JESUS, NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES: I JESUS, OUR STRENGTH Karen F. Bunnell Elkton United Methodist Church March 10, 2019 1 st Sunday of Lent Psalm 91:1-2, 11-16 Luke 4:1-13 Back in the late 1960 s, our family joined Asbury United Methodist Church in New Castle, when Dad became the Choir Director there. It is a wonderful church, where the faith that was nurtured in me as a child here in this church, grew even deeper. It was the custom, when you joined that church, that you were not only given a certificate marking the occasion, but you were also given a little identification card (about the size of a driver s license). It was really nice. It was trimmed in red, and had the United Methodist cross and flame on it, and it said that I was a member of Asbury United Methodist Church. I loved that card. I know it may seem silly to say that I loved a card, but it just made me feel good to have it in my wallet. It was right next to my driver s license, so if anybody had looked there, they would have known a lot about me, including the fact that being a person of faith was a big part of who I was. It s ironic that I said, if anybody had looked there, because one day, while I was assisting the pastor in leading a funeral, somebody stole my purse out of his office, and just like that, my wallet and that precious card were gone forever. Nevertheless, card or no card, my identity remained as a member of that particular church, but more importantly, a member of the Body of Christ, a child of God. Identity. Identity looms large in today s Gospel lesson. Oh, at face value it looks like the Gospel lesson is all about temptation, and fighting it, but at the heart of it is identity. So let s go back and revisit what happened to Jesus that day in the wilderness of temptation. We need to remember that just before this time in the wilderness, Jesus had been baptized in the River Jordan by John. And when that happened, the heavens opened up and God spoke to him saying, You are my beloved Son. With you I am well pleased. It was one of those high, holy moments that we talked about last week a moment when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real, and God loves you, and all will be well. 1
So with that experience just past, Jesus heads out into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. While he s there, he fasts, going without nourishment, knowing that the only nourishment he needed was to be one with his Father. But no matter the reason for his fasting, still, as you can imagine, the longer it went, the weaker, physically, Jesus became. Thus it was that Satan waited until just the right moment to pounce a moment when Jesus was particularly vulnerable because of his hunger. (That s how Satan works, you know? He gets us when our guard is down, when we re tired, hungry, vulnerable.) So he goes after Jesus and what he s trying to do is get Jesus to question himself and God. Notice how he begins all of his temptations: with the word if. If you are the Son of God, if your God is real, if, if, if. He s trying to stir up doubt in Jesus, trying to take him down. First, he does it by appealing to his obvious hunger. Look Jesus, you re obviously starving and ready to drop. If you re who you say you are, you can take care of that in one fell swoop. Just change this stone to a loaf of bread. You know, Satan was right. Jesus could have changed the stone to bread. We saw him later turn water into wine. But that wasn t the point. And Jesus knew it. Satan was trying to get Jesus to weaken, and not trust in his God to get him through the time of fasting. So what did Jesus say? He quoted scripture to Satan. One does not live by bread alone. And in doing so, he shot down Satan s challenge, but also strengthened his own resolve. I can do this, life is more than bread, life is the strength I receive from God. Well, old Satan doesn t give up easily, which all of us know only too well. So he goes in a different direction with the next temptation. He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says It can all be yours, if you ll just worship me. There s that if word again! Nothing doing, Jesus shoots back, and again, words of scripture, Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. So Satan tries a third time. He takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and dares him to do something. He dares him to throw himself off of the pinnacle and see if his God would save him. Again, he says, If you are the Son of God, do it. If... A third time Jesus responds with scripture, Do not put the Lord your God to the test. On that, the devil gave up (at least for that moment), for the scripture reminds us that he will be sticking around, and will be waiting for an opportune 2
time, another moment of vulnerability in which to tempt Jesus again. And we know, from knowing the story, that those times do come. If. That word looms large in this story, and in fact, any time temptation comes our way. Temptation always calls you to doubt yourself. That s what the devil did consistently in this episode with Jesus. He tried to get Jesus to doubt who he was (the Son of God) and he tried to get him to doubt the love of his Father. And if he could get Jesus to do that, he could tempt him to do anything. And isn t that what temptation is all about? It tries to get us to doubt ourselves, and our God. It asks the question if or what if. And it s around all the time. Nary a day goes by that we aren t tempted by something. The great preacher Barbara Brown Taylor, in writing on this passage, wrote this: When it s our turn, none of us is going to get the Son of God test. We re going to get the regular old Adam and Eve test, which means that the devil won t need much more than an all-you-can-eat buffet and a tax refund to turn our heads. (On-line, Barbara Brown Taylor, The Wilderness Exam, 2/21/10) She s right. It doesn t take much to tempt us. And underneath all of those temptations, looms that word if. If you want to make more money and prove you re more important than others, just go ahead and lie a little on your taxes. Nobody will notice. If you want to pass on that juicy piece of gossip, go ahead. It will make you look like you know everything going on. If you want to get a good grade so you can make the honor roll, go ahead and cheat off of your neighbor s paper. Who s going to care? If you want to cheat on your spouse, go ahead. You know your marriage isn t all that great. If you want that chocolate, if you want that drink, go ahead. It will make you feel better. It won t hurt. Oh friends, underneath all temptations lie the word if, a word calling out to you to doubt yourself, who you are and whose you are. Which sends us right back to the Gospel lesson to look again at what Jesus did in the face of every temptation, he remembered God through scripture. He wasn t just throwing scripture in the devil s face, he was remembering it for himself, for strength to say no. And every time he spoke those words, he trusted God with his needs, and God strengthened him for the battle. 3
