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Matthew 4: 1-11, NT page 3 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil left him and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Sermon Today we have something to celebrate. Today a group of fine people have re-affirmed their faith and joined the church as new members. They have heard the gospel here, and we should be proud to be a congregation that men and women want to be a part of. However, we are also a congregation that takes some getting used to, so every time there is a group of people interested in joining the church as members, the Membership Committee organizes a First Presbyterian Church orientation class. The class lasts for 5 Sundays, and in this class new members learn our strong history, both as a church, from our county historian Bob Duncan, and as a denomination. They also learn small things, like where the bathrooms are located, and, in my mind most importantly – in this class new members learn why it is that we do things the way that we do by learning the differences between the Presbyterian Church and the Baptist, Roman Catholic, or Church of Christ. There are both similarities and differences, but the differences tend to be the most interesting. People want to know why infants are baptized here, why there are no alter calls, and why the version of the Apostles’ Creed or the Lord’s Prayer that we use has different words than the one they grew up praying. Do we really believe that Jesus descended into hell as it says in the Apostles’ Creed and why would we need to ask God not to lead us into temptation as we do in the Lord’s Prayer? History tells us that when the Apostles’ Creed was written, the point of declaring that “Jesus descended into hell” served to state clearly that he died and did not simply seem to be dead as Christianity’s critics claimed. But this line affirms more than that – it speaks of the lengths that Christ is willing to go to ensure that all might see and believe the Good News. But as for the Lord’s Prayer and the request: “lead us not into temptation;” as for you who wonder why God would even think about leading you into temptation much less need a prayer to convince God not to, you need only consider the scripture lesson we have just read from the Gospel of Matthew to see that Jesus was led “by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” We know then that it has happened before, so we should pray every Sunday that we won’t be led by the Spirit into the wilderness alone to be tempted by the devil, or, maybe you should pray that you won’t be led by the Spirit into Ross Dress for Less where the deals are too good to walk away from, and I should pray that I won’t be led into the car lot at Lucas Chevrolet or Sloan Ford because there is something about a nice new car that is very difficult walk away from. You can be led into temptation because temptation can be more difficult to face depending on where you are. For Jesus it was the desert, for a woman I know and love and am married to it is Ross Dress for Less, and for me it is the car dealership. But do you know where your place is? For some people it’s easy enough. As one of our adult Sunday School teachers, Greg Martin, is fond of saying, “if you stand outside of a barbershop long enough, sooner or later you’ll end up with a haircut.” Those who are trying to give up sweets for Lent shouldn’t make it too easy to walk by Pie Sensations as every time you walk past it you test your will power and it’s hard to tell when the moment of weakness is coming - when you’ll give up saying “no” to the voice telling you that there’s no harm in just looking at the menu, which inevitably leads to “just one bite” and next thing you know an entire pie has disappeared. Recovering alcoholics are taught to stay away from bars, people who are trying to lose weight are told to change their daily commute so that they don’t even drive past McDonalds, and parents are wise to block certain channels on the television and certain websites on the internet not because they don’t trust their kids but because it is easier to do what is right if a parent or someone else has made it difficult to do what is wrong. If you know what tempts you, if you know where your weak spot is, if you are willing to admit to yourself what for you is so hard to say “no” to, that sooner or later you are going to say “yes” to, then it is possible to be ready when temptation comes. But if you don’t know what tempts you, if you are afraid to say it out loud, or you are caught up in denial and refuse to admit to yourself or anyone else that you so much as have a problem – then you are playing right into the devils hands. He already knows, and he’s hoping that you don’t. He knew that Christ had not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights, and so he creeps in calling on him to produce bread from stones. He knew that Christ was beginning to realize that he must face death while having the power to save his life, so the devil took him to “the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” But Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And the devil knew that Christ was driven to change the world, to save us all from destruction, so the devil took him to “a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” He was ready. Even in the wilderness, even famished, even when faced with those things that tempted him the most – he was ready. “If you are the Son of God,” the devil said to him, and he proved that he was, not because he was born impermeable to the devil’s temptations but because when he was led into temptation he was ready. The question for you is – will you be? Do you know your insecurities and your fears? Are you familiar with the darkest parts of your soul that will drive you to harm yourself and others? Do you know who you are? What is certain is that the devil already does, and for him, the less you know about yourself the better. If you would rather be nice than be a disciple. If you long to be accepted by people rather than stand for the truth. If you are swayed by what people might think rather than by what God says. If you would rather give people what they want then tell them what you need. If you are trying to prove to everyone, or even worse, yourself, who you are without knowing or believing who God says you are – then you are easy prey. You are truly God’s beloved. You are loved and valued by God, so be set on redemption and not damnation by looking at yourself and knowing what makes you weak. In these 40 Days of Lent we are led into the wilderness just as Jesus was. Use this time to prepare yourself – and know that in refusing to see yourself for who you are you have every reason to be afraid – surely the tempter will come and you will fall. But in seeing yourself for who you are you have nothing to fear, for you are God’s beloved. Amen.