Believe Belong Become in the Wilderness - A Sermon for the first Sunday of Lent 2025

GOSPEL: Luke 4:1-13

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

After being filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, Jesus is led in the wilderness. Through his responses to the temptations of the devil, he defines what it means to be called “the Son of God.”

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”
  5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 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. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,
 ‘Worship the Lord your God,
  and serve only him.’ ”
  9 Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
  to protect you,’
11 and
 ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
  so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Welcome to Lent,

and to a preaching series leaning upon Advent’s 3 B’s:

Believe, Belong, Become.

You could say that the wilderness,

the temptation, the testing,

is about the 3 B’s:

For the Christ,

for the disciple,

for any.

Before getting into Jesus’ testing,

a word on the Diabolical one,

the Devil, the Satan.

This character just shows up,

and it’s like we all know exactly who this is.

There are images of the evil one in the Old Testament,

but we ought to acknowledge

that our understanding of the Devil,

primarily comes from popular culture,

and from Dante’s Inferno.

For some, there is a cosmic, personified Devil

who tears down and destroys.

For others,

the Devil is an image for the evil

that lives in human hearts,

that grows when 1 or 2 or 3 conspire together.

For today, I suggest we allow a shift in focus.

However you understand evil,

evil is real.

Part of the life of faith is exposing evil,

resisting evil,

offering the faithful “no”.

I suggest for us, we use the letter “D” in devil,

to “discern” evil:

What is D Evil?

The evil in our hearts and in the world.

It is time to resist the rhetoric:

“The devil made me do it”

and take ownership for our own evils,

big or small.

It is time to overcome evil with good:

It is time to recognize that with our own lives

we vote every day

on what is good and evil in the world,

with how we spend our money

and how we spend our time.

When evil surrounds,

Trust in God’s forgiveness,

trust in God’s gracious presence

trust that your acts of faith,

big or small,

make a difference in our hearts

and in our communities.

In recent years,

when considering Jesus’ temptation or testing,

I have leaned upon the scholarship of Craig Barnes,

Former President of Princeton Theological Seminary.

Jesus is fully God and fully human,

and for Jesus to be fully human,

there has to be the full human experience.

So these temptations of Jesus

speak to us and our greatest anxieties.

The temptations, the tests,

are about Jesus of Nazareth,

and they’re also about us.

The first temptation

is not so much about turning stones into bread;

it is not a temptation to eat;

rather it is a temptation to not be hungry.

Humans are created with a hunger,

a longing,

a yearning,

and not just for food.

We are tempted to let our hunger drive us

to the point where we might give up everything

for that which we hunger for,

so we might be satisfied.

Hunger is healthy,

it helps direct us to our God,

the One in whom we shall

neither hunger nor thirst anymore.

Faith needs a home and a road.

Faith needs a place of safety and security.

You and I need rest and pleasure,

Word and Sacrament.

And faith needs a journey,

faith needs to be stretched.

Faith needs to come down the transfiguration mount

down into the valley to serve.

Faith is found and grown in loving service,

faith is found and grown

in striving for the common good.

The Gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.

Faith need both,

comfort and affliction.

For Christ’s church and our congregations,

I wonder if we are focused too much on our own comfort

while Jesus invites us down into the valley.

Going out of order,

the 3rd test:

Jesus is tempted to jump off the temple,

450 feet down into the valley,

and God’s angels will keep Jesus safe.

Here’s the test:

to not trust that we are God’s beloved.

This might be our greatest temptation.

This was declared to Jesus at his baptism;

you are my beloved.

Trust and believe that this is declared to you

in your baptism;

you are God’s beloved.

God loves you.

God loves you.

God loves you.

We are so tempted to not trust this.

Jump from here and you’ll be fine,

because you are so loved,

you are so necessary,

that angels will catch you.

Another way of putting it,

we are tempted into thinking we are so necessary

that we would test God over it.

Here’s a truth: you are not necessary.

But you are chosen.

You are too important to be necessary.

You are cherished.

You are loved.

Why settle for being necessary

when you can trust that you are cherished?

Perhaps the temptation for Christ’s Church

is to believe the church institution is necessary.

The scriptures are clear - Church without end.

Consider Ephesians 3:

“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Consider how important the church in Ephesus was,

the legacy of that congregation

and Pauls’ letter to the Ephesians in our bible.

The Church in Ephesus was the strongest church in Asia Minor.

This is modern day Turkey,

and Turkey is 99.8% Muslim.

The buildings have changed,

the institutions have changed,

the congregations have changed.

Christ and the apostles sought to build the Church,

and congregations come and go,

institutions come and go,

We are called to serve the Gospel in this time,

not the institution.

