Year A 2017 - 5th Sunday in Lent

Sermon 2^nd April

Text John 11:1-45 – Jesus, the final Word.

Today’s gospel reading is again a very long reading but at the heart of message is the question or statement made by both Mary and Martha and also the crowd to Jesus.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

And some of the crowd who saw Jesus weeping said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

No doubt it is among the questions that many people ask when the reality of death confronts them.

Or when any tragic circumstance happens aren’t we tempted to look to God and ask “why”?

Why did you let this happen?

Why didn’t you stop this from happening?

Why does God allow the terrorist acts to occur.

Why does God allow tragic circumstances to happen to anyone, let alone Christians?

Is it wrong to think like that?

Not if we look at the examples in the Bible.

So many of the Psalms are written inspired by this desire to know why life goes against us at times.

Psalm 130 has the Psalm writer crying out to God - Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord.

Job wondered why he was suffering even though he was so faithful to God but wondered - Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? (Job 21:7)

So too, Jeremiah struggled: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? (Jeremiah 12:1)

It is a difficult understanding why an all-powerful, all loving God allows or at least doesn’t prevent evil to succeed.

But, sadly, that is the world we not only live in but a world we asked upon ourselves by our disobedience in the beginning when the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was allowed to enter into our existence.

God’s good creation was interrupted by evil when Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to see and experience the existence of evil.

And part of that evil was the introduction of death, as God warned Adam:

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16, 17)

But what Jesus does here in John’s Gospel is show that death, which came by the knowledge of good and evil, was not going to be the final word.

Jesus says to Martha:

 “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

So Jesus doesn’t deny that death is part of the human life now, but he says – even though they die, they will live.

John’s Gospel sees Jesus as the coming of a new creation where the darkness of evil is overcome by Jesus’ light.

That’s why John’s Gospel begins the same as Genesis: “In the beginning”.

Genesis reads: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John’s Gospel reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same Word that created the world – let there be light – now becomes the word that became flesh and dwelt among us as God’s light in darkness – and the darkness could not overcome the light of Christ.

So God deals with death and evil not by removing them but by not allowing them the final word.

Because of our free will God had to allow Good and Evil to coincide, including death, but God immediately set in plan a redemption – a saviour – who would crush the head of death and evil that was snapping at our heels and overcome it. (Genesis 3:15).

It’s interesting that while Genesis Chapter 3 outlines the fall of Adam and Eve – John Chapter 3 overcomes it with the Gospel that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The world is filled with experiences where we can ask – where is God in this.

If Jesus were here this wouldn’t have happened.

That simply isn’t true otherwise there would be no need for heaven.

The reality is that in this world we’re going to experience the consequences of the knowledge of Good and Evil.

The difference is that these will not be the final word for those who believe in Jesus’ Christ – the resurrection and the life..

Jesus speaks the last word just as he spoke to the tomb that had held Lazarus when he said; “Lazarus, come out!”

Jesus shows that not even death has the final word which to many is just that.

Without Jesus, death is death.

Without Jesus death is the final word.

The raising of Lazarus is the last sign or miracle that Jesus does in John’s gospel.

Everything has been leading up to this last miracle because it is the one that affects us all.

We won’t all experience some of the conditions that Jesus healed – blindness, leprosy, hunger – but all of us must face the reality of death.

And here Jesus shows that death must submit to his authority even though it would appear that death has the final word.

Jesus doesn’t remove death from our lives but he ensures us that death is not the end.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life and whoever believes in him, even though they die, they shall live.

So Mary and Martha weren’t correct in their statement.

Even if Jesus had been there Lazarus still would have died – perhaps not on that occasion but certainly later at the end of life, as the book of Hebrews says in Chapter 9, verse 27: “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”.

Jesus didn’t linger before going because of a lack of compassion.

It was widely believed in Jesus’ culture that the spirit of the person would hover for 3 days.

Allowing for 4 days in the tomb assured people that Lazarus was well and truly dead.

Death had done its worse to Lazarus and Jesus overrode it.

