Creekside Church Sermon of February 17, 2002 "Tested and Tempted " Matthew 4:1-11	Rev. David Bibbee
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Given the chance, I would do high school and college again… on one condition…no tests. Tests and I didn't get along. I knew the material, usually, but tests didn't give a strong indication of it. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself. Whatever the reason, I did not test well. The night before big tests I came down with flu-like symptoms. Gary Larson did a Far-Side cartoon that hooked those old feelings. A rotund kid with thick glasses and a crew cut stood at the gates of heaven before St. Peter at his high, cloud-encircled administrator's desk. The caption read, "A math phobic's worst nightmare." In the dialog balloon, St. Peter said, "A train leaves Denver at 2:30 p.m. heading east, going 65 miles per hour. A train leaves from Cleveland at the same time going west at 65 miles per hour…" The cartoon gave me the creeps!

Having said this you may wonder about adventure plans I have made for June. I will spend two weeks alone on a remote lake in the wilderness or Northwest Ontario, 32 miles from the nearest dirt road. I've dreamed of doing it for years. Two weeks with no traffic, no phone, no newspapers or mail, no electricity therefore no T.V., no indoor toilet. Instead all I will have are unspoiled water and woods, eagles, the cry of loons, bears, wolves, moose, mosquito swarms, northern lights, and, I almost forgot, big fish. It's easy to romanticize about such an adventure, but reality has started to settle in. It will be a test. When I told the fishing camp outfitter my plans, she paused and asked, "Have you done anything like this before?" Her tone of voice suggested it would not be a Friday night camp out at Ox Bow Park. Along with a list of supplies to bring, she included a note that said, "It will be a rewarding, but daunting experience." Daunting? What did she mean by, "daunting?"

I talked with a psychologist who has spent extended periods alone in the wilderness. He described what it was like to watch the floatplane take off, and watch until it disappeared on the horizon. When the silence set in and he was aware of just how alone he was, he cried out loud, "Mommy!!!"

The more I think about it, the more I wonder why I'm doing it. It's a fisherman's dream and nightmare all at once. I could catch some really large fish, but who will take my picture holding them? Why am I doing it? As beautiful a place as it will be, I'm not simply going for the scenery, or for bird and wildlife watching. It's not to see if I can survive against the elements. It's not even about fishing. Deeper reasons are at work. It's a test.

Like all of you, I have pacifiers I suck on. When the hurts and struggles of my life, or Jan's life, or John's life, or Marilee's life work their way into awareness, we grab our pacifiers…the remote control, the refrigerator door, the medicine cabinet. We start sucking for all we are worth to avoid facing our hungers and God.

How well we live our lives depends upon how we deal with the wilderness within. When God needed concentrated time with his people, it was scheduled in the wilderness. Picture Moses and the freed slaves safe on the shore of the Red Sea, watching the last of Pharaoh's troops go out with the tide. Next comes the wilderness. As they enter, there is a billboard that says, "Testing Area: Test in Progress Next 40 Years." Through 40 years of test and temptation, God forged Hebrew slaves into the children of Israel.

Jesus' baptism was a pivotal moment at which he submitted himself totally to God. The heavens opened, the Holy Spirit rested upon him like a dove, and a voice said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased." Bathed in blessing, Jesus looked up from the river and saw a sign on the bank that said, "Testing area: Test in Progress Next 40 Days." Jesus barely had time to dry himself off before the Spirit drove him into the desolate, dangerous wilderness. Bathed in blessing one moment, alone in the wild the next, there his blessing would be stalked by temptation.

I remember asking my grandfather how he learned to swim. He said his father carried him one day as they strolled the bank of the Ohio River. He said, "My dad stopped, looked at me, looked at the river, and threw me in." It gave him all the motivation he needed to learn. In our text God holds Jesus, then throws him into hostile territory with Satan. Why? There is a clue in a little Greek verb that means both "test" and "tempt." God gave Jesus a test, but with an attitude not of, "Let's see if you've got what it takes to go fifteen rounds with this guy. Not "Sink or swim." From the beginning of Jesus' ministry, he met resistance. He had to develop inner resources to withstand it, and the wilderness was the proving grounds.

