reflecting on our identity

1st Sunday in Lent

            You notice that Fred and John are sipping coffee in the Main Street Cafe, sitting by the window.  You have observed that these two friends regularly meet in the Main Street Cafe and that their Saturday morning ritual is to watch the townspeople walk by and to comment on life.  They might notice, for example, that Emma Jones is pushing a baby stroller and then one will comment, "Well, Emma's had her baby."  Suddenly a 2008 Lincoln glides by the Main Street Cafe.  Fred tells John, "You know, I was tempted for a time to get the Lincoln.  I finally settled for a Mercury."  Is that what it means to be tempted, that you gave something consideration, something like the purchase of a car?  Or is temptation something that aims closer to the center of your being?  Truly, it is the latter.

            Talk about temptation, look in our gospel reading.  Temptation here has to do with Jesus' identity.  Jesus has just been proclaimed the Son of God at his baptism.  You recall that when Jesus was baptized by John, a voice from heaven said of Jesus, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  Now comes another voice, a voice in opposition to God's will.  This is the voice of the devil.  Oh, many of us have a problem believing in a nearly-all-powerful being who whispers into human ears tempting us.  But, isn't there a voice that tempts us to be something other than the obedient creatures God calls us to be?  There is.  Our gospel writer identifies Jesus' tempter as the devil.  The first thing the devil says to Jesus is, "If you are the Son of God. . . ."  If!  Jesus is the Son of God, so proclaimed by the voice from heaven.  "Well, then, prove it!" the devil says.  "Just turn these stones into bread.  You could be a wonder-working, hungry-feeding, truly popular Messiah."  Change scene.  Holy City.  Pinnacle of the temple.  The devil now says to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God . . . ."  But Jesus is the Son of God.  "Prove it," demands the devil.  "Just do a swan dive and make God rescue you."  Like Superman rescues Lois.  Change scene.  View is wider.  You see all the countries on the planet, all of the power one could hold if he were the ruler of them all.  "All these I will give you," the devil says, as if he had the power or the authority to deliver all these countries to Jesus.  "All these I will give you, if you make me the center of your life instead of God."  Put all together, these temptations are about Jesus' relation to God.  Will Jesus do what God wants, or will he try to use God to accomplish what he (Jesus) wants?

            Well, haven't you ever wondered what would be the harm in Jesus having the identity suggested by the devil?  After all, there are a lot of useless rocks on the surface of the earth.  Imagine if Jesus had turned many of them into bread; he could have totally wiped out hunger in his time.  Why not do that?  Or what would be so wrong with doing a swan dive from the pinnacle of the temple, allowing God to prove to the world that Jesus is the Son of God?  Which would prove to most people that Jesus is God's Son, a swan dive from the pinnacle of the temple with a divine rescue or being nailed to a cross?  Ask yourself which would sell today?  Or what would be so wrong with being a powerful Messiah rather than a vulnerable one?  Jesus allowed himself to be pushed around, insulted, put through a trial because of human accusation, forced to drag a cross through the streets, and then he let them nail himself to it.  What if instead Jesus had used divine power to conquer the occupying Romans?  What if Jesus had politically taken over the whole world?  Ask yourself, especially in terms of today's values, which would be more appealing to the world:  a politically powerful Christ, or a vulnerable one?  A ruling Messiah or one hanging on a cross?  What would be so wrong with a politically powerful Messiah?

            What's more, haven't you ever wondered what harm there would be in stressing the more palatable parts of the gospel, downplaying the rest?  Ask yourself, what would be the harm in proclaiming Christ in terms of what is popular today?  Do we really have to preach Christ crucified?  If we want to attract new people in the church these days, why not just talk about the resurrected Christ?  We could use Christ as an example of someone who overcame adversity.  Or, even if we wanted to talk about sacrifice, we could talk about the kinds of sacrifices it takes to become successful in life, the sacrifices of education and diligence and long hours.  Maybe we could stress that Jesus started a movement that has since grown into a world-wide organization.  We could downplay Jesus' steadfast march to his rejection and suffering on the cross.  Love probably sells, but self-giving, suffering love might move many people right out of their comfort zone.  After all, do people come to church to hear about suffering and self-giving, or do they come to church to get something to sustain them for the week?  The question is, why not stress the more appealing parts of the gospel and downplay parts about self-giving and sacrifice?  What's the harm in that?

