Loving God, you make us your own in baptism and declare us to be your beloved children.  Help us to believe what you have said and to experience the joy of having been forgiven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    I’m wondering this morning – what is the first thing that comes to mind for you when you hear the word temptation? [What are the kinds of things that tempt us?] [possible responses: desserts, chocolate, addictions, food, sexual temptation, buying stuff] These are some of the things that come to mind for us.  However, given today’s readings, I have to wonder if the real temptation is something far more insidious: the temptation not to believe God.

    This is perhaps most obvious in the temptation of Jesus, as it is related by Matthew.  In fact, just before today’s gospel, Jesus is baptized, and a voice from heaven has just proclaimed: “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt. 3:17).  God has declared Jesus to be his beloved Son, and Satan comes along and says, “Really?  Did God really mean that?”  “If you are the Son of God,” prove it!  “Command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Mt. 4:3).

    It is in Jesus’ response from Scripture that we hear Jesus choosing to believe what God has said.  “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt. 4:4).  This word -- that has very recently come from the mouth of God – says that Jesus is the Son of God.  No miraculous production of bread is needed.  God’s word is enough.

    As the temptation of Jesus continues, Satan persists in challenging Jesus’ identity as the Son of God.  The second temptation is much the same as the first, except for the fact that now Satan is quoting Scripture as well.  He is still basically saying, “If you are the Son of God, prove it!”  However, once again, God’s word is enough for Jesus.  The same goes for Satan’s proposal that invites Jesus to give up being the Son of God in order to be “king of the world” instead.  Jesus’ identity as the beloved Son of God is enough.  No worldly glory is needed.

    However, in our first reading today, we have the contrast to Jesus.  For Adam and Eve, God’s word is not enough, and they choose not to believe God.  In this case, the word that is recorded in Genesis goes like this:

You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die (Gen. 2:16).

It might be important to add that these trees in the garden included the tree of life, as well as every tree that is beautiful and good for food (Gen. 2:9).

    Once again Satan comes along and says, “Really? Did God really say not to eat from this one tree?”  “You won’t die,” says Satan.  “You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).  In other words, “Don’t believe what God says.  You can be gods yourselves.  You don’t need to live as God’s children.”  And with that, Adam and Eve step out of their relationship with God and decide to go it on their own.  Thus begins sin and death.

    Perhaps the greatest temptation to face any of us is also not to believe God.  In our case, we may not have Satan appearing to us or serpents talking to us, but the message comes to us from so many different sources that we don’t have to see him.  Through advertising, and through TV, and perhaps even through other people, we are constantly being told that we are not enough.  We are not thin enough, or not rich enough, or not good-looking enough.  We don’t have a big enough house, or a fast enough car, or enough toys in our garage.  Whatever we look like, whatever our talents are, whatever we have, we are always hearing and seeing messages that tell us that it is not enough.

    However, God’s word to us is that we are enough.  In fact, we are more than enough – each one of us is a beloved child of God.  And so, at those times when we are feeling inadequate, or unworthy, or like we are simply not enough, are we going to believe God’s word for us or not?  God’s word for us is one of grace and love.  God says to each one of us that we are worthy of love, dignity and respect.  God says this to us when we are baptized into Christ.

    This past week, on Ash Wednesday, we received crosses on our foreheads marked with ashes.  As we received the ashes, we were reminded, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  The ashes are a reminder of our own sinfulness and mortality.  They remind us of what we share through Adam and Eve.  However, baptism reminds us of what we share through Christ.

    When we are baptized, there is also a cross marked on our foreheads that reminds us of another reality: “Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.”  We are sinners, it is true – but the baptismal cross washes off the ashes – a marvelous gift of God’s grace.

    It is said that Martin Luther often doubted that he was good enough or worthy enough for heaven.  There were times when he didn’t know if he had done enough good works in order to make himself acceptable to God.  It is also said that when Luther found himself having such doubts, he would say, “Away with you, Satan!  I am baptized!”  In other words, he was reminding himself that God has declared him to be more than enough – a precious child of God.

    God has also declared us to be God’s own precious children – worthy of love and dignity and respect.  So are we going to believe God, or not?  Certainly, all of those messages are there that cause us to doubt and that tell us that we are not enough.  However, our baptism into Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit give us the ability to live out of our relationship with God, knowing that we don’t have to believe all of those other messages that we hear.

    When we start thinking that we’re not good-looking enough or talented enough or rich enough or fit enough or smart enough, we can talk back to those messages just like Martin Luther did.  “Away with you Satan!  I am baptized!”  We don’t need to perform miracles to prove it.  We don’t need to handle snakes or to speak in tongues or to do a certain number of good deeds in order to prove it.  Instead, we are free to live as God’s precious children, experiencing the joy of having been forgiven, and secure in the knowledge of God’s love.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

First Sunday in Lent (A)                        Matthew 4:1-11
March 9, 2014                            Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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