Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Fishers of Men

February 2018
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4: 19

Jesus says these famous words to Simon and Andrew and they each follow him. We’ve all heard this metaphor used in the context of evangelism. “Be ye Fishers of Men,” stating that our main job in discipleship is to fill the church with freshly saved souls. The church sign, maybe you’ve seen it, “Gone fishing: we catch ‘em, God cleans ‘em” comes to mind. Although, I do think being fishers of men points us towards evangelism, a deeper entry into thinking about “Fishing” can help us get a better handle on some of the issues the metaphor raises, and can help us see better what it is we are truly being called to do, and why.

First let’s look at the most negative connotation that is raised. When you fish you fasten a shiny desirous, at least to a fish, false image to a hidden hook. Or sometimes you use live bait, but still there lies hidden the hook. The fish is lured to take a bite and ends up hooked through his lip. Then you reel him in, then scale him, clean him, filet him, and fry him up for dinner. Or you go out in a boat and cast your net into the water where you know there are fish, and scoop a bunch up all at once, but it still ends with scaling, cleaning, fileting, frying, and eating.

Now obviously, that is not what we see ourselves doing when we evangelize. We are not offering up a frying pan, but salvation from such things. But we have to be honest; the “fish” we seek do not know that we are seeking to help them, and have been taught, shown, and led to believe the opposite. Most who have left the church are not rejecting Jesus, but instead the frying pan of the church. They were lured by what the churches say, but kept finding the reality of the hook lying beneath the shiny façade.

That is one problem, but another is that the fishing metaphor can suggest that success in discipleship is measured by numbers. It suggests that there must be that “Catch” threshold, that the way to determine success is by how many people congregate Sunday Mornings at 11:00 each week, or how many join, or how many tithe, etc. People always like to have quantifiable measures for success, so they can judge effectiveness, but these can be harmful to the life of a church and its disciples. It may lead a church towards making its lures shinier in effort to hide the hook better, instead of being the genuine loving people we are seeking through Christ to be. We all want to see our church grow, but we must keep these things in mind, lest we fish for the wrong reasons.

I want to offer two alternative ideas that I hope can help us move forward in our efforts. The first has to do with purpose—why we do. And it leads naturally into the second that has to do with methods—what we do. They are in direct response to the issues just discussed.  

So why does Jesus tell us to be “Fishers of Men?” Is it for the fish, or for us? I ask this because, when Jesus says this to Simon and Andrew in Luke, he has just filled their nets with fish. They had been struggling all night, and he just simply miracled a bunch of fish into their nets. Jesus has people flocking to him in droves, attracted to his miracles, his healings, his message. He doesn’t need fancy lures, and he doesn’t need anyone holding the line and jiggling his message in the water either. So who is it all about?

My dad used to say there were two types of fishermen, those who liked to fish, and those who liked to catch fish. He would ask me, typically after a long period of fishing without catching, “Son do you like to fish or do you like to catch fish?”  The distinction is self-evident.  To fishing there is an art, a patience, a being outside with no other distractions, a sense of connectedness to methods passed down from generation to generation, a silent fellowship with others who are going fishing with you, and memory making that lasts, beyond any catching of fish. The big fish you caught becomes larger in the legend, and you can hold it out in front of you to make it appear bigger in the photo, but the smile on your face in the picture has nothing to do with the fish. Perhaps, Jesus knows this, and tells us to fish not because he needs results, but because we need the rest of what is fishing.

So freed from results how would we go about fishing differently? There are many answers to that question, but I want to focus on one. The pelican is a Christian symbol because it is known to pierce its own breast to feed its young from its blood, a mirror to Christ. I remember sitting on the beach and watching a pelican fish, and saw another parallel. When the pelican fishes it flies over the water, and then dives into it, and swims, becoming a fish for a moment itself. There are obvious problems, like we mentioned before, since the fish is eaten, but we can see another parallel with Christ. He comes into our world, to be us and to be with us, and nothing else would do. Our fishing must be the same, not on the end of a hook, but ourselves fully submerged in the water with the other. We have to seek to understand those people we hope to reach. We must seek to serve them, rather than luring them in to serving us. In actuality, the distinction of an us and a them must altogether disappear, which is why I hate the term “unchurched.” Church is not a process that can be given or taken away. These walls must be torn down. The first steps in doing this has to be listening, hearing, studying someone else’s why, coming to know their hopes, their fears, their frustrations, and if we do so we will find that everyone’s story is unique, so much time, patience, and practice is needed.

