“WHEN IT’S GOOD NOT TO OBEY JESUS”



“THE DEVIL QUOTES SCRIPTURE"

First Sunday in Lent

February 14, 2016

Joseph Andrew Slane

Southminster Presbyterian Church

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13

Speak to us, O God, through the written Word of Scripture. Then lead us to encounter your living Word, our only Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Upon learning you are a Presbyterian has someone ever looked at you with curiosity and asked a question? In those situations this is the most frequent question I hear: "Aren't you the ones who believe in predestination?" I've preached about that before and will not now, except to make a link with Valentine's Day. Predestination is not about punishment. Predestination is about love - God's love for all people - how salvation is a love gift, not something we achieve.

But the second most often asked question I encounter is this: "What do Presbyterians believe about the Bible?" Today's Scripture lessons can help us give a responsible answer.

The context springs from this sentence in the Westminster Confession of Faith, part of our church's Constitution: "The rule of interpretation of Scripture, is the Scripture itself."[i] It's sometimes stated more simply as, "Scripture interprets Scripture."

That belief comes to life with amazing irony in the readings for today. In the Gospel for the first Sunday in Lent we hear how Jesus is led in the wilderness where he is tempted by the devil. Jesus responds to the first and second temptations by quoting words from Deuteronomy - the book from which our Old Testament lesson comes. But in the third effort to divert Christ from his mission the devil himself quotes the Bible.

The scripture the tempter quotes is today's Psalter. After trying the temptation for instant gratification and failing, after attempting to lure Jesus with earthly authority and fame, the devil employs the most subtle of all tactics: using religion or the Bible as a means for temptation.

The evil one leads Jesus to see himself standing on top of the temple. Fully aware Jesus would know the Psalm by heart since it's commonly sung in the Jewish service for evening prayer - not unlike the way we heard it beautifully intoned earlier, the tempter says: "If you are the Son of God, then throw yourself from the top of the temple. For it is written," (hear comes the quote), "God shall give the holy angels charge of you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone."

One temptation was for Jesus to interpret scripture literally. Following that path Presbyterians do not believe the Bible is always to be interpreted literally. The more subtle aspect is how the temptation has partial truth. Indeed, God's angels do watch over us. We are usually unaware of the times angels are helping us because it is the very nature of those heavenly messengers to keep their identity hidden, why? So that our faith does not rest in angels, but in God who employs angels as agents of divine assistance for us. The devil was right that angels do help us - and thanks be to God for their hidden but important ministry.

So what was the temptation? This is what the devil wanted Jesus to believe and wants us to think: that we can control God that God's power and God's angels are used as we desire. When we abuse scripture by trying to make God prove something to us in a miraculous way, we have yielded to the temptation set before Jesus.

Two weeks ago I told a story about Property Ministry members Brian Tielking and Bill Christians working on the Southminster steeple in preparation for the installation of the new carillon speakers. Brian and Bill had to deal with swarms of wasps and hornets which had taken up residence in the steeple. But I'm glad they did not yield to the tempter's invitation. Neither of them stood on top of the steeple and quoted the verse from the Psalm about angels catching them. Neither Brian nor Bill jumped from the steeple. That's because, as people of faith they are also aware God made the law of gravity. Bill and Brian also know God created humans with certain limitations - one of which is that unlike wasps and hornets, we cannot fly on our own power.

You see, the words from the Psalm about angels watching over us are to be trusted at a very deep level. But they are also to be interpreted in light of other scripture such as the one our Lord Jesus quotes in response to the devil, again from Deuteronomy: "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

In all three temptations the devil tried to persuade Jesus he could fulfill his mission by avoiding the wilderness of suffering. The tempter would like for us to believe the same. If we think the life of faith frees us from the wilderness of suffering, we have not followed the path that scripture interprets scripture.

Back to the question, "What do Presbyterians believe about the Bible?" I think the clearest response is another question. Even that statement sounds so Presbyterian, doesn't it?

If you were here on the Festival of the Baptism of the Lord last month you heard this question during the service. It's the second ordination vow addressed to every Presbyterian pastor and elder. Listen:

"Do you accept the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the Church Universal, and God's Word to you?"[ii]

I can picture and almost hear the eight Elders who stood right there and responded to that question with a very bold, "I do." We do believe scripture is holy because it brings us to Jesus Christ.

Presbyterians do not worship the Bible, although we rightly call it the written Word of God. Why? Because we worship the One to whom the Bible bears bold witness - Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. Today Christ comes to lead you through your wilderness. Ultimately Jesus Christ is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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

[i] Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., 6.009.

[ii] Book of Order of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., W-4.4003b

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download