So it’s not that Jesus’ presence would have prevented Lazarus death but his presence assures Lazarus and all of us of eternal life after death.

It doesn’t deny the pain of death when someone we love dies.

Even Jesus’ himself who is the resurrection and the life cannot hold back his emotion and weeps at the death of his dear friend.

So this is not downplaying death but reassuring us that the one who has defeated death also has compassion for us in the midst of death as we have our high priest who sympathises with us having experienced death himself and the death of a loved one.

So it is to Jesus and only Jesus that we look to in death and suffering as only Jesus can offer that hope that death is not the final word but the one who is the Word of God is the final word.

Year A 2017 - 4th Sunday in Lent

Sermon 26^th March 2017

Text: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 – Big isn’t always better

On the front page of the Knox Leader newspaper there was an article which really interested me.

And its opening paragraph read:

RELIGION is booming in Knox with people flocking to weekend services and the city’s biggest churches looking at major expansion plans to cope with demand. Knox’s CityLife Church is creating a new $11 million centre in Wantirna South — paid for by its congregation. Senior minister Andrew Hill said more than 5000 people attended services each week.

It then spoke about another Knox Church:

Hillsong is proving so popular it is set to move to Knoxfield after outgrowing its Bayswater home. It plans for a church for up to 900 people at 557 Burwood Highway,

And as always I look at myself and ask: what am I doing wrong.

Once again I fall into the trap of judging God’s work on outward appearances, something that God time and again went against.

It’s not saying that big isn’t good but big isn’t the only indicator of where God is working.

I think it’s great that these churches are expanding and that they have had the media coverage but we mustn’t fall into the trap that God is only working there and not here.

Like so many people I couldn’t be a part of something that big.

I like the small and close intimate surroundings when it comes to worship, so where would I go if that was the only way that God operated.

So often we see God going against what we perceive he should do to show he is active and succeeding, like in our Old Testament reading when it came time for Samuel to find a replacement for Saul as King of Israel.

Samuel looked on the first-born of Jesse’s sons Eliab and thought – this is him – first born, handsome, tall:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

One by one Jesse’s sons are rejected until he finds out the youngest hasn’t been presented - he is out looking after the sheep – considered the lowest of positions in the family.” He would become King David, the most successful and beloved King of Israel.

So often we see God intentionally choose the lesser – the 2nd born:

Abel was chosen over his older brother Cain.

Jacob was chosen over first born brother Esau

Joseph’s son Ephraim over his brother Manasseh.

And even in choosing Israel as his chosen nation and people we hear: "The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! But it was because the LORD loved you. (Deuteronomy 7:7,8).

It’s interesting that David’s grandfather, Perez was the 2nd born also but it was how he was born that is interesting.

Hi brother Zerah was born first with his hand coming out of the womb.

A scarlet ribbon was tied around his hand and declared the first born.

But his hand was pulled back into the womb and Perez came out ahead of him. (Genesis 38:27-20)

Even in the New Testament we read that God chose his disciples specifically in mind what others wouldn’t:

St Paul says: think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (1 Corinthians 1;26,27).

It’s not saying that God doesn’t choose big or seek worldly success in churches but it’s not what WE should be looking for as the only signs of God’s work.

But that’s what we do.

We see small churches as not as successful when we look at the thriving churches around us.

God works in unexpected ways which don’t always seem that glorious or spectacular.

Who would have thought that spitting on the ground and putting mud on a blind man’s eyes and telling him to wash in the pool of Siloam would be the way to do such an amazing miracle?

Surely he could have done it in front of the 5000 he fed as a huge spectacular act.

Why didn’t Jesus just say – open your eyes and see – like he did to the crippled man – get up and walk – or “stretch out your hand” or “get up” as he said to Jairus’s daughter – an opportunity to amaze the crowds and achieve more followers.

Just as Jesus used different ways and means to achieve God’s mission so too as Lord of the Church Jesus continues to use different ways and means to achieve his mission in the world.

