Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, December 31, 2011
Text: Matthew 4
Jesus was at a dramatic turning point
in his life. For thirty years he had been part of a carpenter's
household in Nazareth. Now he was getting ready to launch into a
hugely popular and intensely controversial public ministry.
The first thing he did was get baptized
by a famous preacher, John the Baptist, then he was directed by the
Holy Spirit to head out into the wilderness where he spent forty days
fasting.
Near the end of his time out there in
the desert, the Devil showed up and tested Jesus with three
propositions. The gospel writers picture this as a dramatic showdown.
The Devil puts together his best offer. Jesus shuts him down cold. No
hesitation. No bargaining. No deal. The Devil finally leaves in a
huff.
So what was the secret. How did Jesus
avoid the trap, resist the seduction, see through the sales pitch?
Jesus countered every move the Devil made by quoting the Bible. Jesus
is impervious to demonic suggestion because he is so familiar with
the words of the Bible.
Which has important implications for
us. We dream that our kids will grow up, get an education and move
into positions of power and influence in society. What can we do to
give our kids an advantage in dealing with the seductions of power
when they succeed?
What can we do to help ourselves live
independent of the wily influences of advertising and cultural norms?
What can we do to prepare ourselves for successfully brushing off the
Devil?
On Thursday of this week Kitty sent out
an email for me, asking for suggestions about topics for preaching.
Among the responses I received were a couple of questions from Bob
Kasprzak:
“How can we live in this modern
world without being part of it?
“With half
clothed men and women on TV, how can we avoid the temptations that
the media seems to use to sell all of their programs and product.”
How do we – whether we are young or
old – avoid becoming mere cogs in the wheels of contemporary
society? How do we help ourselves live wisely and freely? How do we
prepare ourselves to be of great value for the world we live in?
One powerful tool for preserving
freedom and preparing ourselves for service is a deep familiarity
with the Bible. It worked for Jesus. It will work for us.
This was a reasonable suggestion. Jesus
was starving. There were rocks sitting there looking like loaves
of bread. Jesus had just spent forty days in prayer in preparation
for a ministry that was going to be jam-packed with miracles. So
providing himself some bread would have been a logical first step as
he broke his fast and headed out into the real world for ministry.
[Note: Jesus could have rationalized
making the bread as a parallel to the first act of the Prophet
Elisha. Elisha was a “type” or model of Christ, as Elijah,
Elisha's predecessor, was a type or model of John the Baptist. Elisha
received Elijah's mantle. And his first act with the mantle was to
miraculously part the Jordan River so he could return to civilization
and begin his ministry.]
Jesus immediately responded to the
Devil's suggestion by quoting a famous Bible verse: “Man shall not
live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.”
The Devil then offers his own Bible
quotation, a passage in the Psalms: “And he shall give his angels
charge over you. They will bear you up in their hands so you won't
smash your foot against a stone.” On the basis of this clear Bible
promise, the Devil urges Jesus to throw himself down from the top of
tower overlooking the temple courtyard.
Jesus doesn't bite. Instead he offers a
counter quotation: “It is also written, 'You are not to tempt the
Lord your God.'”
Now the Devil goes for broke. He causes
a vision of all the glories of earth's civilizations to pass before
Jesus. He shows him royal courts and bustling markets, merchant ships
and the library of Alexandria. He displays the best and brightest of
humanity, then offers, “all this I will give you if you will just
once bow to me.”
Jesus laughs in the Devils face. “It
is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall
you serve.' Now, beat it. Get out of here. We're done. Get lost.”
And incredibly, the Devil packs off.
After that he never really had a chance against Jesus. Every time he
played a hand, Jesus trumped him.
This is God's ideal for us. The Devil
is not invincible. He's not really all that tricky. We can know the
truth. We can know God's plan. We can be wise. And one of the great
tools available to make us wise, to make us strong, to make us
skillful in doing good and resisting evil is the Bible.When we are deeply familiar with the
words of the Bible those words become ready defenses against the
assaults of evil, available ammunition for our own advances against
darkness.
