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Left-Handed Attack
March 4, 1990
Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.*
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through Christ our Lord.
It was the kind of afternoon camp counselors dread. The rain had been falling, heavy and steady, for two days. The dark clouds hovered near the treetops and seemed to promise that the cold, penetrating downpour would continue for yet another day.
Inside the main lodge, an epidemic of cabin fever had broken out. On the first day of rain there were crafts to work on, and a standby ration of wet-weather videos to watch.
The second day of rain passed with group games and a rerun of the videos.
But when the rains continued unabated the third day, the campers were in no mood for videos, crafts, or games. They demanded fresh entertainment. The camp staff was at wits end.
How relieved and pleased the counselors were when a camp visitor, a law enforcement officer, volunteered his services. No he wasn't coming to practice his business. He offered to give the campers a demonstration of weapons, police tactics, and some self-defense procedures.
The assembled campers seemed spellbound to learn how the nightstick and Mace are used. They took turns snapping handcuffs on one another. They listened attentively to the lecture on the dangers of firearms. As a finale, this modern day Elliott Ness showed the campers how best to deal with muggers and stick ups.
Calling a young camper to the platform, he described a fast self-defense action by which one could evade, disarm, and subdue any would-be stickup person who might poke a pistol into your back. The maneuver, he explained, consisted of a quick step to the left, accompanied by a rapid thrust of the right elbow backward and downward to knock away the assailant's revolver. The gun, he promised, would be stripped from the attacker's hand or, at worst, discharge harmlessly into the ground. It all seemed so simple.
With the help of the camper who had now joined him on stage, the lawman proceeded to demonstrate. He armed the camper with a large water pistol. Then assuming the role of the victim, he instructed the camper to approach him from behind and attempt the stickup.
Gun in hand, the would-be robber struck, jabbing the barrel into the victim's back. The bold hero lunged to his left, swung back his right elbow fiercely, and was shot squarely in the back by the junior gunman. The huge, running, water spot between his shoulder blades was clear evidence of the failure of his supposedly safe maneuver.
Red-faced and fumbling for words, the lawman scolded the junior gunman, "You're supposed to hold the gun in your right hand!" But the left-handed robber was not impressed.
Scrambling for some lesson to leave as he beat his retreat, the lawman said, "Well, be sure to watch out for left-handed stickup men."
Every now and then that "lesson" comes back to me, because it is a good one - much like this lesson from Matthew this morning.
The temptation story in the Gospel today tells us how the devil tempted Jesus. The devil here wasn't only left handed - he was ambidextrous! He went straight for the jugular. He called Jesus' authority and position into question. He tried to twist Jesus up with God's own words.
From the time Jesus stepped out of the baptismal river waters to the time he hung from the cross, temptation was near at hand. Over and over it came. It hounded and pursued him at every turn. It came through mouths of friends and enemies, disciples and demons, kings and plain folk.
From wherever the temptation came, its attack was always certain - it always carried the same theme - God's word of promise was being called into question. The temptations hurled at Jesus were always attempting to call into question who he was, who he belonged to, and who loved him.
The temptation called God's word of promise a lie, something that could not be trusted, something that needed to be tested and verified.
In this Bible account of the devil tempting Jesus, all the angles the devil attempted came down to a simple question, “Would Jesus trust in God's word alone, or would he demand something more?”
Would Jesus hold on to the promise in spite of the devil's cunning arguments, or would he put God to the test? Would he fear, love and trust God above all things, or would he hedge his bets and give the devil his due. Would Jesus be a faithful person, or would he give in to unbelief?
The same questions confront each of us, if we're honest. In Baptism, you have been given a word of promise and certainty. The word is that you have been chosen by the grace of God, and made an heir to God's kingdom. Because of this, your sins are forgiven and salvation and eternal life belong to you. God has decided to always love you and provide for you and protect you from danger and harm. Nothing can alter that fact! It is a promise that neither sin nor death nor the devil can destroy!
Nevertheless, it is just that - a word. It is just a word, syllables that roll off the preacher's tongue; a name spoken as water is poured over a baby's head; a little piece of bread and a sip of wine. The promise of life and salvation is given to you as a word, without proof, without evidence, without objective means of verification today.
It is a word for faith, not sight. It is a word that will either grip you with certainty that it doesn't need to be proved or verified, or it’s a word which will be trampled and crushed by your hankering after the logical and provable.
The question is at your doorstep today as it was for Jesus in the wilderness. Will you trust in God's word alone, or will you demand something more? Will you put God to the test?
Will you demand some proof of God before you believe the words of promise?
That is the temptation, and it will hound you and pursue you like it did Jesus. It will assume many voices and variations. I hear them often. The temptations usually arise in questions - honest ones though they be:
“Pastor Kurt, I just don't think that God can love all people. Can God?”
I hear the temptations in the assertions that the word of promise which is forgiveness and grace can't be for those people who never come to church. Or for those minorities or those homosexuals or those liberals or those who don't believe or act the way we do.
I hear the temptations in the statements that God's promise of forgiveness and grace given at Baptism can't do it all - that there has to be something we have to do to finally win the prize.
Perhaps the temptations come in the voice of the cynic: "Yes, you Christians talk about God's love and how God will provide. That will do you a lot of good in the unemployment line! If God cares for you so much, then let God get you a job!"
Or "How can you believe in a God of love, Christian, when your loved one dies a slow, painful death? Is your God so weak or cruel that God could not have done something about it? Is God's