There’s an old saying, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can sure keep them from building a nest in your hair!” The truth behind that little aphorism – that little saying - varies depending on how it’s used. Listen to how this old guy applies it:
“...temptation can be avoided by no one; but resistance may be made and with prayer and course to divine aid, we can put ourselves in readiness to meet such designs. In the book of an old father we read that a young brother expressed a desire to be rid of his thoughts. Thereupon the old father said: Dear brother, you cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair. So, as St. Augustine says, we cannot prevent offenses and temptations, but by prayer and invocation of the help of God we can prevent them from overcoming us.” (Luther’s Two Catechisms Explained by Himself, in Six Classic Writings, by Martin Luther, translated by John Nicholas Lenker)
Brother Martin uses the analogy of the birds to refer to temptation. Simply speaking, it means that all of us are tempted – but that we do not need to fall to the temptations that we face.
As we talk about temptation, we are going to deal with four different but interrelated themes. The first is simply: Why in the world do we need to talk about temptation? Why should we take the time to learn about this? Second, we are going to learn how Scripture uses the words tempt and temptation. When the scriptures talk about this topic – how do engage it? The third topic is: where do temptations come from? We want to identify the place from which temptations come so that we can recognize when we are under attack. Finally, we want to get a sense for how to break the chain of temptation so that we can avoid falling into sin. We are going to deal with the first two themes in today’s message. Next Sunday, we’ll deal with the third theme of our study. And finally, two weeks from now we’ll complete our study of temptation by covering the fourth theme.
Let’s begin by talking about the reason that we need to deal with this topic. Jesus talked a lot about the topic of temptation. When our Lord talked about temptation, He used some of the strongest language recorded in Scripture. Listen to these words of Jesus spoken during that passage known as the Sermon on the Mount:
[29] If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. [30] And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5.29-30)
Jesus was the most compassionate and loving person who ever walked the earth... so why the scary and strong language? There are two reasons for this. First, the stakes are absolutely incredible! We are temporal creatures - and so it is easy for us to lose sight of the big picture. The most important and critical reality with which Jesus confronts us with these words isn’t losing an eye or a hand - it is eternity. Eternity is forever. In mathematics, when infinity is factored into a formula or equation – it often drives the results to areas that are undefined. When we speak of eternity in a theological sense – the same sort of thing happens. We don’t quite know how to wrap our arms around the concept. Saint Paul talks about "eye as not seen and ear has not heard" about those things that eternity gives to the believer. But we do know that Jesus warns us about eternity in the starkest of terms. Why - because it is about our eternal destiny. Jesus doesn’t want us to risk the possibility that we might spend eternity in hell. So the first reason that we must learn about temptation is because the stakes are huge – they involve eternity.
Here’s the second reason why it is critical to engage the notion of temptation. When we are dealing with temptation, what is at stake is our freedom and often we are completely oblivious to that fact. We are warned continually in the Word not fall into the bondage of sin. Ed Welch wrote a book titled, “Addictions – A Banquet in the Grave.” He tells us that people can become trapped by sinful behavior that seems like fun – but in reality, these behaviors lead to bondage, slavery and death. Things that seem very attractive but yet can be very dangerous to our spiritual lives.
So we need to deal with this topic for two reasons: 1) because eternity is at stake; and 2) because temptation can result in enslavement to sin.
OK, let’s go to part two of this message. Here’s the big question: What in the world is temptation? I think most of us would say that temptation is something that makes sin look alluring, attractive, seductive. But that isn’t the only way that temptation is described in the Scriptures. Another way that scripture refers to temptation is as a sort of litmus test or as a validation of our faith. In this sense, temptation is a way to determine the depth of our trust in God. There are lots of places in the Bible that talk about this kind of temptation.