So I ask you as we head on down to the river, “Do you like to fish? Or do you like to catch fish?

All my love,

Pete




Three Old Fishermen

They were both fishing in the evening as the sun set to my back,
And I watched, trying to figure out for myself who was the more
Successful, that is if the definition of fishing success is actually
Catching fish because from my experience it may not be the case.
I never saw either catch any fish, though the pelican could have,
Being so far away, certainly been packing them away in his beak,
For it was made for him special to hold more than his belly can,
But I couldn’t see, and so, set my mind imagining his failure in
Tandem with the man to my right. I watched him for hours, sitting,
Beer in hand, line extended out into the surf, waiting, so patiently
For exactly zero bites. Though I didn’t know for sure, I imagine,
He was so patient because the rest of the world moved so fast,
This extended moment was a break from it all, to sit, with nothing
More to do, than to get to sit and wait, and that somehow the reel
And rod made it active enough to be considered doing something.
He couldn’t simply say, “Hey Honey, I’m going to the beach to do
Nothing,” and it had been years since heading to the beach to drink
Beer (as the only attraction) was an acceptable pastime, and fishing,
Therefore, was somehow something enough, and so there he was
Sitting and waiting. In the time I watched him, I never saw him cast,
Nor did I ever see him reel. In fact, I never saw him raise the rod,
Jiggle the line, or bring in the slack enough to check for a bite. No,
He just sat, and waited, taking occasional sips. He didn’t even drink
Aggressively, but rather seemed to wait for that, too, with no need
To rush the buzz. Like an Old Bull, sauntering slowly down a shady
Hill, knowing that what he sought awaited, so he must seek other fruit
Than fish. I wonder if the pelican shares such silly notions, for his
Fishing ritual, is at least as ancient as ours, if not more. Could he,
This avian symbol of insentient freedom, fish to escape, to pass time,
To rewind, to clear his mind, to seek and find, something sublime,
Like we do? His inherited ritual is much more active, gliding, this way,
Then that, just above surface of the water, when something flashing
Beneath, catches his eye, just enough, and he rises up, just enough.
He gets that perfect angle, and dives, disappearing for a moment,
A fish for a split second, before emerging back to the surface, floating,
Wings tucked, like a duck, perfectly still. Is there something to turning
Into what you want to catch, for a moment? We don’t do that, instead
We send our surrogate to lure our prey, a little wiggly worm, or squid,
Or some plastic fish replica, shiny and bright enough to hide a hook.
I wish I could have seen whether he hid some fish in his beak because
Then I would prove my preconceptions about birds, like other animal
Species, that they do not fish for fun, but for food. As fun as it looks,
The flying and the diving, alone and part of a V, it’s necessary to life,
And tied directly to surviving. Do we feel that when we fish, despite
The sport, the escape, or is the escape just that, an escape from life’s
Imposters, for a moment of the real? I don’t think my fisherman, beer
In hand, was seeking such things, but I was—when I headed to the beach
As the sun was sinking behind me, facing my shadow stretching ahead,
Watching a bird and a man fish, seeing with much more than my eyes,
Allowing my imagination to soar, to sit, to dive and to ponder—seeking
A sense of the sublime, and found it in a connected empathetic moment
Of place in my mind, and I will take it with me the next time I go fishing.


Monday, January 29, 2018

At the Center

At the Center
A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
January 28, 2018
at Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, Gordonsville, Virginia
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5-7



Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives      
For your eyes show the way
            Your mind knows the truth
            Your being is the life.
Amen.

Imagine for a moment if you will that you have been drawn to follow Jesus, and you aren’t exactly sure why, but there is something about him. Maybe it is word of mouth. Maybe you’ve had a personal encounter. Maybe you have heard about some kind of miracle. Maybe you are curious. Maybe you are starved for a savior, something else than you’ve always known, but you have come, and you have gathered here with many others to this mountain, and the man you have come to see sits down on the mountainside and begins teaching, and you heard this:


