Recite and Resist
Bible Passage:
Luke 4:1-13
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2010-02-20
The troubling thing about temptation is that you never quite know when you’re going to have a fight. If you haven’t figured it out yet, the folks who say the Christian life is all sunny days and happy tunes are dirty liars. Living for Christ is like getting deployed to Baghdad. It’s a war. And only warriors survive this fight. It’s a gritty, grueling battle to be patient and forgiving and self-controlled and selfless. You don’t love someone unconditionally without getting banged up and bandaged. You can’t be a Christ-like student without a struggle. You can’t be a God-fearing husband without a brawl. You can’t be a Christian employee without a scrap or two with your instinctive reactions. Every day is a fight. And most days you don’t see the fight coming.
But wouldn’t it be nice if you were prepared for the next round? Imagine if God sent you an email tomorrow morning that said, “Good morning! Today your boss is going to try to set the record for grouchiest man in the world. Don’t forget to be patient. Remember 1 Corinthians 13—“Love is patient. Love is kind.” And at 5:12pm you are going to get cut off on 151 by a clueless college student. So brush up on 1 Peter 3—“Don’t repay evil for evil, but with blessing.” So make sure all five fingers are extended when you wave to him. Blessings. Love, God.” Wouldn’t that be great?!? We’d have God’s Word ready to go and know right when the fight was going to begin. I could win that battle. But I’m guessing you don’t get emails like that. I’m guessing your battles are like mine—unexpected.
And that’s what makes temptation so dangerous. We don’t see the threat coming. The Eskimos have a clever way to kill wolves. They freeze layers of blood on a sharp knife and then bury that knife, blade up, in the ground. When wolves catch the scent, they gather and start to lick away at the frozen layers. But suddenly, without knowing it, they reach the knife and the blood they are tasting is their own. One by one they drop unexpectedly. They die from a sudden loss of blood.
Isn’t temptation just as sudden and deadly? He walks in the door crabbier than a Red Lobster and you just aren’t prepared to put up with it. You skip dinner with the family and your Saturday off for the project and then they criticize it and you just aren’t prepared to be gracious. You walk into church and expect it to be easy to pray, to confess, to focus and then it’s not and you aren’t prepared to fight. The conversation takes a quick turn and suddenly negativity and bitterness and gossip are throwing punches and you didn’t know the fight had started! What is a Christian supposed to do when temptation ignores your “No Trespassing” sign, marches into your life, and starts a fight in your home, in your garage, in your church, and in your mind at an hour you don’t expect? How can a believer prepare to fight when she doesn’t know when the fight is going to begin?
What is a Christian to do? Learn from Christ. Because he was tempted, too. He fought the same battles you do. And his technique for handling temptation is both inspirational and imitate-able. Listen to his famous battle with temptation in Luke 4, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” I’ve been to that place—the Judean desert. Much of Israel is greener than you would expect—Palm trees and hills covered in green blankets of vegetation. But this place is different. Dehydrated hills littered with dusty stones. Sand sticks to your feet and billows up in your face. And the scene fits the story. Because Jesus fought a gritty battle in that desert. His stomach was groaning for bread. His back was screaming for a bed. The tempter had picked a perfect time to tempt. It was a fight perhaps he could win…
Satan threw the first punch. “3The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’” The devil may be demonic, but he is not dumb. To a stomach-aching Jesus, he suggested a slice of bread. It seems innocent enough, doesn’t it? But Satan is never innocent. He wanted Jesus to use his power. Miracles and wonders and strength. Why? Because if Jesus used all his power, there would be no room for a cross. No room for humiliation and suffering and death. No room for forgiveness and salvation for sinners. So, yes, Jesus, use your almighty power and turn those crusty stones into soft loaves.
And then came the fight for the first commandment. “5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours." The splendor of the world—An extravagant gift for a little bowing down.
And then came the fight for God’s protection. “9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple."If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" “Put God to the test. See if he will be faithful to his word. It’s written right there in the Bible, Jesus.” Even the devil does memory work well.
