THE KIRK OF KILDAIRE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

CARY, NC

www.kirkofkildaire.org

A sermon preached by Joseph Welker, Jr.

Stop, Look and Listen

Luke 4:1-13

February 25, 2007

Jesus makes it look so easy-there he is in the wilderness… the Devil comes along with three seductive temptations that would be useful to him and to his ministry- the devil offers him unlimited food and resources… offers him power… offers him invincible security against all harm… think of what Jesus could do with that kind of power and security.

Think of what we could do. If someone came along and said to us as we think about the future mission and ministry of the Kirk… if someone came along and said, I will give you all the money you need-you'll never have to worry about another budget again… Jody, I promise you that you will never be attacked for preaching prophetic sermons and Session, members won't leave if you take some brave stands… your future is secure… No complaints or conflicts…And Kirk… I promise that if you will only do what I ask, I'll make sure every ministry is successful… you will have a life transforming ministry that will have people flocking to your church… you'll have money to pay off your debt and build new buildings … I mean… you'll be as popular as one of those megachurches-- who could resist all of that?

Jesus did. That's what the Devil was offering Jesus… a prosperous ministry and life of ease… filled with power… where people would adore him.

And he just gives it all up. And he makes it look so easy. Give him that Staples button to push-"that was easy."

He looks like the Tiger Woods of the faith. When you watch Tiger play…he can make it look so easy. Shots are manicured to go where he wants them to go. Placing it in a particular place on the green. But then I get out on the golf course… and I'm just happy to stay out of the woods and hit the green. Tiger makes it look so easy. Of course, I dare you to tell Tiger that. What Tiger would be quick to tell you is that it was not. His golf game was shaped by a life learning the game of golf. His father taught him. He practices. He has spent countless hours on the driving range and on the golf course. As good as he is, he is still being coached and massaging his game. Tiger may make it look easy… but we know better.

I'm thinking that is true for Jesus. He may make it look easy, but what he did in those 40 days did not happen without a lot of preparation.

I used to think when Jesus was born, he was sort of born with instant gifts and a mature faith that could move mountains. But as I've come to think about it… that is not so true. When he is ready to fulfill the purpose for which he was born… he is already 30 years old. 30 years to prepare for this moment and ministry in his life.
Read what little you know about his early years, you know he was a person who was dedicated to God in the Temple by his parents… raised in a family of those who practiced their Jewish faith… taught him the stories of God and the lessons of the Prophets… We have no reason to think that this stopped during his adolescence or young adult years… in fact the evidence in the passage today is that this is a person well saturated with the life of faith… When the Bible quoting Devil tempts him… he quotes the Bible right back at him. He learned that in a home of faith and among a people of faith.

So let's not go around thinking that his resistance to temptation was something that was easy… it came as a result of a well developed relationship with God… and a sense of what God was calling him to do with his life and ministry.

God had sent Jesus into the world to reveal to the world that the God of the universe was a God of love… The mission and ministry of Christ was to tell the world that love. The world could not handle that truth of love… so they crucified him. The world along with the Devil said and still says, "If you are the son of God… turn stones into bread… use your power… prove to us you are the son of God" on the cross the crowd said, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross"-don't you think he was tempted then? Show us your power and we'll be convinced. O Savior of the world, if you'll just save yourself, we'll believe. Let us see your power and we'll know that you really are God. It never dawned on the crowds gathered at the cross what the Devil knew well-that Jesus came for a single purpose- to show us that God wanted us to know him as a God of love… not a bullying God of power. [1]

If Jesus had said yes to the Bible quoting Devil… his life would have been easier… there would have been no suffering, no cross… and… we would not know the truth about God's love for us.

But let us never assume saying no was easy… resisting temptation is never easy for anyone. That is not only true for Jesus, but it is true for me and for you too.

So how did Jesus handle these temptations?

I think as you look at this story and the story of scripture the clues are there… Jesus faces his temptations with a profound understanding of scripture… with a prayer life that keeps him connected with God and through discernment. All important, but today I want to focus on discernment.

Discernment is one of the things Jesus did very well in the desert. He was able to discern the temptation and to discern God's will for his life.

