Sermon Tone Analysis

Allow me to begin by sharing a true story with you of my wilderness experience.

When I was in high school, I joined the air cadets and was a member for four years.

During each summer I was able to travel or experience some aspect of military life with my fellow cadets.

The first two summers were trips from Saskatchewan to Sea Island to stay at the air force base for a few weeks.

However, the third summer before my senior year in high school I was selected with other cadets to attend a bush survival training course in the foothills of Alberta.

We started our training at CFB Namao near Edmonton.

But after the classroom training, we were transferred to the wilds of Alberta to simulate surviving a plane crash and fending for ourselves with tents made of parachute material.

We had no food supplies and had to live on leaves, berries, and any edible mushrooms we could find.

I have never drawn upon that training in the many years since high school but if I were thrust into a survival situation like that, I feel able to survive the rigours of the wilderness experience.

Now, we are not gathered to learn how to survive in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, but have you ever considered your Christian journey as a wilderness experience?

At first blush you may reject the notion that we are in the wilderness, but the metaphor is accurate and has support from scripture.

Eph.

6:12 (NIV)

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Surviving in a wilderness is no picnic whether it is a literal, physical wilderness somewhere on this earth or whether it is a metaphorical wilderness that the apostle Paul describes as a dark world where Satan prowls like some fierce lion.

But we have a savior who survived the wilderness and the devil's attacks and is with us in our modern wilderness.

We can review Jesus' wilderness story in today's scripture reading in Luke's gospel, chapter 4, verses 1 through 13 (ESV)

4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

And he ate nothing during those days.

And when they were ended, he was hungry.

3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'"

5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.

7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God,

and him only shall you serve.'"

9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,

"'He will command his angels concerning you,

to guard you,'

11 and

"'On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

12 And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Saying "no" can be hard.

Even the slightest request by another is hard to say no to because we hate to disappoint.

Or we may fear our "no" will create conflict or tension in our relationship.

Sometimes, this hesitancy to say "no" gets us saying "yes" to things that may overextend us or obligate us to something that is not fitting.

Been there?

The next time someone asks you to do something you need to say "no" to, but you are tempted to say "yes," here's something that may help: remember, that in every "no" there may be a corresponding "yes."

For example, saying "no" to an invitation to hang out with friends after work may be because you are saying "yes" to spending time with your family.

Or perhaps a "no" to help a loved one out of a jam is a "yes" to help them face the consequences of poor choices.

And a "no" to that desperate plea for a donation to a charitable cause, could be your "yes" to providing for your own family.

This may be helpful, but we also admit, every "no" doesn't always have a well-meaning "yes" as the motive.

Still, it introduces a consideration that I would like to begin our message with.

And that is, what is the "yes" behind Jesus' "no?"

This will be a good question to consider as we go through the story of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness.

In this one story, we hear Jesus say "no" three times as a significant part of the gospel of Luke.

This account appears in all three synoptic Gospels.

It will also be a good question to consider as we begin the Season of Easter Preparation (commonly referred to as Lent) today.

Easter Preparation is a season that carries a theme of repentance and confession.

In other words, it's a season of saying "no" with a corresponding "yes."

As we come to know the Lord, who he is and what he has done for us, we learn to repent, or say "no" to all that is not fitting in our relationship with him, ourselves, and one another.

This repentance is also a confession, or a "yes" to all the Lord reveals to us.

We come to agree, or confess, who he is and his word to us, while turning from all that is not fitting to who he is, and his word spoken to us.

So, with that in mind, let's get into the story as Luke tells it.

Luke 4:1-2 (ESV)

4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

And he ate nothing during those days.

And when they were ended, he was hungry.

First, we see that Jesus is returning from the Jordan.

For context, Luke has led up to this story with Jesus' baptism as well as the inclusion of Jesus' genealogy.

Both of these set the stage for the temptations the devil is about to assault Jesus with in the wilderness.

In Jesus' baptism the Father claims Jesus as his own Son.

And the genealogy is constructed to work backward to Adam with the conclusion that Jesus is the "son of God."

With the combination of these two elements Luke has established Jesus' identity as the Son of God.

It is at this point in Luke's gospel that the devil will try to tempt Jesus to doubt this very thing.

We should take note that this story about Jesus is also a story we are wrapped up in.

Jesus didn't face the devil for his own sake, he faced and defeated him for us.

Luke tells us that Jesus was "led by the Spirit in the wilderness."

So, the devil is not running the show here.

Facing the devil in the wilderness is part of Jesus' ministry initiated by the Spirit.

Jesus is facing our temptations, and he is doing it as the one who has assumed our human nature.

Jesus has given us a victory that we can participate in by the Spirit.

Without Jesus and his Spirit, we would never even put up a fight against the devil and his schemes.

It is noteworthy that the devil launches his attack right after Jesus' baptism.

Jesus has just heard the voice of his Father claiming him as his own Son.

The first thing the devil wants to do is get Jesus to doubt this voice.

This is the same temptation the devil put to Adam and Eve in the Garden.

It worked the first time, but it will not work against Jesus.

Jesus is undoing Adam's failure in the Garden by refacing the devil on the devil's own turf, the wilderness.

This time, it will not be Adam who is banished.

The devil will be the one "departing."

As Christians, we should be mindful of the devil's tactics.

Note, I did not say fearful; I said mindful.

If you are a new believer recently baptized, expect the devil to tempt you to doubt God's word to you.

For those of us who have been following the Lord for many years, the devil still rushes to challenge any word the Lord speaks to us.

We must not assume that the devil is idle and doesn't care whether we trust the Lord or not.

No, the devil aims all his tactics and cunning at the one who is hearing and receiving God's word.

The sooner he can get us to doubt God's word, the better in his diabolical eyes.

We should not be naïve and think that in our walk with God, we will never find ourselves in the wilderness or without temptation.

If it happened to our Lord, we can expect it will happen to us.

But Jesus has paved the way.

He has already-in our stead-gained victory over the devil and his temptations.

This means we are not on our own when we find ourselves in the wilderness facing intense temptation.

And, we know in the end, the devil will flee.

As Jesus is led into the desert to face the devil, we are told that he fasted for forty days.

This has Old Testament references that remind us of Israel and Moses wandering for 40 years in the desert.

This detail can also give us the impression that Jesus faced the devil running on empty.