I can think of any number of people that would walk away from church if it was huge and successful in worldly ways because that’s not what they are looking for.

That’s not how they connect with God spiritually.

The Great Commission wasn’t “build it and they will come” but Go into the world and make disciples.

So our constant challenge is to keep looking at our mission that God has placed before us.

And we have that mission in our mission statement:

At Ringwood it is: Living the Word: a people formed by God to be his presence to those around us.

The focus is in the sending out into the world to be God’s presence in the world.

At Knox it is: Called to worship; chosen to serve.

Again the focus is outward – serving.

But in both cases -  being God’s presence and chosen to serve begin in the church to be equipped.

Formed by God to be his presence –

Called to worship –chosen to serve.

The purpose of the church is not to be built up but to build up.

To build up the people of God.

And that’s why at Knox we are called – the house of the church.

The people are the church.

It is the people that we are building up.

Sure, we’d love to see our church building overflowing.

We’d love to see our children and grandchildren filling the pews.

We’d love to see visitors coming and staying.

But we need to be clear that our vision doesn’t become about building up OUR Kingdom but God’s Kingdom.

And I’m not saying that is what the bigger churches are doing but recognising that the church comes in all shapes and sizes and styles.

Just as Christians come with different strengths and callings.

King David would go on to be the greatest of Israel’s kings and from his line would come the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.

But what made David so great was not the success he had in leading his Kingdom but in that he let God lead him.

David would fail the humanity test – committing adultery with his neighbours wife and covering it up by having him killed in combat.

But his heart would always follow God and led him to write the most beautiful and famous of Psalms – Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd – I shall not want.

And so too that is where our greatness will come by allowing Jesus to be our Good Shepherd and leading us to where he would have us go.

Year A 2017 - 3rd Sunday in Lent

Text Exodus 17:1-7 - Is God among us or not?

What do you expect when you come along to church? Do you expect to come away feeling like you’ve just had the most amazing experience ever being blessed by being in the presence of God? Do you feel like you’ve had that mountain top experience like Peter, James and John when Jesus appeared before them in dazzling white speaking with Moses and Elijah and you just don’t want to leave or you can’t wait to come back again? Or maybe not.

Maybe you’ve come along to church and gone away feeling less than ordinary. Maybe you’ve come back from Holy Communion and felt no different. Maybe you’ve come along to sing your heart out and found hymns so difficult to sing or songs you’ve never heard of and you’ve wondered – what’s the point. Maybe the service has ended and people are saying how great the sermon was and you can’t even remember a word that was spoken. Maybe you’ve spent your whole time trying to keep your child quiet and not taken anything in. Maybe you’ve come along and no one has spoken to you or noticed that you’re visibly upset. Or maybe you missed a week and nobody noticed.

These are among the many experiences that I hear about and experiences that I too have felt. They are experiences that make us wonder like Israel and ask - “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7) Questions of faith don’t get any more  basic than that, do they? "Is the Lord among us or not?”

It is the question the disgruntled Israelites asked in the desert. At times it is our question too to our experience with God. But why did the Israelites ask this question? After all that the Israelites had witnessed God doing it’s amazing that they still ask whether or not God is with them. But one thing it does show – if we judge God’s presence with us on physical proof it will never last.

No matter what God does for us today, as soon as something bad happens we will question our faith. And that’s why Jesus resisted the people’s request for more and more miracles. Because they kept asking for more and more. And that’s what happens when your faith is based on personal experience. We then begin to look for worship and church life for reasons that don’t build up our faith but entertain us. And all of a sudden worship becomes even more meaningless and boring even though initially it was very entertaining. So we need to think about our reason as to why we come to church. Is it to be entertained or to be nourished by God’s presence with us?

God had worked powerfully on Israel’s behalf to rescue them from Egyptian slavery. Once freed they had no sooner set out across the desert when they "… grumbled against Moses and Aaron. Their thinking became very irrational: Why couldn’t we have died in the land of Egypt instead of coming into this desert to die of famine?"  Even though God had performed a great number of miracles the people did not trust that God would continue to care for them.

