Overcoming Temptation

Prayer

Terrible Temptation

When I was in college I did a summer internship in Los Angeles, California - at a cable channel called Movietime (now E! Entertainment Television).

Raised an interesting question for myself because I found myself in a strange city, not knowing anyone - a couple of thousand miles away from all my usual connections - family, friends, and in particular, my Christian community.

Made me realize that there was no community expectations, all my normal habits, the groups and places I was connected with - gone (for a little while, anyway). I could behave in any way, I’d be gone in three months. No one would know. The people I was meeting in Los Angeles, they didn’t know my background, they didn’t have any expectations.

That dynamic confronted me with the question of my Christian faith and identity - was this something I really believed, that it was core to me, who I was and how I wanted to live, because I believed that Jesus really is Lord and Savior, the Way, the Truth and the Life - and I was committed to following him.

Or had it simply become comfortable, familiar - gave me a place to belong, sense of purpose. I was just living this way because it had become habit and it worked, this is where my friends were.

And it could easily have been replaced had I been elsewhere, had different friends. There’s a line that’s attributed to Groucho Marx that fits here, “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them…well, I have others.”

This idea of When in Rome. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Or, as we’re going to see this morning - When in Egypt, which is where Joseph found himself.

Joseph and the Terrible Temptation

As we continue our journey through the Old Testament, book of Genesis, we left off last week having moved to the next generation of this great nation that God was making with this people God had chosen - the promise had started with Abraham, was passed on to Isaac, then Jacob (or Israel), and now Joseph.

Looked at the terrible family dynamic - Jacob favoring Joseph over all his other brothers, his brothers being jealous and hating him as a result, so much so that they sold him into slavery.

We left the story at the end of Genesis 39, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders and sold as a slave to Potiphar, a royal official, captain of the guard, that’s where we pick up the story in Genesis 39.

Things start off really well for Joseph, or at least as well as it can for someone enslaved, Genesis 39:1-6...

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Note that one of the very first things we learn here is that “the Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered.” This is going to be a major theme in this chapter (it’s stated four times) and throughout the story of Joseph, God’s abiding faithful presence with Joseph. Joseph has abandoned by his brothers, by his own family - but not by God. Never by God.

And because of God’s presence with Joseph, he prospered. Things went well for him - he did well, had great success. So much so that in spite of his youth (remember he was seventeen years old when he was sold into slavery), it did not take long for Potiphar to recognize that there was something special about this young man (namely, the Lord was with him), and Potiphar put him in charge of the entire household - and as a result of doing that, his household prospered. God blesses it all. Considering the circumstances, it’s going well for Joseph.

Sadly, it does not last - we pick up the story in Genesis 39:6-10...

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

So Potiphar’s wife has taken a liking to Joseph, a strong liking, and makes the unabashed invitation, “come to bed with me!” Clearly, she is not being coy about what she wants.

As strong as her come-on is, Joseph is equally strong in his refusal. He turns her down in no uncertain terms. Now, I want to stop for a moment here because I want us to see that this was no easy thing for Joseph. This was a very real and very serious temptation.

Joseph is young and healthy and apparently quite good-looking. There’s no doubt he has healthy sexual desires. Potiphar’s wife is likely an attractive woman, wife of a man with power and influence (which also means that Joseph could gain real favor if he provides her favors).

And then just the sheer tenacity of the temptation - it’s hard to keep saying no to something, particularly something desirable. She keeps coming at him, day after day. All it takes is that one day when he’s feeling lonely, sexual desire is stronger - that one moment of weakness is all it would take for him to cross that line.

To bring it back to my situation in Los Angeles, here he was in an entirely different situation - different culture, he’s socially isolated, away from his family, friends, his faith support (besides, they betrayed him anyway). He could have had sex with Potiphar’s wife and no would care - at least from a moral standpoint (well, no one but Potiphar). There was no community of folks around him that would be discouraging him not to do this. Why the heck not, when in Egypt...