This was a fight. Not just for bragging rights, but for salvation. If Jesus simply gave in or bowed down or jumped off, the sinless Son of God would be sinless no more. There would be no Savior, no free forgiveness, no way for sinners to get to heaven. So listen to how Jesus fought back. “4Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'’"…”8Jesus answered, ‘It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'’"…”12Jesus answered, ‘It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'’ 13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”
Jesus won the fight. There would be no jumping or bowing or testing God. He went round after round in that dusty ring until the devil threw in the towel and left. And please don’t miss the fact that Jesus was fighting for you. During Lent, we often focus on Jesus’ passive obedience, that is, what he passively endured—suffering, shame, ridicule, and cross. But just as important for our salvation was Jesus’ active obedience, that is, what he actively did for us in our place. He actively resisted temptation. He actively put God first in his life. He actively practiced what he preached, even when no one was around but the devil. And he did that to save us. Jesus came as our substitute, the one who would step in on our behalf and resist the evil one. Jesus was fighting for the belt of salvation in that desert. And he won the fight so that we can raise that belt in heaven.
I met with a group of soldiers a few weeks ago. Maybe I’m just getting older, but they looked too young for war. They were all heading off to fight much sooner than their mothers would have liked, but such is the life of a soldier. We talked for a long time. About the dangers they would face. About their fears. About their Savior. Some of them had the naïve excitement of youth, unaware of how intense the battle would be. Others were surprisingly distant and uninterested in my words. As my time with them was drawing to a close, I asked them a strange question. One meant to test them. “Would it be okay if I took away some of your weapons before the war?” And do you know what those soldiers did? They cheered. They high-fived one another as if my offer was the best news of the day. Go to war without weapons?!? Soldiers can be funny, can’t they?
Well, maybe I didn’t phrase the question exactly that way. I think I said, “Would it be okay if I didn’t give you any memory work this week?” And do you know what the 7th and 8th graders did? They cheered. Maybe we are too young in 8th grade to realize that as Christians we are soldiers. We are in a war. Not for freedom or power or oil, but for our souls. Maybe we don’t realize that the Word of God is our only weapon for the fight.
For some people, memorizing Scripture is about as dry as the Judean desert. But Jesus didn’t see it that way. He won his fight by memorizing the Word. And what I love about this text is that Jesus didn’t use any weapons that he hasn’t given us, too. Jesus could have called down angels to duel with the devil, but he didn’t. He could have miraculously floated down a king-sized mattress for his aching back and double-cheeseburgers for his aching stomach, but he didn’t. He could have sent seraphim to duct tape the devil’s mouth shut, but he didn’t. No, when Jesus won his fight versus temptation, he used the very weapon that you hold in your hands and heart and head: The Word of God.
“It is written.” That is the answer to unexpected bouts with temptation. You don’t know when a fight will start. So keep your weapon with you by knowing the Word. Recite it and resist sin. Store up God’s Word in your head and then wield it as a sword when the fight begins. What a powerful, Spirit-filled fighter you could be with this Word on the tip of tongue! For a teenage girl whose boyfriend is getting a bit aggressive or a guy who gets the swimsuit issue in the mail to know, word-for-word, “Flee from sexual immorality…19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit? … Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Cor. 6) Or to suddenly find the ladies being critical and immediately know, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph. 4:29) Or to drive home to a family that just might be having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and remind yourself. “Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Cor. 13:5)
Sometimes the Word is all you got. Sometimes you’re in the desert and hungry and it’s just you and the tempter. No pastor around. No Bible to page through. No parent to call. Sometimes all you have is what’s in your head. Sometimes to resist you have to be able to recite. Is that work? Yes. About as much work as a boxer lacing up his gloves. About as much work as a soldier calibrating her scope. But work helps you win. The recitation helps you resist.
So this is my challenge to you for the sake of your unexpected battles. Memorize a new verse this week. One that connects to a battle you’ve been fighting for a long time. Self-control. Kindness. Generosity. Lust. Whatever fits your battle. Write it on a note card. Stick it in your pocket and glance at it throughout the day. Recite it before you get to work or arrive home or take the field. Recite so you can fight. Recite it so you can win. Recite it so you can resist. Amen.
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