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February 10, 2008
The Rev. John Auer
Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Romans 5:18-19, Matthew 4:1-11
“Speak of the Devil: What Tree Would Jesus
Eat From?”
Usually when I “speak of the devil” it is to say I am trying to keep just a step
ahead! I find I am slowing down in my old age. I get caught by the devil
more times than not. Anyone else know about that? As we follow Jesus
through Lent we may find we are in very good company! We know the saying,
“the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Temptations approach us much
more at points of strength, especially of righteousness, than at points of weakness.
It may even be that the closer we draw to God, the closer temptation draws to us!
As pastor Gordon Cosby puts it, “The higher the intention, the more demonic the
power!”
Anyone else remember the seventies? When “What Would Jesus Do?” questions,
symbols and actions became very popular again. So-called “Jesus People”
not only wore bracelets and bumper stickers but also formed communes and strong
commitments to acting on Jesus in public. Several different versions of “Wanted
Posters” for Jesus circulated to dramatize how fully and freely Jesus explored the
limits to what human witness and service might accomplish for God’s new creation.
Jesus “pushed the envelope,” as we say. He even committed civil and ecclesial
disobedience – for as the devil knows, you cannot obey the true power of God without
disobeying many other pretenders to power!
I shared a couple of “Wanted Posters” from the seventies on Ash Wednesday – to flesh
out our seasonal theme of “Follow the Leader: What Would Jesus Do?” Here’s
a more contemporary version --
Advocates peace. Preaches love of enemies (may love terrorists).
Vandalism of currency-changing equipment. Willingness to martyr himself for
his cause. Failure to pay taxes for more than 2000 years.
Jesus Christ is wanted in connection with numerous un-American activities including
inspiring anti-war rallies. Numerous peace-mongers have admitted they admire
the teachings of Mr. Christ. Christ allegedly said, “Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.” Christ was reportedly put to
death more than 2000 years ago. However, his body disappeared and his followers
believe he is still alive. Christ enjoys a large cult-like following in many
countries. He promises eternal life to all who follow him. Most followers
are admitted sinners, and some say they would lay down their lives for Christ.
How do we go “beyond theology” as our adult study asks this season? How do
we make faith not only a “head trip?” Remembering Jesus comes to take away
our sins – not our minds! But also make faith a heart and hands and
life-itself trip? For there is no faith without works. Our belief is
known by the fruits we bear. Jesus answers such questions as what we must
“do to inherit eternal life” with such stories of costly action as a Samaritan interrupting
his life completely to rescue a beaten and bloodied one on the side of a dangerous
road. We follow Jesus this season through a series of such dramatic encounters
– today with the devil, next week with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, then the Samaritan
woman at the well, a man blind from birth, Lazarus who is dead -- finally with Jerusalem
itself, all the powers and principalities. Each of these challenges Jesus
to enlarge and expand the scope of his life and work – as established in his baptism
and as tested in these forty days following directly from his baptism.
In one moment Jesus sees the Spirit and hears the voice directly announcing his
identity and his vocation -- the Servant King -- Child of God with whom God is so
pleased – commissioned to witness to God – to life and love, to justice and peace
– to the ends of the earth. In the next moment the very same Spirit
leads him to the middle of nowhere – for his identity and his vocation to be severely
tempted by the devil! Is there some collusion here between God and devil?
Satan and Spirit?
The temptations amount to attempts to conflict Jesus and confuse him, to co-opt
Jesus and to constrain him by some other, more worldly, more conventional and predictable
kind of power than that which comes from God. The difference may be summarized
as worldly “power over” and godly “power with.” Are Jesus’ identity and vocation
only for promoting himself? For building his own power – even to accomplish
what may well be noble and laudable goals – but to accomplish them by means of
dominating? Of threatening? Of lording himself over others? Of
putting himself in place of judgment over not justice with others?