Grumbling became the Israelites’ way of life and how they dealt with adversity. In their anger they turn on Moses as representative of God.  At one stage they even asked Aaron to make new gods for them- a golden calf which they thanked for leading them out of Egypt. (Exodus 32) Moses becomes the focus of their anger, but they are really angry with God. They grumbled for food, now they need water. They complained to Moses and once again God provides for them. Despite their lack of trust, God brings forth water from a rock. Their faith in God was so shallow: God has freed them from slavery, fed them in the desert, given them water from a rock and promised to give them care and guidance during their 40-year journey.  But they will continue to grumble and distrust God each time adversity struck.

We have a lot to learn from this lesson from Israel. As we read their experience we know there was never a time when the Lord was not with them. But in their experience they believed otherwise. God provides for us each day but sometimes we believe otherwise. We are reminded again and again of our dependence on God and God’s gracious generosity towards us in the Prayer Jesus taught us. "Give us this day our daily bread." But it is so easily forgotten.

So too we can easily forget what church and worship are and that God has promised to be here with us and for us. And when we come away from worship feeling uninspired we can feel like saying – Is the Lord among us or not. So rather than look at what we want to get out of worship we need to keep looking again at what God brings in worship – and for that we look to Paul who details what God brings: We are justified by faith, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

We have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; We have the glory of God. This may not be what we feel but it’s what we have.

There are times when I don’t feel saved – but I look to what God has promised. What I feel and what I know are 2 different things – and which one do you think Satan works on? When we have our faith based on what we have rather than what we feel, we then have strength for those times when we would question our faith, as Paul again says: We know that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. So while suffering may be what we experience, raising lots of doubts and questions, God’s love being poured into our hearts is what we have been given.

If our faith is based on what we want and what we experience then suffering places a huge challenge to our faith. And we see those churches that base their faith on experience say things like, if you had more faith you would be healed – or you are suffering because you don’t have enough faith. And so the Israelite’s faith in God began to waiver every time their experience became negative. And we then begin to question God’s love for us and as the Israelites concluded because of their experience – Is the Lord among us or not.

For Paul, God was always among us, particularly in those times when our human experience would suggest otherwise with statements like: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  And God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8) In 2nd Corinthians Paul spoke about the power of Christ resting on him in those times of suffering (2 Corinthians 12:9) – times when we might be tempted to ask – is the Lord among us or not.

God doesn’t prove his love for us by preventing difficult times in our lives. No, God affirms his love for us by drawing near to us like a loving parent draws near to their child when they are suffering. When a child suffers it doesn’t mean the parent doesn’t love them. But what suffering produces in a parent is an empathy that draws them even closer. And for those of you who are parents you know that you would gladly take their suffering on yourself. And that is what God has done as God made him who had no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The sweet exchange of the father for his children. That’s the reality of God’s love for us even if we don’t feel it.

The problem with dealing with experiences is that they vary. What happens in one situation may not necessarily happen the next time. What happens for one person may not happen for another. You may pray for healing and are healed but next time the healing doesn’t come. I’ve seen it so many times. Faith is about promise and promise is about trust. That’s what Israel didn’t do – they didn’t trust that God would provide for them. That was the basis of the very first sin with Adam and Eve – they didn’t trust God and wanted to be like God instead. Jesus resisted that temptation to turn rocks into bread and knew God would provide. He didn’t grumble and he didn’t fail to trust. And he took that trust right to the cross.

Sometimes our life experience make us question God as even Jesus did when he cried out – my God, my God why have you forsaken me. But he would learn that God didn’t forsake him and he won’t ever forsake you. That’s God’s promise and it’s not about how we feel but about what God has promised. Is God among us or not? God is certainly among us as he promised in the living waters of our baptism – I am with you always. And he is certainly among you when you receive Holy Communion.  This IS my body. This IS my blood.

Is God among us? Yes he is because that is what he has promised. 