As the story goes on (and I’m just going to summarize here), his refusing to give into temptation does not end well for him - Potiphar’s wife gets very aggressive one day. They are the only two in the house (which seems awfully convenient), and she grabs him by his cloak and once again, “Come to bed with me!”

Danger, Will Robinson, danger! Joseph knows he’s in serious danger here - this is not a “can we talk about this”, moment. It’s time to get the heck out of Dodge - he runs, he flees from temptation. But he makes one fatal flaw - in his hurry he leaves his cloak behind.

Now Potiphar’s wife is not just immoral - she’s clever, quick thinking. She immediately uses cloak against him, calling out to the other household servants for help. Showing them the cloak, “Look, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.”

Notice how she uses Joseph’s ethnicity against him - this Hebrew (Egyptians were suspicious of foreigners), has been brought to us, to make sport of us! This is an act against all of us!

She hangs onto the cloak so that when Potiphar comes home she can immediately show it to him and repeat her story of Joseph trying to take advantage of her. Potiphar is furious (some scholars believe the story suggests he is suspicious of his wife but now he’s caught between a rock and a hard place). Regardless, he immediately has Joseph thrown into the royal prison.

So, Joseph, completely innocent, is sold into slavery. But because of God’s presence and blessing he is raised to be head of Potiphar’s entire household. Then again, though completely innocent, gets thrown into prison because of the false allegations.

But again, God is with Joseph. Chapter ends with God’s blessing on Joseph, even in royal prison. Genesis 39:20-23...But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Greater Good

Spend some time this morning talking about desire, temptation - and how we overcome temptation in order to live out our convictions? Which so often means having to live differently from the world?

Why don’t we just embrace the mentality of “when in Rome” - or Egypt, or Los Angeles? What’s our core conviction that spurs us to say, I will strive to live this way, no matter where I am or who I’m with?

It’s clear what that was for Joseph, it’s revealed when he refuses Potiphar’s wife - listen again to what he says: “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?

Joseph has a lot to teach us there - and this is so important, because we have to acknowledge that there’s something very appealing about sin (otherwise, it wouldn’t be tempting). There’s a reason we fall into it so often, sin always plays on our legitimate desires - that was certainly true in this case with Joseph. But let’s what Joseph had that enabled him to overcome temptation:

First aspect is that we must become more and more convinced of the wrongness of sin. How could I do such a wicked thing…Joseph recognizes that this is a wicked thing - sleeping with this woman who’s offering herself readily to him (woman who’s not his to have), is wrong. Not simply wrong, but harmful, destructive, it brings about death, as all sin does.

There is no “good” sin. Now, there are gradations of sin, some sins are worse than others, some sins cause more destruction, deaden us more, cause more harm to others. But it does not make the less bad ones good. They are still bad. This is an essential point, because we can fool ourselves into thinking our sins are not that bad because they aren’t the “the bad ones”. Are they really hurting anyone? It’s not like I’m stealing or killing anyone.

We excuse things like this all the time - we see pornography as a victimless act (just looking)...pre-marital sex…I’ve forgiven them, I just don’t want to be in relationship with them anymore…willingness to fudge on our taxes (the government takes too much as it is)…we excuse our actions with “that’s just the way I am” or our lack of prioritizing God with “I’m too busy.”

Think about Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. His focus is all abut the greater righteousness - righteousness greater than the Pharisees, which must have shocked the audience because they were the paragons of following the law. But Jesus was challenging them to move out of settling, to recognize the wickedness of their sins - so that they could pursue being truly good.

You have heard it said, do not commit murder. People would have been thinking ok, I’m good there, haven’t done that. Then Jesus springs it on them - but I tell you that anyone who is angry with their brother or sister - they are worthy of judgment. In other words, to harbor anger, contempt towards another person is wicked.

