Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on February 10, 2008
(First Sunday in Lent, Year A, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Genesis 2:4b-9,15-17,25-3:7
Psalm 51 or 51:1-13
Romans 5:12-19(20-21)
Matthew 4:1-11

When I was four years of age, Mom and Dad gave us children a Bible that was geared to our age group complete with very detailed pictures. Printed in comic book format, they were not cartoons but very realistic black and white drawings. Not being able to completely read, I spent hours looking at the pictures trying to figure out what was happening in any particular story.

One of the most memorable to me was the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. In this vignette, the tempter, Satan, the devil, whatever you want to call him, was depicted as this shadowy figure. All of his features including his robes were dark yet transparent, giving the appearance of a quasi-visible being, present yet not totally there. In three out of the four drawings that Satan was present, he was standing just behind or next to Jesus, and I was struck by the fact that Satan resembled Jesus not only in stature but in facial characteristics, too.

For years after, I continued to revisit this story in that Bible and ponder the meaning behind having Satan resemble Jesus, and I finally came to the conclusion that as the great deceiver, and the father of lies, Satan can resemble whomever he chooses but he can look like each and every one of us especially when we are in the process of making a decision between doing something right and doing something wrong. It really isn’t that far off from having the little angel and the little devil sitting on opposing shoulders, and even though both are dressed differently with different countenances, both look like the individual attempting to make the decision. I think this tactic works well for Satan because for the most part everyone trusts themselves, and if Satan can get us to do his will by resembling someone we trust, such as ourselves, then that would explain why everyone makes bad decisions throughout their lives.

I’m not sure if this has any bearing on the Gospel story, and I certainly don’t want to suggest that Satan only exists within us. If anything, I guess it could be seen as a warning to never underestimate the deceptive nature of Satan. We must never overestimate him either, and give him power that doesn’t belong to him. But he can and will do whatever it takes to deceive us into doing something contrary to God’s will. As one commentary puts it, God brings us to the test but it’s Satan who tempts us.

Looking back at what I just said, I noticed something that struck me. Earlier I said, “If Satan can get us to do his will.” Then later I said, “He can and will do whatever it takes to deceive us into doing something contrary to God’s will.” Satan’s will is for us to do whatever it is to be contrary to God’s will. For example, whatever God wants us to do, Satan wants the opposite. But he is clever and won’t come right out and defy God by telling us to do the opposite. He deceives us into making the decision on our own. Today’s Old Testament lesson illustrates this perfectly. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat the fruit from any tree in the garden except the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and if they did then they would die. Now Satan, in the form of a serpent, didn’t say “Go ahead and eat it!” That would’ve been too easy. Even child-like Adam and Eve wouldn’t have done that even if the serpent had double-dog dared them. No, he was more subtle. He said, “Did God say that you couldn’t eat anything from the trees in the garden?” “No, we can eat of any tree in the garden except that one over there. If we eat of that one then God says we will die. In fact, if we even touch it, we will die.” “Oh no, you won’t die. God’s just pulling your leg. He knows that if you eat of that tree, you’ll be more like Him because you will know good and evil.” So Eve takes a closer look and sees that the fruit does look very edible. In fact, the fruit becomes her sole focal point; she can’t take her eyes from it. “And you know, a mind is a terrible thing to waste. What could a little bit more knowledge hurt. Besides, wisdom is a good thing.” And the next thing you know, she’s eating the forbidden fruit and so is Adam. By the deceptive power of suggestion, they talked themselves into doing what they already knew to be wrong.

Now as important as this story is too humanity, it is still too limiting as to what Satan can do in order to tempt us. Satan not only wants us to do the opposite of God’s will, he wants us to do anything that is less than what God intended. Less doesn’t just mean coming up short of the standard. That applies to us all. The Apostle Paul says in Romans that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sometimes less means doing the right thing out of sequence. Today’s Gospel illustrates this to a T.

Jesus has been baptized and affirmed by God as His Son, the Messiah with all the duties of which that implies. He is immediately led into the desert by the Spirit of God in order to be tested, that is to say, does he, Jesus fully understand the will of his Father even over and against the persuasion of the father of lies. Let’s look at the three temptations.

Here’s the first. Satan says, “Man, you look famished! Look, since we both know that you’re the Son of God, why don’t you create an abundance of food out of nothing? Come on, no one is looking. In fact, make it easy on yourself, use these rocks. They look like little loaves of bread anyway.”

Here ‘s the second. After taking Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, Satan says, “Look, we both heard God call you His Son back at the river. Are you sure He’s telling you the truth? Why don’t you throw yourself down into the valley below here and see what happens? I’m pretty sure that I read in scripture somewhere that God will give His angels charge of you. In fact, you’re so special they won’t even let you stub your toe on one of those rocks that look so much like bread!”

And here’s the third. After taking Jesus to the top of the highest point in creation looking down over all of the kingdoms of the earth, Satan says, “I’ll tell you what. You can have all of these kingdoms under your command right now. All you have to do is fall down at my feet and worship me.”

Now this is important! It’s God’s will that all three of the things that Satan wants Jesus to do or experience are going to happen. But they are to take place in the proper sequence and at the proper time according to God’s plan. Yes, Jesus will produce an abundance of food from little or nothing but not until he feeds thousands of people from five loaves and two fishes. That is the will of God. Yes, God’s angels are going to minister to Jesus but not until after Satan leaves the vicinity. That is the will of God. And yes, Jesus will be king, not just of all the kingdoms on earth but of all creation, but not until after he dies on the cross, is raised from the dead, and ascends to heaven. That is the will of God.

You see, Satan acknowledges God’s will but attempts to entice Jesus to fall short of the standard which God has established. He attempts to have Jesus convince himself to utilize his God-given gifts when it suits Jesus’ needs. He attempts to have Jesus convince himself to take advantage of the perks that are rightfully his whenever he chooses. He attempts to have Jesus convince himself that instant gratification is superior to patience and obedience. He attempts to have Jesus convince himself and maybe that’s why in my picture Bible Satan has the outward yet shadowy appearance of Jesus. If Satan can appear to be Jesus then he can appear to be any one of us. And as fallen human beings we are able to convince ourselves to do almost anything and believe it to be right.

But in today’s Gospel, Jesus has set an example for us. He has shown us that if we listen to the Word of God, utilizing our God-given gifts appropriately, not testing Him but serving Him through worship and worshipping Him by serving, then by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us by virtue of our baptisms, we will not succumb to the wiles of the tempter regardless of which deceitful guise he chooses to wear, crafty serpent or that which looks back at us from the mirror.

So as we continue on our pilgrimage through this life, we know that there will be times when we are on top of the mountain, and there will be times when we are in the valley below. And there will be times when we will be tested as Christians which will seem like we are all alone in the wilderness. But we are not. We have the Spirit of God within us and we need to listen to His voice over and against the deceptive rationalizations of Satan. It’ll be difficult because Satan puts up constant, noisy chatter in order to drown out the still small voice of God. But just tell him to be quiet so we can listen to our hearts and know the will of God.

Gloria Patri