Year A 2017 2nd Sunday in Lent

Text: John 3:1-17 – The journey of faith

Our Bible reading today includes one of the most well-known bible verses – John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

It is often referred to as the Gospel in a nutshell.

It contains everything necessary for salvation.

The verse is in response to a dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus where they are talking about being born again.

It seems that Jesus is critical of Nicodemus because as a Pharisee he doesn’t seem to know too much about living a Spirit filled life with God.

It intrigues Jesus - Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? (John 3:10)

But what we often forget or fail to realise is that this is not the only time that we hear about Nicodemus.

We hear about him on 2 more occasions and what we see in him is growth in his faith because of his dialogue with Jesus.

So it seems that Nicodemus has taken to heart what Jesus has said and as we look at his progress in faith it also shows us that people take time in their faith journey.

In his first encounter Nicodemus is seemingly unsure and frightened.

He is a Pharisee so he may fear being associated with Jesus in a similar way that Peter let his fear deny Jesus 3 times.

He knows about Jesus and what he’s done and acknowledges that he has come from God.

But he’s afraid to admit it and comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness.

Nicodemus here seems to be a seeker but he is conflicted.

He’s seen what Jesus is doing and he wants to believe.

But maybe he’s worried about what the cost of that would be if others found out.

There may be people like Nicodemus all around us.

They know what Jesus offers but maybe they’re afraid of what it might mean.

Will others make fun of them?

Are they afraid of walking into a church and not knowing anyone?

Will they feel like everyone’s looking at them because they don’t know what to do – they don’t know the language of church and what things mean?

I remember my own experience when I started going to church.

Standing in the corner because no one would talk to me because they were in their own groups.

I had no idea what this thing was that they were all going down to the front to do.

I found out it was called Holy Communion but I wasn’t allowed to attend because I wasn’t a member.

I can see why Nicodemus came under darkness and I don’t find his responses about entering your mother’s womb a 2nd time funny or strange.

We know what Jesus means when he uses language like born again, redemption, salvation, sanctification – but would a person coming in off the street understand?

Jesus speaks with Nicodemus and relates his coming death to what he would be familiar with – the lifting up of the bronze snake to provide healing for the Israelites.

Maybe we too need to look at how we relate our faith at times to the experiences of the people we are trying to link with, even our own family.

We know today that to many people the church and its message seems irrelevant but they are looking for what the church offers in different places.

They are happy to speak to a psychic or clairvoyant to find out their future when Jesus says he is the one who was, and is and is to come – he makes the unknown future known.

They are happy to seek out anything that will prolong their life or make them look younger while Jesus offers eternal life.

They will spend a fortune on counselling when Jesus says come to me all you who are weary and burdened.

Maybe we need to look at what and how we are communicating.

Because when we next see Nicodemus we see a change in him.

In Chapter 7 of John’s Gospel we see Nicodemus actually defending Jesus.

The temple police went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” After giving their reason, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”

Something has changed in Nicodemus.

He’s no longer needing the cover of darkness but is willing to defend Jesus publicly even though he is still a Pharisee.

We come across many people who may fit this description – people who support the church but may not identify as part of it.

We might called them lapsed members.

We might call them people who bring their children to be baptised and we never see them again.

We might call them people who want a Lutheran funeral for their parents who are good Lutherans but we’ve never met them before.

We might call them people who want a Christian wedding but we might not see them again until they come looking for baptism for their first child.

We might call them people who come to our Community Meal and Soup and singing and are happy for us to say grace and sometimes insist on it but don’t go to church.

We might call them the Christmas and Easter members.

They are the ones who ask us to pray for them when difficulties strike them even if they never pray themselves.

These are the ones we become cynical about and question why we bother.

But here we see why we bother.

They might not fit our understanding of a Christian but as Jesus once said to the disciples who were complaining to him:

Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Nicodemus has become one who is not against us, as are many around us.

I love that line in John Kleinig’s song, because we bear your name that says:

“Let us acknowledge those as friends who use your name to right a wrong but have not joined us yet”.