He does the same thing with sexual sin: You have heard it said, do not commit adultery. Hey, I’m good, never cheated on my wife. But I tell you that anyone who has looked on a woman with lust…whoops.

He goes on down the list - how we speak (plain, honest truth), how we pray and fast and give (always unto God, not for the praise of others). And money…money, money, money. Don’t let it be your master, don’t store it up.

Jesus is not settling for us being, you know, pretty good. He wants us free from sin - because he recognizes that even if it’s just within us, lustful desires or anger harbored towards another or that desire for the admiration of others, there’s destruction there. We are seeing people as less than those made in the image of God - and diminishing God himself as the only one truly worthy of our absolutely love and devotion.

There are wicked things - and we are to recognize them as such (and let me be clear, I’m talking about sin here, that’s what is wicked. The moment we start looking at people in that way, we become judgmental, condemning - which is wicked. We should be strong against sin, detest it, see it as wicked - but love people, offer them grace, as Jesus himself did.

Which brings us to the second thing we learn from Joseph.

The second key to Joseph overcoming temptation is the other side of the same coin - it’s not just about avoiding the wicked thing, but pursuing the better, the good - we must have a stronger desire for God than for sin. It’s not just how could I do such a wicked, but also sin against God? My God is too good. He loves me too much. He’s been so faithful to me. He’s so full of beauty and glory - I don’t want to do anything against him, but be for and with him.

Remember the conversation Jesus had with the rich young ruler, the one asking Jesus about eternal life, the one who’d kept all the commandments since childhood? Jesus’ response to him was to tell him to go and sell everything he had and give it to the poor, then come follow him.

Jesus was testing his heart - you’ve lived a moral live, but is your heart for me? Am I your greatest desire - in other words, do you love the Lord your good with all your heart and mind and soul and strength? Or do you love your money more…turns out he did.

The key to overcoming temptation is not simply to resist and when necessary, flee from temptation, but to nurture a greater desire and knowing of God and what life in him offers us. It’s hard to give up things up (even when they’re bad) if you don’t have something better to pursue.

C.S. Lewis puts it this way (Weight of Glory): Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Lewis is saying we sin because we settle. We pursue what we think is so good - because we’re foolish and stubborn and don’t know better. We could experience and know the glory and beauty and joy and goodness of God himself. In other words, we settle for mud pies in the slum when we could be sitting beach side at a beautiful resort.

Joseph, in spite of his difficult circumstances, saw the better. He recognized God’s presence with him. He saw God’s blessings in his life. That sustained him, that gave him the strength to say “no” when serious temptation came along - because he had something greater to say “yes” to - his Lord and God.

Spiritual Disciplines - How do we become people who overcome temptation? Who move further and further away from sin and towards God and his righteousness (seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness…)

What sin are you struggling with? Are you committed to moving out of it? Giving it up? James Bryan Smith - we often continue to struggle with sin because we’re not really committed to giving it up.

Ask God to help you see the sin through his eyes - wicked thing. Grieve over the sin (but lean into God’s love and grace - don’t let Satan make it an opportunity to mire you in guilt and shame). Commit to giving it up. Commit to giving it up by taking serious steps to rid yourself of it.

Take seriously what that might require - it will require forming new habits, some disciplines, to train you into new behavior: An accountability partner - someone you trust whom you can share your struggles with and who would be willing to ask you the hard questions. What would “fleeing temptation” look like for you? Taking a break from social media? Praying for someone you’re angry with? Being attentive to your words?

Do something to simply know and enjoy God this week - to nurture your desire for him.

This thought - times when I’m not feeling like doing my quiet time, silence, reading Scripture, reflecting, prayer…why am I denying myself the opportunity to be with God. No greater good than to be with Jesus, experience his grace, his love, him.

Daily blessings, delight in his gifts. Take time to sit out in creation this week, enjoying the glory of God. Sing praise songs, just a time of praising God.

God is the good. He is the one worth our love and faithfulness and obedience.