March 6, 2022
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Luke 4:1-13
Three Tests, One Answer
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
One of the iconic scenes in the movie "City Slickers" involves Jack Palance’s character, Curly. Curly is the weathered old cowboy in charge of the cattle drive. While on the drive, Curly has a man to man conversation with Billy Crystal’s character, Mitch. Mitch is a man entering his mid-life crisis. He’s come to a crossroads in his life. He feels stuck.
Curly shares with Mitch the secret of life. He lifts up his pointer finger. “One thing,” he says, “Stick to that one thing and nothing else matters.” Mitch needs to find his one necessary thing and focus only on it.
Today we hear the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. The setting: Jesus has just been baptized by John in the Jordan River. As he rose from the waters, the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove.
And now that same Holy Spirit has led him into the wilderness. Jesus will spend this critical 40-day period before he begins his ministry. He’lls will be tested during this time, tested by the devil.
The devil plies Jesus with three tests of character. Of course, the devil wants Jesus to fail. This isn’t like your third grade teacher who wants to help you succeed in class. This encounter is the opposite.
This is closer to a test with a crash dummy. You strap the dummy behind the wheel of a test car and then slam the car into a cement block and see what happens.
But even in a crash test simulation, you hope that the dummy won’t be harmed. The devil is flat-out hoping that Jesus will fail. The devil is looking for Jesus’ character flaw. He’s looking for a fissure, one small point of entry to pry inside and undermine Jesus’ good intentions.
Life has a way of throwing tests at us. They’re not necessarily of the devil or ill intended, but nevertheless, we are confronted by a moment when a decision lies before us. There’s a choice to be made, a reflection of the character within…and of our flaws. Two roads diverged in a wood…which path will I take?
Jesus faced a series of three tests. In each of these tests, Jesus is faced with the question of the one thing that lay in the center of his heart. What is his one thing?
The devil posed three scenarios before Jesus. The devil wanted Jesus to latch onto them as his one, highest thing. He was hoping to convince Jesus to adopt one of these his highest good.
The first one involved bread and hunger. Jesus could supply the world with bread enough to satisfy every soul! A world without hunger. What a worthy cause! Jesus could see to the physical needs of humanity. Imagine a world without want, without hunger or disease!
And as a church we certainly do engage in these kinds of ministries in Jesus’ name. We serve meals at The Beacon House, we send funds to ELCA World Hunger, with our Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapter, we supply beds to children who don’t have a place to lay their heads. These are all very concrete ways in which we show our concern for our neighbor and share the love of Christ in a tangible way. As Jesus said, when we show charity to “the least of these,” we are doing these acts of mercy towards him.
Jesus would certainly be a popular hero if he were to tackle world hunger. But Jesus tells the devil that we don’t live by bread alone. We also hunger after every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Being human is more than just our physical needs.
And indeed, Jesus’ ministry will involve a concern for physical needs. He’ll feed the hungry and heal the sick. But his ministry will be about so much more. So no, Jesus won’t make this his one thing.
Test two: power over the world. Just think how Jesus could shape human history for the better! He could create a world without war, a world without hatred. Jesus could establish a world bereft of corruption, where every mind and soul was aligned with God’s purposes. There’s only one minimal price to pay, to give the devil his due.
Jesus is posed with the power to establish his kingdom throughout the world. Is that his one thing: power, power to bend wills, power to change minds, power to establish himself as the most high and revered in the hearts of all humankind? But Jesus rejects power as his ultimate goal. Power isn’t his one thing.
The third test involves invincibility. Jesus could call down the powers of heaven to cloak him in a shield of impregnable strength. Nothing will be able to harm him as he goes about his earthly ministry. He wouldn’t have to go to a cross, he could save himself from any personal hurt or suffering.
Being safe is certainly very compelling. We build up our emotional defense systems, we shield our children and families from pain. We prepare for unforeseen challenges, we build up our financial nest eggs. Safety is a good thing.
But love is vulnerable. And if Jesus is to embody the love of God, then he must remain open to the pain that comes with love.
Three tests. How will Jesus respond?
The devil is testing Jesus’ inner identity. Who is he? Who or what is his ultimate, one thing? These same questions challenge and test us.
Paul Tillich was one of the great theologians of the 20th century. Tillich referred to what he called your ultimate concern. Your ultimate concern is the one thing in your life you most value. This one ultimate concern will shape our character and the direction of our destiny.
Jesus faced this moment. What is his ultimate concern? He faced three separate tests, but the answer to each test was always the same thing. Jesus’ ultimate concern was God.
As we are tested, our desire is to be as single minded and true as Jesus in his temptations. But we suffer from the tragic flaw of our broken nature. We confessed just that at the beginning of our worship today: “We have wandered far from you, we haven’t trusted your promises, we’ve squandered our inheritance of grace,” we said.
And then our confession turned to the thing we need the most: “Have mercy on us!” we asked, “Have mercy on us, forgive us, and turn us again to you.”
Turn us again to you. In Christ, there is always another turning. As many times as we fail, Christ is there to receive us and turn us again to God’s mercy. We call on the name of our Lord, for he is gracious and merciful.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, be our North Star. When we are lost, be our guide. When we stray from your will, lead us again in your right paths. By your Holy Spirit, keep our eyes on you, on your mercy, on your salvation, on your undying love. Be there for us every day, be with us in every way. Keep us near to you. Lay us upon your shoulders and bring us home. Amen.
