If -- Second Sunday in Lent

Luke 4:1-13

March 10, 2019

            I’m the first to admit that I have some definitive vices. For example, I love sweets and food in general way too much. While I have plenty of others, one of the vices that I don’t possess is gambling. That does not mean I haven’t gambled. The first time I ever went to a casino was in Minnesota. I went with my brother and sister and some other family members. My mom had saved several rolls of quarter, and she gave those to us to spend. This is not something that my immediate family does on a regular basis, so I’m not sure why we planned this field trip. But I think our motivation was mainly to see what it was like. After we were done, and after I spent the entire roll of quarters on a slot machine with no winnings to show for it, I thought I could have spent that money on so many other more satisfying things; like a book or make up or chocolate. It felt like I had just thrown money away, which essentially I had. So I don’t gamble. I don’t even buy lottery tickets, because to me buying a lottery ticket feels more complicated than buying a latte. I don’t know what to ask for, and I’m too embarrassed to ask anyone else to help me.

            I don’t gamble by going to casinos or buying lottery tickets, but I will enter sweepstakes. Maybe that is also a form of gambling. I have learned that there are a lot of sweepstakes to enter. You can enter sweepstakes through the Travel Channel, through the Home and Garden network. Planning a wedding? Oh look, enter this sweepstakes and you could win a dream honeymoon or enough money to plan the lavish ceremony you’ve always wanted. I hate to admit how much money I spent buying Yoplait yogurt a few years ago, because I was entering each purchase into their sweepstakes for $100,000. I’m not proud of it. But I did it.

            And I do daydream what I would do with money, should I win it. My musings generally start with “If I were to win that money, I’d be very practical about it. The first thing I would do is pay off my debt. I would set aside a huge chunk of it for the kids. I’d help my mom and dad with anything they need. And, and, I would give a large part of it to the church.”

            I feel good about myself for my imaginary generosity should I win a big sweepstakes. And it is fun to think about what possibilities would be open to me if I just had the cash. Think about how much good I could do for others! Isn’t that wonderful?! Isn’t that great?! Except for the fact that it rests on the word if.

            If is a small but mighty word. Add what to the front of it, and it holds so much possibility and hope. What if we tried this new thing? What if we did that? What if we looked at the problem this way? What if I did win a sweepstakes, think about how much good I could do for my family and others.

However, add only to the end of it, and that hope is replaced with regret. If only I hadn’t done that dumb thing. If only I had made better choices. If only I had worked harder and daydreamed a little less.

            If. If. If. In the context of our passage from Luke, if holds other meanings. The devil uses this little conjunction in his tempting offers to Jesus.

            “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

            “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please If you, then will worship me, it will all be yours.”

            “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash a foot against a stone.’”

            In the first and the last temptation, the devil uses “if” not so much as a question of Jesus being the Son of God, but as a certainty. If in these cases also means “since.” If you are the Son of God and you are, then prove it by doing this.         And in the second temptation, “if” has a conditional meaning. If you just worship me, I’ll give you all this power.

            It seems to me that “if” is the word of temptation. Clearly, it is in the way the devil used it when he tried to lure Jesus to fall in the wilderness. And it is in the other ways I described. Instead of dealing with the reality of my finances as they are, I give into the temptation to dwell in daydreams about money that will most likely never be mine. “What if I had a million dollars …” And the “if” of regret is another temptation, another trap. While we should have remorse for bad decisions and hurtful choices, to dwell on them obsessively seems to me to be a denial of grace, a denial of forgiveness, and a refusal to live in the present.

            Yes, I think “if” is a word of temptation. It certainly seems to be in the way Jesus is tempted in the wilderness. This story, found with variations in Matthew, Mark and Luke, is where we get our understanding of the human Jesus being tempted as we are, but without sin. Jesus heard the great tempting “if” of the devil, but did not give into his luring offers. But what does this story mean for us?

Is it just a story of encouragement? See Jesus had willpower and self-control, we should too. That’s great, until our willpower fails and our self-control seems to fly out the window. When we see this story as one of encouragement only, then when we fail, we fail not only ourselves, we fail Jesus. We fail God. Doesn’t that open us to the temptation of “if only”?

While this story can encourage us and can give us hope, maybe it also instructs us on what temptation and what power really are. Jesus is tempted by the devil to do things that could be used for the greater good. Turn stones into bread. Feed yourself and feed all of the other hungry people out there. Take control of all the kingdoms in the world and rule them justly and wisely and with great compassion. Throw yourself off a cliff and when God saves you, you will prove to the world just who and what you truly are.

It would be hard not to be tempted by the “if’ the devil offers. But Jesus said “no,” to all of it. Jesus didn’t say “no” because of some superhuman ability. Jesus said “no” because the power that the devil offered, the temptation of the devil’s “if” was worldly power. It was human power. It was the kind of power we think is real and right and true. It was power of ability and power of strength and power of proof. It was the tempting power of “if.” But I don’t think that’s power as God understands it. I have a feeling that power is very different to God. I think power as God understands it rests more in taking on weakness than in showing strength. I think power to God is more about sacrifice than it is conquest. I think power to God is more about faith than it is about proof.

The devil used that tempting “if” to lure Jesus into the trap of worldly power. But the devil was right in one thing; since you are the Son of God. Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus knew who he was, and all the power in the world could not convince him to betray that identity.

If. Yes, it is a word of temptation. But the good news is that it is also a word of hope. For as often as we may be tempted by “if,” we also find promise in it. If we trust God, we will not be left alone. If we believe in God, we will have abundant life. If we follow in the footsteps of the Son, then even if we lose our lives, we will gain them. If we follow in the footsteps of the Son, then we will know love, real love, God’s love. And as we are loved, we are able to love others, to give love away. That’s the real power. That is the hope of “if.’

Thanks be to God. Amen.