Testing, testing – 1 -2 – 3

The fourth chapter of Luke begins just after Jesus has been baptized in the River Jordan and driven into the wilderness.  There, in the wilderness, Jesus gets hungry.

This sets the stage for the first of three temptations.  The first is use his power to feed himself.  Make stones bread!  Jesus – still hungry – responds to this temptation by quoting a bit of scripture: “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Then the second temptation comes.  All the kingdoms of the world!  Jesus – still hungry – again refuses to succumb.  He rejects the impulse of hungering for power (again) by quoting scripture:   “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the final temptation – throw yourself down and let the angels save you!  Worn out and still very hungry, Jesus rejects the temptation – you guessed it – by quoting scripture:  “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

It’s worth noting that the wilderness can be a bewildering place.  It’s not exactly the place of comfort – there are no green pastures to lie in, no babbling brook.  It’s dry and it’s hot.  The wilderness challenges our humanity by making us feel the hunger:  We feel the heat in the pressure of the demands made daily on our life.  We feel its dryness when we try to do too much and get burnt out.  All the while, we hunger for something more.   And we face many of the same temptations – to feed ourselves – to reach for power – to throw ourselves away – all the while conscious of the knot tied in our stomachs.

Even so – there is hope.  In order to resist the temptations facing him, Jesus draws from the faith tradition which formed him.  He quotes the wisdom passed down through the generations.  What that tradition has taught him is that the hope he has been given is greater than the hunger he currently feels.  The quick-fix and easy-answer might feel his stomach – but it would only make him feel emptier.  He could grasp power for himself – but it would only prove him powerless.  He could throw himself away, but that would require him to deny the beauty with which God had made him.

Instead, the wilderness experience ends and his mission begins.  In the words of the prophet Isaiah, a new vision of the world (and of himself) unfolds:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Instead of finding relief from his own hunger in the wilderness, that experience forms he reentry into the world.  Instead of grasping for power, he empowers those the world says are powerless.  Instead of denying his own dignity, he lives so that others may come to see their own dignity, worth & beauty.

As the church, we are called to be Christ to the world.  Too often, churches become survivalist and inward focused – caught up in the temptation to fill itself, to reach for power or throw itself away.  We face those same challenges as individuals.  Yet, there is hope for us.  In this very human experience, Jesus resists the temptations to ease his own hunger & suffering, and instead, works to ease the hunger & suffering of others.  As disciples, whether communally or individually, our call is much the same.

KEY QUESTION:  How have you experienced the wilderness and what was the temptation you faced there?

MOVE TOWARD ACTION:  Identify 1 thing you can do for someone who is experiencing a similar wilderness – then do it and let us know!

This might take a bit of thought and some imagination, but is well worth the time it takes to consider it: How can the hunger you have experienced move you into mission?

The life of discipleship is one that is lived out in vocation (You might check out this Living Lutheran post for some further thoughts on vocation).

We often think of vocation as rooted in our gifts (which it is).  But what we don’t often realize, is that one of the “gifts” we possess is our experience.  Even the painful and hard experiences we face (things like hunger, loneliness, etc) can be used by God.  Call it ‘redemption.’  God redeems our past – even the hard and broken pieces of it – by using it bring good to the world.  This is not to suggest that God causes us pain – we do that well enough on our own, to ourselves and to each other.  But – even the parts of past that we avoid or hide or are scared of, are well within God’s redemptive reach.

1. If you have experienced brokenness, how might you help others feel whole?
2. If you have experienced alienation or loneliness, how might you help others experience reconciliation and acceptance?
3. If you have experienced guilt, how might you help others realize God’s forgiveness and grace?
4. If you have been subject to judgment by others, how might you extend to others unconditional acceptance.
5. If you have been overwhelmed by the stress and demands of daily life, how might you help others find rest?
6. If you have experienced hunger, how might God use you to feed the hungry?
7. If you have experienced injustice, how might you work towards justice for others?

When you consider these questions, try to think of small, practical things you could do.  For instance, if you really resonate with #2, you might consider sending a card to someone in a nursing home.  If you are really drawn towards #6, you might consider volunteering to serve at the Phillipe Center or making a food donation to a church food pantry.   If you really are having trouble coming up with any ideas, then talk with a friend, a family member or pastor.  Sometimes we just need to start by talking about it with others.

Whatever you decide to do, we want to hear about your experience.  So at the end of the week, come back and post to let us know what you did!