Take for example when Jesus was teaching the crowds. When it came time for lunch, Jesus turned to Philip and said, “Where are we going to buy the bread to feed all these people?” (John 6.5-6) Now, because we today have the revelation of God in the Bible, we know what happened – Jesus performed one of his miracles by feeding the multitudes with a couple of fishes and a few pieces of bread. So when Jesus asked Philip the question, He really wasn’t trying to get Philip to buy bread – He was seeing if Philip would simply say, “Lord, you know how to take care of this.” It was a test of faith - of the depth of trust that Philip had for Jesus.
Sometimes what God does to test faith is absolutely dramatic. One day God tells a man named Abraham to do something absolutely unthinkable – to sacrifice the son of promise – Isaac, the boy that he and Sarah were blessed to have in their old age. Now God was not really interested in seeing Isaac die. What God was interested in seeing was the kind of faith that Abraham had. And Abraham responded by doing exactly what God asked of him – he took Isaac up to Mount Moriah and just as he was about to plunge the knife into his son, God intervened. What we know from this is that Abraham demonstrated that he would withhold absolutely nothing from God, and so God responded by honoring Abraham. This Patriarch became the father of the people through whom the Savior of all men would come.
When this kind of faith testing occurs - it is not necessarily so that God can figure out where we are - but rather so that WE can clearly know and understand how much we trust God. A. W. Tozer, the 19th Century mystic wrote: “God can’t bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” I’m not so sure that this is always the way that God operates, but we do know that when a person’s faith is proven, God often entrusts that person with more responsibility. It’s like any company tests people before placing them into positions of greater responsibility. (Navy – punching tickets)
So we can view challenges in life are opportunities to demonstrate how much Jesus really means to us. We can view these as tests that we are going through to test and refine our faith. These tests could be subtle – like how we respond to opportunities to worship or to study God’s Word. It could be a bit more pronounced – like how we manage our resources and how we respond to the opportunity to bring gifts of time, treasure and talents to God’s house. It could involve how we handle that greatest treasure that God has given to us – the light of Christ given us to shine before other people. Each of these areas and many more can be used by God to deepen our trust in Him.
The Bible also talks about temptation as the attempt to get the believer to literally fall away from faith – to lose his or her relationship with God. In this sense, temptation can be very dangerous and the sin that we are tempted to commit is to be resisted. James talks about when it when he writes: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1.12)
There are many, many examples of this type of temptation in Scripture. We talked about this type of temptation during our Ash Wednesday service when we talked about how David was tempted when he saw the wife of his neighbor bathing and how this led David to incredible depths of disobedience. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested, He told his disciples, “Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak.” (Mark 14.38)
How does this kind of temptation affect us? Hey – anything more important to us than God? How would we respond to the test that God put Abraham through? How does idolatry make subtle appearances in our own lives? Have you ever heard somebody use God’s name in vain when his or her thumb was introduced to a hammer? Have we made an excuse not to come to church because we have a more pressing matter – like a soccer game or a Cowboys game or a Rangers game or a… you name it? Another way to think about how temptation affects is to think about how we respond to the demands placed on us by the Commandments: respect for authority? Lusting? Stealing? Gossiping - or telling half-truths about others? Dying to have what our neighbors possess? Temptation often has its way with us, doesn’t it, beloved?
But that leaves out something very important: you see, beloved – God would have us triumph over all temptation. He has promised us saving grace. He has promised that a crown of life awaits us. He tells us that we don’t face temptations that are unique and new – but that we are tempted only as others have been tempted. He promises that if we seek Him when we are tempted, that He will provide a way out.
There is also more – we are assured that Jesus, the One who withstood temptation perfectly, is present with us as we face our own challenges. He is there to teach us, to lead us out of temptation and - should we fall - to lift us out of the miry pit through the forgiveness that He won for us on the Cross and through the work of the blessed Holy Spirit.
But how each of these things works together we won’t get to until we get to Part II of this message next week. Until then – be assured that God continues to lead us, guide us and to strengthen us in faith through Word and Sacraments as we face crosses and temptations. Amen.
