“Aren’t There Always Opportune Times?”

Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.

Scripture Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Luke 4:1-13

Several people from the congregation came on Tuesday to burn last year’s dried up palm fronds to make ashes for Wednesday’s service. Just before the service, several people mixed oil in with the ashes to prepare for marking the sign of the cross. Last year, as a Covid precaution, we didn’t have ashes at all. This year we decided to place them on the back of the hand in the Ash Wednesday service, allowing us to keep good distance while receiving them. For many people, receiving the ash sign of the cross is the moment Lent begins. For those who didn’t attend, perhaps opening the Lenten devotional marked the beginning, or perhaps today’s service. In a moment, we’ll look at Jesus, led into the wilderness by the Spirit, fasting for 40 days, and still able to defeat the devil. His spiritual strength stands in contrast to what we experience as our own weakness often in the face of evil. We are more like the humans in the story of Eve and Adam snacking in the garden than we are like Jesus fasting in the wilderness, who answers every challenge and is able to hold off every attack. But scripture is not given to us to crush us with our inadequacies, but to encourage and strengthen us in our faith. So take heart and listen for the word of God while reading Luke 4:1-13.

Quite a final moment: Jesus quotes a third passage of scripture and the devil slinks off, saying “Rats! Foiled again.” Artists through the centuries have painted the devil in various ways: crimson complexioned, with horns and tail; or someone who looks just like us; or the gorgeous neighbor with the “come and get it” eyes. When Luke shows the devil leaving Jesus alone at last, we are pleased Jesus successfully passed all temptations and can finally get something to eat, but we are haunted by the final promise. The devil leaves, until the next opportune time. Not quite the final triumph hearers might want.

We know everyone gets tempted. Enticements are everywhere. People are naturally drawn to the attractions of the world. Some new shiny thing dangles in front of them. They can’t help but want it. No one is immune from temptation, not even Jesus. Of course, the only time the devil can even hope to lure Jesus into some trickery is when he’s been fasting for a month. The devil probably thinks Jesus would be delirious with hunger, all his defenses down. It’s quite a temptation, to pop bread into existence when he’s starving to death. Even Jesus is tempted.

Now of course, most people in the U.S. don’t actually believe in some physical Mr. Devil. So how are Christians to interpret biblical references to a devil when most of them really don’t believe in a sentient evil being? Well there is actually no need to believe in a physical evil being to make sense of this story. After all, seductive attractions are all around. Temptations are ever-present within humans, to sell-out to their lust for possessions, privilege, and prestige. No one must believe in a devil out there someplace. Temptations are whispering inside the ear all the time. After all, who doesn’t like it when they have enough money or power they can pretty much get whatever they want? Society teaches when a person’s hard work pays off with a salary bonus, it’s okay to give in to the temptation to buy more luxurious stuff. Anyone might hear a tempter whispering, “You deserve it.” 

A recent scholar investigates why North Americans fail to control their own income by asking people to make a correlation between their earliest memories of money and how they treat money as adults. One man admits, as a small child he stole money from his parents to buy things he could not afford on his allowance. In adulthood, he continues to purchase things on credit, living beyond his means, stealing from his own future income. His weakness as a child continues in adulthood. Which sounds like so many people, unable to deny the temptation to have what they cannot afford. Temptations are everywhere. 

So we strengthen our spirituality. Lent is a good time to exercise our anti-temptation muscles; to work on spiritual fitness. For centuries people have followed Jesus’ example of the 40 days in the wilderness by observing 40 days of Lent, during which time they fast, pray, or take on some additional discipline, so we can have the strength to send evil packing when temptations come prowling. We remember, when Jesus was tempted to take care of his own needs, his solution was to remember that he was not put here to be led around by his own desires. We may assume that his long-standing habit of prayer and meditating on scripture assisted him in remaining obedient to the purposes of God. His sustenance came not from creating food, but from obedience to God. 

Curiously, the temptation to create bread in the wilderness is not evil in itself. After all, Jesus provided bread in a different lonely place, and fed thousands of people. Remember? That miraculous feeding was a good thing, blessed by God. So, the evil of the temptation is more than a call to make bread. It’s that the voice is also saying: “If you are God’s son, do whatever you want.” Jesus was strong enough to focus on being who God had called him to be. He knew it's obedience, not bread, that sustains. Jesus may appear weak, but when he says “no,” all hell is defeated.

Those are the kinds of muscles we all want, but they don’t come by wishing. Spiritual power comes from our willingness to exercise, putting some energy into a Lenten discipline for instance. We know the advice: For exercise equipment to make a difference, we have to use it. So with faith. To develop a deeper spirituality, we must be willing to do something different. We can’t expect to grow closer to God by doing what we’ve always done. Growth doesn’t come by staying the same. Any Lenten discipline we adopt, opens the way for our spiritual lives to get stronger. The deeper spirituality we all want takes work, so we work our spiritual muscles. Exercising strengthens our spirituality.

We work those spiritual muscles because opportune times keep coming. Temptations don’t just try once and slink away forever. Temptations slink away until another opportune time arrives. And opportune times always come. Luke’s Gospel reports that later, during the Passover, satan enters Judas Iscariot, thus setting in motion the betrayal, the arrest, and the crucifixion. Judas wasn’t powered up to refuse temptations, so the opportunity arose. 

Sometimes what scripture calls “temptation” does not indicate an enticement to do something wrong – like tucking a piece of jewelry in our pocket when the clerk looks away. We saw already that Jesus’ temptation to create bread wasn’t wrong in itself. Notice that one of Jesus’ other temptations is to do something very good. If Jesus were set up as ruler of the world, wouldn’t that be a good thing? He could end unsafe working conditions, make sure every child went to school, he could usher in justice. How is this bad? Well, it’s bad, because the devil doesn’t deserve the worship required as payment. And besides, everything belongs to God already, not the devil.

But evil will constantly test the walls of our faith, trying to find a weakness (an opportune time or place) to entice us to do what may seem like a good thing, for the wrong reason or through the wrong channels. Like if some corporation sent St. Andrew $125,000 to support our homeless initiative, which we don’t have. We’d have a lot of money to do good things, even start a homeless initiative, but the money would have been sent to us in error. So it would be stealing. Tempting, but sinful. 

Sometimes temptations are clearly evil; other times they seem like they may be a good idea. That is how they keep searching for weaknesses. Those opportunities for temptations are common, often hitting when we are tired, disheartened, or not quite sure what the right thing is. Suddenly some scheme seems a good way to make ends meet. Like when a church struggling to make budget is tempted to cut their mission giving, instead of deciding together to raise their air conditioning to 77 degrees all summer to cut the utility bill. Evil is lurking, waiting for a weakness, because an opportune time always comes.

So, there is the answer to our first Lenten question for Jesus, aren’t there always opportune times for temptations?  Absolutely. Evil will always seek opportune times. Today we can be tempted about something, and we can defeat it. Then it raises its ugly head (or it’s beautiful tempting head) tomorrow, or the next time we are feeling weak. So, let’s spend Lent exercising our spiritual muscles, strengthening our spiritual armor, bulking up our ability to immerse those temptations in the Word of God, and readying ourselves to defeat evil through the power of God’s Holy Spirit.