- Matthew 4:1-11 - read this passage online here »
- Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 - read this passage online here »
While I haven’t read Jewish journalist and author A. J. Jacobs’ funny yet serious book The Year of Living Biblically, I am reading Christian pastor Ed Dobson’s book The Year of Living Like Jesus [Zondervan, 2009]. Jacobs wrote the Foreword to Dobson’s book and observed: “Ed was inspired by my book ... (a fact that makes me commit the sin of pride).”
Jacobs is a secular Jew. But he wanted to see what it was like to live like a biblical Israelite. Dobson is a Christian who took up Jacobs’ challenge but applied it to the life and teachings of Jesus. In his book, Dobson told a story of visiting some bars in Florida. Because Dobson knew Jesus was accused of being a glutton and drunkard (or wine-imbiber) by the religious leaders of his day, this Baptist minister decided to visit places where people usually drink -- hence, the bars. In one particular bar, he had a conversation with a short Jamaican bartender with a slightly greying small moustache, a contagious laugh and who wore a Hawaiian shirt [The Year of Living Like Jesus, p. 164].
Normally clean-shaven, Dobson was trying to live like Jesus as fully as he could for a year so he let his beard grow as Jesus probably did. The bartender liked the beard and asked him why he was growing it. Dobson responded: “I made a commitment on January first to spend the whole year trying to live like Jesus. So the beard is part of the gig.”
After some conversation, the Jamaican bartender said: “Dude, that’s unbelievable. So what are you learning?” Here is Dobson’s dialogue with the bartender:
Ed: “I’m learning that trying to follow Jesus is a full-time job. I’m learning how difficult it is to actually follow his teachings.”
Bartender: “So what’s so hard about it?”
Ed: “That’s a great question. How about loving your enemies? How about caring for the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame? How about clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, and giving water to the thirsty?”
Bartender: “Right on.”I have heard more than one person make a similar confession: that trying to follow Jesus is difficult. Living as Jesus did and following his teachings is far from easy. Pastor Ed Dobson didn’t think it was easy either. But that is our calling – our mission -- is it not? Our congregation decided to express our mission this way: “To bring to life the teachings of Jesus Christ.” How do we do that – bring to life Jesus’ teachings? Bring to whose life – your life? my life? the life of our community? our city? our country? our world? Does not the meaning of our mission embrace all of these?
Our underlying theme for Lent and Easter this year is stated simply: “Being a Christian means Jesus calls and we follow.” This may sound simple but it comes with personal struggle. Following Jesus calls for faith and trust in him even in the greatest of difficult circumstances. For instance, Ed Dobson has been living with the debilitating disease of ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease – since January 2001 when he was diagnosed. While writing his book about The Year of Living Like Jesus, which was published in 2009, his body continued to deteriorate. So whatever our personal concerns or whatever our circumstances as a church, the meaning of being a Christian does not change. It will always mean Jesus calls and we follow. That is the foundation upon which I am building these messages through Lent and Easter.
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, two significant events occurred in his life. First, he was baptized in the Jordan River. That was vital for the rest of Jesus’ ministry because he knew – at that moment – the acceptance, the approval and the confirmation of God the Father on his life and ministry. The Message Bible puts Matthew 3:16-17 this way:
“The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit -- it looked like a dove -- descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: ‘This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.’”For Jesus, he heard God’s call and so he followed.
The second event happened immediately after his baptism: “Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil.”
There are at least two significant questions underlying Jesus’ time in the wilderness with the tempter. Both questions require a response from Jesus. Since we claim to be followers of Jesus, they are our questions too. And they require a response from us as well.
The first question: What is Jesus’ sense of God? Theologian Dale Bruner [The Christbook Commentary on Matthew, Eerdmans, 2004, p. 133] calls Jesus’ sense of God being “the ruling passion perceptible in all three of Jesus’ answers to the Tempter.”
- Jesus’ first answer: “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but [they] need every word that God speaks.’”
- Jesus’ second answer: “But the scripture also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
- And Jesus’ third answer: “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’”
In all three answers, God is uppermost in Jesus’ mind. In two of the answers, Jesus also included a word translated as “only” and “alone”: “Human beings cannot live on bread alone” and “The Scripture says … serve only [God].” What does Jesus want us to understand here? That in all the circumstances and concerns of our lives and despite how the circumstances and concerns of our lives appear to us, God is not to be excluded from our thinking and living, or from our service and worship.
Consider Jesus’ first temptation. He has just completed a long fast without food. He is hungry and tired. He hears the appealing words of the tempter: “Since you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” Of course, he is God’s Son. He knows it. Jesus could have changed the stones into bread. He had the power to do this or else it would not have been a real temptation to him. But what was Jesus’ temptation? I believe Jesus remembered the voice he heard not long before from God his Father who called him “chosen” and “beloved” and a “delight.” He remembered his baptism. But that was then and this is now. Surely, as God’s chosen One, he could serve himself, especially since he was so hungry. He had the memory of his baptism. But sometimes memory can play tricks on us. Sometimes faith can fade into the background when we are weary or hungry or under stress. And, after all, Jesus was deeply human. But God was Jesus’ passion. To turn the stones into bread would have revealed a lack of trust that God would provide for him. Remember, Matthew records that, after the tempter finally left Jesus, angels came and helped him.
