Disciples of Christ
Sermon Sample
“The Test of Faithfulness”
First Sunday of Lent [Year A]
Matthew 4:1-11; Romans 5:12-19
February 10, 2008
A Sermon by Debbie Little
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
First Sunday of Lent [Year A]
Matthew 4:1-11; Romans 5:12-19
February 10, 2008
A Sermon by Debbie Little
First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Lord grant us your Presence as we listen to your word and find your voice. Amen.
Sisters and brothers, I lived in a neighborhood block blessed with kids. There were at least 12 to 15 of us who played together regularly. We lived in a wooded neighborhood with a bank behind the houses on the west side. On the lowest level of the slope was a creek, “Squalicum Creek,” which flowed into Bellingham Bay. The “bank” and the “woods” and the “creek” were forbidden places. All of the mothers collaborated to imprint upon our minds that we shouldn’t go there—ever. But where do you think we were enticed to go? And sometimes we, the neighborhood kids, collaborated wisely and won a few hours of exploration into the wilderness forbidden to all.
Wilderness places are unfamiliar—uninhabited, uncultivated, unknown and sometimes that is the very thing that makes them enticing. What happens in the wilderness is usually transforming because we are most always changed by a new experience or discovery. When my neighborhood gang (and I mean that in the most innocent of ways) would venture into our backyard “wilderness”, we did so at the expense of our regulations. We broke the rules. We were enticed by the unknown. We were tempted by the “beyond”
—perhaps because it was forbidden. Something called to our spirits -- and we went there. We explored. We imagined. We created. We learned. We became a close-knit community with a well-kept secret. We did not tell our parents where we had been. Sometimes our agreement held. Other times physical evidence got in the way. We were discovered. Suffice to say, consequences happened.
Sisters and brothers, it is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one. This is one of those times. Today the Biblical story leads to the wilderness—a desolate, unknown place. There are temptations. There are responses. The story is transformational because we learn from it. In the text we see the Christ from inside our hearts. We have a chance to know the God who walks with us in life and shows us how to walk. Evil lurks behind the scenes of this story, telling us there is a dark side of life—a Satan side, if you will, that lingers at the heart of where we live. Sisters and brothers, forbidden fruits create many jams. Tell me about yours and I’ll tell you about mine. Today we are the distant witnesses to see the character and heart of Jesus as he responds to the power of evil. As we study this encounter, we can discover the human divine strength of the One we choose to follow.
Still wet from his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus is compelled by the Spirit of God to enter the wilderness, considered to be the domain of demons. From baptism’s watery welcome to forty days and nights of Jesus’ ordeal, we begin to mark our own 40 day Lenten journey. On Wednesday evening, a small group of us gathered in this sanctuary around an Ash Wednesday Service intended to acknowledge our personal weaknesses and our need to face the true parts of ourselves that struggle to be cleansed from sin. The ashes were both signs of our sorrow and symbols of hope. We heard the words, “The old has died, the new has come” as ashes were imposed to form a cross on our foreheads. Some of us left church to be at home with our thoughts. Others went to public places with a sign of their religion for the world to see. Lent has begun and you are invited to think about Jesus, to reflect upon his life and yours.
In the wilderness place with Jesus, we might discover what we need for our lives. What needs to change? Is it possible that we might be seeking God and at the same time caring for one another with impure motives? God knows why we do what we do. God alone knows. God knows why we do something good. God knows how much we put in the offering plate and why and what we do with the rest. God knows why we pray, what we fast and why we work. And God knows that we sometimes do good things---for the wrong reasons. How many times have you felt that shame of knowing you didn’t have your motives in the right place? The wilderness time speaks to the private side of our faith—the solitude where we spend time alone with God.
Temptation has definitely been heard of before. Abraham was tempted as in the sacrifice of his son Isaac. The Israelites were tempted in the wilderness. Job was tempted many times. The temptation of Jesus has universal significance. He stands for Israel as the new people of God, the founder of new humanity. Matthew’s story informs us that the Spirit is the one who leads Jesus into the wilderness. It is God, not the tempter, who directs the course of action. Matthew’s verb has two meanings:
1) to tempt means to entice a person to do what is wrong or hope for failure.
2) to test by giving a person the opportunity to choose what is right or hope for success.
