"The Importance of Knowing Whose You Are"
Matthew 4:1-11
Lorenzo Sell Writes:
"In mid 2009, I left my position as CEO of a company that I had founded.
I didn't know it at the time, but this was the beginning of an almost four-year process that I can only describe as losing my identity.
During this time I would go through heartbreak and homelessness and question every aspect of my life.
I moved from Honolulu to San Francisco to New York City.
I spent 11 months living in my car and incurred massive debt.
After a challenging breakup, I didn't go on a single date for 18 months.
I went through immense psychological stress and periods of time where I could see no light at the end of the tunnel.
All the things that had been important to me -- a nice apartment, fashionable clothes, a fancy startup, my social life, financial stability, my diet and fitness-- dissolved."
Sell continues, "As I began to let go of all these things, I came to a very challenging psychological place: I had no idea who I was.
With every core identity in question, I had a very hard time even socializing with other people.
If I had no identity, on what basis could I connect with others?"
Identity is that collection of attributes that defines how we see ourselves.
It is the answer to the question: "Who am I?"
If you have ever seriously asked yourself that question you may have found that the answer is not as obvious you might have thought.
Lorenzo Sell continues his story: "In experiencing my loss of identity, I could see that many of my actions were motivated by a desire for external recognition.
I was either trying to impress others or worried about how they would judge me.
However, any situation where my self-expression is contingent upon the validation of others is bound to limit me from being myself.
And if I'm not being myself, how can I possibly be happy?
True identity is being true to oneself."
This morning's Gospel Lesson takes place immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
And we are told that "When Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up out of the water.
Heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and resting on him.
A voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son whom I dearly love; I find happiness in him.'"
This is the core of Jesus' identity.
Jesus is God's Son.
And baptism marks a "new beginning."
In Jesus' case, it was the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry.
So, what does it mean to be "God's Son...
...whom [God] dearly [loves]..."
...in Whom God finds happiness?
What does it mean for Jesus?
What does it mean for us?
Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, and how Jesus responds to these temptations give us some very important clues as to Who God is when God takes on flesh and becomes fully human.
And for those of us who profess to follow Jesus Christ as Son of God and Savior, our identity is extremely contingent on Jesus' identity.
Who are we?
What does it mean that you are a Christian--that I am a Christian?
After-all, the word Christian literally means: "little christs."
How will we live into this identity?
As Christians, who are we, really?
These are questions we ask when we are faced with difficult choices.
There can be no doubt that our identity is challenged the most when life is hard.
What do you do when the rubber meets the road?
Do you put your money where your mouth is?
Do I?
Who are we when everything else is stripped away?
We are told that Jesus was famished when He was tempted by the devil.
The text says literally, "After Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights, he was starving."
We may find ourselves faced with temptation when we are stressed, overtired, anxious or sick.
It was in the wilderness that the Israelites struggled to identify themselves as people of God, and when the going got tough, they created a golden calf to worship in the place of God.
We are tested when we face financial problems, disagreements, or threats.
These are the kinds of situations in which it is hardest for us to be the people God has called us to be.
Notice that the first two of Jesus' temptations challenge the issue of His identity directly.
"The tempter came to him and said, 'Since you are God's Son, command these stones to become bread.'"
That's a huge temptation for Someone Who has not eaten a thing for 40 days and 40 nights.
So just how human is the Son of God willing to be?
Will He, indeed, experience all the kinds of suffering we experience or will He use His power for His own personal needs?
Will Jesus misuse His power for personal gain?
Jesus later miraculously feeds others, but here in the wilderness Jesus does not choose to feed Himself in the same way.
Jesus decides not to escape human pain and suffering, but instead to be more fully one of us.
"It's written, 'People won't live only by bread, but by every word spoken by God.'"
Jesus identifies Himself with us.
He does, in this situation, what He asks of us.
Rather than using His power for His own purposes, Jesus humbles Himself and trusts God the Father to satisfy His needs.
Here we see that the Son of God is One Who puts the needs of others above His own.
He has come to serve, not serve Himself.
As Christians, we are called to the same identity.
Our lives are not to be about "Me, me, me" and "Mine, mine, mine."
Instead, they are to be about, "What can I do to help my neighbor?"
"What can I do to better serve God?"
And when we ask ourselves these kinds of questions when the going gets rough--and it will--we will find that God provides the answer in God's Word.