What does this temptation mean for us? In Genesis 3, Eve got into a discussion with the tempter and lost. Let me suggest that you and I will lose every time if we try to question and discuss and rationalize temptations that come into our minds. Has God said this? God surely would not have said that – whatever “that” is.” In Adam and Eve’s case, God commanded them not to eat the fruit from one particular tree because, if they ignored what God said and did eat from that tree, they would experience evil for the first time and begin to die spiritually. But the tempter lied to them and convinced them God was trying to keep something from them. The tempter convinced them God didn’t really mean what he said and had other reasons for not wanting them to eat. Unfortunately, they gave in to these lies. And isn’t that a similar kind of conversation that goes on in our minds when we are tempted to think or do something that is not quite right – that is, in fact, wrong?
Jesus attempted no such discussion. Instead, he answered the tempter with the words of Scripture. Jesus knew his Bible. He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 in this instance as well as Deuteronomy 6:16 and 13. Jesus understood what God was doing in the events and stories of the Old Testament Scripture. In Deuteronomy 8, the nation of Israel was being tested. And through this testing, God was demonstrating to Israel that the people could depend on and trust God. Listen to what Jesus knew about being tested and trusting God from Deuteronomy 8:2-3:
“Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (NRSV)Jesus’ sense of trusting God meant trusting what God says -- that human beings are meant to live by every word that comes from God!
The second question underlying Jesus’ time with the tempter in the wilderness: Whose word will Jesus honour? As followers of Jesus, that is our question too: Whose word will we honour? Jesus not only honoured God, he also honoured God’s word. In all three temptations, Jesus gained the upper hand over the tempter by knowing and using the Scripture. And Jesus used the same common resource – the same Scripture -- that is accessible to all of us! To receive direction and help and strength from God, he did not use a private line that is unavailable to you and me. Jesus believed the Hebrew Scripture gives us God’s Word. The apostles believed that as well. And, of course, as followers of Jesus, we also have the record of Jesus and his early disciples in the New Testament Scripture. This adds even more to our knowledge of God’s amazing love for all humanity and gives us even more reason to continue to listen to and trust God.
But I am troubled, quite frankly, by certain trends today. What troubles me is the diminished value many in the church place on the Scripture. For many, it is as if God no longer uses the Scripture that Jesus himself used. So let me finish this morning with a story about how the record of Jesus in the Scripture changed the life of one man whose name is Nard Pugyao. Nard writes:
In March of 1956 (when I was about 6), a tall, pale, white man stumbled into my home village ... in the northern jungles of the Philippine island of Luzon. The man didn't speak our language, so our elders asked him the best they knew how, “Why are you here?”
“I've come to learn your language,” he [helped them understand]. “I'd like to write it down and then give you God's Word in your language.”
“Who is your God?” the elders asked.
“He's the God of Heaven and earth,” the man answered. “He's the Creator of the universe. He created you, too.”
“Is he powerful?” the elders probed. “More powerful than the spirits that have controlled our lives from the beginning of time? Is he more powerful than our ancestors, the head-hunters?”
“Yes, he's more powerful.”
Hopeful, we started teaching this man [whose name is Dick Roe] our language. Maybe his God could free us from the spirits.
When I was about 13, Dick had to return to the United States to raise support for his ministry. But before he went back, he translated the Gospel of Mark and gave me a copy. While he was gone, I started reading the Bible for the first time, beginning with the Easter story and continuing through Chapter 16. Sitting on top of a rock, I read the Gospel of Mark in my heart language. It felt like I was actually there, seeing the characters.
But the further I read, the more distressed I felt. A mob of people came to get Jesus out of the Garden of Gethsemane. What did he do wrong? I read as fast as I could. They accused him of all kinds of false things. They mocked him, spat on him, beat him, and took him before Pilate. Then the scourge and the crown of thorns. It was excruciating to read that they forced him to carry a wooden cross and then nailed him to it.
Deep in my heart, a hatred of God swelled. I shook my fist and shouted: “I hate you, God, for being so powerless! Why should I believe in a powerless God like you?” With all my strength I threw the Gospel of Mark down to the rocks and started walking home. I couldn't understand why God wouldn't protect his own Son. Our head-hunters defended us to the death. Because of them, no one could touch us. I wanted a god like that -- someone who would protect me from the spirits that demanded we sacrifice our cows, chickens, pigs, and dogs. This God didn't even save his own Son.
Suddenly, God reached down into my heart. “Nard, don't you understand?” I heard him say. “That's how much I love you. I gave my Son on your behalf.” For the first time, I understood grace. I understood how much God loved me.
“God, if you love me that much,” I prayed, “I want to give you my life, my heart. It's all yours.” I went back and picked up my Gospel, brushed it off, and sat back on that rock to see what happened next. It was an incredible moment as I read that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. Nobody in [my town], nobody from among [my] people, had ever risen from the grave. The resurrection story changed my life. [Nard Pugyao, "Penetrating Power," Decision (July-August 2006), p. 18; ©2006 Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, used by permission, all rights reserved. Preaching Today Illustrations]May the words of Scripture change your life too. May the Risen Jesus bring you hope and strength and deep joy too. My friends, may this be so for you and for me.
Rev. Chris Miller,
Lent 1, March 13, 2011
OYM Oriole-York Mills United Church, Toronto
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