11pm Saturday - I am not quite there with this one yet, it seems like it is missing something. I have been reading commentaries to try to figure out what is missing. In the meantime, I will post it, and you can read what I have so far. If you are up late and you want to drop some thoughts, I would love your input.
This series on the Temptations of Christ has been really fascinating to me. There is a lot more to these interactions between the Devil and Jesus than I realized.
Its gonna be a great day tomorrow. I can not wait to see where we end up going with this one. Have you ever put God to a test? Maybe you put a fleece out to see if God was really asking you to do something that you already knew for sure that He was asking you to do.
Sermon for Feb 27, 2011
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”
Step one: discern the sin
a) It is true - God will protect Jesus
b) Angels are available to God to send, should Jesus ask for them
c) There is an upside to such an act - thousands of people would see and worship Jesus as a result of this clear display of his identity.
But...It is not God's will that Jesus put himself intentionally in harms way in order to prove God's love for him.
Step two: Where might we be tempted to do the same thing?
a) Some forms of anti-environmentalism show a "God will protect us, why should we worry" attitude.
b) Being reckless with our health is a way of saying "God will protect me."
c) Putting our jobs before our families, or our spouses, and saying "God will protect them" is not Biblical
d) Being careless in our worship of God and expecting to be given a "free pass" is very dangerous.
Step three: What does Jesus affirm in his decision not to put God to the test
1) That trusting God means a walking with conviction, not sensationalism
2) Since we know we have God's protection, there is no need to "prove it" to others, or ourselves.
3) There is a fine line between showing God's power (Elijah) and demanding God's favor (Ark of the Covenant).
Apply it to your life this week
1) Identify what areas of your life are reckless and undisciplined. Particularly look for places where your pride allows you to continue that behavior. Phrases like, "Others can't handle this kind of temptation, but I can." "I know I am an idiot, but I am a lovable idiot." "I will stop one day, but not today because..."
2) Name this reckless behavior as sin. "For me to do stupid things and expect God to bail me out is clearly "testing God" and we are not to put God to the test.
3) Of particular concern in this passage is the kind of actions we do, thinking that God is pleased with our "faith" in his ability to save us. This is where real discernment is necessary.
Lots of stories in the Bible of people taking risks as a result of their faith - Peter steps out of the boat. Shad-rack Me-shack and Abednigo stand when everyone else bows. These are true acts of amazing courage.
Samson continues to tell Delilah lies how to steal his strength from him. She continues to ask the source of his strength. Everything he says, she does. Until finally he tells the truth. He is overconfident and his story ends poorly.
So what is the moral of the story. Are we to stop taking risks? Are we to live a boring, uneventful life? On the contrary. God has a life of incredible adventure that will unfold as we take steps to obey him.
I don't know if I will include this video tomorrow, or just talk about it. It is about a man that was arrested, his legs were broken and he was thrown in jail, and later on, Jesus visited him in jail and...you will have to watch the video to get the rest.
Testimony of Brother Yun, Heavenly Man