You’ve heard that people are blessed when they are successful, powerful, the rulers, the strong, the mighty, but in reality, in God’s kingdom it is very different, almost opposite perhaps. . .
For instance it is actually those who are poor in spirit who own the kingdom of heaven.
Those who are mourning for losses that find their comfort,
Those who are small and weak who will come to gain the world
Those who desire above all what is right who will be filled
Those who actually give mercy who will be shown mercy themselves
It is actually those who are pure in heart will be the ones who see God
The ones who are out making peace, who will be the children of God.
And if you can stand in persecution for righteousness, and because of righteousness will you be given that kingdom of heaven.
When people insult you, persecute you, and say evil because of me, and because you are following me. . . do not worry, instead rejoice, give thanks and be glad, for your reward will come from God in heaven like those prophets who have come before. . . .
The world is flipped upside down, what you don’t know is that it is not what the world says that is important, instead what you are, and what you are made to be, for you are like Salt, and Salt is important, because it is salt, if it would somehow stop being salt, it would no longer be salt, and therefore would lose its worth. . . be what you are made to be. . .
A light, you are a light in this world, and you must shine, you cannot hide yourself, what  you have been made to be, it must shine for the world to see, front and center and raised up high. . . people will see you being what you were made to be, they will see those deeds, shining and they will glorify God in heaven, Your father in heaven. . . for you were made by God. . .
But don’t think that this status, this special place, the fact that you are made in the image of God, stands outside of the Law and the prophets, not at all, instead it fulfills what they have said, because I am fulfilling them, even the smallest of details, the stroke of a pen, the smallest of letters, nothing is changed, righteousness matters, you must be righteous even beyond those Pharisees. . .
You have heard the commandments, they have said you shall not murder, but I tell you it is not the action but the cause of it, not the murdering, but the anger. . . . the anger itself is enough to condemn you.
Likewise, adultery, you’ve heard that you shouldn’t commit adultery, but its more than that it is the lust in your heart, the action in your heart. . . whatever causes the action needs to be removed. . . it is about curing the diseases not just treating the symptoms. . . the action is the symptom the heart is the disease.
Marriage is for life, the paper doesn’t matter it is the commitment. . .
You’ve heard that you shouldn’t break oaths. . .but it isn’t that you shouldn’t break them, you shouldn’t make them. . . there is no need to add anything to your word, it should be just as binding. . .  your yes should mean yes, and your no should mean no, any embellishment dissuades you from the good.
But at the same time there must be patience, you’ve heard that you are to take revenge, the old adage of an eye for an eye, but you shouldn’t, if someone strikes you let them, give them your other cheek to strike. If they steal from you, give them more. If they take your shirt, give them also your coat. . . if they make you run a mile, run too. . . Give to the one who asks, and do not turn the borrower away. . . for the needs of others take precedent. . .
Even your enemies, those who are out to hurt you. . . You’ve heard, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say love your enemy, pray for those who hurt you. . . because that is being a child of your Father in heaven. . . He makes you and them, and he makes the sun rise on all, those who are evil and those who are good, and the rain falls on everyone. If the only love you have is for those who love you, what extra is there. . . even the tax collectors do that. . . what are you doing that is more? What are you doing to raise the bar? Those who do not know me? Those who are following other understandings of God, smaller conceptions of me, do such things. . . God is perfect, and he is your heavenly father, therefore be perfect yourself.
But don’t just be perfect to be seen to be perfect, to be judged well, to be thought highly of. . . for there is much more reward to be had beyond what could be given to you here. . . so when you give to those who are in need, don’t announce it, don’t flaunt it, so that you may be honored by others. . . such honor is what you will get, but there is much more to be had. . . so when you give, don’t even let one hand know what the other is doing, give in secret, and then your God who knows all will surely know and give to you out of his heavenly infinite abundance. . .
And prayer is the same. . . there is no need to pray to be seen, to be heard, to be judged as pious by others. . . when you pray go into your room, by yourself, close the doors, and pray not to others but to your father, and he will see what you will be done in secret. . . and when you pray don’t keep babbling on, it is not about how many words you use, your Father knows what  you need before you ask. . .
Instead pray like this
Our father in heaven, may your name be great, may your kingdom come, may your wil be done, make it on Earth like it is in heaven. . . give us this day what we need, forgive what we owe you, and let us forgive what others owe us. . .don’t lead us into wondering, and keep us from the evil one. . .
