LUKE 4:1-13

4:1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness

2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,

6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”

8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

10 for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’

11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Temptation is something that we all have to deal with from time to time. That’s because we all have our weaknesses and sometimes it’s a constant battle.  You keep saying to yourself,  “I’m not going to do it.  I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to gossip with my friends when we sit down to play bridge this week.”   “I’m not going to watch the Home Shopping Channel and buy all that stuff that I don’t really need.”  I’m not going to listen to my friends at school and get drunk this weekend. I’m not going to loose my temper and yell at my kids anymore.”  I’m not going to eat that entire 1 lb. bag of M&M’s.”

As most of you know that’s my weakness.  I’m a chocoholic and to paraphrase the humorist Will Rogers, “I never met a piece of chocolate I didn’t like.”

Chocolate can be very tempting and my experience over the years tells me that will power or won’t power just doesn’t work. That’s because those sneaky sinister M&M will always be there waiting to pounce on you in a moment of weakness.  As someone once said, “Opportunity may knock only once but temptation keeps banging on the door forever.”

That’s why I like the story about the Toad who baked a big batch of cookies.  As soon as the cookies came out of the oven Toad brought them over to Frog’s house. 

Frog ate one of the cookies.  “That’s the best cookie I’ve ever eaten!” Frog said.

So, Frog and Toad ate lots of cookies together. 

“Finally Frog said, “You know, we should stop eating all these cookies.   If we don’t we’re going to get sick.”  

“You’re right,” Toad said.   “Let’s eat one last cookie and then we’ll stop.” 

So Frog and Toad ate one last cookie and then another and another. 

“We really must stop eating these cookies!” Toad said.  

“Yes,” Frog replied, “What we need is willpower.”

“What’s willpower?” Toad asked.

“Will power is trying hard not to do something you really want to do,” Frog said.

"You mean like trying hard not to eat all these cookies?"

"That’s right," Frog said.

So, Frog put the cookies in a box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can open the box," Toad said.

"That’s true," Frog replied.

So, Frog took some string and tied it around the box. "There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can cut the string and open the box." Toad said.

"That’s true," Frog replied. 

So Frog went and got a ladder and put the box up on a high shelf.

"There," he said. "Now we will not eat any more cookies."

"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box," Toad said.

"That’s true," Frog replied.

So, Frog climbed the ladder and took the box down from the shelf. He cut the string and opened the box.  He then took the box outside and shouted, "Hey, birds! Come and have some cookies!"  Immediately birds came from everywhere.  They picked up all the cookies in their beaks and flew away.

"Now we have no more cookies to eat," Toad said sadly.

"That’s true," Frog replied, "but we have lots and lots of willpower."

"That’s good," Toad said, “You hold on to that willpower. I’m going home now to bake a cake." 

Temptation is something that we all have to deal with from time to time and all the will power or won’t power in the world isn’t the answer.   That’s because the temptation will always be there waiting for a moment of weakness and after you give into the temptation you know what happens next.  You end up feeling guilty and angry because you were weak.  So what’s a sincere well intentioned disciple of Jesus Christ supposed to do? Is the situation hopeless?  Absolutely not.   There is a better way of dealing with temptation and that better way is waiting for you out there in the wilderness.  You see Jesus also had his temptations but he was able to conquer them while he was out there in the wilderness.  

The first temptation was to turn stones into bread.  The second temptation was throw himself off the pinnacle of the Temple and the third temptation was to bow down and worship the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world.  Out there in the wilderness Jesus was tempted to use his God given gifts for power, prestige and personal gain.  However, that’s not the kind of Savior God wanted him to be.

Fortunately, Jesus was able to conquer each and every one of those temptations and the question is how did he do it?  The answer isn’t all that complicated.  He did it with the power of love.  It wasn’t just an ordinary every day kind of love though.  It was the love that comes from above.  You can see that by looking at what happened right before Jesus went out into the wilderness.  Do you remember what happened right before Jesus went out into the wilderness?  

He went to the Jordan River and was baptized by John the Baptist. Here’s an easier question for you.  Do you remember what happened when Jesus came up out of the water?   In the verse right before the story of the temptations begins Luke says that “when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying…a voice came from heaven (saying), ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”

Now that’s important.  It’s very important.  It’s very important because it means that Jesus went into the wilderness knowing that God loved him and it was that love from above that gave him the strength to say “no” to all those temptations.  Jesus knew that he didn’t need all that power, prestige and personal gain to feel good about himself! 

That’s what you need when temptation comes knocking on your door.  You need the love that comes from above.  When you open yourself up to the love that comes from above there’s no room in your life for temptation.  When your heart is full of the love the comes from above you know you’re a good person and there’s no room for temptation.  When your mind is full of the love that comes from above you know that you’re a good person and there’s no room for temptation. 

So instead of giving in to the temptations you’re able to say to yourself, “God loves me so I don’t need to try and buy my way to happiness.   God loves me.  So I don’t need that bag of M&M’s to chase away the emptiness that I’m feeling in my heart.  God loves me.  So, I don’t any juicy gossip that makes me look good by making everyone else look bad.  God loves me.  So, I don’t need a drink or a cigarette or drugs to chase away my feelings of failure.  And I don’t need to get lost in all kinds of meaningless sex because God loves me and that’s all that I need to be able to love myself.”

So, the next time temptation starts banging on your door go to that place of unconditional love.   Bow your head and let the love from above flood your heart and mind with the assurance that you are precious in God’s sight.  Then pick up the phone and talk to someone you love.  Or stand at the top of the Common and watch the children frolicking in the snow.  

There’s a story about a professor who challenged his students one day.  He showed them an empty beaker and asked them a question.  “What’s the best way to get all of the air out of this beaker?”  The students went to work and eventually decided to create a vacuum and suck all the air out of the beaker.  The professor nodded his head and agreed that their idea would work.  “However,” the professor said, “that’s not the best way to get all the air out of the beaker.”  With that he took a pitcher of water and poured it into the beaker.  “There,” he said.  “Now all the air is out of the beaker.”

It works the same way when it comes to temptation.  When you fill your heart and mind with the love from above it doesn’t leave any room for temptation.   Try it and see if it works for you.  You may find that it’s a tempting solution for temptation.  Amen.

Dr. Richard A. Hughes

February 17, 2013