IF NOT BY BREAD…?
A Sermon on Matthew 1:1 – 11
February 10, 2008
David G. Gladstone
Jesus
answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"
Before the journey
to the cross can begin the Holy Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness
where he
must confront the devil within. In this
story the devil takes the form of temptations – temptations born of
good
intentions – temptations that meet the test of good strategy –
temptations that
any rational person would think reasonable to accept.
Jesus’ response to such temptation begins with a
phrase that has
become a cliché for the church. Jesus
answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Although I recognize that the phrase directs
me to consider the deeper things in life, I’ve always thought his
response begs
another question. I want to shout back
to Jesus, “That’s easy for you to say. But, if not by bread then by
what?”
This Lent we
invite each of us to “Journey to the Cross.” The
phrase marks an opportunity to take these forty
days of Lent to
examine just what the cross means in our lives. That
is the whole and ancient purpose of Lent – to take
intentional time to consider again what kind of life God offers us. Lent is intended to parallel Jesus’ own
forty days in the wilderness. It is a
tithe of our year – approximately one tenth of the annual number of
days. Time spent to consider again
just what this
life in Christ is all about. Time to
sort out the conflicting voices – to sort out what is of God and what
is not of
God. Time to ask, “If it is not a life
sustained by bread alone, then what else does it take?”
If not by bread then by what?
The answer comes
when we think again about where and how we find ourselves vulnerable to
temptation. I learned a long time ago
as I prepared to answer the call to ordained ministry, that a healthy
relationship to God and a firm conviction that grace must be mine
before I can
preach it to others are essential faith elements if one is to avoid
temptation
in the wilderness. Temptation makes
sense when a heart is disconnected from the love of God.
Bread looks good to anyone convinced of its
scarcity. Were it not that Jesus
entered the wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit, he might not have
faired as
well as he did when faced with temptation. But
scripture tells us that following his baptism
Jesus entered the
wilderness filled with the Holy Spirit. Indeed
the writer of Matthew declares that it was
the Holy Spirit that
drove Jesus out into the wilderness following his baptism.
This is the time
of the year when I am charged with reading papers submitted by
candidates for
ordination in advance of their appearance before our Board of Ordained
Ministry. I have been away for this
task for a number of years. I had
forgotten how demanding it can be. I
spent all day Saturday finishing it up and submitting my report. One of the questions asks candidates to
reflect upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
The answers were all over the map, but one
in particular caught my attention. The
candidate referred to the Holy Spirit as the “underdog of the trinity.” I’m not sure I appreciate the image very
much, but I think I understand what the candidate was trying to say. Of the three ways we understand that God
works in our lives, the presence of God as Holy Spirit is the most
neglected. We neglect the Holy Spirit
at our own peril for it is God with us daily in the form of the Holy
Spirit
that gives us the power and the strength to make it through the
wilderness that
life can often be.
I find it
interesting that temptation in this gospel story begins with that which
is
urgent. Jesus is famished and the devil
offers him bread. That is another
hallmark of temptation. Temptation uses
the point of our greatest anxiety to wedge its way into our hearts. The result is that our attention is
constantly focused on the urgent while important things cannot grab a
moment of
our concern. The tempter prefers it
this way. While we frantically chase
after things that do not matter the devil can rest assured that
important
things will wither for lack of attention.
Any focus within
the church that encourages fear and suspicion seems to me to be another
form of
this evil distraction. Life in Christ
proceeds from faith and not fear. Life in
Christ embraces love rather than suspicion. When
life in the church becomes a matter of sounding
warnings rather
than proclaiming faith we can be certain that the devil has found that
more
opportune moment the scripture mentions. Successful
discipleship is a matter of staying
focused on that which is
of God and that which builds up the body of Christ.
The strength for staying so focused comes when we
are filled with
the Holy Spirit. For it is in that holy
God presence in our daily walk that we find it possible to keep the
main thing
the main thing.
In answer to the
question that started this ramble, “If not by bread then by what?” Notice that Jesus did not say that we should
live without bread. He simply pointed
out that bread is not the only means of life. Notice
that Jesus enters his wilderness time filled
with the Holy Spirit
and that so filled he has no difficulty remaining true to his calling. Temptation has no power over those of strong
spirit who know as did Jesus that they are living God’s purposeful life. Notice too that Jesus spends no time
complaining about being in the wilderness. He
accepts it as the place of God’s purpose for his
life. Notice also that fear and suspicion
have no
attraction for Jesus. And while we are
at it, remember that when foiled, the tempter retreats and awaits an
opportune
time – a time when fear and doubt have grabbed our hearts and made us
vulnerable. May that time never come.
May we together in
this congregation quote Isaiah 61 as boldly as did Jesus.
"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good
news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of
sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year
of the
Lord's favor."
It is not just bread
that sustains us. It is the power of
the Holy Spirit that nourishes us in the wilderness and keeps us going.
THANK BE TO GOD
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