You see that is enough, and it is not just a prayer but a life, forgiveness forgive others when they harm you, and likewise you will be forgiven. . . if you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. . .
And fasting. . . if you are going to fast don’t show how much you suffer for sympathy. . . for the sympathy you get will be the fullness of your reward. . . .but when you fast, when you sacrifice, put oil on your head, wash your face. . . let it not be seen how much you sacrifice, for again what your father sees is more important, and he sees all. . .
The rewards you receive on Earth do not last, they are destroyed by bugs and rats, thieves can steal them. . .they wither and fade in time. . .but treasure in heaven last forever, they cannot be stolen, then never wither. . . if your treasure is there and timless, then your heart will reside there, and your heart will not fail. . .
Watch where you are looking for your eyes light up the body, if they are healthy and rest on healthy things you will be full of their light, but if they focus on darkness, then the light shining within you will also become darkness. . . and how great that darkness would be. . . remember you are to shine your light to the world. . . and that light should be a heavenly light. . .
You have to choose, there are two possibilities and you cannot love both. . .you cannot serve two masters. . . where is your true treasure. . . . Loving one means despising the other. . . You cannot serve God and the wealth of this world. . .
So don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, don’t worry about your body, what you will wear. . . life is more than food, and your body is more than the clothes you wear. . .Look at the birds. . . they soar above, they do not sow or reap or hoard their food in barns, but they are fed, and it is your Father who feeds them. . . don’t you think your Father who made  you and knows your value would do the same or more for you. . . what can any worrying do for you? Does worrying give you more time
Why do you worry about clothes. . . look at flowers that grow in the field they don’t labor, they don’t spin, yet have you ever seen such splendor? If that is how God clothes the grass which is here today and tomorrow is burned, how much more will he not clothe you. . . where is your faith? Do not worry saying what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? Others may run after these things. . . but your heavenly Father knows what you need. . .
Therefore I say, seek first the kingdom of God, his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. . .fix your eyes on heaven and your needs will be given to you. . . do not worry about tomorrow. .. for tomorrow will have worries of its own. . .each day has enough trouble of its own. . .
So do not judge others, for you will too be judged. . . the measure that you use to judge others will be used to judge you. . .
Why do you look at the little bit of dust in another’s eye but ignore the huge plank that is in your own? Do not say to another that you will take the dust out of their eyes, like some hypocrite, instead work on removing the plank of your own eye, get it out, then you can see clearly enough to help the other. . .
Don’t give to dogs what is sacred. . . don’t throw your pearls to pigs. . . for they will trample them under their feet and then come back and tear you to pieces as well. . .
Look, ask and keep asking and it will be given to you, seek and keep seeking and you will find and keep finding, knock and keep knocking and you will find a perpetually open door. . Everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and the one who knocks finds that open door. . .
Remember that your Father in Heaven is Good. . . if your son would ask you for bread you wouldn’t give him a stone. . . if he asks for a fish you wouldn’t give him a snake. . . if you then, though are sinful, evil and lost, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will Your Father in heaven give to those who asks. . .
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, this is the full summary of everything in the Law and the Prophets. . .
Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many follow that path, but the gate that leads to life is small, and the road that leads to life is narrow. . . there are few who will actually find it. . .
And watch out for those who will tell you differently. . . these false prophets, they may come to you in sheep’s clothing, benign and sweet, but they are ferocious devouring wolves. . . by their fruit will  you be able to recognize them, just like people do not pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistes. . . good trees bear good fruit and bad trees cannot do so. . . every tree that does not bear that good fruit, will be cut down and thrown into the fire. . . leave the bad ones alone, for it will be easy to tell the difference in time.
Not everyone who comes to me saying Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will o my Father who is in heaven. . . there will be a day when many will say, Lord, Lord, did we not speak out in your name and drive out demons and perform miracles in your name. . . but I will tell them plainly, “ I never knew you, away from me, your deeds were evil. . .
Hear these words from me, put them into practice, because then you will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. . .the rains came down, the floods came up and the winds beat against the house and it stayed firm. . . it did not fall because it was on the rock. . .
But if  you do not put them into practice in your life. . . you will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. .. those rains came, the streams rose and that house fell with a tremendous crash. . .