Just like Nicodemus – who is still a Pharisee but has come out to defend Jesus.

Let us look for ways that we can encourage and interact with those who have not joined us yet to encourage them to continue their journey in faith.

The final appearance of Nicodemus is at Jesus’ death in chapter 19.

He is with Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews.

So different to the chosen disciples who were locked away for fear of the Jews.

He asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. (John 19:38)

Nicodemus comes to join Joseph to take away Jesus’ body for burial.

Nicodemus has done more for Jesus than Jesus’ own disciples have done.

They all fled but here is Nicodemus with Joseph, a secret disciple, who is also frightened but prepared to let everyone know that they are followers of Jesus.

Peter, who declared he would stand by Jesus to the end, was too afraid to say he even knew him.

Here is a person we could have written off at the beginning of his search.

Coming under the safety of darkness now in view of everyone carrying Jesus’ body to be buried.

The Christian life is a journey.

And we are all at different stages on the journey with Jesus and may take different ways with him.

It’s easy to cut people off during the journey because their journey is different to ours.

They have taken a different route to salvation that we think is the normal path.

Paul’s journey was different to that of the other disciples and they were afraid at the start of his journey:

Annanias had grave doubts about God’s choice:

Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument.

We don’t know who God has chosen.

They may not look like us and how we have come to faith.

Will we prevent them baptism because we doubt they will return?

Will we doubt them a Christian burial because we’ve never seen them in church before and deny an opportunity to bring a message of hope to the mourners?

Will we refuse them Holy Communion because we don’t know what’s in their heart and what they believe?

It’s difficult because we don’t want to cheapen the holy things of God.

But maybe among them is a Nicodemus or Paul and if they are presenting themselves to the church whether it be baptism, marriage, burial or the Lord’s Supper, then perhaps this is the beginning of their journey.

We may not see them the following week, we may not seem them next Christmas or Easter.

But maybe we will see them in Heaven – the smouldering wick that God did not snuff out (Matthew 12:20).

That smouldering wick of belief, that bruised reed (Matthew 12:20) that mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32) is all that God is looking for,

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Year A 2017 - 1st Sunday in Lent

Sermon 5^th March 2017

Text: Matthew 4:1-11 – Living with temptation

It is interesting that immediately after such an important moment of Jesus' life – God’s public announcement at Jesus’ baptism – this is my Son whom I love – that he then faced a major upheaval in his life.

God's Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days where he was tempted by the devil.

There is an old saying that comes to mind in this – with friends like this, who needs enemies.

It seems a strange path for God’s Holy Spirit to lead Jesus on just after God had publicly declared his love for Jesus.

So often I hear people struggle in their faith – if God loves me then why does he allow me to suffer.

It might seem strange but blessings and temptation are not opposites but are often part of the same experience.

We see it often in Jesus’ parables –:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24,25).

Or the parable of the sower:

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. (Matthew 13:19)

It’s hard to comprehend when going through those wilderness experiences wondering why God allows it to happen.

What Jesus’ experience shows is 2 things:

Temptation is a part of the Christian life journey.

But, it also shows, God provides strength and a way out of temptation.

Let’s look at them in this light:

Turning rocks into bread

What is the temptation here?

The temptation is that Satan targets our weaknesses.

After 40 days of fasting Jesus weakness was his hunger.

The temptation was easy to discern.

Have Jesus’ provide for his own needs and he breaks his reliance on God.

God was the one who sent Jesus into the wilderness by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

And God will provide for Jesus sustenance as we hear at the end of the temptation – “Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him”. (Matthew 4:11)

We all have our weaknesses where temptation comes knocking.

Satan found it with Adam and Eve with the temptation to “be like God”.

Satan thought he had found it with Jesus in his hunger.

Even when he was writhing in pain Satan tempted Jesus to end his suffering - to come down from the cross without any concern at all for Jesus’ suffering.

He knows your weakness.

Maybe you’re not aware you have a weakness.

