Scripture/Sermon of the Day

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

I. Last Wednesday evening we met here with five other churches to mark the beginning of the season of Lent — the 40 days before easter where Christians, traditionally, fast and pray and reflect and sacrifice. Why? Why do we do this? Will it help me if I stop eating chocolate for the next month? Janet gave me a whole box of miniature KitKat bars. Will God be upset if I eat them? Must we stop eating meat? Will we be holier if we cut-out Netflix for 40 days?

II. Jesus fasted for forty days. There’s a lot of fasting in the Bible. When the disciples couldn’t drive a demon out of a boy, the father told Jesus, “I asked your disciples but they couldn’t do it.” Jesus said, “You faithless and perverse generation! How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me!” The disciples asked Jesus, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus said, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer and fasting.” Maybe that’s what fasting does — it gives us more power. Is that what we need? More power?

III. And what about the devil’s three temptations? These only appear in Matthew and Luke. Jesus is not tempted in John and in Mark, we’re only told that Jesus was tempted by Satan.

IV. Even in Matthew and Luke where Jesus spars with the devil, the order of the three temptations is different.

But maybe the order doesn’t matter — as much as what the devil is trying to do — HE WANTS JESUS TO USE HIS POWER FOR HIMSELF AND NOT FOR OTHERS. After forty days, Jesus realizes his mission is not to rule others, but to serve them — but how?

V. One of the readings at the Ash Wednesday service was from Isaiah, chapter 58. The message is like that famous passage in Micah, chapter 6 — where Micah tells us that, mainly, God doesn’t care about our religious activities so much — GOD JUST WANTS US TO BE KIND TO EACH OTHER —

ISAIAH SAYS THE SAME THING IN CHAPTER 58. God says, STOP THE FASTING! Go ahead — eat the chocolate. Eat the cake and the steak and the Big Mac! It’s all good!

VI. BUT — GOD DOES WANT US TO FAST — says Isaiah. Not from food. Not from watching TV or scrolling for hours on our I-phones. THAT’S OK. BUT — GOD WANTS US TO MAKE A PERMANENT FAST — FROM BEING MEAN TO OTHERS —

Release the wicked restraints — remove the zip-tie-handcuffs — SET FREE THE MISTREATED — stop arresting the foreign-born, stop breaking up their families, shut-down the detention camps! Share your bread with the hungry, cover the naked, give medical care, treat the homeless with dignity and give them a place to live.

V. The last thing Jesus does before he is arrested in the gospel of John is he gets on his knees and washes the disciples feet.