Brett's Discernment

This sermon was given at my field ed congregation, Christ Lutheran Church in Kulpsville, PA, on Feb 20 and 21, 2010, the First Sunday in Lent, Year C. The text is Jesus being tested in the wilderness in Luke 4.

---------------------

It's test time . . . What do these words do to you? Do they evoke a sinking feeling of ineptitude, or memories of pop quizzes, medical tests, or being otherwise unprepared? Would you say you have testing anxiety?

But this week I've been thinking about how we all actually like to be tested. If you think about it, testing pervades our society – it's everywhere, in different forms – of course in schools, but also reality show competitions, personality tests, IQ tests, tests in magazines, surveys, even video games, and on the internet. We like to test ourselves. We want to know how we stack up, what will be said about us, even if it sometimes makes us a little anxious too. We like to be tested – in some ways, at least, because tests reveal what lies beneath. Tests can reveal our knowledge, but also our values, loyalties, and concept of ourselves. Tests are important because they show us a part who of we are.

So today we hear in the gospel the story of Jesus' testing. Essentially, this is Jesus' identity test. This story raises so many questions for me, not the least of which is, why test Jesus? We know who Jesus is! We know Jesus' answer will be no, and this story will turn out as it always has. But Jesus calls us to hear this story in a new way today, because Jesus was tested so that we might know who this one is that we are following to the cross. So what does this test reveal to us about him? Who is this Jesus?

So far in the gospel of Luke, really the only definite thing we have heard about Jesus is what immediately precedes this story – Jesus has been baptized, and the voice of God has descended and declared, “this is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Sounds great! I know who Jesus is – this is glorious – Jesus is God's son, baptized, filled with the Holy Spirit. But as soon as we revel in this baptism story, the Holy Spirit snatches Jesus away and he is tested and tortured in the wilderness for forty days.
Why? Why test Jesus?
Because Jesus has just been declared fully God, but Jesus is also fully human. To be human means to be tested. We live in a world that is constantly seeking to test us, define us, evaluate us, on its own terms. The devil in the story tests Jesus. In the fact alone that even Jesus was tested, there is so much comfort. We have a God who is all-powerful and created all that there is, and yet cares and knows us so intimately that God was humbled to even be tested in the wilderness. God knows what your hardest, hungriest, most tempting, tortuous days are like. Jesus was there. Jesus is not shielded from the brokenness of the world. We do not have a God who sits on high and watches us squirm from a distance. God is right here in the midst.
Jesus is baptized and then tested. You see, the order is important because you and I know from first hand experience that after you are baptized, you are still in this world, still tempted, still sinning. We are claimed and named to be God's children in baptism, but the sacrament doesn't mean that the devil or sin doesn't still have your number and tempt you each day. Jesus is God and is tested but resists all temptation. We start lent by learning who Jesus is through Jesus' “no” - no tricks of power, no human kingdoms, no foolish self-reliance will define Jesus.
We are baptized and tested like Jesus, but it doesn't mean that we have all that strength to resist and say no each time we should. We do say “yes.” We say “yes” to the labels that tests put on us – to being what the tests define us as, to classify ourselves and others by stereotypes and labels of race, power, bias, class, and gender, as enemies, as the other. . . I know if I were offered even a piece of what Jesus was offered in the wilderness, I'm not sure I could refuse.

But there is something else here that we cannot refuse. Jesus, in all strength passes the wilderness test for us, and we are united with him in our baptism. We are not required to pass any test. The world will test us all of our lives, and we are freed by God's actions in Jesus to simply live in this love and do our best. The devil went after Jesus' identity. Our identities are tested also – the world is constantly asking us to define ourselves – who are you, who will you be today? But Jesus' identity, as yours and mine, had already been marked forever in his baptism, where God declared the final word. We are baptized in the name of the God who created us, the Spirit that is with us even in the wilderness tests of our lives, and Jesus who endured and said no. The world calls us to think of our whole lives as an on-going test – nagging us with questions that leave us wondering – am I making the right choice? If only I were smarter, if only I was stronger, if only I was more disciplined, if only I was more loving. Say no to these doubts – because the test is over, God has spoken once and for all. Say yes – the Holy Spirit will answer for you – saying yes to the voice in the wilderness Jesus trusted, the one that declared the same at your baptism and mine - “you are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”