This is a story of testing and tempting. God tested Jesus. Satan tempted him. God wanted Jesus to use God's strength. Satan wanted him to misuse it. After 40 days of fasting, Jesus was famished. Satan said, "You must be starving. You better get something in your stomach. Here, take this rock and spread some peanut butter on it." But Jesus said, "God's word is my food." And Satan said, "And well it should be. The Bible says the angel's hands won't let you fall. Do a reverse twist with a half pike off the temple pinnacle and prove God's word is true." Jesus was being tested, but he said he would never put God to the test. "Well, you want to win over the world, don't you? I'll save you the trouble. It's yours. The whole pie, if you'll just acknowledge me." And Jesus replied, "I worship God and God alone."

It was tempting because Jesus could have done great things with the offers. Satan gave Jesus an alternative way to achieve his goals. But the only means Jesus could use were those that God had given him.

Have you been tested and tempted, lately? Before Twig and I were married, she took me to Lunkers for my birthday. Before we went in she said, "I want you to buy that fishing rod you've talked about wanting for so long." "Wow!" There was just one problem…unbeknownst to her, I bought the rod for myself a month earlier. A test and a temptation awaited my response. Do I tell her, or go home with another Loomis rod? Of course, I fessed up. I passed the test but spoiled the surprise, but I passed the test. I was tempted to use Twig's generosity to my advantage, but I didn't. I did spend time in the doghouse, but I was a better man for having done the right thing.

There will always be tests and temptations. It's a given to all who make commitments. A commitment to diet will meet the temptation to cheat. The commitment to play the piano will meet the temptation to skip practice. The commitment to marriage will meet temptation to leave when the relationship gets tough. The commitment to be a Christian will meet the temptation to go along with the majority. Standing by commitments is hard.

Matthew's story of Jesus' temptation identifies the greatest temptation of all… using what we have been given for glorifying God and helping others, but instead, using it for ourselves. What will we do with our wealth? Use it for the benefit of many, or our own benefit? How will you use your influence as a parent, to teach your children they are unrepeatable creations of God, or turn them into clones of you?

Will we use power for good or evil? Will we use our ambitions, our gifts, our resources and our faith to serve God, or ourselves?

I have an assignment for you. Go to a video store and rent, "The Apostle." It is a wonderful film produced by and starring Robert Duvall. It is a sensitive and insightful story that depicts devotion to the Christian faith and our frailty and failure to consistently live it. Duvall plays the role of Sonny, a popular, charismatic, flamboyant, self-assured Pentecostal preacher. Sonny was a God-loving, God-fearing man who worked hard for the same in his family. But his family life was rocky.
Sonny discovers his wife is having an affair with the youth minister of his church. It wasn't the first time indiscretions had passed between husband and wife. He, too had fallen from fidelity. His wife and children leave him, and in a fit of rage he kills the youth minister and flees to the bayou country of Louisiana. Sonny re-baptizes himself, commits himself to Christ anew, and calls himself the Apostle. He settles in a little town where he works odd jobs while renovating an abandoned church to begin a new ministry.

The Apostle's ministry began to transform the town. The little church grew. Lives were changed. Blacks and whited worshipped and worked together. There was no doubting Sonny's devotion, but he was susceptible to the snares of temptation. He had gone through much testing and overcame obstacles with God's strength and grace. His life was a battlefield between serving God and satisfying self, and though he faltered, he held fast to his faith in Jesus. Sonny was a mix of saint and sinner we all are.

Satan's temptation of Jesus came to an end, but it would not be the last. In Luke's version of the temptation it says Satan departed from Jesus…until an opportune time. More temptations awaited him, but in the end, Jesus withstood them.

Odds are that some of you are saying, "So what?" Those were Jesus' temptations. We have our own. What does his success have to do with our struggles?

In the book of Hebrews there is a verse that says… "He was tempted in every way, as we are." Jesus' tests and temptations were of a higher magnitude, still he was tempted…as we are, and that is good to remember. It puts Jesus within our reach.

It may sound strange, but Jesus' power to resist was no greater than our own. Only one power could help which is the only power that can help us. It is not will power. It is not any strength or ability within us. The only power available to help us through the tumult of temptations we all face is God's word. The Tempter will offer other words…words which suggest a different way; words which tell us to live our lives in a manner very different from the way God has given.

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