Maybe you don’t notice your temptation.

But Satan does as God described him in Genesis in the form of a serpent - more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made (Genesis 3:1).

As Peter once described him: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

So we need to be aware where our weakness is.

We should not make excuses or deny but go to God for help.

God gives us confession – not so he can accuse us but so he can give us a way out.

In this temptation, as Jesus said, the way out is trusting that God will always provide even when it seems that our resources are depleted.

Our problem is that we want to solve our own problems and often turn to God in the very last instance.

Jesus could have turned rocks into bread but then he would have placed himself above God and his provision – as did Adam and Eve.

And so he replies – we do not live on bread alone but on the very word of God.

Where do you run to when you’re in desperate need like Jesus?

To yourself first or to God.

Testing God’s love:

The next command is about testing God’s love.

If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you … you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Do you ever wonder whether God loves you?

It sounds like a strange question to ask but so often Satan can really tempt me especially when I am feeling guilty about something I have done or not done.

Sometimes I feel guilty in my work as Pastor.

Am I visiting enough – am I caring enough – am I witnessing enough to get people to church – am I caring enough for our lapsed members and those who have had their children baptised.

So to make myself feel better I start to do more to show God how much I love him.

I stay later in the office.

I work my day off.

I run myself ragged doing more and more in the name of my work as Pastor to show God how much I love him and feel God is proud of me.

That’s when Satan really has me

Firstly because I can never do enough to make myself feel better.

But secondly my ministry becomes about me and not you.

I do things to make ME feel better rather than serving you.

Maybe there are times when you’ve questioned your faith.

Maybe you’ve questioned if God really does love you.

How have you dealt with it?

You don’t jump off a tall building to see if God will catch you.

If you want to know if God loves you and how much he loves you – just look again at the centre of the altar where you’ll find the body and blood of Christ.

That’s how much God loves you that he was prepared to sacrifice his one and only Son.

If you go anywhere else to confirm God’s love for you then Satan has led you astray.

That’s why in the Lutheran Church we hold Baptism and Holy Communion as central to our faith and vital to our teaching because this is where God has shown his love for you, as John tells us:

This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10) and so we love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

And if we want to show our love for God, how do we show that love?

Not by jumping of a tall building but by loving one another as Jesus loves us.

The final temptation by Satan of Jesus is about our worship:

All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.

Satan may not be so subtle and offer you the kingdoms of the world but he seems to offer us less subtle but very tangible things to lead us away from worshiping God.

You deserve to rest on Sunday.

You’ve worked hard all week – this is your only chance for yourself.

And doesn’t God want you to spend time with your family?

Do you really have to go to church to show God that you believe in him?

Others can become resentful.

I’m on the roster again.

They’re asking for more money.

They’re all hypocrites in church.

Satan works hard to break down our worship by turning church into work.

And sadly the church is often quite guilty of supporting that.

We have taken the focus of church at times away from worshiping God and tiring people out.

There are tasks that need to be done in the church but these are not our prime focus.

Our prime focus must always be serving God and being served by God.

Like Satan trying to take Jesus focus away from God we need to ensure that in all our activities and busyness that we are not taking our focus or the focus of others away from God and worship.

As I said, there are things we do and things that need to be done, that build up fellowship, but our sole reason for being here is to worship and the other things emanate from that.

When the others take prominence over worship is when we are led astray – and we burn out, we lose our enthusiasm, we lose our purpose.

As Jesus said; Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.

Whether it’s Bible Study, Community Meal, Car Boot Sale, Head 2 Heart, Soup and Singing – these are guided by our worship of God.

Temptation is Satan’s biggest weapon against us and so we pray to God to not lead us into temptation.

God doesn’t tempt us but when we take our eyes of God we are so easily led astray.

As James reminds us: When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; (James 1:13)

So we ask God to not lead us into temptation but to lead us to his word and worship.

And as Paul reassures us:

God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

So when tempted we look for that way out which comes through prayer, through God’s Word and Sacraments and through our worship.