For we don't live by bread alone, "but by every word spoken by God."
In verse 5 we are told, "After that the devil brought him into the holy city and stood him at the highest point of the temple.
He said to him, 'Since you are God's Son, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'I will command my angels concerning you, and they will take you up in their hands so that you won't hit your foot on a stone.'"
This test focuses on Jesus' vulnerability and need for safety.
The devil is inviting Jesus to make Himself immune from injury and death.
The devil even quotes Scripture in order to try and prove that God agrees with him.
But Jesus is not deceived.
Jesus will not misuse His power in order to make Himself safe and secure.
While Jesus is hanging on the Cross, we hear a near-verbatim repetition of the devil's words by those who pass by Jesus and make fun of Him:
"He saved others, but he can't save himself.
He's the king of Israel, so let him come down from the cross now.
Then we'll believe in him.
He trusts in God, so let God deliver him now if he wants to.
He said, 'I'm God's Son.'"
By mocking Jesus and tempting Jesus, they are putting God to the test, just like the devil did in the wilderness.
But Jesus renounces all these temptations and in doing so, He is making His identity clear, He "fulfills the scriptures," as God's true Son, by humbly obeying God's will--as we are told in Matthew 26:54.
"Jesus replied, Again it's written, 'Don't test the Lord your God.'"
"Then the devil brought him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
He said, 'I'll give you all these if you bow down and worship me.'"
I remember, when I was an 18 year old kid, having a moment of "clarity" when I came to a place where I felt I was being given the choice to continue to follow Satan or to make the decision to turn my life over to Jesus Christ and follow God instead.
The decision I made that night changed my life forever.
But still, just about every moment of every day, I am faced with choices as to whom I will serve, and thus who I will be.
The devil is crafty.
Sin is alluring.
We can easily make excuses for why it is okay to "give in" to "this or that temptation."
In the third temptation Jesus must decide whom He will serve.
Will He serve God, or will He serve evil?
He must decide how He will use His authority.
Will He choose a life of power, or will He choose the life of a servant?
Just Who is this Son of God going to be?
Later, in Matthew Chapter 16, we find a situation that is very similar.
Jesus has asked His disciples "Who do you say that I am?"
And Simon Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
But when Jesus tells the disciples WHAT THIS MEANS--that He will have to "go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and legal experts, and that he [will have] to be killed and raised on the third day."
Peter argues with Jesus about what it means to be the Son of God.
He says that Jesus is wrong about His identity.
He tells Jesus, that as the Son of God, He should not suffer through the crucifixion and death.
And what does Jesus say?
"He turned to Peter and said, 'Get behind me Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God's thoughts but human thoughts."
Throughout His entire ministry, all the way to His death on the Cross, Jesus defined, He identified what it means to be the Son of God.
And as followers of Jesus, we must define and identify what it means to be a child of God.
Who are we going to be?
Most of us cannot imagine the devil tempting us with bread after a 40 day fast.
We don't know the fear of being held over the ledge of the tallest building.
And we certainly don't know the temptation of being offered all the power in the world.
But we do understand pride, vanity, selfishness and apathy.
It could be argued that these temptations are nearly as dark as Jesus' temptations, because most of the time, our temptations don't come with a face.
Temptation comes to us in moments when we look at others and feel insecure about not having enough.
Temptation comes to us in judgments we make about strangers or friends who do things we don't understand.
Temptation rules us, making us able to look away from those in need and to live our lives without a care in the world about the poverty, disease, and hunger of others.
Temptation rages in moments when we allow the devil to define our lives or when our addiction to wealth, power, influence over others, vanity, or a need to control defines who we are.
Temptation wins when we justify little lies, small sins: a racist joke, a questionable business practice, a criticism of a spouse or friend when he or she is not around.
Temptation wins when we get so caught up in the trappings of life that we lose sight of life itself.
Through His temptations, Jesus shows us that we choose who or Whose we will be.
Like Jesus, we will be hungry.
We will have times when we are tempted to doubt God's faithfulness.
We will be tempted to reach for power, rather than to live the life of a servant.
To live as children of God, we must serve God even when our circumstances are difficult and hard.
This is when we really choose just what it means to be a child of God.
The devil said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God...do this, do that!!!"
If we are the children of God, who will we be?
What will we do?