Tuesday, January 23, 2018

One Little Word

One Little Word
A sermon delivered by Rev. Peter T. Atkinson
January 21, 2018
at Bethany Presbyterian Church, Zuni, Virginia
Luke 4: 1-13
Genesis 3: 1-6



Let us pray,
Help us to see despite our eyes
Help us to think outside of our minds
Help us to be more than our lives      
For your eyes show the way
            Your mind knows the truth
            Your being is the life.
Amen.


I'm very excited to preach on this passage, Jesus’ and his temptation in the desert, this morning. It is one of my favorites for so many reasons that I will get into in a moment, but the major reason I'm excited, is that I can think of so many times where I have been sitting where you are sitting, and I've heard this passage preached, and I 've heard the tired old image of temptation, the old cookie in the cookie jar that you just weren't allowed to have, but that you wanted anyway. I've heard that image of temptation time and time again, and I always thought it missed the mark of what sin really is so pointedly, and how Jesus’ encounter with temptation is so different. For one thing Jesus is starving, he’s been fasting, so the stakes are much higher, but I’ll get to that in a second. I always like to paint a different picture of this passage because I think there is so much more to it. So here goes.
I like this passage because it deals with an expanded understanding of sin, and it has Satan as a character in it. I've always been intrigued by Satan as an idea, and Sin has also been area of specific interest for me. These two aspects of Christianity have been used by the church, debated by the church, have been the cause of schisms and splits, motivation for persecution and exclusion, used to excuse action and inaction; they have been used to scare people straight, to inspire people to believe, to fear, to give alms, to help their neighbor, to kill, to go to war, to love, to hate, the best and the worst of human history seem to be caught up in these ideas, more so than any other aspect of the Bible. That being the case, I think it is important that we take more away from this passage than simply a feeling like we are children desiring a cookie that we've been told we can't have. I'll start with Satan and then flow secondly into this new expanded idea of sin.
Satan has certainly been a big player in the history of Christianity. But I had mostly thought of Satan as just that, history. I thought to myself, who in the modern world thinks about Satan, other than in cartoons, when the little angel figure is on one shoulder and the little red horned devil figure is on the other? The angel inspires the character to do the right thing, while the devil is there inspiring the bad. Or there was the movie, The Devil's Advocate, where the devil was stealthily running, wouldn't you know it, a law firm. Also comedy movies, like one called Bedazzled, (if you haven't seen it you're not really missing) where the devil grants wishes like a genie, and the character learns that maybe he doesn't want what he thinks he wants, the classic Faust Tale updated. Satan, I thought at least was more like a cartoon character, than something people actually believed in and feared.
Until one of my students, while teaching at Blue Ridge, one of my advisees, a kid that has a lot going for him, talent, leadership, charisma, all of it. He came to me one time and asked if he could talk to me. I said sure. He said, "I need help, I have been having trouble sleeping. I see the devil in my room when I close my eyes, and I'm worried about my own death." I won't go further about what else he said, because even though you don't know him, I certainly want to protect the confidentiality and privacy of this kid, but what amazed me was the devil part of it, that for someone the devil was very real, and I’m one of those people who puts a lot of stock in someone’s own personal experience, he was feeling something and I believed him, and therefore I feel it is quite worthwhile talking about what I told him, all those years ago, this morning, just for the reason that it is possible that some of us share this student's fears somewhere in our subconscious, we don't usually admit or talk about, and by avoiding it we let it control us in some way.
Let's look at the history of Satan for a minute this morning. In the Bible, it is believed by many that he rears his ugly head in the Garden of Eden, that the serpent in the garden is the manifestation of the devil. Let’s take a look at that. . . this is Genesis 3: 1-6
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 