Evil (Satan) is the instrument of temptation or testing in the gospels. Evil (Satan) always knows who Jesus is. Temptation (or testing) is one of four conflicts that lead to the cross. The other three include conflict with legalism (with religious leaders); conflict with the political power of his day (Rome) and his inner conflict (in the Garden of Gethsemane).
The tempter who functioned somewhat like a prosecuting attorney, came to him and asked, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” People want free food when they are hungry. Often temptation rears its head when we are at our lowest point, when we are vulnerable. In a world of unbelievable hunger, why not? The magical transformation of bread is an easy remedy for physical need. But will magic be the way of response to human needs? Jesus tells us the answer.
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s deliverance and providence does not come through cutting deals. Jesus’ choices set the tone for his ministry.
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
Political power is thrust before Jesus if he will submit to the devil. The tempter puts a face on the presence of evil in the world by tempting ends that overlook the means to achieve them. Will God’s kingdom come as the result of bargaining with the powers-that-be? Or will we find it living in the witness to the One who is the power and glory? Jesus is clear once again, “Away with you Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”
People still want glory, recognition and authority of political power. Some of what we do, we do for the wrong reasons. We may try to sugar-coat it, but God sees through our motives, even when we don’t. The lure of false worship and empty promise can be a sour pill to swallow.
When the Berlin Wall was brought down, a family took in a seventeen year old atheist girl from East Germany. She had been raised in a totalitarian, atheistic country. She was about to enjoy her first taste of freedom. It was a bit like giving candy to a diabetic child or alcohol to an alcoholic. There was nothing worth buying in East Germany. Suddenly she was surrounded by a culture of consumer goods.
In seven months time, the family received a phone call from the police. They were summoned to the police station to retrieve their 17 year old resident. Apparently she had stolen some goods from a grocery store—several times. When the owner suspected who it was, he watched her as she came in and took some food. She walked out of the store with unpaid food. This led to the discovery of her crimes.
She was embarrassed and humiliated. Her eyes were red. She cried shameful tears for having been arrested. She had a sense that it was wrong to steal but this sense was not grounded in transcendent reality. Without such boundaries, the self comes to encompass all of existence. She probably rationalized her crime by justifying what she hadn’t had. Her adoptive family found that her drawers were filled with stolen merchandise—mostly earrings.
They were shocked. Then they reflected on what had taken place. The girl was an atheist. She had no moral principals, no ethical boundaries except that which was imposed from without. Her sense of wrongness in stealing was not grounded in any transcendent reality. Without such boundaries, the self comes to encompass all of reality.
She learned at least one thing: sin has consequences. One has to pay the price for forbidden fruit. She was looking forward to taking a three-week trip to the west coast with other exchange
students. Instead, she had to return home with dishonor.
Jesus understood the full weight of temptation, yet he did not yield to it. The gospel illustrates Jesus habitual refusal to allow his mission to be influenced by concern for his safety. He stands in the face of temptation solid in his relationship to his father.
Paul contrasts Adam (as human) and Jesus (the Christ). Through Adam sin came into the world and brought terrible consequences. Through Jesus grace came into the world and cured all that happened to Adam. Christ’s grace leads to life; acquittal if offered and obedience to God is shown. Adam’s disobedience happened as he took matters into his own hands. Judgment became the consequence. Jesus did not assume God’s identity. Rather, he “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2:6-7) His life becomes our primary resource. He is our savior.
Fred Craddock writes, “Every church engaged in the ministry of Jesus knows painfully well that there is another team on the field and it is often surprising and disappointing to learn who their members are.” What Jesus wants, is for us to deal with the part of ourselves that sometimes wants to believe the tempter’s lies. Lent is a time to go after something in our life that needs to change permanently. Jesus went to the desert because the Spirit led him. In the desert, the church’s faithfulness is forged again and again.
The Lenten season can be a testing time.
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
References
Russell F. Anderson, Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Revised Series V Cycle A, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, 2007.
Rebecca H. Grothe, editor, The Minister’s Annual Manual for Preaching and Worship Planning, Inver Grove Heights, MN: Logos Productions, Inc. 2007-8.
William H. Willamon, Pulpit esource, Vol. 36 No. 1, Year A, January, February, March 2008.
