"DON’T TEMPT ME!"

Matthew 16: 21-23; 1 Corinthians 10: 6-13

November 18, 2001

"Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, ….And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one."

The story of Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden is a story about humankind’s freedom of choice. Adam and Eve, and therefore us, were not puppets on a string obeying God’s every command and move. Rather, God gave us freedom; and that meant that there were choices. One of those choices was to say, "yes" to God and the other was to say, "no" to God. The rest of the Bible is a story about God’s people trying to live in covenant relationship with God yet wandering away, and God inviting them back into relationship. We can say, "yes" to God or "no" to God, and God will not force us.

Joshua called the people of Israel together at Shechem after they had conquered the land of Israel. He reminded them of the covenant they had made with God when they were in the Wilderness. In the land that they had just conquered, lived Canaanites who worshiped gods other than Yahweh. They would be living next door to these people and Joshua reminded them of who had led them. He said, "Choose this day whom you will serve." They renewed their covenant to worship only God, but the Old Testament reminds us that the gods of their neighbors were so inviting that they forgot their covenant with God. The prophet Micah accuses the nation of Israel of playing the harlot, being in a committed relationship with Yahweh, but going to bed with the gods of Baal. It was too tempting; it looked too inviting; it looked so innocent. No harm done, they thought.

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel wanted to strengthen their political base in Israel (northern kingdom). They thought it would be a good political move to make friends with the Canaanites who lived among them. So, they decided to incorporate some of those religious practices. Elijah was the only prophet who was willing to stand up to Ahab and declare that his choices were wrong, and he almost lost his life; there was a price on his head. The choice of securing one’s political power base over being faithful to God was one that Ahab and Jezebel made.

Then there was King David contemplating the war he was fighting. Standing on the roof of the palace he noticed an attractive woman across the way. With already more wives and concubines than he knew what to do with, he summoned Bathsheba to his place. No one refuses the king. The issue was not of breaking his marriage vows but of his position of power to get what he wanted. He violated another man’s property. And to cover his first mistake, which ended in a pregnancy, he had the husband of Bathsheba killed in battle. Nathan, the prophet, confronted the king, a gutsy move, and David recognized the errors of his ways and repented.

Fresh from the waters of baptism, the Gospel accounts comment about the Spirit of God coming upon Jesus "like a dove." What a statement of God’s presence his life! We then have Jesus entering the wilderness for 40 days to spiritually and emotionally prepare himself for his ministry. I think of it in terms of Jesus totally absorbing the will of God in his life so that he was totally focused. At the end of the 40 days the story says that Jesus was tempted. Temptation is not real unless the ability to do them is possible and reasonable. Later on Jesus walks on water; he feeds 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish; he calms the storm. What is different about changing a rock to a loaf of bread? Here in the temptation story it was wrong. The motive was wrong; Jesus had the ability. He could have done it. He made a choice.

Then there was that powerful scene with Peter. Peter had just stated to Jesus that he believed that Jesus was the Messiah that was to come. Jesus affirmed him in that statement. Then Jesus begins to announce that he will be going to Jerusalem, suffer and die. Peter gets in Jesus’ face and shouts at him, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." Why did Peter say this? Because what Jesus was saying was totally opposite of what they all believed was to happen. He was to go to Jerusalem and conquer; he was to take control. The messiah doesn’t die. Losers die. Here we get a glimpse of Jesus’ humanity. Jesus gets in Peter’s face and yells back, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." In other words, Jesus’ closest friend became the voice of temptation – a real temptation. Jesus knew what he was saying; he didn’t really want to die, but he knew it was God’s will. Jesus could have said "no" to God; he was not a puppet; he was human like you and me. Jesus was telling Peter, "Don’t tempt me! I know what I have to do!" The writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15) Jesus had a choice.

Paul, in his correspondence to the Corinthian church had to remind his friends that though the idols they use to worship have no real power, if they let them in, thinking there is no harm, they can sneak up and get you when you least expect it. "So, if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall." In other words, the moment you think that you are in control, you are the most vulnerable. An alcoholic can’t take that first drink; a gambler knows that they can’t walk into the casino and put themselves in that position. God will not let us be tested beyond our strength to endure, but God also expects us to not put ourselves in those situations.

The writer of James put it clearly, "No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and God tempts no one. But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:13-16)

God may test us, but the testing is for the purpose of strengthening us, not destroying us. The testing is to reveal our loyalty or disloyalty, our faith or unbelief so that we may grow. Temptation is that real force that entices us to do that which is harmful, destroys or in some way moves us away from the fullness of life that God desires of us. It is a temptation when it is only possible for us to do it, and in many cases, it will appear to be reasonable and a good thing. At least we justify it.

Some of us can remember the comedian on television named Flip Wilson who entertained us with his wit and antics. When he, or one of his characters, did something not nice or good, he would say, "The devil made me do it." We all knew he was using that as an excuse; we all laughed; we may have even used it to laugh off something we may have done. But we also all know that we have to take responsibility for our own actions and decisions; temptations will come our way every day and we have to make choices. We are responsible; we can’t blame the devil.

Jesus taught us to pray, "lead us not into temptation…" To be human is to face temptation every day. I remember my mother saying one time, "The closer you get to God, the harder the devil works on you." As we grow in our faith, there may be some temptations that we have faced and then put aside; there may be others that will hound us our entire lives. There are weaknesses that we have to be on guard about every day. And then there are unexpected temptations that will pop up that will catch us off guard and catch us totally vulnerable.

To pray, "Lead us not into temptation" is an admission that we are vulnerable and that we need help each day. To pray this also means that we have some values and beliefs that we hold dear and for which we want to stand. It is an asking for Christ to be with us and to help us be strong.

The serpent enticed Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit because it would make them like God, knowing good and evil. Has anything changed? In Jesus Christ we are called to live the high road. We all have choices to make.