NRSLuke 4:1-13
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 tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."4Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" 5Then 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 their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." 8Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,10for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' 11and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" 12Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
May the glory of the Lord shine on you and all yours; for the sake of Jesus the Messiah. Amen.
Johnny Cash was one of my favorite recording artists, and one of my favorite songs is his classic “I Walk the Line.” You remember how that goes?
" I keep a close watch on this heart of mine.
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds.
Because you're mine, I walk the line."
I really think that ought to be in the hymnal. Seriously. I know that Johnny Cash probably wrote that song to, for, and about his relationship with June Carter, but I take a more spiritual view. Take a few steps back, and clearly, it’s a song about struggle. It’s a song about temptation. It’s a song about love and love’s labors. And while I might be pushing this a bit, I think you could even say it’s a song about Jesus.
Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, which is another way of saying that Jesus was truly human. Angels aren’t tempted. Pure spirits don’t feel hunger, fear, or doubt. But human beings do. In the words of Psalm 8, God has made us only a little less than angels, and what’s more God has entrusted to us the very care of the earth. It’s a high, great, and difficult office, and consequently every mother’s child knows the temptation to abandon that noble calling for the same short-term gratifications that the devil so long ago offered Jesus – a full stomach, a pampered ego, a sense of power.
I once asked a confirmation class of mine to write down the faith questions they had uppermost in their minds. One of those kids wrote me this: “Why do we like being bad so much? Why is it so fun to be bad?” Now I recognized this kid’s handwriting, and believe me, he knew of what he wrote. But still, it’s a good question, and an especially relevant one given today’s gospel.
So why is evil typically so much more attractive than the good? One answer, I think, has to do with the eternal lure of the forbidden fruit. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, the moment that we’re told “Don’t go there,” “Don’t eat that,” “Don’t do this,” that’s immediately what we want. Call it perverse, call it evidence of our fallen human natures, but there’s an undeniable thrill to breaking the rules and not getting caught. I think that’s why we’ve always loved crime books, and crime novels, and crime movies. There’s always a little part of us that identifies with the criminal, and who doesn’t want the clever cat burglar to make off with the king’s jewels?
I think, too, that the devil is very clever fellow. Now when I say devil please don’t confuse that with the little cartoon guy in the red suit with the pitchfork. When the Bible speaks of the devil it’s symbolic language for the force, power, spirit of this world, this age, this flesh that always makes the bad or even the flat out evil appear exciting, or fun, or good. I don’t know anyone who can exactly define the nature of evil for any of us, but at one time or another I suspect that we’ve each heard the devil’s voice saying something like:
• “It’s just a roll in the hay.
• “It’s just a passing affair.
• “It’s just a few dollars until payday.
• “You’ll pay it back when you get on your feet.
• “You know you deserve it.
• “And after all the years you’ve put in!
• “You’re only saying this because you care.
• “You know they had it coming to them.
• “They needed a good kick in the rear.
• “Somebody had to do it.
• “They can’t talk to you that way.
Sound familiar? That may be one reason why it’s sometimes so much easier to prove the existence of the devil than the existence of God. But that’s another question for another sermon.
If you think about it, most of the really horrific, global evil perpetrated over the last century has been done by people who were outwardly, at least, trying to accomplish something good. Hitler was trying to rally the German people to a renewed sense of purpose and patriotism. Lenin was pursuing the dream of a worker’s paradise. Mao Zedong launched a cultural revolution that was supposed to create a society without class and division. The same thing could be said of the great damage we’ve done to the earth’s air, water, and land. Nobody set out to do that. Where or when we even thought about it, it was always in the name of economic growth, or jobs, or staying number one in a competitive world market. Which brings me back to the gospel according to Johnny Cash.
Because of the nature of evil, and because of our own human natures, we have to keep our eyes wide open all the time. Because great evil often masquerades as something good, fun, or exciting, we have to keep a close watch on these hearts of ours. We have to question our motives, and sometimes we have to let others question us about what we’re saying or doing and what consequences those words and deeds will have on others. It’s a burden, without a doubt. If only we could just see the good and then just do it, life would be so much simpler. But we don’t see that well, and what we do see is always distorted by our own selfish motives. And even when we think we’ve got our heads on straight and know the truth of ourselves and our calling in life, we can still end up casting our lot with the most ignoble and basest of causes.
It’s hard work being human. Maybe that’s why it’s so tempting to be less than fully human, and instead just be, say, consumers, or spectators, or “innocent” bystanders. And yet when we take up the cross of Jesus, we are willingly subjecting ourselves to a host of hard questions and daring ourselves to walk a line that’s very straight and awfully narrow. Why? Why would anybody with half a mind pick such a hard row to hoe?
• Because Christ is ours.
• Because Christ has given himself to us, body and blood, heart and soul.
• Because Christ has faced the music and walked this line before us.
That’s why we walk his line. We resist temptation, however imperfectly, because he resisted his own temptations, though in his case, perfectly. Christ would not cave to the devil’s very handsome offers because he came here for us, not for his own gratification. Though tempted, Jesus would not refuse his calling to be our savior, our hope, our righteousness. And in response to that devotion, we follow in his path.
What’s bad, wrong, or evil will, I’m afraid, always appear more fun, thrilling, and righteous than the way of Jesus. I’m also afraid that what’s good and right will, by contrast, always seems dull and boring. Playing hooky is a lot more fun than training your heart and mind in the disciplines that truth and justice demand. To walk that line takes a lot more than the love of a good woman or a good man. It takes the mighty sacrifice of an awesome Father who surrenders the only Son into the hands of a sinner like me.
In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
