WILDERNESS SURVIVAL SKILLS
Rev. Karen Pidcock-Lester
First Presbyterian Church,
Lent I, 2008
Introduction to Matthew
Whenever
we read this text, questions arise about the devil. Scripture has many ways of speaking about the
power of sin and darkness – it refers to principalities, to the Tester,
temptation, Satan, the Evil One, to the devil.
Sometimes scripture suggests this power is within people, sometimes
distinct from people, a separate being.
However we conceive of the powers that oppose God’s rule, we must not
let the discussion of nomenclature distract us from its reality. The powers of sin and evil exist, they are
real, and they get personal, as we shall hear in Matthew 4:1-11.
Let us hear the Word of God.
Matthew 4:1-11.
Later, after this encounter in Jesus’ life, as Jesus walked with his companions along the dusty roads, and sat by the fire cooking dinner, and as they settled down for the night, I imagine that he drew on this encounter as he prepared his disciples for the life of faith:
“Simon, Andrew, Matthew…hey ‘crew’, listen.
In this life, guys, you are going to know hunger,” I imagine his saying.
“You are going to hunger for all kinds of things.
Sometimes you will hunger just for bread. You’ll need something to eat, and you will be so hungry you will do anything to have a good solid meal.
“Sometimes you’ll hunger to be loved. You’ll be far away from home, and you’ll get lonely. You may be surrounded by crowds of people, you may be surrounded by good friends, you may even be married, …and still you may hunger for love.
“Sometimes you will hunger for pleasure, for some fresh delight – for something new, different, better. Life will get dreary and ordinary, your spirit will be gray, and no matter how much you have, you’ll crave something more.
“Sometimes you will hunger for accomplishment, for success in your work. You will work hard and sometimes no one will listen. You will do marvelous things, yet people will walk away. At other times, people will admire you, your names will be on everyone’s lips and crowds will flock to hear you speak, they will praise you…and it will feel good. You will have power, and you will relish it. You will hunger for more.
That is the way it has been since Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, “ he will remind them. “Even when human beings have all they need, they have hungered for something more.
After Jesus’ journey in the wilderness, I imagine his telling his disciples what he had learned in this encounter: “In this life, you will hunger. You will be famished. I know.”
And he will go on to warn them: “When you are hungry, be on your guard! Because when you are hungry, you will be weak. In body, in mind, in spirit.
And when you are weak, you will be in danger.
You will be vulnerable to temptation, susceptible to sin,
and so you will be at risk of forgetting who You are, and who God is.
You will be in danger of not believing God’s promises,
and so you might be lured into trying to satisfy your hunger in the wrong way, with the wrong things, in the wrong places.
You will be in danger of getting off track, forgetting your purpose–
of trading lasting joys for passing fancies, and missing the good stuff, the truly good life God wants to give you…
When you hunger,” I can hear his saying after this encounter in Matthew, “beware.”
The disciples probably got anxious when they heard Jesus speak like this. “Lord, what shall we do? We want to remain faithful. We do not want to give way to temptation, to fail the test.”
“When you hunger,” I can imagine Jesus teaching them, as they walk along the road, “Here’s what you must do. Three R’s. ”
“First, you must recognize what is going on. Recognize your hungers. That is where your weakness lies. That is where the dark powers can grab hold of you. ‘Recognize your hungers…
and recognize that the power of sin is real, and it gets personal. Never underestimate its power.”
The power of sin, as you and I know, is insidious, cunning, pervasive, persuasive .
It presents itself in many guises:
it makes bad choices appear reasonable,
it dresses up and parades around like a virtue,
it beguiles us into distorting God’s will and ways into our own,
it urges us to trust in ourselves,
it sneers at the Word of God, sabotages trust in the promises of God,
or more subtly, it causes us not so much to sneer, but simply to not pay attention
it even twists God’s word to suit its purposes – see verse 6!
Sin is seductive.
No one is immune from its lure.
It has seduced great and wise men and women: kings, queens, liberators, reformers, presidents, rulers, priests, popes, pastors…
Sin gets personal.
A man hungers for financial security. There’s nothing wrong with that. But sales are down, losses are mounting. The pressure grows to cut corners, exchange money under the table. He knows it is wrong, but he has this hunger…sin slinks in;
The man and the woman hunger for love, for intimacy. Nothing wrong with that. But the husband works hard at the office; the wife works hard at home. They have little time together, and neither is at his, her best when they do. But there is a co-worker, attractive and available…he knows it is wrong, but he has this hunger…and sin beckons ‘come…’
She hungers for God. Nothing wrong with that. But she is discouraged at work, discouraged in her relationships, or lack of them. She gets tired of waiting upon the Lord, she gets mad that God has not been answering her prayers. So she stops talking to Him. Stops listening. Stops seeing her church friends. She knows it is wrong to turn away, but she has other hungers too, and God doesn’t seem to be satisfying any of them…and sin rubs its hands together in glee.
