Cultivating Devotion & Letting Go of Personal Profit and Power

Cultivating Devotion & Letting Go of Personal Profit and Power

Luke 4:1-13

          Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" 

          Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."  Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" 

          Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Unless it had come to the mind of Jesus, he would not have been tempted.   By what are we tempted?  We are tempted by an action that gets us to our goals.  Think with me for a moment about a common goal that many of us have, Weight loss.  Over and over again we are encouraged to drop that extra weight that we carry.  Our doctors encourage us to have a Body Mass Index of 28 or lower for a man and 25 for a woman.  A BMI higher then 28 or 25 is overweight.  The statistical odds of having type two diabetes increases dramatically with higher BMI’s.  Heart disease and stroke dramatically increase with higher BMI’s.  Then, there is Madison Avenue and the great weight-loss industrial complex.  Our marketing and retail sectors preach youthful slender bodies.  A great deal of shaming pours into our thoughts for health reasons and social reasons driving the goal of weight loss.  

What would you do to lose weight and quiet the voices of shame? What means are you tempted to use to gain your goal?  Are you willing to risk your life?   Are you willing to starve yourself?  Are you willing to change your diet?  Are you willing to undergo surgery?  Are you willing to obtain your goal to the degree you are tempted to risk your life? An Upwards mom sustained catastrophic organ failure resulting from a mixture of ketosis and diabetes related to a “diet.”   A younger woman from a previous church I served had gastric bypass surgery with complications that resulted in her untimely death.   Another woman from a church I served years ago had laparoscopic surgery to remove fat from her body and became septic.  We had her funeral less than two weeks from the day of surgery. Are you willing to risk bulimia or anorexia to gain your goal?  Millions of people do lose the weight and minimize their health risks and look healthy without falling to the temptations of the extra-ordinary means.  These people devote themselves to a lifestyle to sustain a healthy body.  They practice the daily choices in diet, exercise and rest to give their bodies the best opportunity to maximize its health potential.  Hear the word, “devotion.”  

I started by saying unless it had come to the mind of Jesus, he would not have been tempted.  You cannot be tempted by that which you do not think about doing.  When Jesus was tempted, Jesus choose devotion.  

In my opening illustration, I spoke of being tempted to gain a healthy body by cutting corners and quick fixes rather than being devoted to simple moment by moment, day by day, choices.  For the most part, we experience the consequences personally or our consequences are shared by our close friends and family.  However, for Jesus the stakes were much higher.  

What do I mean?  Luke writes, “The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"  First of all, yes, Jesus is hungry.  Fasting creates cravings in the body for food.  Spiritual fasting, as in medical fasting, creates cravings.  In the spiritual fast, the person changes their interpretation of the craving. Whereas in the medical fast, the goal is to delay having food in the digestive track so that testing may occur, in the spiritual fast the person interprets the craving to be for God and can only be satisfied by God.   Think emptying the body so that one may be filled by God.  

Secondly, I have not understood Jesus ever to be concerned for himself.  Jesus always has a greater good in his mind.  To be “famished” as Luke puts it, allows for him to feel the hunger that so many poor feel. He will go from these temptations to preach the kingdom of God bringing good news to the poor.  The best news to the hungry poor may be, “Come and get it! Food is on the table!”  How may the son of the living God satisfy the cravings of the hungry poor, simply by turning stones into bread!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.  In the desert, there are a lot of stones.  The Wilderness of Sin becomes the Wonderland of Bread.  People would be able eat bread until they could eat no more. Jesus must have considered this as an option before the devil could use it as a temptation.  

Jesus chose devotion over the profit and power of the quick fix.  Yes, he could have gained much personal power.  Yes, he could have had tremendous personal profit had he simply set-up the Holy Spirit Bagel Brigade and given everyone free food.  Jesus’ goal was not so much a full belly, but a devoted heart. He chose to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God.  Bring people to the saving grace of God and see what happens.  Having heard the good news, people bring forward what they have to share.  Jesus multiplies the offering to meet the needs of the hungry crowd with leftovers. 

