Sermon | "Empty Promises / Promises Fulfilled" | Lent 1C

Gospel: Luke 4:1–13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,  ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.  ³The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."  ⁴Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  ⁶And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."  ⁸Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,  ¹⁰for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' ¹¹and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"  ¹²Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Part I

Let's take a look at this familiar text for a moment.  In Luke 3, after Jesus had been baptized by John in the Jordan, he was "praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove (21-22).  Then there is a brief pause in narrative, then the story continues in chapter 4.  Jesus, still "full of the Holy Spirit" is led by that same Spirit in the wilderness (4:1). 

The way the Gospel of Mark tells the story, Jesus is "driven" by the Spirit into the wilderness.  What makes this interesting to me is that Jesus is exactly where God wants him--he's not on the wrong side of the tracks, he's not in a bad part of town where he really shouldn't be hanging out, he's not running away from God like the prophet Jonah--and yet, he still faces temptation by the devil.  He was tempted by the devil for forty days, no less.  Jesus ate nothing during that time, and not surprisingly, when the forty days were over, he was "famished." 

And then the devil really kicks the temptation into high gear:
"If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread....
"If you will worship me, all the kingdoms of the world will be yours, for I have been given their glory and authority over them has been given to me...
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the Temple..."

The devil tries to lure Jesus with empty promises: 

The promise of a hearty meal, the promise of appetites satisfied.  Yet if Jesus were to turn the stones into bread, it would seem self-serving.  In the gospels, Jesus performs miracles in service to others, and to bring glory to God, not to himself.  Bread from stones would simply be empty calories, ultimately un-fulfilling, like eating a Twinkie.

The devil promises Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus will worship him, but this promise is also an empty one.  Any authority the devil may have had was ultimately temporary, for the rightful ruler of the heavens and earth is God, and God alone is to be worshiped.

And finally, the devil promises that God will protect Jesus from death if he were to throw himself from the top of the Temple.  Ultimately, though, God's plan does not save Jesus from death, but allows him to face death, death on the cross, as part of his work on earth. 

Part II
How often today are we tempted by the empty promises of the devil and the world and even our own sinful nature?  If you're like me, quite often. 

Advertising promises to fulfill our appetites:  Twinkies will satisfy your hunger.  The latest weight-loss product will help you shed pounds.  The new exercise machine will help you bulk up.  The latest fashions will make you more popular.  A particular brand of makeup will transform you into the Photoshopped model on the cover of the magazine.  You will never be satisfied until you have a Sham-Wow and a set of Ginsu knives and a Ch-ch-ch-Chia Pet and a Ronco Food Dehydrator and a WaxVac.   

Think of all the promises we hear from the world: You need a bigger house, a newer car, a better boat to keep up with the Joneses.  You will achieve success, and therefore happiness by climbing the corporate ladder.  In order to be liked or loved, your body needs to be smaller, skinnier, firmer, tanner, smoother, softer.

Religions, even certain expressions of Christianity, make empty promises too: God will heal you if only you have enough faith.  God desires you live abundantly, which is equated with being wealthy.  But these type of churches forget that following Jesus means facing persecution; following Jesus means self-denial; following Jesus means giving up possessions; following Jesus means following him to death, before rising to new life.

Part III
How does Jesus deal with the devil's empty promises?  By countering with the words of scripture, with verses from our Old Testament.

In the face of the first temptation, Jesus replies with the words from Deuteronomy 8:3 "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"  The devil knew the scripture well enough, that Jesus didn't have to even finish the verse: "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

When the devil wants Jesus to worship him, Jesus replies "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"  Again, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy, this time chapter 10.

Finally, when the Devil tempts Jesus throw himself from the Temple and offers scripture to suggest that angels will protect him if he does, Jesus counters with scripture of this own, again from Deuteronomy: "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 

For 40 days, Jesus has fasted.  And it's very likely that during those 40 days Jesus spent time praying and meditating on the scriptures.  Later in the gospels, when Jesus goes off by himself to a place like the wilderness, a lonely place, it is often to pray.  During those 40 days in which Jesus in which Jesus fasted, he nurtured his relationship with his heavenly Father through prayer and filled himself with the scriptures.  So when the devil came with to tempt Jesus with empty promises, Jesus was already full of God's promises.

Part IV

What insights can we glean about temptation from this exchange between Jesus and the Devil?  Here are a few thoughts:

First, be aware of when you are most vulnerable to temptation.  After his fast, Jesus was hungry.  When we are hungry--hungry for food, hungry for attention, hungry for affection--we are more vulnerable to temptation.  The same is true when we are angry, lonely, and tired.  If you take the first letter of each of those--hungry, angry, lonely, tired, it spells HALT.  When you find yourself feeling this way, stop for a moment and be aware of your vulnerability to temptation.

Secondly, take time to pray, and to pray about the temptations you face.  When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to pray: "Let us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  Ask others to pray for you as well.  James 5:16 says, "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."

Third, fill yourself with God's word.  Join us on Wednesday nights as we study together the book of Jonah.  Take home a devotional book for your personal study of the Bible.  Write down a verse from today's service that spoke to you and put it somewhere you will see it later in the week.  Fill yourself with God's fulfilling promises, not the devil's empty promises.  The message of the scriptures, not messages from advertising or messages from the world, should be the message we look to to remind ourselves of who we are, who God created us to be, and what purpose we were created to fulfill. 

One of the prayers in our hymnal compares the Word of God to good food:  "Blessed Lord God, you have caused the holy scriptures to be written for the nourishment of your people. Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, comforted by your promises, we may embrace and forever hold fast to the hope of eternal life, which you have given us in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord."

Finally, remember this about temptation:  When we do give in to sin, to the forces of evil, to the devil, to his empty promises, return once again to the cross, the cross toward which we journey these 40 days, the cross on which our Savior Jesus died, so that we might receive God’s promise of forgiveness on behalf of the One who was tempted, yet did not sin.

Amen.