Jesus to follow him just like that little voice tries to get you to color the table. But Jesus did not give up. He was tempted, but he told the Devil to get away for he was not going to do anything that was a sin against God. After three times of the Devil offering Jesus everything he had, the Devil left Jesus and went away. We must often do the same thing. There are things that we know are wrong, but they sound wonderful. That is temptation and we must be strong and put it away. Temptation is strong, but God is even stronger. If you listen to both voices, you will do it God's way. THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, Wesley T. Runk, C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1989, 1-55673-141-8 Back to Results | Item 6 of 13 Sword of the Spirit Out flashed the sword of the Spirit: our Lord will fight with no other weapon. He could have spoken new revelations, but he chose to say, “It is written.” There is a power in the Word of God which even the devil cannot deny. Spurgeon, C.H., Spurgeon's Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 4:4 Power: The Easy Substitute What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life. Jesus asks, Do you love me? We ask, Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your Kingdom? (Mt. 20:21). ... We have been tempted to replace love with power. Henri Nouwen in Mornings with Henri J.M. Nouwen, quoted in Christianity Today, February 8, 1999, 72. The Tempter Turns Our Strengths Against Us One night a well-known and highly respected preacher was working on his sermon for the following Sunday. His little son came in and asked his daddy to come tuck him in. The father told him to get into bed and he would come in a few minutes to give him a goodnight kiss and tuck him in. But then, he became engrossed in his preparation, and much later, he remembered the promise. He went into his son’s bed room only to discover that the little fellow was already asleep. That story is heart-breaking because it has a familiar ring to it. His passion to be a good preacher - a good thing - had tempted him that night to be a bad father. Do you see what happened? The tempter even turns our strengths against us if we are not careful. James McCormick, Selected Sermons, www.Sermons.com A LITTLE MORE An interesting article appeared in the Wall Street Journal. It was an interview of six top executives, all of them making six-figure salaries. That means that they made somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million a year. Now you are probably thinking , “If I made even $100,000 a year, I’d be in great shape. No worries, and no problems.” But in the interview each was asked, “What is your greatest fear?” Each answered pretty much the same, using different words. Their greatest fear was that they would not have enough. When they were asked, “How much is enough?” they always answered, “a little more.” SOURCE: Pastor Steve Dow in "The Parable of the Sower" on www.sermoncentral.com That is our basic temptation, to be in control like God is on control.

What am I being tested for?

What am I being tested for?
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Matthew 4:4-11
Year A
First Sunday of Lent
Repreached on 3/13/11
2/10/08



Introduction

You don’t have to even go to church to know the story of adam and eve. I would think that this story takes the cake as one of the most significant bible stories in all of the world. I don’t even have to repeat that one for you I am positive that you know it. What you might not know is that there is a tradition in Jewish culture called midrash – that is the story behind the story. Folklore that everyone in jewish culture would have know, but it is not written in the book. For instance, in the creation story when it talks about how it think it was in the first day that Jesus made separated the water from the land and bought order out of chaos. Everyone would have known that chaos is actually the name of a water dragon. And it was a pretty big fight to bring get the water dragon chaos out of the water so that the water would be calmed and ordered.

The meaning of the Adam and Eve Story
There are lots of midrash stories around the story of adam and eve – for instance did you know that eve is actually Adam’s second wife. His first wife is named Lilith. God created adam and Lilith at the same time as equals. So Lilith had a fit when Adam started bossing her around and telling her to clean the house and pick up after her. She refused under the premise that as equals, his hands were just as good as hers. Lilith stood up to him about everything. So adam finally divorced her and went to God to explain that the arrangement was just not going to work out. That’s when God put him to sleep and created eve out of adam’s rib. Eve, being younger and not being an equal was willing to do everything that Adam said. So they got along fine. While Lilith lived as a single woman on the other side of the garden. But anyway….




The questions is addresses

There are many stories like that about this the story of first. Because even though simple it addresses the fundamental questions of who we are as human beings. Even the name adam is actually the Hebrew word for mankind. The story of adam and eve addresses the question of why do we have to work so hard to be happy in life, why do we have to earn the things we need in life, why do we have to wait for things to grow, why must there be regrets in life, why do women have to suffer in order to have children, why do we age, why do we die? The questions go on, but the story of adam and eve addresses them all.


New adam and eve story

We all know that the story has also been used to justify the denial of equal rights of women. That it was Eve’s fault that the couple was banished from the garden of eden – the Lilith story takes care of that. But I want to share a new story of adam and eve. I like it because I think that it addresses the fundamental question of lent of the definition of sin and how it affects our lives – I would think each of could relate to the story in some way.