As we look to the New Year, I challenge you: make sure you are deeply familiar with the
Bible. Allow the Bible to be a counter-influence to the messages you
receive through advertising, through overhearing conversation at
work, through the begging of your children.
If you have small children at home,
here's a very specific suggestion. Every night before your kids go to
sleep, read them a Bible story. If they are under five years old, read
them the same story every night for a week. By the end of the week,
you'll be able to leave out words in sentences and the kids will be
able to tell you the words you leave out.
So
David picked ________ stones from the middle of the creek bed. He
put them in his _____. Then he walked up out of the creek toward the
great, big ________.
You will probably find its better to
read these stories out of books that are especially designed for
children, written in children's language and featuring colorful
pictures.
Every night have your kids repeat after
you the words of their memory verse. Make it a habit. Make it a
tradition. Fill your kids' minds with the words of the Bible. Here's
a test: are your kids more likely to reference something they saw on
TV or something you have read to them from the Bible?
Part of wise parenting is creating
traditions, creating habits that will provide spiritual resources
that your kids can draw on in tough situations. The reason Jesus
quoted the Bible in response to the Devil was because he was deeply
familiar with it. You can help set your kids up for success by
feeding them the words of the Bible.
You can't cram it. Kids need small,
frequent exposures to the Bible. Don't try to give them too much at a
time. If you haven't been in the habit of giving them small doses
regularly, don't think you can suddenly force feed them chapters at a
time.
Early this week, a young person asked
me a bunch of questions about the Bible. Is it historically accurate?
Is it reliable? Are there any other ancient books that are also
reliable? What do we do about the fact that different people see
different and conflicting doctrines in the Bible?
These are smart questions. The Bible is
not a simple book. Often in great debates over moral, spiritual and
religious issues, the question is not should we do what the Bible
says. Rather,the great question is what does the Bible mean?
It is a mark of tragic blindness when people who disagree about religious and spiritual matters accuse each other of willfully ignoring or distorting the Bible. In reality the Bible is so complex honest, smart people often come to differing conclusions about which statement or idea is to take priority in resolving contrasting perspectives. (But see below about the most important truth.)
Jesus' conversation with the Devil in
the wilderness throws an interesting light on the question of Bible
interpretation. Jesus began by quoting a passage that celebrated the
adequacy of the words of God in the Bible. “Man shall not live on
bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
The Devil then tries to use Jesus' expressed confidence in God's words as his premise in an argument along the lines of the fundamentalist bumper sticker, “God said
it. I believe it. That settles it.” The Devil quotes the Bible in
support of his idea for Jesus to jump from a pinnacle of the temple.
The Devil's logic is something like this: Since I have quoted the Bible – and quoted it accurately
as you acknowledge – you are duty-bound to agree with what I say it means.
NOT!
Just because a fundamentalist quotes
the Bible in support of their views, this is not proof that they are
actually speaking in harmony with the God of the Bible.
All the words of the Bible have their
proper place. But not all the words of the Bible have the same
weight. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he did
not hem and haw. He didn't say, “Well, how can you say which one is
most important? They're all important.” Jesus was emphatic. The
most important truth is this: Love God with your entire being. And
right up there with that one is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.
The point of reading the Bible is help ourselves live out these two ideals. The highest purpose of filling our
minds with the words of the Bible is to aid in loving God. And the
second highest purpose in filling our minds with the words of the
Bible is to help us love our neighbors as ourselves. If we are spiteful, critical, faithless, lazy, combative, fearful or greedy, that's evidence against the appropriateness of our interpretation of the Bible.
As we embrace becoming skillful in love as the highest purpose for reading the Bible, some of the
questions that engross people become less interesting. For example, the question, is the Bible
accurate in every historical detail? is perfect for
diverting people from the real purpose of the Bible.
Fundamentalists who answer the question, Yes! and
devote intense energy to proving it, often end up condemning everyone
who does not understand every detail the same way they do. In their
zeal to “prove” the historicity of the Bible they run right past
the exalted spirituality and ethics that is the real purpose of the
Bible and get lost in endless arguments about details of archeology and ancient history.
