Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4: 1-11
First Lesson: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Challenges:
Talk about a selection of scripture that carries a tremendous amount of weight. Talk about ancient words that still have a pull on the human pysche. Talk about a story that just about "everyone" knows (sortof...kindof...even if they get the details wrong). It's always a challenge to talk about scripture that people know (or think they know). There are too many challenges to talk about here. But how about this one: anytime someone tells me "You can do anything except fill in the blank here what do I immediately want to do (or am at least curious about)? Of course that thing. Someone might ask, "What was God thinking?"
Opportunities:
Rob Bell talks about this in his book Velvet Elvis in a way that is really helpful (especially in light of the Bill Nye/Ken Ham science/creation debate). He says "...Is the greatest truth about Adam and Eve and the fruit that it happened, or that it happens? This story, one of the first in the Bible, is true for us because it is our story. We have all taken the fruit. We have all crossed boundaries. We have all made decisions to do things our way and then looked back and said to ourselves, What was I thinking? The fruit looked so great to Adam and Eve for those brief moments, but the consequences were with them for the rest of their lives. Their story is our story. We see ourselves in them. The story is true because it happened and because it happens. It is an accurate description of how life is. The reason the stories in the Bible have resonated with so many people over the years is that they have seen themselves in these stories." (Velvet Elvis 58-59)
The Good News:
Two things: this story ends before we get some good news. Later on God will clothe Adam and Eve and continue to be with them. Much, much later than that God will send God's Son Jesus and take care of sin once and for all. You have to go beyond these actual verses to get good news, but it's there...thanks be to God (literally).
Psalm: Psalm 32
Challenges:
Apparently the author of this psalm hasn't read Luther's Bondage of the Will. What was he thinking being born a few thousand years too early? Come on! It's like this person has an actual choice to turn back to God and acknowledge their sin. Hmmmm....
Opportunities:
Again and again I hear people talk about wanting sermons to be relevant to their lives. They'll get no argument from me. This is an AMAZING psalm if you want to talk about relevance. How often do we waste away inside when we are holding a transgression within us and are unwilling to admit our imperfections? How stressful and depressing and scary is our life when we feel like we can't mess up one little bit? How amazing is it when we can take that messy burden we are holding and give it over to God and then receive forgiveness and instruction? If you're preaching on the Gospel (where Jesus is victorious over temptation) you can turn to this passage so people know that they don't have to be perfect like Jesus. This is a practical thing.
The Good News:
See opportunities.
Second Lesson: Romans 5:12-19
Challenges:
I see what you are doing here RCL. I'm picking up what you're putting down. Genesis 2 and 3 for the first lesson and then Matthew 4 for the Gospel and this lesson from Romans to tie the two together. Touche! At the same time, 'Original Sin' doesn't have the same weight that it might have in years gone by. This lesson has been tough for many people, especially people who hold to the idea that the Bible is the literal, infallible Word of God. (I go with the "inspired" Word of God approach myself). If there really wasn't just ONE Adam, then how does Paul's point work with the ONE Jesus bringing the free gift of grace? I don't want to dismiss this out of hand in a snarky way, of course. It's worth thinking about.
Opportunities:
I talk about what Rob Bell says about the Adam/Eve/Fruit story above. Check it out in the "opportunties" section. Maybe we all can insert our names (male and female) where it says "Adam." Because his story is our story. Maybe we don't have to think about this, as Rob Bell says, as something that HAPPENED, but something that is HAPPENING in our lives.
The Good News:
"But the free gift is not like the trespass..." The free gift of grace abounds for the many. If we start playing a game where we weigh our good deeds versus our bad deeds a few different things will happen: we'll either think we're winning the game and decieve ourselves, we'll feel like we're always losing the game (which, while accurate, won't help our lives be transformed alone) or we'll just decide to stop playing and live selfishly. Instead, we can observe the game and our inability to win and then look to Christ and the free gift of grace that comes from him. Then we are free from deception, depression and apathy. Christ makes us free.
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
Challenges:
This is a pretty well known story as they go. It's certainly captured our collective mind. Dave Matthews wrote a song about this exchange between Jesus and the tempter ("Save Me") where he changed the story drastically. He has the Devil asking Jesus for help and Jesus not really getting it. (I really love Dave Matthews and his music, but I didn't love the thrust of the song). There's also the pesky issue of whether Jesus' resistance to temptation is something we should emulate or something that we know that we can't and are just glad that Jesus can. I think it's both.
Opportunities:
Okay, so I'm never going to measure up to Jesus' track record against temptation. If I could that whole dying-on-the-cross thing would be a waste of time. At the same time, this is a great time to talk about how we face temptation. To just say "Well, Jesus does it for us and aren't we glad he does?" And leave it at that is okay, but will leave people a little less than excited. It could also lead people to think, hey it doesn't really matter what I do, it's all cool. They might not think this consciously, but these sorts of thoughts have a way of boring into our subconscious and are then lived out in our lives.
So, how do you resist temptation? And what do you do when (not if) you fail? The answer to the second question is found in Psalm 32. Go read that one again, it's good! How to resist? I believe we can take a page from Jesus' book (literally!) by turning to scripture. If we can have a few verses stored away in our minds (or even written on scraps of paper in our wallets or purses) they can be very helpful.
At the same time, it's important to remember that the tempter knows and uses scripture too. And let's face it, the Tempter knows it better than us. Just a thought. Also, did you notice how the Tempter waits until Jesus is at his weakest...famished from a lack of food? It can happen to us. It's often tempting (interesting) to have some sort of sympathy for the Devil. There's the Dave Matthew example mentioned above, and of course the Rolling Stones song, but it's nothing new. Even John Milton in Paradise Lost seemed to have a secret respect or admiration for Satan. And besides, Americans love an underdog. This is scary isn't it? How can we show the Tempter for who he really is? Someone selfish who will throw anyone else under the bus if it helps him out, because "that's just the way the world works."
And another thing: the great take-away for me is the fact that the Tempter is trying to get Jesus to use his power, privilege and advantage for his own selfish gain. This is something we all have to watch out for. Even the most lowly of us have SOMEONE or SOMETHING (even if it's the family pet or a younger brother or sister) who we can take advantage of.
If you are looking for an image to this text: I see this as a verbal and spiritual boxing match or fencing duel between Jesus and the Tempter. You could even call this encounter like it's a boxing match between the two. Perhaps you could even ring a bell to start the rounds.
The Good News:
Jesus passes the test. He is victorious. At the end of this story, his mission has not be derailed. If it had, I'm sure he would have been a good earthly king (at least better than most), but he would have continued on the same old story and there would still be a tremendous gulf between God and humanity. Instead, that gulf has been bridged and the bridge is the One who took all that the Tempter could throw at him and won.
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