Refusing Shortcuts: Jesus in the Wilderness

In the name of the blessed Trinity, one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

On this first Sunday in Lent, our reading from the gospel is almost what it

always is on every first Sunday of Lent, Jesus in the wilderness.

I find it fascinating that the gospel writers, at least Matthew,

Mark, introduce Jesus to us, not by what he does, but by what he refuses to do.

As you know, these are the seasons of faith that we often have in life.

Where we just don't know how to say yes.

But the no is clearly before us.

Jesus is offered here in Matthew. Very compelling gifts.

Three very compelling gifts. And he says no.

No. No.

The first temptation is so practical.

It almost sounds as if Satan is being compassionate. If you are the son of God,

command these stones to become loaves of bread.

After all, you've been fasting. You must be hungry.

Here is a real immediate fix to your real immediate problem.

But Jesus refuses. One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that

comes from the mouth of God.

We know that Jesus isn't denying that bread matters. He will end up making enough bread for 5,000.

He will end up teaching his disciples and us to pray, Give us our daily bread.

He's not romanticizing poverty or hunger he's resisting something deeper the

idea that life can be reduced to our appetite,

that somehow the human heart is basically like a stomach that just needs to be filled out.

This is what the world tries to train us to think and believe.

We're looking at our retirement accounts all the time.

We're getting economic news all of the time.

And as never before, I guess every generation says that, but nevertheless,

Do you interact with almost anything that doesn't just have a ton of ads?

Consume, purchase, upgrade, acquire, protect Why do I want a protection plan

for a garbage can that I bought on Amazon?

I fall for this stuff. I upgrade my Apple products the second they come out with a new one.

I think I'll be left behind. I've come to believe that I'll be left behind if I don't.

And this message can shape us that you are what you can get,

what you can stockpile, what you can afford.

Jesus says, no.

You are more than your cravings. You are more than your purchases.

You are more than what you can immediately fix.

But then in this give and take, Satan kind of shifts his tactics, if you will.

All the kingdoms of the world, he says, power, influence, authority,

control, I will give you if you fall down and worship me.

Notice how he frames it. Worship, right? It's not influence.

It's not strategy or something. Worship. Because isn't that what power always wants from us in the end?

Our ultimate and complete loyalty?

All of our trust? a sense that salvation will come if you can just get the right

people in charge the right policies passed the right systems built,

I don't think Jesus is suggesting we don't care about public life but I do believe

there's some warning in here about confusing politics with redemption Transcription by CastingWords.

He refuses to treat the kingdoms of this world as if they can do for us what only God can do.

The truth is that any state, if you will, cannot give us what our souls truly need.

They cannot forgive.

They cannot heal a broken spirit. They cannot raise the dead.

I suppose legislatures across the world could pass a law commanding us to love one another.

But I'm not sure it would work.

It's a hard realization these days. Because politics is really loud right now.

It's everywhere. It's emotionally gripping.

It can address real human need, and it can hinder real human needs from being met.

And yet, maybe what Jesus is saying is that it can also become a kind of alternative religion.

Complete with rituals. with sinners and saints, purity tests,

and these days just an endless stream of outrage.

I don't think he's saying don't care. I think what he's saying is that neither

he nor should we bow down to all of that.

I will not build God's reign on that foundation. Worship the Lord and serve only Him.

Then comes the third temptation, and it's religious. The religious aren't left out.

The devil takes Jesus to the holy city, sets him on the pinnacle of the temple,

and says, throw yourself down. If you really trust God, God will catch you.

The angels will take care of you.

In other words, let's see your show.

Let's see what you can do Do something amazing Do something spectacular Something

undeniable Something that might go viral Something that proves once and for

all You are who you say you are,

This can hit close to home, because I think in some ways, we all would love

that type of certainty from faith, wouldn't we?

A faith that never wobbles, where God is always obvious, where what we want in life is guaranteed.

You know this. We live in a time where influence is currency.

I'm told so many influencers are making their living now just trying to influence us.

I guess it's always happened in certain ways, so I don't mean to pump it up

today, but it's really profound.

If it doesn't photograph well, impress, get enough clicks, likes,

or views, did it really happen?

Well, you didn't say anything about that post I made. Do you care?

I didn't see your post, to be honest with you. No. No.

Even religion can become curated, polished.

But Jesus, no manipulating God,

no turning God into a spectacle. I will not make faith a stunt.

Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

So three temptations, three refusals, bread, power, the show.

Each of these might seem like there's a way through, if you will, but Jesus says no.

And in a way, he is teaching us, I think, that authentic faith often requires us to refuse shortcuts.

But maybe on this first Sunday of Lent, what's being laid before us is the pathway

for this Lenten journey,

that real faith can be shaped by what we choose to reject, not just what we choose to accept.

Our opening passage today from Genesis.

What would it have been like if Adam and Eve had said no?

This is important because I do believe that too often our faith,

our Christian faith, is framed as if it's just an endless series of affirmations.

Yes, I believe. Yes, I accept Jesus. Yes, I am saved.

Yes, credo in the creed, I believe.

Yet, as Jesus demonstrates today, sometimes our refusals can form us as deeply as our affirmations.

And sometimes our refusals are all we have.

There's so much going on in our society today.

I really don't know the answer to each and every one of them.

But there's a number of them that I look at and I say, not that.

I don't know the answer. But it's not that.

That I am clear of.

Sometimes, that's all we got.

There is a yes to God, of course, a very real yes.

And yet, maybe what's being said today is that every real yes contains in it a no.

To follow Jesus doesn't mean just what we welcome.

It can also be what we faithfully reject.

This is the question put before us on this Lenten journey today,

maybe something like what is one honest no God is inviting us to practice,

in this Lenten journey not as a self-improvement not as a way to prove yourself

but as a way of kind of making space making room, clearing the way for what sustains you.

Because the point of fasting is not deprivation for deprivation's sake.

The point is to discover again that we are not held together by bread alone.

We are held together by God's grace.

We are given the freedom to say no because God said yes to us.

So we begin Lent, perhaps, with a question.

If someone looked at my life, would they see a refusal that shines as a yes for Jesus?

Amen.

The homily was offered by the Rev. Dr. R. Scott White.

Introductory and closing reflections were shared by the Rev. Amy Peterson.

Musical contributions were performed by Dr. Kevin Seal.

Sermon audio was prepared by Nanette Popa. Production was guided by Karin Marie Fredrickson.