            Wait!  That sounds like the devil.  Whenever a voice is heard trying to bend God's will for his cross-going Son, it sounds like the devil.  It was the devil who said to Jesus, ". . . command these stones to become loaves of bread."  Translation:  "Why not become a wonder-working, hungry-feeding Messiah?"  It was the devil who said to Jesus, ". . . throw yourself down. . . ."  Translation:  "Why not do a swan dive and let God catch you instead of going to a cross?"  It was the devil who said to Jesus, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."  Translation:  "Why not be a politically powerful Messiah instead of making yourself vulnerable?  Why not follow me instead of God?"  Whenever a voice is heard that tries to make Jesus into anything else but the obedient Son of God, the Son who manifests God's own self-giving, suffering love, then that voice sounds like the devil.  That voice stands in opposition to the will of God.

            What does Jesus say to that voice?  "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"  Not only is Jesus sure of his identity, that he is the Son of God, he is sure of his identity as the Son of God.  He will be a cross-bearing, serving Messiah, not a politically powerful one.  Jesus will show the power of God's love, not the power of politics nor military might.  Jesus will show the awesome power of weakness, voluntary weakness.  Jesus will show that the Son of God will be obedient to the will of God, straight up to the cross.  How did Fred Craddock put it?  "Matthew's account of Jesus' temptation is to say that the church encountered God in one who did not try to be God or as God [as did the man and the woman in Genesis 3] and who did not try to use God to claim something for himself."  Jesus rejects all of the alternatives he could choose.  He chooses instead to be faithful to the will of God.  Jesus will be a serving Messiah, an obedient Son.

            Now do you see why the church observes the season of Lent?  This is the season that prepares the church for Easter by remembering our Lord Jesus, who was tempted with alternatives to God's will.  Jesus rejected these, and he was faithful to the will of God, all the way to the cross.  As Jesus struggled with his identity as the Son of God, so, in this season of Lent, the church struggles with our identity as the body of Christ.  The church struggles with what it should be.  Sure, Lent is the season wherein each of us struggles with our own personal discipleship; but it is a time for the body of Christ to struggle with the same question.  What is our identity?  In the past several years, our session has been struggling with the question of our church’s identity.  Our identity, our understanding of who we are, determines how we live out our corporate life.  If our identity is about church growth exclusively, then we might be careful about what we do and say.  Our community image might be more important than our faithfulness to Christ.  But our session determined that our identity was that of a serving church.  After careful deliberation, our session hammered out our Defining Vision, “We are sent by Christ to serve.”  Our identity is to be that of apostles, or “sent ones.”  We aim to send the message that we are the gathered church for only an hour a week, usually.  We are the scattered church the rest of the time.  So we remind ourselves of our ministry in the world in those places we go to work, learn, shop, or relax.  Those are the places in which we are individually sent by Christ to serve.  What’s more, our church aims to serve the community and beyond as a faithful body.  We have used our building to sort clothing for the Lancaster Outreach Center, an expanded effort to meet the needs of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita evacuees.  Last Sunday, we joined others across the country to raise money for the hungry through the “Souper Bowl of Caring.”  Last Sunday we raised one hundred six dollars and collected over seventy cans and packages of non-perishable food.  You see who we are as a church?  You see our identity?  We strive to imitate Christ, the obedient Son of God, by being the obedient body of Christ.  Lent is the season that allows us to reflect on our identity, and to resolve to be a servant church.