You see, with Moses at the helm of a tough skinned people God did give bread from heaven into the desert for them to eat.  The people ate to their capacity every morning.  The experiment did not result in people being deeply devoted to God.  The experiment resulted in people complaining about the menu.  Check it out in the 16^thchapter in the book of Exodus.  Jesus choose devotion to the word of God over a new manna from heaven.  Jesus did feed the multitudes after the kingdom of God worked in the hearts of people to share what little they had.  God then met their need through multiplication of faithfully given resources. Jesus chose devotion over profit and power.  Israel is unfaithful - Jesus is faithful, Deuteronomy 8:3, “He humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you the manna that neither you nor your ancestors had ever experienced, so he could teach you that people don’t live on bread alone.  No, they live based on whatever the Lord says.”

Luke continues his record of Jesus’ temptation, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."  Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"  This may well have been an option that occurred to Jesus.  After all, unless it had come into Jesus mind, Jesus would not have been tempted by it.  Think how much good Jesus would be able to do if he were the one in charge of all of the major metropolitan areas and all of the countries of the world. Every civilization would sync up to the same plan of action.  Yet, that would be some type of religious fascism.  We see this type of authoritarian theocracy throughout history.  It mimics Israel’s desire for a human king rather than God as their king.  

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Whenever the religious authorities have taken over a government, inquisitions, witch hunts, public stonings and lynchings occur. People divide and damn those who have contrary opinions, those who look different, who act different.  One example, from the eleventh century, is when the religious leaders in Europe create a crusade to free Jerusalem from the Muslims.   These crusaders landed on the shores of north Africa to advance upon Palestine. They murdered and raped in village after village to destroy the infidels.  Only when they stopped to regroup did they realize that they had laid wasted to Christian communities that had been peacefully living in the land of Jesus for a thousand years.  The crusaders and the victims all had the same faith – differed in culture. 

Jesus rejects theocratic fascism for devotion through worship.  Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 6:3.  Authoritarian rule does not create a heart that worships.  Worship comes by devotion.  Devotion comes by experiencing the saving grace and goodness of the kingdom of God as it draws near.  Today, billions of people freely choose to worship God through Jesus Christ.  More people worship God today then existed in all of human history up to the time of Jesus, 2000 years ago.  Not because they have to worship God; but because they want to worship God.  Jesus chose devotion over profit and power. 

Luke continues, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  The devil is quoting Psalm 91:11-12.  Knowing scripture and being faithful are two different things. In Jesus day dreams in the desert, I can imagine him thinking that he needs to do something really sensational to get people’s attention.

However, unless it had come to the mind of Jesus, he would not have been tempted.   Taking a swan dive from the highest building in Jerusalem unto a stony street and landing with the lightest step of an Olympic gymnast would wake people up to his presence and his power.  Especially, if he performed his high dive during festival times.  Of course, he would not be able to do it once, he would have to make a regular routine of jumping in front of different crowds each festival.  People would soon get bored of his dives and he would have to up his game.  Maybe jumping into a boiling cauldron of oil. Maybe jumping through fiery rings. Maybe jumping blindfolded and chained. The human appetite for sensation has an adaptive response always needing something more stimulating to get the same affect.  

Jesus responds again with devotion, rejecting the power and profit of sensationalism.  Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 6:16.  Jesus lives a life that does not test God.  Jesus devotes himself to God.  Even when circumstances demand Jesus life.  Jesus follows through on his commitment.  Yes, he asks that the cup be taken from him. Yes, he sweats blood thinking about the torture that will come.  Yes, he cries out to God the words of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cannot get to the resurrection unless there is a corpse to resurrect.  Now, you want to talk about an act that no big top can match, how about that empty tomb?  Jesus chooses devotion over profit and power.
Unless it had come to the mind of Jesus, he would not have been tempted.   Unless it had come to your mind, you would not be tempted.  Like Jesus, even when we are led into the wilderness by the Spirit and face temptation- the Spirit remains with us to guide us.  The ends do not justify the means.  Jesus makes food to feed the hungry, he does great deeds of power and risks everything even unto death, but when he does these things it is always for the glory of God or neighbor - not for his own glory.  We are in the days of Lent.  These are the 40 great days of going into the wilderness with Jesus.  Not “if” but “when” you are tempted, cultivate devotion.  Let go of profit making and power.  God will do the rest.