He recognizes the devil when the devil comes to tempt him. He is able to call a spade, a spade, and I think that knowledge helps him in the struggle against it. So we ask God to give us the gift of discernment that we might recognize temptation when it does occur in our lives. This can be difficult. Evil often seems to glitter and is sexy and so it often initially attracts. The very name Lucifer is based on the latin word for light. So evil may first seem to shine. But everything that glitters is not gold. Evil has that seductive quality of being able to appear attractive while it is yet destructive. It may look like the very thing we need. Certainly it may look like something we desire or crave. Evil often looks attractive, in a different context, evil may be a form of the good. Turning stones into bread can feed a lot of people you know. But it is evil if it causes us to do something other than God's will in a particular context. If the power to turn stones into bread means you no longer need to trust God - maybe no longer need God-it is a bad thing. But in another context it might indeed be a good thing, and so it's hard for us to always discern it.

For example, consider the story of the Good Samaritan and the Levite passes by on the side of the road. Do you remember his excuse for not stopping and helping? He had to go and lead the congregation in worship and singing. He didn't have time to stop and tend to that particular broken person by the side of the street. He was not passing by only from a hardness of heart. I want to affirm that the Levites leading the choir is not evil. It is a good. And the work to which this Levite is called was one that built up the kingdom of God. But in this case, when tempted to pass by in the face of this other's need as he went to church, he gave in and resisted God's will in that situation.

O God, grant us the gift of discernment-to be able to distinguish the evil from the good. We often do evil because we fail to recognize it as evil, and we fail to do good because we fail to recognize it as good. [2]

But God, also grant us the gift of discernment, so we may know who we are or remember who we are, the reason for which you created us, and what you have called us to be and do in this world.

Jesus, it seems to me knew who he was and his mission in life. That kept him steady in the face of temptation. This helped him distinguish between evil and good. Jesus knew that God had called him to love sinners… to love the broken… to teach people the ways of God… to feed the hungry and heal the sick… to teach people to love and trust God... Jesus discerned God's will for his life.

This Lent we are going to have a class on discernment. Some of the most frequent questions pastors hear are questions like these: What does God want me to do with my life? What is God's call for my life? What does God want me to do in this or that situation? Our Long Range Planning is being propelled by the same questions: What is God calling us to be and do at the Kirk? For what reason did God call the Kirk into existence?

When Jesus was faced with these kind of questions, Luke says that the Spirit led him into the wilderness… led him there for a time of fasting and prayer. These were spiritual practices faithful people used that brought one in touch with your hunger and dependence upon God. The time away from the distractions of daily living was a gift to help one listen to the voice of God. We have a hard time doing this in a noise oriented culture. We get up in the morning to clock radios, we turn on the TV for the morning shows, we ride to work and listen to the radio… WE have background music at the mall… we come home in the evening and turn on the TV set… we are such a noise oriented culture I think it must be hard for God to get through to us. Sometimes God wants us to shut up so we can hear, and listen to that voice. Even our prayers are full of our speech. Growing up, no one ever taught me that part of the prayer life is to be still and silent. But now I know that God sometimes speaks in a still small voice and God uses silence to communicate with us. I think it was time in the wilderness that gave space to Jesus to simply listen and be with God.

And while we may not have 40 days to give to such quiet listening… how about 40 minutes once in a while or 40 seconds a day. For those seeking to understand God's call in their lives… a good way to begin to stop-which is what Sabbath is for… to look-in the Bible, in your life, and in the community of faith and in the example of Jesus-and to listen for God-which sometimes is a shout and other times is a still, small voice. Lent is the season of the church year when we encourage you to stop and look and listen… to try as best we can to sort of put our lives on pause once in a while… to encourage you to spend six weeks in learning or practicing some of the spiritual disciplines that have helped Christians for almost 2000 years face their temptations and to bring them into the presence of our loving God… who loves us so much that God wants to help us deal with our temptations and God wants us to discover his will for our lives… and God wants us to know, we don't have to do this all by ourselves or alone.

Our story today reminds us that even Jesus leaned on God. Trusted God. Listened to God. We're not all alone. A loving God wouldn't do that. Don't let the devil tell you otherwise. Amen.

[1] Heaven Knows, Kate by Tom L Are p. 56
[2] This first section on discernment draws insights from a sermon by John DeBevoise on Temptation at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church