Deuteronomy 26: 1–11
Luke 4: 1–13
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May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable
to you, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.
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This year, in our Gospel readings, we have been listening to Luke tell
us and show us who Jesus Christ really is. This is
important. It’s crucial — because his ministry will
flow from the depths of his self–understanding. So we saw
Jesus’ humility on the day of his baptism when he bowed his head
in prayer to the Father – even before he’d waded out of
those waters. We saw his consideration of Mary, his mother,
when he turned the water into wine at the wedding in Cana. And
we heard him embrace Isaiah’s lowly vision of Messiah at his
first sermon in Nazareth when he announced his intention to serve
the poor, the outcast, the down–and–out.
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But this morning we are seeing Jesus from one more point of
view – and that’s from the point of view of the
scriptures that formed him, the scriptures he’d learned
at his mother’s knee, growing up in Nazareth. And
this point of view is so central to his understanding of who he
really is that before he begins his ministry, Satan himself comes
and tries to persuade him to disown and disavow it.
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To help us see it our Old Testament reading today shows us the
confession of faith every Jewish man, woman, boy and girl made at
least twice a year as they came in thanksgiving before the
Lord. Look at that response in the reading from Deuteronomy
in your bulletin this morning. Each person – boy, girl,
man or woman – was to confess four things:
First – my father was a wandering Aramean. They are
talking about Jacob, who at one point wandered around northern
Syria. What they are saying is that they come from a people
totally vulnerable, totally at risk.
Second – they are to remember that they once were poor people,
cheap labor in Egypt, working at less than minimum wage and totally
exploited. But God heard their cries and brought them out to
begin a new life.
Third – God brought them out of this life of exploitation into
a life of well–being, of abundance, where they could live in
prosperity and safety all of their days.
And fourth – This history of risk, deliverance – and,
finally, incredible abundance – is supposed to define their l
ives forevermore. So the gifts of the harvest they now offer
to God are to be signs of their intention to live with and for this
God for the rest of their days.
Sometimes we forget that Jesus grew up totally Jewish – that as
a baby he was circumcised and dedicated to God in the Temple. As
a teenager he went regularly with his parents to Jerusalem on
pilgrimage. And in the years in between, at least twice a year,
he confessed to belonging to a people of humble beginnings, deep
vulnerability and profound gratefulness to the God who had promised
never to forsake them.
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So after Jesus’ baptism, when Satan tempts him after a long
fast in the wilderness – it’s this confession of faith,
this identity that Satan is trying to get him to
betray. “Why be vulnerable?” Satan asks
Jesus. “Why go hungry? You know you can
turn these rocks into bread if you choose to. Just do it!”
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But Jesus knows something else. He knows it’s the Holy
Spirit of God who called him to this fast in the first place. And
it’s to the Spirit of God he has to be faithful. So he
answers Satan out of the very same Book of Deuteronomy that first
told him who he was. Quoting from the eighth chapter of
Deuteronomy, he answers Satan by saying, “It takes more than
bread to really live.”
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Next, the devil tries to tempt him with worldly glory. In a flash
he shows Jesus all the kingdoms of this world and tells
him, “It’s all mine – all that glory, all that
wealth – it’s mine to give to anyone I want to. Just
do homage to me and it will all be yours.” But once again,
Jesus knows a deeper truth. Quoting from the sixth chapter of
Deuteronomy he replies, “Scripture says we’re to do
homage to God alone, and worship him with singleness of heart.”
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Finally, either in a vision or in actual fact – we don’t
really know which – Satan takes Jesus to Jerusalem and sets him
on top of the Temple. Then, quoting from Psalm 91, he reminds
Jesus that his heavenly Father loves him so much he will send his
angels to rescue him if Jesus will only jump off one of those high
towers into thin air.
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Now surely, by this time, Jesus was longing for comfort and
safety. Surely, by now, he was wishing that the whole test
would soon be over. But he also understands that risk is simply
part of his life – just as it was for his ancestors in the
faith. So instead of replying out of a sense of the way he
wishes things were, Jesus replies out of that deeper sense — the
way he knows they are. “It is written,” he says to
Satan, quoting again from the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy,
“Don”t you dare put God to the test.” And with that
the Tempter finally retreats.
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Now if Jesus had fallen for any of Satan’s tricks, if he had
allowed Satan to distract him from his God–given identity, the
world would hardly have blamed him. Instead, the world would
have applauded if he had done miracles to show his power or performed
acts of daring just to show how much the Father cared for him. But
Jesus knew he’d been called in humble vulnerability to a life
of risk – and all to the glory of God. So he wasn’t
about to accept Satan’s alternatives – no matter how
plausible the Father of Lies made them sound.
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Now you and I have not been called to a 40–day fast in the
desert. Nor have we learned confessions of faith drawn from the
Book of Deuteronomy at our mothers’ knees. But, deep down,
we too know the Lord. Deep down we too have a true self, a self
that is called by the Holy Spirit of God to be the best person we can
possibly be. And though few of us, I think, could say in so many
words who that best self really is, we know, somehow, when we are
moving in the right direction – towards God and towards his
calling. And we know when we are being tempted to go in the wrong
direction. And we will resist that wrong direction mightily.
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I think we have all seen the Holy Spirit of God inspiring courage,
strength and determination in the Ukrainian people over the past ten
days since Putin invaded their country. Putin expected them to
cave in immediately when he surrounded them with massive armaments and
battalions of soldiers. Putin expected them to cave in as soon
as he began shooting them and bombing them, indiscriminately.
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Instead, we’ve seen courageous young fathers getting their
wives and children to safety on the borders of Poland, Hungary or
Moldova – and then accepting the risk of going back to Ukraine
to defend their homeland. We have seen elderly people facing
down Russian soldiers – sometimes soldiers in tanks – with
nothing more than their words and their precious Ukrainian
flags. We’ve all been moved by the examples of gentle
mothers who chose to stay in Ukraine with their children in underground
bomb shelters, realizing they might be better able to protect them
there than they would if they attempted the hazardous trip to some
neighboring country.
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When reporters ask them how they can do this, where they are finding
such reserves of inspiration and courage – they say, “It
is who we are. We are Ukrainians. and we are strong. We
are Ukrainians, and we care deeply for our country. We care
deeply for one another.”
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And that is not all you and I have seen. We have seen the people
of Hungary, Poland and Moldova, prompted by the Holy Spirit of God,
rise up and provide hot meals and warm houses for wave after wave
of these new refugees. We have seen the whole free world rise
up and send whatever military, financial or humanitarian aid they
can. For that is who they are too. They are godly neighbors,
and they care.
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Last but not least, we ourselves have been down on our knees these
past ten days, praying that God will preserve these brave people,
praying that God will stop the evil that has risen up against
them. For that is who we are too.
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Amen.
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