Sisters and brothers, I lived in a neighborhood block blessed with kids. There were at least 12 to 15 of us who played together regularly. We lived in a wooded neighborhood with a bank behind the houses on the west side. On the lowest level of the slope was a creek, “Squalicum Creek,” which flowed into Bellingham Bay. The “bank” and the “woods” and the “creek” were forbidden places. All of the mothers collaborated to imprint upon our minds that we shouldn’t go there—ever. But where do you think we were enticed to go? And sometimes we, the neighborhood kids, collaborated wisely and won a few hours of exploration into the wilderness forbidden to all.
Wilderness places are unfamiliar—uninhabited, uncultivated, unknown and sometimes that is the very thing that makes them enticing. What happens in the wilderness is usually transforming because we are most always changed by a new experience or discovery. When my neighborhood gang (and I mean that in the most innocent of ways) would venture into our backyard “wilderness”, we did so at the expense of our regulations. We broke the rules. We were enticed by the unknown. We were tempted by the “beyond”
—perhaps because it was forbidden. Something called to our spirits -- and we went there. We explored. We imagined. We created. We learned. We became a close-knit community with a well-kept secret. We did not tell our parents where we had been. Sometimes our agreement held. Other times physical evidence got in the way. We were discovered. Suffice to say, consequences happened.
Sisters and brothers, it is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one. This is one of those times. Today the Biblical story leads to the wilderness—a desolate, unknown place. There are temptations. There are responses. The story is transformational because we learn from it. In the text we see the Christ from inside our hearts. We have a chance to know the God who walks with us in life and shows us how to walk. Evil lurks behind the scenes of this story, telling us there is a dark side of life—a Satan side, if you will, that lingers at the heart of where we live. Sisters and brothers, forbidden fruits create many jams. Tell me about yours and I’ll tell you about mine. Today we are the distant witnesses to see the character and heart of Jesus as he responds to the power of evil. As we study this encounter, we can discover the human divine strength of the One we choose to follow.
Still wet from his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus is compelled by the Spirit of God to enter the wilderness, considered to be the domain of demons. From baptism’s watery welcome to forty days and nights of Jesus’ ordeal, we begin to mark our own 40 day Lenten journey. On Wednesday evening, a small group of us gathered in this sanctuary around an Ash Wednesday Service intended to acknowledge our personal weaknesses and our need to face the true parts of ourselves that struggle to be cleansed from sin. The ashes were both signs of our sorrow and symbols of hope. We heard the words, “The old has died, the new has come” as ashes were imposed to form a cross on our foreheads. Some of us left church to be at home with our thoughts. Others went to public places with a sign of their religion for the world to see. Lent has begun and you are invited to think about Jesus, to reflect upon his life and yours.
In the wilderness place with Jesus, we might discover what we need for our lives. What needs to change? Is it possible that we might be seeking God and at the same time caring for one another with impure motives? God knows why we do what we do. God alone knows. God knows why we do something good. God knows how much we put in the offering plate and why and what we do with the rest. God knows why we pray, what we fast and why we work. And God knows that we sometimes do good things---for the wrong reasons. How many times have you felt that shame of knowing you didn’t have your motives in the right place? The wilderness time speaks to the private side of our faith—the solitude where we spend time alone with God.
Temptation has definitely been heard of before. Abraham was tempted as in the sacrifice of his son Isaac. The Israelites were tempted in the wilderness. Job was tempted many times. The temptation of Jesus has universal significance. He stands for Israel as the new people of God, the founder of new humanity. Matthew’s story informs us that the Spirit is the one who leads Jesus into the wilderness. It is God, not the tempter, who directs the course of action. Matthew’s verb has two meanings:
1) to tempt means to entice a person to do what is wrong or hope for failure.
2) to test by giving a person the opportunity to choose what is right or hope for success.
Evil (Satan) is the instrument of temptation or testing in the gospels. Evil (Satan) always knows who Jesus is. Temptation (or testing) is one of four conflicts that lead to the cross. The other three include conflict with legalism (with religious leaders); conflict with the political power of his day (Rome) and his inner conflict (in the Garden of Gethsemane).
The tempter who functioned somewhat like a prosecuting attorney, came to him and asked, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” People want free food when they are hungry. Often temptation rears its head when we are at our lowest point, when we are vulnerable. In a world of unbelievable hunger, why not? The magical transformation of bread is an easy remedy for physical need. But will magic be the way of response to human needs? Jesus tells us the answer.
