A sermon for the first Sunday of Lent, 26 February 2023
St Peter’s Church, Bramley – Holy Communion with Baptism
Reading: Matthew 3:13-4:11, the Baptism and Temptations of Christ
The theme for our morning services between now and Easter is ‘Honest questions for deeper faith’. We’ll be looking at the sort of questions that don’t have simple answers, but which might prompt us to take a step further in our walk with God or reach a deeper understanding of how we relate to him. So you might hear more questions than answers in the talks, but hopefully you might find some answers as you consider those questions through the week. This first Sunday of Lent, the question is ‘Who will you listen to’?
In today’s reading, Jesus has two very different experiences of listening. First, he is baptised and hears God himself speaking very clearly, that Jesus is, in a unique way, his Son. What an amazing experience, one that no-one else had ever had before or since! But he then goes off on a long retreat in the desert, which in Hebrew tradition was a place beyond God’s reach, the dwelling of evil spirits, and hears the voice of what the Bible calls either the Devil or the Tempter.
Why did he do that – why did the very son of God choose to go where he knew he would hear God’s enemy? One answer is that this mirrors the scene on the cross at the end of his life where Jesus cries, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” If he was to meet our human needs, the one who until then had only ever listened to God needed to hear those same tempting and opposing voices that we all hear ourselves. He had to know what it was like to be an ordinary human being trying to make our way in a world of many competing voices.
My next question is, who then is the tempter and what was he trying to achieve? You may know C S Lewis’s book ‘the Screwtape Letters’, written during the Second World War, in which he imagines one devil training another – actually they are rather comic characters, but the point is serious. He explains why the Devil and other evil spirits don’t usually appear or speak directly to people, but use more subtle ways to achieve their desire, which is to draw us away from God using the world around us.
What forms do temptations take? They don’t have to be the obvious sins of anger, greed and desire. It can be the temptation to misuse our money and influence, to believe people who are actually lying to us, or even just doing the ordinary harmless things of life when we could be doing something more spiritual. In Lewis’s day he said people could be distracted by unsuitable friends, leisure activities, newspapers and the radio. Since then we have TV, Netflix, online gambling and social media to distract and tempt us even more. The world is full of voices, and it’s increasingly hard to know which we should listen to.
One very simple example: last Sunday morning I turned on the radio to listen to the morning act of worship from the BBC. But the last radio station I had on was a commercial one, so the first thing I heard was not a prayer or a hymn, but a voice saying ‘You can save two hundred pounds NOW by…’ It was a split-second decision – do I stay on this channel to find out how I could save £200, or press another button to hear the morning service? Those sorts of little decisions are with us all the time, aren’t they? Do I listen to the voice that promises me money, happiness, a good time, success? Or do I listen to the voice that points me towards God and along the way that he wants me to walk?
Jesus was tempted by three things in the desert. One was to perform miracles for his own benefit; another was to abuse God’s promise of protection; and the last was to worship the Devil instead of God, in return for earthly fame and power. He famously responded to these temptations by quoting the Jewish Bible each time. In particular he said that we grow by feeding on “every word that comes from the mouth of God”. What did that mean?
Jesus himself had been brought up in the Jewish faith. He read the scriptures, he belonged to a synagogue in Nazareth, he debated with rabbis in the Temple. But he also, often, went up a hill or into the olive grove to pray alone and hear his Father’s voice. As Christians the Word comes to us in other ways: the written words of Jesus in the Bible, the writings and talks of Christian leaders who interpret it for us, the wisdom of mature Christians, the traditions of the Church and prophecies by the Holy Spirit,. It can also be through art and music, especially but not only on a religious theme, and the way we may sometimes hear God speaking in response to our prayers.
We know that parents often bring their children for baptism because they want their child to grow up hearing the right voices. Who knows what distractions and temptations Sienna might face in her lifetime? But if she grows up knowing the Bible, and belonging to a church where she can share her problems with people of faith to guide her, she will be stronger to face them.
And if we do listen to God, rather than all those other distracting voices, what will we hear? Jesus himself had the clearest message at his baptism when he heard the voice of God the Father speaking directly in a way that he and other people could hear, saying “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased”.
We don’t expect that sort of direct message from God when we baptise Sienna today, but what we do know is that God calls all of us who believe in Jesus his daughters and sons too. We know he loves you and me just as much as he loves his own son Jesus. If we are open to hear the voice of God in all those different ways that I mentioned, we too can hear that word of love. And if there is one thing the Devil fears most, it is the love of God and those who share his love with others.
I have raised many questions today. Why did Jesus go into the desert? Who is the tempter and what is he trying to achieve? What forms do temptations take? What is the ‘Word that comes from the mouth of God’? And what do I expect to hear from God? But most importantly, Who will I listen to? You may want to pick one of those questions and consider it this week.
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