SERMON TITLE: Led by the Holy Spirit
Preached by the Rev. John Lee on February 25, 2007 at DPUC
SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:1-13
4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy
Spirit, returned from the
4:2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.
4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."
4:4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
4:5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.
4:6 And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.
4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."
4:8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
4:9 Then the devil took him
to
4:10 for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'
4:11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
4:12 Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
4:13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. As we set out on the new journey, observing the forty days of Lent, we imitate Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. Some people try to fast, give up chocolate, start early morning walks or speak only positive things, etc. What we have to make clear is that we are not trying to create suffering, but we want to follow Jesus’ way. The postmodern way is not to choose the best one, but to choose all the possible ways. So it is more difficult to start our new journey, as we discern that these are the ways of Jesus Christ.
As pilots say
that good landings are the results of good approaches, a good start is always
important in order to have the good fruit of our good intentions and good purposes.
John Baillie was the liberal Presbyterian theology professor at
He wrote a book, Invitation to Pilgrimage, and he said, "I am sure that the bit of road that most requires to be illuminated is the point where it forks." (Charles Scribner's and Sons, 1942, p. 8) There's no place on our life's journey where we need more light than when we come to some crucial point on the road that splits and we have to make a decision as to which direction we are going to go. We all have the freedom to express ourselves in whatever way we choose.
The way we choose sets our character, who we are and whose we are. When we come to the point where we have to choose, our choice determines our direction and destiny. Jesus came to that crucial point as he began his public ministry. We read the story for our scripture lesson today, the familiar story of the temptation of Jesus. Let us look at two phrases the first two verses: "Led by the Spirit"...."Tempted by the Devil."
These two
dynamic phrases set the direction of the story.
"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the
It was the
questions that Jesus faced: When he was famished, devil said to him, “Can you
make a loaf of bread out of stone?” After showing the kingdom of the world, “Obey me and worship me. I will give you all
the authority and power to you.” The last question, “You are the son of God.
God is with you. Why don’t you throw yourself down from this high rise
building, why don’t you hit the concrete wall and see that God will protect
you?” These are typical temptation that we can have – desire for money, fame,
power and to test God. These are also the opposite of the things what we search
for the
When we are tempted, are we going to follow the leading of the Spirit, or give in to the temptation? This question is not easy to answer, and it's not always simple to discern where the Spirit is leading us. Let's look at the temptation of Jesus in searching for guidance when we are tempted in our faith journey. Jesus' first temptation was to attend to his physical needs and disregard the spiritual.
Jesus had
fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and he was hungry. The temptation came to
Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of
bread." The problem comes because physical and spiritual cannot be
separated. It is difficult because it is the matter of balance and the matter
of priority. This is where we need discipline of ourselves. This is where we
need fellowship in Christ to support each other and to learn from each other.
The second one is a temptation to against God. "Then the devil led him up
and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said
to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has
been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will
worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him."
Let’s see how that temptation expresses itself in our lives. I would like to call “fun loving people” as “fun worshipping people.” Fun in our time is more than worshipping and it becomes the core value of decision making. We have heard quite often, “Money talks.” It is very common to hear the contemporary people are worshipping the consumerism. There are so many things people are worshipping instead of God. What does it mean for us to say, “worship the Lord, or waiting on the Lord”?
It does not mean total passivity on our part. It is to grapple with social and personal issues, to use the resources that Christ Jesus has given us, and to engage ourselves in Christian fellowship with others for seeking God’s will to be done in this world. Now, the final temptation of Jesus. It was the temptation of concrete action of testing God whether God is really with you.
Here is a brief story how easy we are tempted and ruins without noticing it. A man was so stressful from his work, and one day his friend told him, “Let’s go out to the casino and you enjoy yourself.” On the weekend, he went to the casino and spent some money and enjoyed himself. When this man won a jackpot, he was so happy. He couldn’t come to church for the first week. But skipping one week was no problem to him. Nothing happened. Maybe God understood his stress from work, he thought.
And he couldn’t resist going out again on the weekend. It lasted a few months, a year and two. I don’t have to continue this story. We all know the result. We have made the decision and the commitment that to worship God is the ultimate call of our life. Then, though it may not be easy to follow the decisions that we make, we will be clear in our direction.
Temptation does not come as a devil with ugly shape and with horns on his head. It comes friendly, and caring, or even as a seeming justice. We need to discern what is right and wrong when we make a choice. When we come to the split in the road of our life, when we are led by the Holy Spirit, we are safe. When we empty ourselves and are filled with the Spirit of Christ, we are confident. So remember that Jesus was led by the Spirit and won over the temptation.
Don't allow our physical needs to cause us to disregard the spiritual. Don't be tempted to tempt the Lord by wanting God to prove God-self. And remember that we have made a commitment to worship the Lord our God and to serve God only. The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters in God’s creation of the world.
Jesus Christ
sent his Spirit to help us. Remember we are led by the Spirit in our new
journey. Remember we empty ourselves and fill with the Spirit of Christ, to
make ourselves “Christ in me.” Now we are ready to set out our new journey to
be the gift for the world, the peacemakers of the world. In this our journey,
God blesses us. And we will hear the Spirit’s saying to us, “You are
blessed, for yours is the
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Updated February 25, 2007