Skeptics who answer, No! and devote
intense energy to demonstrating the errors in biblical history, are
often corrected at least in part by later archeology and scholarship. More importantly
they frequently get sucked into meanness and silliness. Pugilistic
skeptics are, of course, not helped by visions of compassion,
generosity and nobility found in the Bible, and seldom find
alternative sources to fuel these virtues.
The point of the Bible is not to give
us facts about the ancient world, but to give us wisdom for this
world. Those who cultivate the practice of regularly reading the
Bible experience multiple benefits spiritually and socially. These benefits are documented in sociological studies. Their
lives work better as the wisdom of the Bible permeates their lives.
So for this coming year, I encourage
you to create some habit in your life that will regularly expose you
to the words of the Bible. Reading the whole Bible from cover to
cover is not a very good goal for most people. People tend to get
bogged down in the boring parts and sometimes never get to some of the really good parts. Another problem for this approach is
the very size of the book. Most people are a bit daunted when
thinking about reading a 1600 page book. Set a closer, smaller goal.
If you have never read the Bible, you
might want to begin by reading a kids version of the Bible. Or read Bible story books written for kids. This will make it more
accessible and will actually help you get a better handle for the
flow of the overall Bible story.
Read a graphic Bible.
Sign up for a service that sends you an
email each day with a Bible verse.
Baby steps. But do something.
If none of these work, and you'd like
some further help figuring out an approach that works for you, talk
to me and we'll find something that works just for you.
I think it would be fun to annoy the
Devil. I think it would be a wonderful thing for us as a church to
prepare our kids to resist the Devil and extend the kingdom of light.
One simple, concrete step we can take
in that direction is to fill our own minds and the minds of our
children with the words of the Bible.
So, do it.
Posts
11 comments:
John, Thanks for the breath of fresh air. I went to a more traditional church today, and the way they used the Bible to as an authority to justify stale thinking made me sooo angry. . . I had to come here and read something sensible in order to regain my Sabbath peace.
How did Jesus know that He shouldn't use the Bible that way. I can't see much difference between the way the Devil used the Bible and the way fundamentalists use it. Why didn't Jesus accept the Devil's quotation as authoritative?
And if we do read the Bible how can we avoid similar errors?
Hi John,
Liked you post...I often wonder if the message of the bible is so simple and it is critical for all to hear- why was it not written simply and clearly. It seems sensible to me, why make it hard to understand? Is it wise to have a such an important message come with a daunting 1600 words.
Also I have often thought about Jesus and his message and other religions. Jesus is nearly always presented as an anglo male, I often think this would be less appealing to an Asian or African..etc...why is Jesus represent Jesus this way?..do we blame Hollywood?
Thanks.
To Anonymous: Why is such an important message hidden in 1600 words of complex literature?
If we assume the default for all humans is damnation and the purpose of the Bible is map the path out of damnation into salvation (salvation defined as going to heaven instead of hell), then we could properly charge God with making salvation unnecessarily difficult.
However, if we regard the Bible as a source of wisdom, then its complexity makes sense. There is no way to reduce wisdom to a few bumper sticker tag lines. In reality, the complexity of the Bible fits the complexity of humanity. The Bible text provides a place where those seeking wisdom can meet and debate and ponder. There is also strong sociological evidence that regular interaction with the text is predictive of an enhance quality of life. Whether we are "wrestling" with text or simply "enjoying" it, a regular discipline of Bible reading has positive effects on the quality of one's life.
(Just for the record: I do not believe the default condition of humans is damnation.)
To Antinyx: "How do we avoid the errors of fundamentalism (modeled in this case by the Devil)?
First we assume that people who understand the Bible differently from us are honest, devout and smart.
Second, we allow Jesus' ranking of commandments to fully dominate our reading of the text. (The operative verb in both the greatest and second greatest commandments is love.) Westboro Baptist doesn't get it. They may be "honest, devout and smart," but they are wrong. No matter how pure their motives may be, their actions are immoral.