Remember,

the Church is about the only organization in the world

that exists for the good of its non-members.

I say this to you and to me

who love the Church,

who want to see it succeed,

Perhaps it is time to reconsider

what congregational success looks like.

The Gospel is about resurrection and new life.

Success for Church has to be about the Gospel,

and not based on best business practices.

We ought to rethink what success looks like

when our Saviour invites us into failure:

to take up our cross and follow.

Temptations are about our anxieties and our fears:

We are tempted to be driven by fear

and not by our belief:

fear that we aren’t good enough,

fear that God’s not good enough,

fear of failure,

fear of success.

Perhaps our temptations comes down to this:

We are tempted let the ends justify the means.

Jesus was tested: worship me, the Diabolical one,

and all the kingdoms of the world will be yours.

This is the goal:

that all would know Jesus,

that all know God

and God’s love and mercy.

Jesus did not allow any corruption

to enter this plan.

You and I are similarly tempted

to give into a little corruption

in order to achieve our own goals.

You, baptized Christian,

might not feel tempted to rob a bank

to allow for your own financial freedom,

then again maybe you are,

but you might be tempted to allow some evil

to penetrate your financial plan,

for your own comfort and security.

You, baptized Christian,

might not feel tempted to kill someone,

but you’ll be tempted to shun and ignore,

to belittle and deride

to suit your purposes.

It is the tempter’s idea

that you have to ease up on your high ideals,

or better, to ease up on God’s will.

The devil asks for complicity

with all the little evils around you.

Our God calls us into faith.

Here’s where I think Jesus was really tested,

or tempted.

The Satan says “If you are the Son of God…”

Those are tempting words,

not so much to do the thing that the Satan suggests:

but to try and prove that indeed, yes,

I AM the Son of God.

Jesus doesn’t need to prove that he is

the Son of God to anyone.

But if these temptations are also about us,

then perhaps we are tempted to prove our worth.

If you really are a Christian,

then you should receive anything that you pray for.

If you really are a follower of Jesus,

then you would join church council.

If you really are a Christian

you would give up something for Lent.

I suggest that we not be tempted by that word,

“If”

You are the baptized.

You are filled with God’s Spirit.

You are forgiven,

You are loved.

You matter,

You belong in the Body of Christ,

You have purpose in Jesus’ ministry.

You don’t need to prove that to anyone.

It is who you are.

So maybe we stop saying “If”

and use the word “Since.”

Since I am baptized,

I wont question my worth in God’s eyes.

Since I am loved,

I wont allow myself to talk down to myself or others.

Since I am forgiven,

I wont fill my hunger with quick fixes

Since I am filled with God’s Spirit,

I wont allow myself to be complicit with evils,

big or small.

Another temptation that Jesus faces here,

and one that might speak to you as well:

I think Jesus was tempted to control the outcome;

Worship me, the Satan,

and you’ll have your followers.

If you really are God,

then eat - you don’t need the journey of hunger.

Manipulate - just a little -

and you’ll be sure to get your outcome.

Not “If”, but “since” Jesus is the Son of God,

Jesus doesn’t need to manipulate,

or give into some evil

to control the outcome.

Since Jesus is accompanied by the Holy Spirit,

Since Jesus is God in the flesh,

Jesus can be vulnerable,

Jesus can say No to temptation

and grow in the wilderness.

Perhaps we too are tempted to control things

to get the outcome that we want.

But since we are the baptized,

since our future with our God is secure,

we don’t need to force ourselves,

manipulate and coerce,

rather we can simply trust God in our wilderness.

In the words of David Lose,

If it is me vs. All that’s evil in the world,

I will lose every time.

If it is Jesus vs. All that’s evil in the world,

Jesus wins. Every time.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit,

you will face tests, temptations.

Jesus Christ will not compromise to save us.

Evil doesn’t get a hall pass.

So how might you, baptized child of God, live

since you are filled with Jesus’ Spirit?

May you believe that you are cherished and loved.

believe that evil is real,

and evil resides in each of us,

but Jesus doesn’t have time for evil.

Believe that you are forgiven,

daily you are renewed in baptism,

and when you face the test,

believe that the Holy Spirit is with you,

and by God’s grace you can offer a faithful “No.”

May you belong in Christ’s Church,

and may you belong in the valley.

May faith find you in the safe places,

in your living room and kitchen table,

at the Lord’s Table and coffee hour,

and may faith find you where it is uncomfortable,

down in the valley,

with your neighbour,

your enemy,

and the crowd.

May you become who God made you to be:

with each little faithful “no” and each little faithful “yes”

God’s Spirit moves us towards the completion,

the perfection,

that is found in Christ and Him crucified.

Thanks be to God. Amen.