"Temptation and Commitment"

An Ash Wednesday sermon by The Rev. Keenan Kelsey
Noe Valley Ministry, Presbyterian Church (USA)
March 1, 2006

Mark 1:9-15

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.' And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.'

Mark says, "Jesus was tempted by Satan." Do you believe in Satin? The word in Hebrew means, simply, "adversary." In the Old Testament it is used in the widest sense for ordinary human beings who are opponents or adversaries. Only gradually did it evolve into something more sinister. As evidenced in the first chapter of Job, it began to mean "one who pleads a case against a person: i.e., a Prosecuting Attorney." Satan was the accuser. (or as Clarence Jordan said in the "Cotton Patch Gospels, Satan the "Confuser"! The task of Satan was to say everything that could be said against a person. But he was not a malignant enemy of God. In fact, in Job, the Satan was no less than one of the sons of God!

The other title for Satan is the Devil. The word comes from the Greek diabolos, which literally means a slanderer. It became a short step from the thought of one who searches for everything wrong about a person, to one who deliberately and maliciously slanders. But even so, throughout most of the Old Testament Satan is still an emissary of God, a force still operating under God's dominion. The more dramatic evolution of the concept of Satan came about during their captivity of the Israelites in Babylon. During these years, the Jews learned something of Persian thought. Persian thought was dualistic, based on the concept that there are two powers in the world which are doing battle: the power of light and the power of darkness. The whole world becomes a battleground between them, and people in this world must choose which side they are on in this cosmic conflict.. Indeed, the Gospel of John makes a great deal of the war between Light and Darkness, indicating some Persian or Essene influence in John. But dualism was becoming the common thought of the time.

Whatever the source for the idea of Satan, it does reflect our experience, doesn't it? We always seem to be involved in some sort of cosmic conflict. There does seem to be some Adversary working against God in this world. We see this acted out globally. Consider the irony of the whole world watching some years ago, as we pulled 18 month old Jessica McClure, from a well in Midland Texas; and now, the world still watching, as we routinely destroy thousands of men, women, and little children like Jessica halfway around the world -- in pursuit of peace and democracy.

We also recognize it closer to home, in our own lives, Consider the struggles we have with an inability to avoid temptations: to stick to a diet, to tell the truth, to face our fears, to be scrupulously honest, to keep our word, to be generous when we would rather grasp, to get up when we would rather sleep. There is some force of nature, or inherent in our own nature, that drives us away from God. Call it Satan, Call it Temptation. It exists, Lent is about finding a way to resist. Jesus leads us into the desert, the wilderness, to find the strength, the purpose, the will, the commitment; for resistance. You can tell all there is to know about a person's life by the kind of commitments that person has made. The thing that matters is never the way we dress - but how we live what we profess. The thing that matters is never the kind of reputation -but having a mind of sacredness. The thing that matters is never our style of living - but cultivating the art of giving. The thing that matters is never our street location - but traveling the road of dedication.

Episcopal Bishop John Owen Smith used to say, "Give the best you have to the highest you know." This is the kind of commitment that Jesus, and Mark ask from us. Until one is committed, there is hesitance, ineffectiveness, the chance to draw back. The moment that one unconditionally commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one, encouragement that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events results from the mere decision to commit: all matter of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, undreamt of responses flow forth.

Therefore friends, as we enter the wilderness of Lent, whatever we can do, or dream we can do, let us commit to it. Let us claim three important words from Mark's scripture: beloved, tempted, near. We are always God's beloved. Temptations are real, but they can help clarify that beloved ness. And the presence of God is real. God is always near, whether we are on the beloved or the tempted end of the spectrum. Come, Holy Spirit come, embolden our genius, make powerful our process.