The devil has no imagination. Every temptation is some variation on the first one in the Garden of Eden. We heard in the Book of Genesis that the snake said to Adam and Eve: “You will be like gods.” They thought that was a good idea so they succumbed to the temptation. Jesus, on the other hand, resisted the temptations of the devil. Act like a god by not having any needs when you change these stones into loaves of bread. Act like a god by presenting yourself to be honored and adored by the crowds from the parapet of the temple. Act like a god by being in charge, having all the power, bending all the kingdoms of the world to your will. Jesus resisted the temptations and chose not to act like a god and instead chose to embrace his humanity. The devil didn’t have any other arrows to shoot so he left Jesus alone — for a time.
What about our temptations? Maybe you are tempted to eat that third piece of pecan pie. I mean, it’s just sitting there wanting to be eaten. It would be a shame if it went to waste (instead of to waist?) You don’t want to hurt the cook’s feelings after all. And the first and second piece were really good, so why not? Maybe you are tempted to slap that person who is getting on your last nerve. You’ve tried being patient but they are not getting the hint. How bad would one, or maybe two teeny, slaps be? Or maybe you are tempted to tell everyone to sit down and shut up. You know what’s best and they had all better get with the program if they know what’s good for them. Those might be my temptations but does any of those sound familiar to you? When you drill down into those temptations you can recognize that they are, in fact, temptations to “be like gods.” The gods, after all, are free to pursue whatever pleasure they desire for they are not responsible to anyone. The gods are the center of attention and will brook no competition from others. The gods are all-powerful and throw thunderbolts at any who defy them. So our seemingly prosaic temptations are all designed to put us in the god-like position of seeking pleasure, praise and power.
We can group most of our temptations around those three themes of pleasure, praise and power. For example, we find the pleasure principle at work whenever we sit back and think “Do Me.” Make me feel good, scratch my itch, flip my switch, rock my boat, feed the kitty, come to papa, The temptation to go after what I want and only caring about what I am going through is perennial. It puts me in the god-like position of being most important. Contrast that temptation with those who help others. Think of those generous volunteers last week at our Heritage Celebration who decorated the Church, sang in the choir, prepared food, set up the tables, served the meal, cleaned up the mess afterwards. Instead of “DO ME” they did for others and broke the devil’s backbone. Another example: there was a famous Bette Midler sketch where the character she is playing is going on and on about herself and then turns to her companion and says, “But enough about me, let’s turn to you … what do you think about me?” That captures in a nutshell how demonic temptation works. The center of attention is me, what I am going through, what people think about me, how I can get others to do what I want. Diva, god, idol gets the attention. We can see a counter-example in anyone who is part of a long-term marriage or who has successfully raised children. They know that worrying over little old me is not going to work. When we expand the circle of care into the wider world we come to understand that we don’t need to look out for number one but instead, by looking out for each other the whole village is raised up. Then Satan’s temptations will fall on deaf ears.
We begin Lent with the story of the temptations so that, like Jesus, we can tell Satan “get thee behind” by embracing our humanity and not acting like gods. The way to resist temptation is by shifting the focus off of ourselves and onto God. A great help in this effort are the traditional Lenten practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer. Fasting breaks our habit of looking for our own ease, our own comfort, our own satisfaction. When we fast we create an empty spot in ourselves that we know we can’t fill. The point of fasting, then, is to let God fill that hole in our soul. The Lenten practice of almsgiving or charity shifts the focus off of what we look like, what people think about us, what status or position we hold and onto the needs of others. We give charity because we recognize in those who are suffering the face of Christ. As Jesus said, “Whatsoever you do for the least, that you do unto me.” Placing those who are hurting at the center of our concern shifts the spotlight off of us and onto the presence of God. And we get over our desire to be in control, to have things come out according to my plan, to say “my way or the highway” through prayer. In prayer we learn to surrender to God’s will for us instead of insisting on our will. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is an acknowledgement that God is God and I’m not. During Lent, replace pleasure with fasting, praise with almsgiving and charity, power with prayer and the devil doesn’t stand a chance. By focusing on God and not ourselves, since God is love, we know that love wins in the end.
