Sermons

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Three Temptations
For Meaningless Ministry
January 19, 2003
Pastor Dan Baumgartner
5th in a sermon series on the Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 4:1-11

We continue on in our series on the gospel of Matthew. Last Sunday we looked at the story of Jesus’ baptism. At the very beginning point of his public ministry, Jesus goes to the Jordan to be baptized. It was an act of incredible humility, and gave us a foreshadowing that the ways of Jesus will be surprising. That baptism account ends with an amazing picture: the heavens opening above Jesus, the Holy Spirit landing upon him, and the Voice saying, “This is my Son, the beloved.”

This morning, then, we look at the next step: Jesus shows up for training camp. Jesus came to earth for one purpose: to serve (minister). And in his training camp in the wilderness, we will see HOW Jesus will minister…and perhaps we will learn how WE are to minister also.

Some of you older folks, like me, will remember an old rock band called The Rolling Stones! Honestly they weren’t (and aren’t) my favorite. But years ago, they released a song, an eerie song called “Sympathy for the Devil.” The voice in the chorus says this:

“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name, but what’s puzzling you is the nature of my game.”

Well, the “name” appears repeatedly in this story in Matthew: Tempter. Satan. Devil. Three times, in fact, the word “devil” appears in these few verses. And that word actually tells us quite a bit. The root word that we get “devil” from literally means “to split up.” Fundamentally, that IS the devil’s game: to split people apart from God, to drive a wedge between the two. And the way (or some of the ways) he does that is in this story of the three temptations.

ONE: Jesus’ wilderness training camp for ministry was tough. Really tough. Forty days and nights, God asked him to fast. He moved through hunger, through the stage where his body lived off its reserves, until the body actually begins to shut down.

After 40 days in the desert, those rocks probably began to really look like bread. Jesus was at his weakest moment. His mind was probably fuzzy, so we’re not surprised to hear that a voice speaks: “If you’re the Son of God, turn these into bread.” In this moment of weakness, the voice says, “You’re in this by yourself. There’s nobody meeting your needs, so take care of it yourself.” Maybe it even said, “Hey, you’re the Son of God, don’t you have a RIGHT to bread?” In other words, DO SOMETHING SPECTACULAR! Take care of yourself.

The devil wants Jesus to be independent and take care of himself. God wants him to be dependent and take care of others. The ministry of Jesus Christ was marked by his dependence on God. Jesus fasted, he prayed, he sought his Father, he asked for strength, he even asked for his task to be removed from him. The devil wanted Jesus to use his power to do something physically spectacular. God wanted him to prepare to do something physically weak…like die on behalf of others.

We get tempted towards the ministry of the physically impressive as well. Pick up any number of books and magazines. What makes a successful church? A new building? A bigger staff? More programs? More people. Is this successful? Yesterday I met someone with whom I had a two or three minute conversation. In those minutes, they told me exactly what their church’s percentage growth in people was, how the fiscal year had ended and what new program they had started. Spectacular. I couldn’t run away fast enough.

Jesus had a totally different way of ministering. It had to do with people. And with the kingdom of God beginning to show up in surprising little ways, like planting a tiny seed in the ground and watching what happened.

This week I attended a lunch down at SPU. SPU does these great “church leader forums” where they serve a nice lunch and bring in a well-known speaker once a quarter or so. This month it was Marva Dawn, an author and teacher many of you know. But about a minute and a half into her talk, I was having a hard time listening. You see, shortly after Marva started talking, after everyone was done eating, two people came in and sat near me. They were very poorly dressed, carrying all sorts of bags and briefcases, and huge heaping plates of food. The woman was blind. My first thought was that they had wandered in off the street, and stumbled on a good meal. I was actually dead wrong about that, I found out later. But they sat, and began to eat quite loudly, and it was clear that everyone for several tables around was distracted. I was fascinated. What should I do? Anything? What would Jesus do? I tried to think of something spectacular. I thought about what the people around me would think if I did do something.

After about fifteen minutes, a guy at the table behind me got up, and quietly sat down next to this woman, and asked her if he could get her something to drink. That’s all. Just something to drink. It seemed like something Jesus might do. “Man does not live by bread alone…” The devil wanted Jesus to do something physically spectacular, to proclaim his independence. The ministry of Jesus was marked by dependence. He learned that in the wilderness.

TWO: The devil failed to tempt Jesus into self-sufficiency, even when he was at his weakest. So he switches gears, and goes at Jesus’ strength: his faith. In particular, he challenges Jesus with the scriptures. No doubt you noticed as we read that at every turn in this conversation, Jesus goes to the scriptures to answer the devil: Deuteronomy 8:3, Deuteronomy 6:16, Deuteronomy 6:13. [It’s a good reminder that we need to have the scripture close at hand, to have it inside of us. That’s not spectacular work either, it’s hard work to memorize, to read, to study.]

The devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple there in Jerusalem, the very highest spot…some 450 feet above the valley floor. He doesn’t push him off, but instead hurls the scriptures at him. “Take the leap! Scripture says God will catch you! Have a little faith, Jesus! I dare you.” Do something spectacular…with your faith. The devil wants Jesus to take the lead, and make God follow. God wants to see if Jesus will follow.

In our ministries…yours and mine…and I’m reminded by this bulletin which has said every Sunday for the last three and a half years that I’ve been here: Ministers: You.

In our ministries, who is leading? Us? Or God? A number of months ago, I had the great idea that it would be good for our congregation to take an entire year and focus on prayer. At the time we were just starting Alpha, and working hard on newcomers events and things to try and create ways to enter into this community. My idea was that we would drop lots of things we were doing and just pray. It was a good idea; I hope we do it sometime. But as I bounced the idea off of people, one of our elders listened and said, “I don’t know, Dan. That sounds like where YOU are. I’m not sure it’s where God is with our congregation.”

She was exactly right. I was ready to move ahead. Of course God would want us to pray! So we could just move ahead, and ask God to bless what we were already doing.

Who’s going to lead? Us, or God? The ministry of Jesus is marked by God leading him. He learned that in the wilderness.

THREE: So the devil has failed at tempting Jesus into the spectacular physical feat or spiritual challenge. He tries once more, and puts in front of him spectacular power. He shows Jesus all the world, the wealth, the riches, the cities…but more than anything, the people. All of these people that Jesus had come to earth for! All the people he wanted to impact. And all it would take was a little bit of compromise.

Just one bad thing, and Jesus could have the power to do a great deal of good. Surely that was worth it? Just bow your knee to the devil ONE TIME, Jesus, that’s all. One step backward, then lots of steps forward. Think of all the good he could do!

You’ve been in a spot like that. At work, maybe. Just one time…don’t keep a promise you’ve made so that you can “get ahead.” Just one time, refuse to promote someone who deserves it so you can gain political clout. Just one time, don’t speak up in the face of injustice. Maybe you’ve been there, thinking that if you just look the other way once, you could get a position with real power, that you could use to do good.

It’s a slippery slope, isn’t it? I know many of you have seen or read the Lord of the Ring stories by now. In the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, the hobbit Frodo is talking with the wizard Gandalf. Upon hearing about the terrible power of the one ring, and the danger of it, Frodo says to Gandalf, “You are wise and powerful. YOU take the ring!” And Gandalf, who IS wise and powerful, leaps back and shouts, “Do not tempt me! The way of the ring to my heart is by pity and the desire for strength TO DO GOOD. Do not tempt me!” Gandalf knew…that the slope is slippery. It doesn’t work to go backwards.

Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. I was thinking this week of the incredible things that he and so many others endured in starting the civil rights movement: injustice, beatings, firehoses, arrests, threats, even murder…without returning violence for violence. Now, we have a long, long way to go in this country and in this city…before there is anything like justice, like a country that Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned in his dream. But I’m thankful for people like him, people who said, “There just can’t be any compromise. Wrong is wrong.”

The devil wants Jesus to compromise. Just once. For a good cause. The ministry of Jesus is marked by NO compromise. He learned that in the wilderness.

And so Jesus receives his testing, his training. He must forego the spectacular to carry out his ministry of service and self-sacrifice. And so he gives us a model of ministry, a model that says “no” to the spectacular, the self-centered, the independent, the powerful. These are all roads to meaningless ministry. They may look good for a while, but ultimately they will blow up or blow away. Jesus’ example says “yes” to humility, to servanthood, even to suffering.

But there’s one thing I skipped over, something that underlies all of these temptations, for Jesus and for us. Two times in this passage, the devil speaks to Jesus and says, “IF you are the Son of God.” IF you are the Son of God, turn the stones, IF you are the Son of God, jump off. IF you are the Son of God.

In Jesus’ baptism, God assured Jesus that he was his Son. “This is my Son, with whom I am very pleased.” Yet even to the very cross itself, Satan continued to try that game: “IF you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” That’s what people shouted. But Jesus stayed BECAUSE he was the Son of God.

It is the most fundamental trick of the devil. The “nature of his game,” as the song says, is to make us doubt…that we belong to God. That God could actually love us. And when we doubt, then we look for proof, spectacular proof…and we give in to temptation.

Listen to these words of Frederick Buechner’s:

“Repent and believe in the gospel, Jesus says.
Turn around and believe that the good news
THAT WE ARE LOVED
is better than we ever dared hope,
and that to believe in that good news,
to live out of it and toward it,
to be in love with that good news,
is of all glad things in this world
the gladdest of all.”

Let us pray.