The snake here certainly fits with the character of "Satan's" and his M.O. The word Satan in Hebrew means, accuser. . . and in the Adam and Eve story you could make the claim that the serpent is accusing, and in this case accusing that God is a liar, saying that Adam and Eve won't really die if they eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, but the text doesn't call him Satan, nor devil. The next place you get mention of a Satan character is in Job when the Satan figure questions God and "sets up Job" it doesn't seem like Satan is the embodiment of evil, but rather some kind of questioner, like a critic or pundit vetting God rather than being a real adversary. I was amazed to find that the word Satan is only found in the Old Testament 14 times, and all but 3 of them are directly from that story of Job, and the other three certainly do not seem like the Satan idea that many of us may have and that has prevailed throughout history. Interestingly as well "Devil" is not found in the Old Testament at all, there is no Hebrew word for such a being; mostly because there is no concept of an adversary to God, Monotheism traditionally doesn’t work like that, instead you have One All Powerful God, no equal adversary, no shadowy devil figure. . .The word/character is first used in the temptation passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So why does Satan or the Devil seem to have such a sway on our Christian history if its roots are not necessarily from Old Testament Judaism? Where does the idea of a pseudo-equal challenging adversary come from, if not the Old Testament Jewish tradition? And is it that equal adversary to God, devil concept what we see in Jesus’ temptation scene, the being Jesus confronts here in the desert? Maybe, now I want to get to the text, but before I do, I want to posit an answer to the question of where it comes from. . . and how it entered into Jewish and then Christian conception.
I was a World Literature teacher for a long time, and I have a great interest in comparative religions, not because I have a real hunger for some universal understanding of the other religions but more because I think seeing the common aspects in religions can help us get a real grasp on the distinctions between the religions, helping us then understand better how our own tradition works more deeply. The idea of an evil complement for the goodness of God, is first introduced into the Jewish understanding, during the time of the Persian empire, towards the end of the exile. The main religion of the ancient Persian empire was Zoroastrianism, which is a religion where there are two deities: one good and one evil. They both create the world together and every time the good God "Ahura Mazdah" creates something, the evil God "Ariman" creates something to counter it, so you have this dualistic conflict, leaving a cosmos whose future hangs in the balance of a final victor. Sound familiar. . . But did this idea come into the Jewish consciousness, during the time that the Persian Empire occupied Palestine, probably, and more importantly is that what is going on in this text, Jesus' temptation, embodied in the character called, Devil by the Gospel writer?
Because we have two concepts now of Satan, going on, one the Old Testament Accuser and then the Equal Adversary to God, battling it out until the end of time. I would like to posit that the character of the Devil here in this story in Luke is more of the accuser type Satan of the Old Testament than any equal adversary idea. So finally let’s take a look at it.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.


