This Week's Sermons

Sermons for the Month
"Go There; Don't Go There"
DATE: March 1, 1998
SERVICE: Lent 1
TEXT: Luke 4:1-13

"To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

One person's favorite pasttime easily can be another's worst nightmare. Compare a friend with a bad fear of heights with a buddy who thinks nothing beats the thrill of skydiving. Try to suggest caving (spelunking) to your favorite claustrophobic and see what kind of reaction you get. Urge your non-swimming, water-terrified friend to go white water rafting with you.

Of course all these examples are based on a phobic-fear of something in life that we can't control. For a really bad time based on a perfect mismatching of abilities and enjoyment, try inviting a directionally-challenged friend for a weekend of "orienteering." "Orienteering" is a sport of following directions, taking accurate compass readings, and moving about a mapped-out course with precision, speed and an unerring sense of where you are at all times. For some people it's like a treasure hunt, a mental contest, and a great hike all wrapped into one. In short, they love it.

For those incapable of determining north from nowhere, and who still depend on landmarks to get home, nothing sounds more torturous than spending an entire day intentionally trying to follow directions like "proceed for one-quarter mile at eight degrees southwest of the previous checkpoint." For some, orienteering has made a sport out of the arts and sciences of navigation. But for the directionally disabled, it is nothing but an endless litany of "go there . . . no, don't go there."

Those without an inborn sense of direction have to work consciously at developing the requisite skills and senses to find their way in the world. To be guided about the physical terrain, people have invented a series of ever-more sophisticated navigational tools. Sonar readouts have replaced sextants among sailors. Precise computer imaging has made compasses obsolete in a pilot's cockpit. Instead of navigating by the stars, soldiers now use infrared night goggles to find their way. And some cars now come with a Global Positioning Satellite system with hookup capability to ensure that you take the right turn on your journey.

All these advancements are giving us more detailed pictures of our world and where we stand in it. They let us know with more and more accuracy when we should "go there" and when the data declares "don't go there." Thankfully, for those with no physical sense of direction, there is an unerring method for determining how we should direct our moral behavior for guiding the growth of our soul. Divine guidance is given to us in the scriptures, which have been at our disposal for thousands of years. The only "addition" came about two millennia ago with the advent of Jesus the Christ Ñ God-in-our-midst.

Today's "temptation text" demonstrates how Jesus himself found nothing more necessary than Scripture to defend himself against the devilish assaults he encountered in these wilderness tests. Jesus remains wholly obedient to the words of faith and trust first revealed to the Israelites as they struggled to find direction in the wilderness. Although the devil repeatedly tries to lure him into taking advantage of his godhead status, Jesus steadfastly refuses to usurp the Father's authority for his own benefit.

We've all found ourselves in the middle of a conversation when our intuition has suddenly warned us that the next line to be uttered will take us someplace we don't want to go. If we want to stay safe and not step into the middle of something we will be sorry for later, we "don't go there" or we chide the speaker, "Don't go there." Likewise, each of us has walked into a room and felt the chill wind of unwelcome and beat a hasty retreat. We don't need a flashing sign to tell us "Don't go there."

But sometimes life can seem ambiguous. Our intuition fails us, or the trespasses into treacherous territory appear so harmless or attractive or even sensible that we don't see what could go wrong if we "go there."

It couldn't hurt to skip out of work, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to fudge the numbers, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to take on this rich but sleazy client, just this once.

It couldn't hurt not to tell my spouse where I've really been, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to take out my frustrations on the kids, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to focus only on the bottom line, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to act now, pray later, just this once.

It couldn't hurt to leave God's law and Christ's love out of my decision-making loop, just this once.

Although some situations may seem to challenge our commitment to God's authority in tiny, even inconsequential ways, for Jesus there was no such thing as being "kind of" obedient to God. We are either "for God or against God." If even our shaky human intuition can accurately inform us when we should ". . . go there" and ". . . don't go there" in many situations, how much more should we trust the word of God and the witness of Christ to reliably guide us at all times and in all situations!

Despite our high-tech world, high-octane lifestyles, high-stress jobs, and the high-risk stakes that challenge us today, the temptations we face are still surprisingly the same as those three insidious "tests" the devil put before Jesus in the wilderness. Turning a stone into bread, that is, when we use our special gifts or special status to obtain benefits solely for ourselves without considering the impact these actions would have on others or on God's plans for the world.

Does our "specialness" as Americans make our insatiable appetite for consuming more and more goods, using more and more of the rest of the world's resources, limiting the possibilities for growth and health in numerous undeveloped countries, justifiable? Aren't we guilty of being successfully tempted into turning this earth into our own personal "loaf of bread?"

Worshipping and serving a power other than God, that is, giving final authority and ultimate control to a force, an individual, a group or an ideal in our life other than the word and World of God. The devils that usurp God's authority in our world today rarely appear with cloven hooves or pointy tails. Instead, we worship and give our primary allegiance to such gods as building up our social status, satisfying our craving for new and ever more thrilling experiences, believing that more is always better, needing to feel in control, in charge, and on the top of the heap at all times. We are guilty of having been successfully tempted into worshiping all these demanding devils, leaving service and devotion to God's authority on a far back burner.

Putting God to the test, that is, putting requirements on our faithfulness, "checking up" on the power and presence of God in our life. Does your faith have faith? Or is it only as strong as the last demonstration of God's power you can pinpoint in your life? Faith is faith because it does not demand God perform on cue, because it believes in God's promises, because it accepts that God's presence is always at hand, no matter what our circumstances or challenges.

Jesus was an orienteer who clearly was comfortable with the unerring sense of direction which Scripture provides. With God's word, we, too, can know the difference between "Go there," and "Don't go there."

AMEN