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s deliverance and providence does not come through cutting deals. Jesus’ choices set the tone for his ministry.
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you do not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
There
is a challenge here to determine if the words of Scripture can
deliver. Is God’s word trustworthy? People still want
God to do “magical miracles” and rescue us from our foolish
decisions. Jesus is clear. "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Testing
God does not come from a place of faith. Rather it comes
from a lack of faith. Trying out promises to see if they really
work is a sure sign of doubt. Putting God to the test reverses
our relationship to God; we are in charge and God is in service to
us. It doesn’t work that way. and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you do not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
Political power is thrust before Jesus if he will submit to the devil. The tempter puts a face on the presence of evil in the world by tempting ends that overlook the means to achieve them. Will God’s kingdom come as the result of bargaining with the powers-that-be? Or will we find it living in the witness to the One who is the power and glory? Jesus is clear once again, “Away with you Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”
People still want glory, recognition and authority of political power. Some of what we do, we do for the wrong reasons. We may try to sugar-coat it, but God sees through our motives, even when we don’t. The lure of false worship and empty promise can be a sour pill to swallow.
When the Berlin Wall was brought down, a family took in a seventeen year old atheist girl from East Germany. She had been raised in a totalitarian, atheistic country. She was about to enjoy her first taste of freedom. It was a bit like giving candy to a diabetic child or alcohol to an alcoholic. There was nothing worth buying in East Germany. Suddenly she was surrounded by a culture of consumer goods.
In seven months time, the family received a phone call from the police. They were summoned to the police station to retrieve their 17 year old resident. Apparently she had stolen some goods from a grocery store—several times. When the owner suspected who it was, he watched her as she came in and took some food. She walked out of the store with unpaid food. This led to the discovery of her crimes.
She was embarrassed and humiliated. Her eyes were red. She cried shameful tears for having been arrested. She had a sense that it was wrong to steal but this sense was not grounded in transcendent reality. Without such boundaries, the self comes to encompass all of existence. She probably rationalized her crime by justifying what she hadn’t had. Her adoptive family found that her drawers were filled with stolen merchandise—mostly earrings.
They were shocked. Then they reflected on what had taken place. The girl was an atheist. She had no moral principals, no ethical boundaries except that which was imposed from without. Her sense of wrongness in stealing was not grounded in any transcendent reality. Without such boundaries, the self comes to encompass all of reality.
She learned at least one thing: sin has consequences. One has to pay the price for forbidden fruit. She was looking forward to taking a three-week trip to the west coast with other exchange
students. Instead, she had to return home with dishonor.
Jesus understood the full weight of temptation, yet he did not yield to it. The gospel illustrates Jesus habitual refusal to allow his mission to be influenced by concern for his safety. He stands in the face of temptation solid in his relationship to his father.
Paul contrasts Adam (as human) and Jesus (the Christ). Through Adam sin came into the world and brought terrible consequences. Through Jesus grace came into the world and cured all that happened to Adam. Christ’s grace leads to life; acquittal if offered and obedience to God is shown. Adam’s disobedience happened as he took matters into his own hands. Judgment became the consequence. Jesus did not assume God’s identity. Rather, he “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2:6-7) His life becomes our primary resource. He is our savior.
Fred Craddock writes, “Every church engaged in the ministry of Jesus knows painfully well that there is another team on the field and it is often surprising and disappointing to learn who their members are.” What Jesus wants, is for us to deal with the part of ourselves that sometimes wants to believe the tempter’s lies. Lent is a time to go after something in our life that needs to change permanently. Jesus went to the desert because the Spirit led him. In the desert, the church’s faithfulness is forged again and again.
The Lenten season can be a testing time.
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
References
Russell F. Anderson, Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Revised Series V Cycle A, CSS Publishing, Lima, Ohio, 2007.
Rebecca H. Grothe, editor, The Minister’s Annual Manual for Preaching and Worship Planning, Inver Grove Heights, MN: Logos Productions, Inc. 2007-8.
William H. Willamon, Pulpit esource, Vol. 36 No. 1, Year A, January, February, March 2008.
Copyright © 2003 First Christian Church of Bremerton. Stained glass by Fred Hereth