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.
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. . .
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
3 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’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the
trees in the garden,3 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.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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.
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,2 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.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell
this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world.6 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.7 If you
worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 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