Someone put it so well, when they wrote: To the degree we trust God with our needs, temptation has little power. Oh friends, how we need to trust God, because this world in which we lives daily tries to tempt us to forget that we re beloved children of God. It daily tempts us to prove our worth in other ways. Don t believe me? Turn on the TV, or pick up a newspaper or magazine, and what will you see? You ll see that society these days says that money or fame makes you important, at least more important than others. It says that if you can make yourself prettier, wear more expensive clothes, drive more expensive cars, live in bigger houses, make more money, you re more important than others. Pick up a magazine and look at all the ads calling you to use creams to take away wrinkles, or pills to feel younger, or look at an ad that drives me insane those ads with Matthew McConaghey for Lincolns. They make it look like life is the best it can possibly be because he s driving a Lincoln. Really? In subtle and not so subtle ways, the temptations in our world these days call out to us to question who we are, and whether we re enough. And like that writer said, to the degree we trust God, and trust that we are God s beloved children, that s how we ll face temptations. Which means the stronger we are in our faith, and in our sure knowledge of God s love and presence in our lives, the more we ll be able to say no when the devil comes a-callin. Last summer, when I was traveling in New York, and stopped in a Christian bookstore, I came across a book called Believe It by Nick Foles, who as you know, is or was (I should probably say now) a quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He s the one who stepped in when the star quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a shattering injury, and led the Eagles to their Super Bowl win last year. You probably know, from seeing and hearing his story, that Nick is a devout Christian. Well, the book was great. But here s what I want you to know about Nick. In the high stakes world of professional football, where you practically have to prove your worth in every single game, Nick has struggled with his identity. He knows he s a child of God, but it didn t take much for a long time, for him to cave into the temptation to doubt himself. Satan seemed ready to spring at every turn. Like, for instance, the day after the game in which Carson Wentz was injured. Nick came in and saved the day, the team won their division in that game. While incredibly sad for his friend Carson, he was also proud of himself, and feeling pretty good. Then he and his wife and daughter went out to get some lunch on the day after the game. He said he wore a baseball cap and looked pretty inconspicuous so nobody knew who he was, and this is what they overheard all over the 4
restaurant, comments like these: Did you hear what happened to Carson Wentz? Well, I guess we ll have to wait another season for the Super Bowl. And bam! Just like that, Nick s spirit deflated. A while later, after they had won the Super Bowl, and Nick had added to the thrill with that amazing play, the Philly Special, where he actually caught a touchdown pass, and where he was named the Most Valuable Player of the Game the very next day, even while the headlines extolled the virtues of him and the whole team, the subtext was this: Imagine, Super Bowl MVP today, traded tomorrow. He couldn t even fully celebrate the amazing win, because people were already talking about how he d be back on the bench, or traded before too long. Put that all together, and you can see how tempting it would be, and is, to succumb to the way the world wants you to be and act. But, thanks be to God, Nick Foles has his head on straight. Listen to his words: For years, my identity had been inextricably tied to football, and when I got to the NFL, that only escalated. I know I m not the only one who has experienced this we re all tempted to measure our worth by what we do, whether it s athletics or a job of any kind. But when we view ourselves solely in light of our accomplishments, we create a false reality, because we are more than what can be written on a stat sheet. There s so much more to a person than how far they can throw, or how hard they can hit. When you measure your worth based on what other people say about you or on what you can achieve, it s hard to understand who you really are. Ultimately I had to separate Nick Foles the person from Nick Foles the football player. When my identity was tied to football, I constantly felt the pressure to be perfect. I lost sight of the fact that I don t have to be perfect in fact, I can t be perfect. No one can. Only Jesus is perfect. I also don t have to throw twenty-seven touchdowns and only two interceptions every season to be successful. The true measure of success is to make sure everything I do the way I act, the way I treat others, the way I deal with disappointments and setbacks, reflects and glorifies God. His love isn t contingent on my performance on the field. It s unconditional. 5
I m not just a football player. I m a child of God who happens to be called to play football, using the gifts and abilities he has blessed me with. And that s a huge distinction. (Nick Foles, Believe It, p. 86-87) Nick Foles says there, what Jesus himself was saying to every temptation Satan through his way, I m the Son of God. I don t have to prove myself or prove my Father. That s how to fight temptation, friends. Don t buy into the ifs temptation throws your way, instead rely on what you know deep down in your heart. You are a beloved child of God, and God is by your side. You don t have to prove yourself to anyone other than him. So may Jesus be your strength in times of trial and temptation. He is, indeed, our friend, one who has walked where we walk, has been tempted as we are tempted, and knows our needs. May we lean on him, trust in him especially in the face of temptation, and like him, remember that we are, each of us, a beloved child of God. May it be so. Amen. 6