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First Lesson: Genesis 9: 8-17 Responsive Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10 Second Lesson: 1 Peter 3: 18-22 Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 9-15 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
“Don’t sit near the fire if your head is made of butter. The closer we are to temptation, the more it influences us[1].”- Martin Luther Let me begin this morning with a story about Toad and his good friend Frog[2]. Toad one day decided to bake some cookies; they were the best smelling cookies that he had ever made. Toad decides to eat one; he’s delighted as it’s the best tasting cookie he had ever eaten. Toad decides he better share the cookies with Frog. Frog takes one bite and agrees with Toad that these are the best cookies ever. Frog and Toad decide to eat cookie after cookie as their stomachs grow fuller and fuller. Finally Frog figures perhaps they should stop, so they don’t get sick. Toad agrees but asks Frog that they eat one last cookie before stopping. They munch their cookies down in about three seconds. They see the cookie jar is still full of cookies. They quickly decide one more last cookie won’t hurt, so they scarf their cookies down in about three seconds yet again. Toad cries out “We must stop eating[3].” Frog agrees but decides that they need the willpower to resist such strong temptation. Toad asks Frog “What is willpower?” Frog answers “Willpower is trying hard not to do something you really want to.” Lightbulb goes on in Toad’s head “You mean like eating all these cookies?” “Exactly,” says Frog. Frog hatches a plan. “We will put all the cookies in a box; then we will not eat any more cookies[4].” Toad objects “But we can open the box[5].” Frog agrees, but then says “Well we can tie some string around the box, then we won’t eat any more cookies[6].” Toad points out “But we can cut the string on the box.” Frog agrees. “We will then place the cookies on a high shelf[7].” Frog decides to get a ladder to put the cookies away. Toad points out “But we’re still able to climb the ladder to get the cookies.” Frog decides there is one solution to the problem. He brings the box of cookies outside, shouts for the birds to get the cookies. Pretty soon, birds come from all around taking away every last delicious bite. Toad sees the scene unfold and gets quite sad. “We now have no more cookies to eat.” Frog says “I know, but we actually used our willpower to resist temptation[8].” Toad looks at Frog then says “You can keep all your willpower, I’m going back home to bake a cake[9].” The story of Toad and Frog leads us into our Gospel lesson for Today from Mark 1[10]. It’s the story of Jesus journeying into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil for forty days. The Devil presents Jesus with three temptations. The first temptation of Bread we can understand as the lust of the flesh or doing something because it feels good[11]. No different than eating cookies till your stomach aches. Resisting this temptation was going to be a struggle as Jesus had been starving for the past forty days. The second temptation that Jesus faces deals with pride[12], The Devil takes Jesus to the highest pinnacle of the Temple with an offer to throw himself down to make him save himself. Jesus rejects this temptation as an abuse of his powers. The third temptation that Jesus faces deals with power[13]. The devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world plus all the fame and earthly glory that go along with them. The offers that the Devil presents Jesus with is quite enticing: Jesus can have all he ever wants in This life if he will bow down and worship the Devil[14]. Resisting these temptations wasn’t going be easy for Jesus. The point of our lesson is this. We face similar temptations every day. Giving in to such temptations has the power to destroy us. One of the most famous works of German Literature tells the story of Dr. Faust[15]. Dr. Faust’s story begins with a conversation between God and the Devil. Similar to the story of Job, the Devil makes a bet with God that he can steal Dr. Faust’s soul. Dr. Faust seems an unlikely candidate for such a bet; he was widely renowned as a brilliant scientist and a good man of faith. The Devil though understands Dr. Faust’s cookies which he will be unable to resist. The Devil presents Dr. Faust with an offer of everything he could want for the rest of his life; the only cost would be his eternal soul. Dr. Faust thinks this is a wonderful deal as he was a young man with death way off in the distance. Dr. Faust from this point forward accepts the Devil’s deal. Dr. Faust explains his decision to God as such: “I am not indebted to you for the life you gave me, so I want to forget you, God, and live for myself[16].” The Devil’s deal produces a wonderful life for Dr. Faust. Towards the end of his life though, Dr. Faust began to realize something that the deal he agreed to so many years ago wasn’t good at all. Dr. Faust stared at his upcoming death with nothing but despair. Dr. Faust’s salvation seemed to be lost in a moment of seeking out pleasure years before. Here’s the thing about Temptation, we can have the best