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| St- Andre-Rublev's Saviour |
In the care of the Ecumenical Franciscan Order
Homily preached at Winmalee:
by Brother Simeon Sunday 9th March 2014
First Sunday in Lent
First Sunday in Lent
Gospel Mt 4: 1-11
“ Overcoming Temptation”
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight O Lord my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
My topic today is
"Overcoming Temptation." We are drawing upon the experience of Jesus,
our supreme example. The story is told in Matthew 4:1-11.
The customary title for this
Gospel passage Is “The Temptation of Jesus”. A better title would be the “Testing of God’s Son”. The concern of the passage is an exercise to
test what Jesus is made of– is he up to
the task ahead of him – does he have the fortitude and strength to undergo the hardship– is he up to the
challenge – is he the right man for the job?
The implication here is the
devil is working for God. Could this be true?
Does this go against the commonly held belief that the devil is an
independent adversary who is diametrically
opposed to God?
This is the story of the
encounter of Jesus with Satan. Satan attempted to get Jesus to put his own
needs and potential concerns above the will of His Father. He wanted Jesus to
act independently of the Father. He wanted Jesus to sacrifice His secure future
for the present. Jesus met Satan's challenge by trusting His Father to do all
things in His time, in His way, and with His result!
Very often, we are concerned
supremely about the present. We are tempted to sacrifice our principles for a
short-term gain. Instead of giving in,
we can follow the example of Jesus in overcoming temptation through trust in
God.
He was a young man and was
ready to embark on His public ministry. Satan sought to destroy His ministry.
Satan often tempts people when they are beginning to do something for God. He
tries to derail God's servants before they can accomplish His purpose.
Satan relentlessly tempts us
throughout our lives, under different circumstances, and in a variety of ways.
We are not greater than our
Master. As the Spirit leads us, we too will be tested so sorely, that at times
we will wonder if we have correctly discerned the will of God. It will help us
to see what Jesus said and did under these circumstances.
In the OT,however, testing
refers to the process by which the covenant partner is scrutinised to determine
his fidelity to God. The most well known
story is that of Job. We initially hear
that God is bragging about his servant Job and so Satan,the tempter or the tester, says to God that Job is only faithful because he has been blessed with good fortune. The evil one says that Job would surely
change his tune if things weren’t going so well.
So Satan asks God’s permission to inflict suffering upon Job in a
effort to make Job curse God. Reluctantly, God agrees to this request and the
devil is given almost free reign to systematically destroy Job and his
family. In the end, Job never wavers and
remains faithful to God. Job passes the
test and health and prosperity is returned to him.
Before Satan was given the task
of testing people, God was the one who put people to the test. An early example
of this was God testing Abraham to kill his son Isaac, or God testing the
Israelites in the wilderness for forty years after they were liberated from
Egypt. In essence, God was testing these
people to see if they were worthy.
So why would we be surprised if
Jesus had to under go some testing to see if he was fit enough to be the Son of
God? And that is exactly what we are
told happened. The Spirit of God led
Jesus into the wilderness to the testing site.
But Jesus had an extra
challenge. He had to fast for forty days
and forty nights before his testing
began. It was common in that period and tradition for people to fast that long.
We also understand that all of
us are tempted to do a wide range of things, sometimes we give in and sometimes
we don’t. Our society scoffs at
temptation. Oscar Wilde once said,
"I can resist anything but temptation” and "the easiest way to get
rid of temptation is to yield to it."
Temptation looks good. It is pleasant. It is very attractive. We often trivialise
temptation because we believe
ourselves self-sufficient. We think of temptation as the acceptance of evil when it is far more often
the rejection of courageous good. We are
so used to choosing what is easiest that becoming what God wants us to be doesn't
even seem like an option. Yet, we
understand that only by facing temptation can we know of our ability to triumph
over it.
The first temptation, to turn
stones into bread, is often understood as challenging Jesus to misuse his
miraculous power to satisfy his own hunger because he doubts God's provision.
The second temptation is a
spectacular use of spiritual power.
Jesus is taken to the pinnacle of
the Temple and told to throw himself down because God would send angels to rescue
him. Turning from the physical needs of
hunger to the spiritual realm, Satan uses this profound temptation to see if
Jesus will use the divine shield to
maintain his own safety.
Will
Jesus seek to avoid all pain, suffering and hardship? When ever there is trouble will he call on
Daddy to save him? Will Jesus adopt the
attitude that he is invincible? That he
can do fool hardy things throughout his life and not have to worry about the
consequences of his actions:? Jesus
rejects this enticement .He chooses the harder road and we know where that
journey will take him on Good Friday.
The third temptation is the one
that still plagues most leaders in our world today. Political power–control of
vast territories,empires and resources.
To be the most powerful leader in the world.
First century Jews were
expecting a Messiah to be an earthly king, a strong military conquer or who
would defeat the Romans and regain all of Israel’s ancestral homeland. A mighty
warrior who would lay waste to Israel’s enemies and rule the entire world bringing peace and
prosperity to God's chosen people.
Jesus could have had all of
this –fame,riches,power. He could have been the Messiah people wanted him to
be. All he had to do was bow down and
worship Satan. I find it amazing that we still use this language in our society
today. We often describe people who seem to have it all as “selling
their souls to the devil” in order to achieve their level of success. The temptation is real.
Jesus passed the tests. With all the energy he could muster, he
emphatically cried out, “ Away from me Satan I will serve God alone.”
We too are plagued with similar
tests. For the most part we can avoid
the temptations that would take us down an illegal or immoral path, it is the
temptations that deal with positive things that cause us the most
struggle. Whether it is looking out for
our personal needs, seeking an easy safe path or dreaming of wealth, position
and status, we face the same struggles Jesus did.
Will we invoke God’s authority
and power to achieve our own goals and desires?
Will we put God to the test? Will
we sell our soul to the evil one in order to achieve worldly profit? Or will we
like Jesus, choose to put our trust in God alone and seek to serve God in all
things?
Temptations are a fact of
life. Each personal experience of being
challenged
by tests calls forth a profound
inner experience that requires a faith response.
Isn’t our real prayer to not
succumb to those temptations which will certainly come our way?
During this time of Lent, we
are called to take stock of those temptations that we all encounter. We have the opportunity to prayerfully
consider what we are being offered and to ask God for direction. Will we choose
immediate gratification in the things we crave?
Or will we be patient and trust that God will strengthen us for the
journey and lead us on the path that is true?
My hope and prayer for each of
us this Lent,is this: That the Holy
Spirit will lead us to that place where we need to be tested. And once there, that God will give us
the strength and will to choose wisely
so that we too will pass the test.
Amen.