Look at the devil in this passage, he doesn't really seem to have any power at all, unless Jesus gives it to him. All he can do is tempt, ask, suggest, and misquote scripture. Sounds like the Satan character from Job, and the serpent character from Genesis. There seems to be nothing to fear. Jesus doesn't fear this creature called the devil. Instead he just refuses what the devil offers. And look at what he offers. Food, to a fasting man, power to a humble man, and a doubt test to a faithful man. All of these it seems Jesus easily combats. There is no soul searching from Jesus, no pauses; he simply refutes all of the things that the Devil throws at him, and then the devil leaves. Jesus says, "Away from me Satan," and Satan leaves. End of story. . . If you look throughout the gospels it seems that you see demons fleeing from Jesus in the same way. As if there was no challenge at all, all the way through to and including Revelation you see a devil with no power compared to God.
The devil then for us is nothing to be feared because the devil has no power except that which we give him. None, absolutely none. And if we look then at this passage anew with that understanding, which seems to be a much more biblical understanding, then the idea of sin and temptation take on a new meaning. Look at the three things then that are the so called temptations. 1. Food, hey turn these stones into bread. . . If you don't you may starve. . . fear that God will not provide. . .. .. and 2. complete power and control over all things. 3. Putting God to the test. . . seeking to control God, placing God in a box that says when and where God's power will manifest next.  I would say that these three categories are the big three in terms of what we could call natural human weakness, i.e. human nature.  1. How will I get enough food to survive? 2. Can I get people to do my will? 3. Can I get God to do my will?
Look at the history of humanity. . . people have fought for centuries over food, and other natural resources. Who has what? Who gets what? Is there enough to go around? We are somewhat removed from this because we live in a land of plenty, but look at how quickly our society's ethical and moral structure seems to fall apart when the economy slows. Every one fights for their piece out of fear that we will somehow not have enough, rather than believing that God will provide, we doubt, we murmur, we act just like the Israelites in the Desert, even in the midst of manna falling from heaven, they sang out, let us return to Egypt to our chains, is it better to die in the desert?
Then we have:  How can I get the world to follow me or us? If only these people would get out of our way. If only the democrats would cease to exist! Or the Republicans! We could really get things done for the greater common good of all. If only those evil men on wall street! Or those deplorables! Or those Snowflakes! Or Muslims! Or Iranians! Or that neighbor of mine who won't cut his grass! or the guy in traffic who just cut me off! or my real estate agent! or my sister or brother! or wife! or kids! If I could get some power over them, bend them to my will, or if they could all just cease to exist then I could really get somewhere. I could be in control and this world would be so much better. How many times in history has that type of thinking prevailed. Slavery, war, genocide, tyranny, demagogues, oppression, divorce, abortion, exclusion we've done it all. Hoping if we could just control those others, or get rid of those others, then we can then live as we'd want. Bow down, and all of this can be yours. . .
The next, can I get God to do my will. . . If I were God I would run this world differently. I would not allow for hunger in the first place, I would not allow for war, or injustice, what kind of world are you running here? Maybe there is no God, maybe I should test to see. Let me jump, ok God if you catch me I know you exist. . . That is the metaphor used here in Luke, but our deals with God don't only involve false attempts at suicide, instead they are more small. God, get me through this, then I'll go to church, help me pass this test then I'm yours. In the Middle Ages they did trials by ordeal. Where they would put a suspected criminal's hand in boiling water, if it healed correctly then they would proclaim the man innocent because God would always be on the side of righteousness, right?; of course, and God would show up every time we've got a case to be tried. . . God fits into our court schedule. . . We know that God is on our side when we succeed and are so sure God is against us when we fail, but is it only our successes that build up our spirit, or do our failures also seem to work for the good of us. The truth is that God is with us in both, in all. One of the big differences in Christianity from other religions is instead of my will be done, performing rituals and actions in order to control God, we pray thy will be done. . . at least in theory.
So this is Sin, right? These things. . . Doesn't that expand the concept of sin a little bit. That sins are not just breaking of the Ten Commandments, or putting our hand in the cookie jar, but instead our sins are our doubts (that God won't provide for our very needs or that God doesn't exist), our sins are our claiming God for ourselves, placing God in our own self shaped box, thinking that God is in our Control, and our sins are our desires to control the world, people, and situations around us. . . Does that about sum it up?
These are the temptations that Jesus resisted in the desert. . . these are the temptations that Adam and Eve failed to resist in the garden. . . These are the temptations that we find ourselves challenged by constantly. . . Oh but only if we could blame the serpent, or the devil, or Satan, or each other, but the truth is we all seem to partake, and Satan has no real power. Now come on Pete, wasn’t it poet Charles Baudelaire who said, “The greatest wile of the devil is convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.” Perhaps, but I never said that the devil doesn’t exist, nor evil. There is a ton of evil in the world. . . manifested mostly in the fear of not believing in the benevolence of an all-powerful creator God, who has the whole world in his hand.
Look at with Eve, the serpent lies, God doesn’t mean that, he’s a liar, now what would it mean if a God who speaks things into existence is a liar. . . wouldn’t that put into question everything about existence itself? It would of course. . . and then to steal from Jim Morrison we would simply be thrown into this world, like a dog without a bone, and nothing would matter. So by all means Eat your fill, while you can whenever you can, hoard, save, live by bread alone. . . do what you can to take the world over, get rid of your enemies, wield whatever gods you can manage, money, power, ignorance. . . those you can put to the test. . .
So because I believe the opposite is true, I told my student that there is nothing to be afraid of that God is in control. And he told me, "That's the thing, I seem to have trouble believing in God." So I said back to him, "Then why do you believe in the Devil? If there is no God, do you think that we as human beings would have made it this far, when our very being seems to cry out for destruction by our doubt, fear, and desire to control?"
The Reformers of the church in the 1500's found in the Bible the idea of redemption by faith alone, faith in a God reaching out in love, a God who loves, and a God who provides, a God of relationship. Faith in a God that forgives us our sin. . . but doesn't faith do more than forgive us our sin, it works to eradicate sin, because faith seeks to fulfill our 3 basic wants and desires. . . allowing us to believe that they have already been taken care of and will be, including our fear even of death. Look at Jesus’ answers to Satan, 1. For "Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Believe the word of God when it promises to provide.  2. "Worship the Lord, your God, and serve him only." For God is worthy to be praised, nothing else is on level with God. 3.  "Do not put the Lord Your God to the test." Instead love God with all your heart, mind, and the fullness of your being.. . . Think about it this way Faith is the key to salvation, but then include with that the Greatest Commandment, to Love God, not control God, and to Love our Neighbors not control them. Faith, love and love, gives us hope, even in the desert, and allows us to be free in perfect relationship with God rather than returning to be slaves in Egypt, or our fear, or some other manifestation of perceived evil that has power over us, that we don't willingly give it ourselves.
We sang A Mighty Fortress is Our God. . . look at the third verse. . .
And tho this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thru us.
The prince of darkness grim --
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure --
One little word shall fell him.

One Little word shall fell him, and the devil left. . . Amen