Matthew 4:1-11                                          First Sunday of Lent

 College students are warned about the “freshman fifteen.” I gained thirty, and spent the rest of college working it off. But even after it was off, I still had moments when I knew I was eating compulsively. I had an insatiable desire for the pleasure of food in my mouth and the security of fullness in my stomach. I can remember eating while questioning myself, “Why are you doing this? Stop!” I would say to myself, but the ever-dissatisfied eating monster had a grip on me. And when the guilt crept in, the dissatisfaction with myself got worse and I ate more.

 The eating battle is hard on self, but the drinking battle and the promiscuity battle damage self and others. While different battles, all are connected to our inability to tame the need for physical pleasure. Some of us can cloak our bad eating habits better than others because we have a high metabolism. And because of that, we should never assume we know who is battling what. Some of us can cloak our bad drinking habits because we don’t have the chemical predisposition to alcoholism. Some of us can cloak our bad lusting habits, because of the internet where eye and mind can go wherever they want with the click of a mouse.

 We also have a runaway need for emotional well-being. At the heart of our emotional needs is the need for recognition. Some people think we’ve gone too far in giving recognition and praise for every little achievement in children’s lives. The runaway need for recognition is so great that kids who are not recognized for positive achievements and attributes will often seek recognition for negative behavior. And some of us adults are very subtle in the ways we seek recognition. I know this well. I don’t have to blow my own horn. That’s an obnoxious way of getting recognition. I can just quietly whistle my tune, rather than yours, a subtle means of getting people to pay more attention to me than you, to respect me more than you. It is devilishly subtle.

 We are tempted by physical pleasures, we are tempted to be egomaniacs, and we are tempted to seek power and wealth at all costs to others. The degree to which power and wealth are idolized in our culture makes us blind to the evil of our ways. How can we possibly think that it is okay for a typical American family to spend $340 on food each week – restaurants and groceries, while a typical African village family spends $1.23 each week. Is it right for us to waste the world’s resources while others have so little? Can we resist the evil one whispering in our ear we are helpless to make any changes to improve this situation? We have made gods of power and wealth. We worship them unabashedly.

 Yet God forgives and loves us with an everlasting love, just as we are, but wants us, for our own sake and for the sake of others, to be better than we are, to be more like Jesus. Hear now the story of Jesus’ temptation and how he combats temptation with scripture.
 

 ^NRS Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards 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, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 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, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"  ⁷ Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  ⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; ⁹ and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." ¹⁰ Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" ¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
 

 Jesus was tested in his body – the temptation to let physical desires lure him away from pleasing God. He was tested in his soul – the temptation to let emotional desires lure him. away from pleasing God. He was tested in his spirit – the temptation to claim power and wealth and to worship them rather than worship God and giving God authority and power over life.

 But Jesus did not succumb to these temptations. He resisted the devil with scripture. He resisted the evil monsters of self-gratification, egomania, and greed. He resisted abusing his power and satisfying his self-oriented passions by quoting scripture. Jesus had learned to love the scriptures well. There were no Hebrew Bibles in
people’s homes like this. Jesus did not have a paper manuscript to study. He had learned the Scriptures of his people by hearing and by memorizing. They were internalized in him, such that when he needed strength, he could call on them. The devil used scripture too, but he used it for selfish purposes, taking verses out of context, and spinning them the way he wanted them to go. Jesus used scripture to combat temptation. He was secured by the love and protection of God, his Father, so he did not need to seek self-gratification. He did not need people to stroke his ego. He was not consumed by the desire for more power and wealth.

 Jesus was scripturally strong. That’s what I want for you and for me and for all who call themselves Christian. Strength in the scriptures. We have to immerse ourselves in them to find our strength in them. We have to read them.

 Stephen Prothero, author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn’t was interviewed this week by NPR on the issue of Huckabee’s overuse of Biblical allusions. NPR and Prothero were making the case that most listeners, even Christians, do not have any idea what he is talking about when he mentions five loaves and two fish feeding the multitudes, or a widow’s mite, or a smooth stone being used to slay a large opponent. Prothero said even though 2/3 of Americans believe the Bible holds the answers to most of life’s most basic questions, 1/2 of all Americans, Christians included, can not name the four Gospels nor do they know that Genesis is the first book in the Bible. 90% of American teens cannot name five world religions. We are arrogant and ignorant when it comes to religion.

 Now being able to name Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John does not mean that you have been shaped by the messages in those four Gospels. But if you can name them, then when you decide to read, you are more confident in finding your way to the messages contained in those Gospels. I wonder how many of you have opened a Bible this week, this year? If you don’t know how to begin, go to the Disciple Bible Class and get started.

 On January 20^th  when we met in the park, I bought journal books and encouraged you to start reading the Psalms and journaling about your life with God. Have you been reading the Psalms? Why not read the Gospel of Matthew, our Gospel for this year? Or read Philippians or read Romans. Get a new Bible. I’ll help. Just ask. Start reading. Use the devotional websites listed on the back of the bulletin.

 You will still have trial and tempations. We are tempted all the time to abuse the power God has given us. We have the power to hurt one another, badly. We have the power to use our resources selfishly, rather than giving generously because we have compassion toward those who have less than us. We also have the power to change this world, to make it a better place, but it all begins with resisting the temptation to abuse the power we have, to be selfish, to please ourselves. Resist the devil of temptation, the evil that lurks at every corner of life (in the tv ad, asking you to buy yourself more cars, clothes, and beauty supplies that you don’t need), in the kitchen cabinet and the grocery store, where food and alcohol call you to a life of abuse and regret. Resist the devil of temptation, the evil monster, which invites you to mistreat people, to function out of a angry or egotistical mindset. Resist the evil monster which says you can have whatever you want, if you have the money to buy it. It is just not Christian to think you can have everyone you want. Resist the evil one. Resist not by dwelling on your problem with desire, but by dwelling on the love of God which satisfies every need and fills every longing and heals every wound. Jesus Christ has faced temptation and given us the power to combat it.  Scripture.