Sin gets personal.
It whispers to children, to college students, to mothers at home, to working people, to seniors slowing down.
But it also operates on social and
corporate levels. We have seen the powers
of darkness writ large in whole corporations and societies: Enron,
Sin is blind to status, politics, education and condition.
And it seeps in or seizes us through our hungers.
What do you hunger for?
To accomplish something significant? To be beautiful? To be the best? To be needed? To be praised? Do you hunger for justice? Excitement? health? Happiness for your children?
Nothing wrong with that.
In themselves, these things are not evil.
But beware, and keep close watch on them.
They can become either a means to draw us closer to God,
or they can be the ‘devil’s gateway’ to our lives.
First, we must recognize what we hunger for,
and we must recognize the reality, the tenacity, the depravity, the audacity,
the ingenuity, the universality of temptation’s power.
Second, I can imagine Jesus’ saying to his disciples as they sit beside the fire, “Listen Bartholomew, James, John… you’ve got to Resist. Resist temptation. Stand firm in the face of it. I know that sounds impossible, but you are equipped. You have what you need: you have the Word of God. And you have been made sons and daughters of God! The Spirit of God has been poured out upon you. Let it fill you. Though you must take seriously the power of sin and evil, the power you have been given is greater than the Tempter’s power.
Take that seriously. Never underestimate the power of the Word, and the Spirit of Almighty God.”
Verse 1 says Jesus was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit.” By the power of that Spirit, he withstood temptation when he was most weak and vulnerable.
And the Word of God shielded and guided him in his struggle with the powers of darkness.
When we are weak and tempted to abandon our trust in God,
when we feel ourselves getting off track and going our own way,
Jesus shows us how to withstand the test. We must dig in, anchor ourselves in the Word of God. Read it. Know it. Draw upon it. Wrap yourself in it – and in the community of people who live by it. The Word will protect and sustain and guide us when we stumble into the wilderness.
To be sure, many will say “but the scriptures are confusing, I don’t understand them.” That is true. There is always more to know, more to ponder, they will never be fully understood. That is the wonder and mystery of them.
But know this: the Word of God will not fail us. When we are filled with the Spirit, the Word of God will not lead us astray. It will sustain us.
We cannot ignore the Word because it has been misused, or because our human minds cannot fathom its depths. That must only drive us deeper into it, to surround ourselves with it, so that it will seep into us and shape us and become a part of us. When we are weak and in the wilderness, when we find ourselves tested and tempted, the Word will be a deep well to draw from, an anchor to ground us, a shield to protect and preserve us.
Ben Weir was taken as a hostage by
Hezbollah and held in captivity in
Never underestimate what we are given: the Word of God has power, and the Holy Spirit is mighty. Girded with these, we are able to resist the Tempter and withstand the test.
Recognize, resist…
And third, I can hear Jesus saying to his disciples as they settle down to sleep at night:
“Receive.”
Receive the tender mercies of God. Jesus did.
After a while, the power of darkness withdrew from Jesus, verse 11 tells us… and ‘angels ministered to him.’ Messengers of God fed him, and gave him what he needed to restore him, body and soul. The Lord God satisfied Christ’s hungers.
And this is what God promises to us: “anyone who believes in me will not hunger, anyone who trusts in me will not thirst.”
Angels will minister to us, too. When we find ourselves in some wilderness of body or spirit, God will send messengers to give us what we need – be it bread, or solace, or strength, or opportunity. They will appear in many forms, in friend, in stranger, perhaps even in our enemies or in curious twists of circumstance. When we surrender to him, and serve only him, oh, the tender mercies we will receive! They will astound us.
When Kathleen O’Hara was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, she found herself battling more than a disease. With three major surgeries, and months of treatment after them, it was a time she describes as ‘barren.’ “It was the scariest, hardest, most difficult time in my life,” she says. “But it was also the time in my life when I felt most loved and cared for. People gave me time, meals, cards, rides, encouragement, they gave me strength.”
Angels ministered to her.
Messengers of the Lord brought her tender mercies.
She received them, and they sustained her, restored her, body and soul.
If you are in a time of testing, a barren time in your life,
if you know within yourself a deep hunger for something…
recognize the condition you are in,
resist the pull and snare of sin, the temptation to satisfy your hunger in the wrong ways, the wrong places…
and look around: angels stand near to minister to you.
Let yourself receive the tender mercies of God.
Jesus says, “Anyone who believes in me will never hunger,
Anyone who trusts in me will never thirst.”
And Jesus knows what he is talking about.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.