In the beginning God covered the earth with broccoli, cauliflower and
spinach, with green, yellow and red vegetables of all kinds so Man and Woman
would live long and healthy lives.
Then using God's bountiful gifts, Satan created Dairy Ice Cream and
Magnums.
And Satan said "You want hot fudge with that?
And Man said "Yes!"
And Woman said "I'll have one too with chocolate chips".
And lo, they gained 10 pounds.
And God created the healthy yoghurt that Woman might keep the figure
that Man found so fair.
And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat and sugar from the cane and
combined them.
And Woman went from size 12 to size 14.
So God said "Try my fresh green salad".
And Satan presented Blue Cheese dressing and garlic croutons on the side.
And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.
God then said "I have sent you healthy vegetables and olive oil in
which to cook them".
And Satan brought forth deep fried coconut king prawns, butter-dipped lobster
chunks and chicken fried steak, so big it needed its own platter.
And Man's cholesterol went through the roof.
Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming
with potassium and good nutrition.
Then Satan peeled off the healthy skin and sliced the starchy centre into chips
and deep fried them in animal fats adding copious quantities of salt.
And Man put on more pounds.
Then God gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and
still satisfy his appetite.
And Satan created McDonalds and the £1.00 double cheeseburger.
Then Satan said "You want fries with that?" and Man replied "Yes, and super size
'em".
God then brought forth running shoes so that his Children might lose
those extra pounds.
And Satan came forth with a cable TV with remote control so Man would not have
to toil changing the channels.
And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering light and started
wearing stretch jogging suits.
And Satan said "It is good."
And Man and Woman went into cardiac arrest.
God sighed ......... and created quadruple by-pass surgery.
And then Satan chuckled and health insurance and all of the paperwork which goes with it.




The story of temptation

I would think that is the story of temptation in our lives. The things that are right and good for us are bountiful in our lives, but we want something more. Something differerent. Something more exciting. Temptation is the recognition that we have the power in our lives to do what we want to do, even if we know within our lives that it is not the best thing.

Temptation in our lives

God gave us the right to make choices in our lives. That was a really big thing in the garden of eden – choices and the right to think for ourselves and to know that we will bear the consequences of those choices. Adam and eve were not driven out of the garden of eden for the choices they made, but because they were not prepared for the consequences of those choices. We are all faced with temptation, that is what it means to be human. But how do we know to make the right choices and prepare ourselves for those consequences?

Temptation in Jesus life

Because we have the priviledge of knowing the story of Jesus. Every first Sunday of lent, we hear of Jesus was tempted. In todays version of the story, the spirit led him into the wilderness. And while there satan came to Jesus and gave him three choices – choices we face everyday about prestige, plenty and power. In each choice, Jesus chose to do what he knew was right, rather than what would benefit him.

What Jesus shows us about ourselves

In the wilderness Jesus was being tested for the task that God had in store for him. If the essence of God was present in Jesus as we believe, then this would have been easy for him. The essence of what it means to be human was also present in Jesus – so it was a struggle. But Jesus made the right choice and proved that we are capable of doing to same.


A man was the sole survivor in his platoon in world war I. His lost all of his friends in a horrible battle. Years later as he read the story of the battle, he was disturbed to find that history recorded this battle as inconsequential. A newspaper article reported that this was an easy battle and that not many men had been lost. The sole survivor knew different. This battle had been a huge sacrifice, and a lot of effort had been put into defending his territory.
When we hear of Jesus temptation, our reaction is the same – how hard could it have been for the son of God to resist temptation? In the battle of life, when we see the consequences of those who have given in to sin in their lives – we know that it was, and continue to be a huge battle for the son of man. And yet Jesus wanted to show us that the battle could be won. And that we as humans can win the battle.

Power and energy

Like the word Adam, the name satan is not a name for a person it is a technical term. It means the one who asks questions. Satan is not a red man with a pitchfork. Satan is the challenger in our lives, the one who asks pertinent questions – like are you going to eat that? Are you going to let that person get away with that? Are you going to just let that happen? Do you really need to do that? It is in how we answer those questions that determines our sin in life.

Sin is about who we use our power

Dumbledorf, a character in the Harry Potter story once said that there is no good or bad in the world, there is only power and those who do not know how to use it. In the story of adam and eve, God had the power to create. The story says God formed, God formed, God breathed, God planted, God took, God put, God said. God had actually did all of the work of creation. When you look at the story of the serpent, there are no action verbs, the snake didn’t do anything but ask questions about what God had already said. In the story of Jesus temptation – It was the Spirit that led and once again Satan’s only power is to ask Jesus questions about what God had already done. In both stories the people don’t have the power to act- they only have to power to respond. That is something to think about – Jesus power was not in what he did – it was in what he was willing to wait and to let God do for him. Each of us indeed has that same power. There is no good or bad, only power and those who don’t know how to use. Sin is always a misuse of our power – to depend on a God who always acts.

This lent – depend on the power of God

Lent is a chance for us to be reminded of what it means to be human – like adam from dust you came and to dust you shall return. We have no power within ourselves to do anything. And yet God created us to take an active role in the continuing story of creation. Adam and Eve only started the story – God calls you to help God create the rest of the story. It is human for us to have to work and to wait for things to come. Jesus showed us that it is also human to depend upon God to be the powerful force behind making our work useful.

Angels ministered to him….
Matthew ends with a promise that the devil left him and suddenly the angels came and waited on him. As you make the right choices – may you look for your angels.

Amen