intentions to resist it, yet as in the case of Frog and Toad no matter what the rewards: Human willpower is quite weak. As in the story of Dr. Faust, it’s really easy for us only to see how temptation benefits us today while being unable to see how temptation will damage you tomorrow. Tim Zingale tells the following story: Many years ago a king had a beautiful daughter[17]. Everyone within the kingdom wanted to marry the princess. The princess didn’t care who she married as long as he loved her more than he loved anything else. The king and the princess one day devised a test to the courters’ love. An announcement was made that on a certain day there would be a race. The winner of the race would get to marry the princess. Everyone rich or poor, tall or short, royal or common would be allowed to enter. The only criteria to enter the race was you needed to profess your love for the princess above all else[18]. Race day comes the starting line is filled with every eligible bachelor in the kingdom. They all intended to run many miles to win the princess’ hand in marriage. They all hear that the princess would be waiting at the finish line. Whoever grabbed her hand first, would take the princess as his bride[19]. Right before the start of the race, an announcement was made. It was announced that the king was one of the wealthiest men in the world, and because he didn’t want anyone to come away from the race empty-handed, he had scattered a collection of his treasures along the course. Each runner was free to take what he wanted[20]. The race begins; runners quickly get distracted with bags of gold and gems. They would grab pendants and jeweled encrusted cups. Runner after runner began to line his pocket with treasures. Pretty soon, the princess was forgotten[21]. There was one man though who was different[22]; he didn’t run fast, in fact, he kind of limped a bit when running. Yet the man kept pressing on regardless of the trinkets around him. It was this man who would eventually grab the princess’ hand in marriage, and become a prince within the kingdom. The great hope for this morning is temptation as in the story of the princess has been overcome. It wasn’t overcome by Frog, Toad, Faust, or any of the men of the kingdom. The temptation was overcome by Jesus for forty days in the wilderness. Christ defeated the power of the devil. And Christ in just a few short weeks will overcome the power of death through his resurrection. These are forces that we cannot defeat on our own, but Christ overcomes them for us, so our hope is that we look towards the day when His Kingdom shall eventually become our Kingdom. You might wonder this morning whatever happened to Dr. Faust[23]? The man who sold his soul to the Devil? Faust dies, his soul would appear to be the Devil’s for all eternity. Yet God’s forces intervene regardless of the darkest secrets within Faust’s past. Even Faust receives God’s grace. The final scene of Dr.Faust’s story has him carried into heaven for all eternity[24]. Faust’s weaknesses did not lead him to Hell as even he thought they would, victory had previously been won for him as Christ endured for forty days in the wilderness and three more days hanging upon a cross. Yet this story was not over. Amen [1] Crockett, Kent. The 911 Handbook. Hendrickson Publishers. Peabody, MA. 2003. Print. P.33 taken from kentcrockett.com. [2] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. Navpress. 1989. Print. P.73-74 taken from sermonillustrations.com. [3] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74 [4] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [5] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [6] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [7] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [8] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [9] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74. [10] Mark 1:9-15. [11] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?” Got Questions.org. Web. Jan.31.2018. [12] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?” [13] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?” [14] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit… To Be Tempted (part one)” Email Mediations. 24. Feb.2015. Web. Jan.31.2018. [15] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit… To Be Tempted (part one.” [16] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit…To Be Tempted (part two). Email Mediatations. 25. Feb.2015. Web. Jan.31.2018. [17] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” Sermon Writer. 2006. Web. Jan.31.2018. Also found on Sermon Central. [18] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” [19] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” [20] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” [21] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” [22] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” [23] “Faust”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 30.Jan.2018. Web. Jan.31.2018. Plot twist taken from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s story of Faust. [24] Faust”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Comments are closed.
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