Jesus meeting the devil in the wilderness becomes, according to Paul, a chance for
a new beginning, even a new creation – in the sense that Jesus offers what amounts
to a whole new “take” on being human. In this Peterson version, Paul calls
this a chance to say NO to the trouble, even the death we’re in -- and a chance
to say YES to God, yes to life itself! Does our “trouble” go all the way back
to the garden? To Eve and Adam meeting the serpent? Is the serpent an
early “devil” or “Satan” figure? I remember at least in the film “The Last
Temptation of Christ” that is true. If so, what is this “trouble” exactly?
In what sense are the prophets and is Jesus “troublemakers” as well?
Our Words for Meditation this morning, by Rabbi Adam Morris, suggest “Satan” in
Jewish tradition is more of a “devil’s advocate” than a full-fledged devil.
Satan raises the questions nobody else will ask. Satan pushes us to think
or do things out of our “comfort zones.” Satan invites us to decide things
more from “the bottom up” than from “the top down.” After all, look where
the serpent dwells! In the “grassroots!” Maybe as the voice of those
we “look down on?”! Morris goes on to call Satan “a troublemaker par excellence
who stirs things up.” His intent is not “pure evil” so much as “that energy
and exuberance of the rebellious spirit!”
Satan may offer a little more “human” perspective to a “God’s eye” view of it all.
There always is a creative tension between the church starting with “theory,” with
theology, with God’s word – and starting with “practice,” with ethics, with human
experience. That’s why in “base communities” where the poor and even illiterate
read and reflect on scripture, they say theology is always the second step!
They start with what’s happening in their everyday lives – then invite scripture
to bring a new light, a new word about that. Could that part of the work of
the devil?! To reveal to us that we have to be the experts on our experience?
Our identity and vocation? On who we are and how we are called to “play out”
who we are?
That surely is what Jesus faces in these temptations and others. Even though
the church since then has done pretty well at “demonizing” the devil, if we will
– at “dualizing” the ways we see good and evil, right and wrong, saved and damned,
who’s in and who’s out. Even so there is something useful about Jesus confronting
these questions of how to use his “godly” powers of identity and
vocation in a very real world where all kinds of other expectations will be projected
upon him – all kinds of others will try to ride him to their own victories.
I confess in these years when I’ve lost a few steps on the devil, I find myself
less certain and clear that I have all the “right answers” and that the devil has
all the “wrong” ones. Of course, I am tempted to personify some fully resolved
“evil” or even “trouble” in somebody else. I want some cheap and easy way
of dismissing them as irredeemably past every point of salvation. It helps
me to depersonalize, dehumanize my relation to them. I may not have to care
any more what happens to them. But what if what I see in “them” is what I
do NOT want to see in myself?
What if I am projecting onto them the unresolved “evil” remaining in me? I
end up portraying everything, everybody in mutually exclusive terms. It is
all “either/or,” “good or evil,” “white or black,” “for or against,” “winner or
loser,” “freedom-lover or terrorist.” The older I get the more I confess I
feel as if I am part of everyone else -- and as if everyone else is a part of me.
Maybe it is the devil in me who reminds me, We are all in this struggle called living
-- together!
Just asking the question “What Would Jesus Do?” hints at the struggle of Jesus’
own adult life to sort out this trust in God as his “Father,” his “Abba” or “Daddy.”
How is this trust different, and challenging to, our trust in anything, anyone else?
Jesus is forever asking, whether the devil prompts him or not – What of this situation,
and of me, is life-loving? What of this is death-dealing? What of this,
and of me, is liberating? What is dominating? What is judgment-making?
What is justice-making? I cannot speak for Jesus. But as for me, I find
I need every chance I can get to speak to this devil in me! The older I get,
the more I find I have to learn, to evolve, to change, to grow.