Third, we make sure our reading of the text is informed by (though not necessarily controlled by) Jewish, Christian and Adventist tradition as well as modern scholarship. We recognize that a highly individualistic reading of the text is unlikely to be correct.
Fourth, we evaluate the effect of our interpretations of the text by their impact on creation with special attention to human well-being. Obviously, this takes time and is messy. Still over time we can make informed judgments about how different interpretations enhance or diminish the well-being of creation.
Didnt Jesus quote from the Torah? Since the Bible didnt exist yet?
To Alle. Yes, of course. You are correct. I use "Bible" as a short hand for the authoritative text.
My point is that Jesus did not take a fundamentalist approach in which the reputation and authority of the text are the primary concerns. Rather Jesus used the text as a tool in support of the highest ideal: connecting people with God and cultivating compassion.
Hi John! Re: "of course"...I have to admit, I knew EXACTLY what you meant. (My dad was a tradventist minister)
I guess my real observation was that, while on the surface I understood what you were trying to get across (my own father would have used the same terms back in the late 40's-mid-70's when he pastored.) You call it shorthand, I have to call it dumbing down. The general SDA masses recognize the Bible=good thing. Very Good Thing.
I mean no real offense. I have read your blog and appreciate your resume, I REALLY DO...I read your blog from beginning to end (so far). I was "raised in the church", I am a 57 y/o PK.
Just pointing out that the average churchie has virtually no working knowledge of what he/she claims to believe, history-wise or otherwise, is NO surprise to you. I know that. At best they are mostly parrots who if they are the least bit astute, believe and repeat what they've been told and if they are near an ABC, read SDA books ABOUT the Bible rather than the Canon itself. It keeps the $$$ coming in but imparts little real knowledge (most written at perhaps third grade level...perhaps yours excluded?
The stories you encourage inculcating into children such as from "Uncle Arthur" are so sanitized as to eliminate any objective study in later life. Perhaps that is safe at that age but perhaps they should not be told anything Biblical at that young age, especially the OT ones--really the most popular due to the pretend violence since the stories told are mostly fabricated imaginations...the REAL Bible stories' implications (which some children DO GET) are much more sinister.
I have taken university courses (as have you so therein lies the responsibility...) in religion from say, Baptists while pursueing an alternate degree (Nursing) at their school that required actual Bible study unlike your average SDA churchies, that the peculiar SDA indoctrination becomes so obvious as to overwhelm. These other denominations have (whether true or false) much better exegesis IMHO than SDA.
Well, enough mild venom (non-lethal) for now. If it gets too painful, I can administer an antidote. :) I'm a nurse GGGG
Alle. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
If you're ever in the Seattle area (or on my route south for my annual desert trip) I'd love to spend an hour or two with you at Starbucks hearing your story.
Hi John...if your annual trip south includes Tennessee (on the way to Collegedale?) well I've been established in Nashville for decades as has my immediate SDA family and would save you and yours the cost of a night in a bedbuginfested motel on your way. :)
Saving you the cost of Starbucks, I can make the EGW forbidden coffee myself if need be. :) And we could have a good conversation. (BTW Loren is a North Dakota relative of mine...we went to academy together way back when before I apostasized...or whatever its called...I left.)
Alle, Alas. It would be a stretch to make a stop in Nashville on my journey south from the Seattle area.
I have family in Memphis (where I grew up) and on the rare occasions I've returned there sometimes it was cheaper to fly to Nashville and rent a car than to fly to Memphis.
If you sent me contact info via email, I'll look you up if Nashville is in my travel plans.
my email is jtmclarty at gmail.
....'ROCK ON'.... is the first thought that came to me after reading your sermon. Should I have said "Praise God' or "Amen"... maybe so, and some of my Christian friends probably would laugh at me, at 67 making such a comment. But, JESUS was and is real. I like being real. John, the LIBERAL ADVENTIST PASTOR is real....and if we are to make our ways through this world as Christians we must be REAL and serious about HOW TO DO IT .... AND SHOW OTHERS how to make their way.
.... HOLD ONTO JESUS. Keep reading that Bible. Keep PRAISING GOD no matter what's happening.
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