Sermon draft 1

Sermon outline:
There once was a couple who wanted to become a family. After having their first child with little trouble, the parents struggled mightily to have a second. Complications always seemed to arise, but four and a half years after having their first, the family had their second child. The newborn was the picture of health for the first couple of weeks but quickly developed an infection that necessitated he be transported back to the hospital. The father, being so worried about his son, visited the child every day and would sing him a song. I would like to play this song now for you:

Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Every time the child heard that song it gave him strength and seemed to draw out illness. The child eventually recovered and became very fond of the song and the story associated with it. To this day, however, I do not know if my father sang that song more for himself or for me. I can see it fitting both of us quite well, my father asking for comfort as he was worried and needed comforting, or my father assuring me that he was by my side. and I can see the struggle that my father faced echoed in stories all around the world. This song gave him comfort and every time he sang it to me as I grew up, I was comforted by the connection and words that were shared in the song.
This song came to mind last night as I sat trying to find ways to talk about the presence of the Holy Spirit in our Gospel reading. The presence of the Holy Spirit rests with Christ in our story of struggle much the way I am sure that the Holy Spirit rested with my father and me in the hospital. But like my father in the hospital, I can see the struggle he faced echoed in stories all around the world. It is in these echoes that I see our Gospel taking on a call to action for us on this day.

Christ was full of it. The Spirit I mean. We too claim the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives in our creed, but are those words to us or do we take them to be the reality of our daily lives? We should see ourselves and one another pulsing with the Spirit of Christ in each breath, but it seems so easy to see each other by our humanity and our pitfalls: we are our houses, we are who we know, and we are our jobs. And when we see each other by our humanity it can be easy to find one another unworthy of our time and our assistance. But the Spirit brings us to the realization that all of us are worthy to be loved by God and that we are led by the Spirit to love one another.
Being led by the Spirit brings us to the next description in our Gospel. Christ is led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The Spirit leads Jesus to a place without food, separated from his family and friends, into isolation for an extended period of time. The Spirit lead Jesus into isolation, and it may seem a little strange: why would the Spirit draw Christ away from people?
I believe it is because this was the true test the humanity of Christ by the devil. This was not a public display of power against Christ by the devil, this was Christ filled with the Spirit, walking down into the viper’s den. Jesus walked into a situation where the devil could tempt his humanity. And so it is that the devil is able to tempt Jesus.
At first blush, these tests do not seem so insidious. Feed yourself, acknowledge the power the devil has over the world, make God deliver on the promises of Psalm 91. But in particular, I see the first test as the big attack by the devil on the humanity of Christ, and it is where I would like us to focus.
The situation is pretty clear: Jesus is hungry and has the power and authority to create bread from rocks, so the devil asks, ‘why not?’ This wouldn’t be the first time God has done something like this: miraculous feedings are something that happens throughout the Scriptures and not just by God directly, but by agents of God as well, and Christ would even perform a similar feat later in his ministry. What’s the issue here?
We should ask ourselves, what is driving the request by the devil? Is it to test Christ’s ability to manipulate matter and energy? No. Is it to test the capacity for Christ to live without food? No, I don’t think that is it either. What the devil is really testing Christ about is the willingness of Christ to go against God and sate the human hunger at the expense of stepping away from God’s will

Christ walks into the den of the devil, is tempted by the devil personally, and denies the devil at each opportunity for sin. Christ does this so effectively, and seemingly so easily. With this defeating of the devil achieved so swiftly, it can be really hard to try and see ourselves in this story. I mean, I know I do not have an easy time denying temptation of a frozen Twix bar after dinner, let alone more serious and consequential issues.

Where are we in the story? The writer of Luke states that the kingdom of the earth is in the possession of the devil, and judging by the looks of things in the modern times, it can certainly seem that way. But I do not see us merely in the world that is overrun with sin, human evil, hunger, poverty, war, pollution and a dying and drying up planet. I see us in this wilderness too. I see us powered by the Holy Spirit drawing us into experiencing the struggle of the world, into the modern day devil’s den. Our world is a technological wilderness, a digital desert, and a place of struggle with sin. But we must remember that as children of God we have been empowered with the Holy Spirit, just as Christ was at His baptism. In the Spirit, we are led into this wilderness of our world to be tempted in many of the same ways. We too pray for things such as an end to hunger, world peace, and for a safe and healthy life. What motivates us to pray for these things?
But I would ask us: why do we pray for these things? Do we believe that world hunger can only be solved by God with a wavy of the heavenly hand over the crops of the earth? Do we pray for peace by conquest or by freedom and liberty our way and no other way? Do we pray for a safe and healthy life but turn around and think nasty thoughts about our friends and family and cut one another down?

Rob Bell, in a DVD titled “Prayer” puts forth the wonderfully simple statement: Don’t pray for God to end hunger if you have food to share. Jesus was right folks, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Humanity has the capability to feed itself, but people die of hunger every day. How does this happen? So quickly that crafty devil continues to draw us away from God’s command to live by and for God alone by saying to ourselves, “We have bread, but we cannot share what we have because we need bread for tomorrow, so let us pray that God will give more bread for everyone else.” My friends, we are in this wilderness together with the Spirit for reasons just like this. We walk in this wilderness to stand alongside and to struggle with those who hunger physically and spiritually and to feed one another. Let us not create more bread for ourselves, but let us share the bread that we have been given at a meal and in conversation with each other about God. We are in this wilderness with the Spirit and we have the ability to walk with each other in our pains and our sorrows of loss and want.
And I think this is where we are supposed to be. Christ walked into the wilderness and to the cross living the abundant reality of the presence of God in our lives. And I see Christ walking amongst us when we walk with each other in our struggles and pain. When we create a community that lives and breathes with the Spirit, we can see the devil and sin failing at each temptation and falling back. Christ came back from the wilderness and continued to push away temptation and draw closer to God. May we be continually empowered by the Spirit to do the same in our daily living.