It’s much like I had to learn about being a person with systemic disease, with rheumatoid
arthritis. I could not deny or defy it. I could not pretend it was not
there or drive it from my system. I had to learn to live with it, co-exist
with it, give it its time and space, talk with it, play with it, make of it the
best friend I could. Which I understand is the way Jesus asks us to deal with
all of our “enemies.” We all know that dealing with enemies requires fight,
flight – or friendship! How about this encounter with the devil as courage
to talk with our “adversaries?”!
Lent is all about Jesus taking humanity “to the next level,” as we like to say.
Ultimately, it is Jesus proving that dying is stronger than killing – life is stronger
than death, liberation is stronger than domination, and love is stronger than fear.
There is nothing Jesus will not do for us and with us – except kill. Lent
is all about our discipleship: making this “next level” of humanity our own – partly
at least by asking – about everything! -- what Jesus would do – what Jesus would
see, what Jesus would say – in our own lives as persons and as congregation.
It is not easy to be so freely and fully human. It is not easy to be so “open-eyed,”
as it says here of Adam and Eve – who immediately get so shameful and so embarrassed
– so aware of their own shortcomings and own inadequacies – even the “fallenness”
of their lives. I say that as one who respects the art of falling! I
do it as well as anyone. It is not easy being open-eyed, open-eared, open-minded,
open-hearted, open-doored, open-ordered (think ordination!) -- even open-bordered
(yes, think immigration!). Wisdom is no quick fix provided by eating from
the tree of knowledge. There is no way around the trees of life, of real experience
and insight, action and reflection. And trees of life, says the Book of Revelation,
are meant for the healing of all the nations!
Whether we are dealing with our own lives and relations, or whether we are dealing
with other peoples and nations -- instead of living with the serpent’s questions,
we want answers! We want what one commentator calls “a cheap imitation of
omniscience” rather than our own humanness. We want to rule life by some fixed
and static authority – rather than to receive life as God’s gift to us to renew
everyday – making so much of it up as we go along. Which means, we want “Egypt,”
or “Eden,” at least – not the wilderness! Not temptation! We want to
be in the place of judging others -- not the place of doing justice ourselves.
Jesus in the wilderness is tempted with such “quick fixes” as well. I got
the insight from our daughter growing up saying she was “fitting” to do this or
that – meaning, she was “fixing” to do this or that. I thought, she is right!
Life is more about “fitting” than “fixing!” Fixing implies we have all the
answers, once and forever – so we try our own “extreme makeover” on everyone else
– fixing them into our image. Fitting implies it’s about becoming our own
part of the whole.
The alternative is to move from judgment – my answers over others – to justice –
our answers together – in right relationship. But in order to do that, I have
to get to know you and accept you and respect you for who you are – for all that
you “bring to the table.” We have to learn to engage one another in such a
way that
through all kinds of questioning, debating, negotiating, compromising – we learn
to “fit” not to “fix” one another. The genius of evolution has been called
“survival of the fittest” – which cannot mean the biggest and baddest – think of
the dinosaurs! – but “the fitting-est,” those who learn somehow to get along.
Jesus resists the quick fix to make stones into bread. Instead Jesus invites
us to join him in becoming as bread for others -- even “Bread for the World” – as
per our bulletin insert. Jesus resists the quick fix to make God prove God’s
self to him, or to us. Instead Jesus invites us to join him in becoming the
“proof” of God ourselves –proving not so much to be swift or successful, as faithful
to the end. Jesus resists the quick fix to be the world’s only superpower,
served by every realm and resource on earth. Instead Jesus invites us to join
him in becoming as the servants to all – loving and bringing out the best in each
one.
Poet Scott Cairns writes of “The Entrance of Sin” in the book Recovered Body
–
“For sin had made its entrance long before the serpent spoke, long before the woman
and the man had set their teeth to the pale, stringy flesh, which was, it turns
out, also quite without flavor. Rather, sin had come in the midst of an evening
stroll, when the woman had reached out to take the man’s hand and he withheld it.
. . .” Let us hold on – to each other, ourselves, and all the world!
Amen.
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