WHAT DOES GOD WANT?

Dr. Richard J. Henderson February 10, 2008

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Genesis 2: 15-17, 3:1-7
Matthew 4:1-11
Psalm 32 (responsively)

Introduction

Lent is a time of reflection. It is a time when we look at our lives - where we have been faithful, and where we have been fearful; the times when we have followed Christ and the times when we have wandered away on our own. It's a time to look at the things we've done, haven't done, left undone, and shouldn't have done, the times when we've been tempted and given in and when we've stayed true. We look at the times when we have fallen down and when we have stood tall.

Lent is a serious time, for some a somber time. This is when we step back from our everyday busy-ness and remember the sacrifice Christ made for us. Historically it is a season when we step away from the frivolous, the entertaining, and most celebrations and try to take in the suffering love of Christ.

The earliest mention of Lent is in 325 AD, so this is something Christians have been doing almost from the beginning. For many it is a time of fasting, and for most of history no festivities - even weddings - were allowed to take place during Lent.

William Willimon tells of a time early in his ministry when he served a church in a coastal town in South Carolina. The Episcopal Church in town decided to mark Lent by putting three large crosses in the front lawn and draping them with purple clothes.

About a week later they got a call from the local Chamber of Commerce complaining of the crosses. "This is a big season for tourists. We think these crosses could send the wrong signal to visitors to the beach. People don't want to come down here for vacation and be confronted with unpleasantness."

The church didn't budge - they left the crosses standing. "It's Lent," said the church. "People are supposed to be uncomfortable." Lent is a warm, rich, serious time. It's a time of reflection.

I

Our scriptures for this first Sunday in Lent are Adam and Eve being tempted in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. The first two humans fail when tempted; Jesus resists temptation. Adam and Eve were in the garden and had everything they could possibly want. In this lush garden with all the food and beauty and glorious animals around, they didn't need anything. Jesus, who is out in the wilderness - out in the hot, sandy desert - has nothing. He has little food and water, and no companionship. It is a bare, stark existence there. Those who have everything give in to the temptation to get a little bit more; Jesus who has nothing is able to resist the temptation to get and be more.

II

If we look at what Jesus is tempted to do, they're not really such bad things:

First, turn stones into loaves of bread. Jesus is famished; a little bread couldn't hurt. And imagine if he could make bread from all the stones - bread everywhere - he could feed the poor and end starvation.

Second, throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and allow the angels to catch him and protect him. What's wrong with that? And if he gives a clear demonstration like that, maybe more people would believe. Show yourself Jesus; show what you can do.

Third, rule the kingdoms of the world. Don't we all wish Jesus would do that? The things Jesus could attain aren't bad - some are even very good.

The catch is how Jesus would get to those ends. Jesus would need to fall down and worship the tempter. He would make a show - a performance - of who he is. He would have to obey the one who is tempting him.

I think the point is that Jesus would have to do what the tempter wants, rather than what God wants. It means to follow another path, even his own path, rather than God's path.

III

You can't help but notice in our culture how everything is geared to what we want. We are told we should get an expensive, luxury car because we deserve it. (No one ever explains why every single person watching the TV commercial deserves this car!) We're told, "You owe it to yourself" to buy whatever product they happen to be selling.

Everything is geared toward what I want, how I want it, when I want to get it. Even with your hamburgers you can, "Have it your way."

This becomes so ingrained in us that we begin to ask about everything, "What's in it for me?"

Sadly, this is true with churches too. If something is different about worship that we don't like, we just go look for another church. If someone says something we take the wrong way, try another church.

Where is a sense of loyalty to the place that has been there for you when you went through difficult times? Where is the dedication to the people who care deeply about you?

Even the phrase we use for looking for churches couldn't be more retail oriented: "church shopping." We go and compare churches as if we were buying a new sweater. Shop around; see which has the most to offer. Which one fits best, is more entertaining, or makes us feel most comfortable. It's church the way I want it.

And churches have responded by vying for peoples' vote. Make things more fun, more entertaining, and more interesting; scale back the hard words of the gospel, and crank up the humor or the volume. So we have thousands of people flocking to the church that will help you "become a better you."

Churches do this because this is a consumer culture. Give them what they want. One marketing manual for churches laid down the basic rule right on the first page: "Find out what people want, and give it to them."

IV

What about what God wants? Jesus' temptation out there in the wilderness was to do what he wanted, or what the Tempter wanted. But he resisted and did what God wanted him to do.

What God wants for us isn't always fun or exciting; rarely is it entertaining. Sometimes it means standing firm in what you know is right. Sometimes it means sacrificing. The good can come from letting go of what I want.

Think of the people who tithe all their lives - every year giving 10 percent to God's causes. Imagine what they could have bought with those tens of thousands of dollars. Instead, they helped children stay alive and not starve, helped people find work through training, helped hundreds of families be healthy and have a chance in life. They helped people hear the gospel in their own language.

They did that instead of buying stuff for themselves. There is what I call the Cabbage Patch Syndrome. Some of you will remember a few years back when Cabbage Patch dolls were the rage. People waited in lines for hours to buy a Cabbage Patch doll, people paid outrageous prices (not always in legal transactions) to get these little stuffed figures, some people drove to Canada to buy them.

Then just a few years later that same invaluable doll was tossed in a trash bag and taken to the rummage sale, where it sold for a dollar, if it sold at all. What we desperately want this year is next years rummage.

Conclusion

You get to a certain point in your life, or your faith, when you realize that this stuff isn't what's really worthwhile. You take an informal inventory of all you have and know there is more to life than this stuff.

You realize it's not about buying things or buying experiences, but about a whole attitude toward life. The time comes when you say, I don't have to have it my way, I don't need to get what I want, when I want it, the way I want it.

Some of the best things in life are the things we sacrifice for, the things we give up something to get, what we are uncomfortable doing. The temptation Jesus faced out there in the wilderness was to do what he wanted or what the Tempter wanted, rather than what God wanted.

What God wants isn't always a sacrifice or uncomfortable or difficult. A lot of what God wants for us is pure joy - like having a church family that loves you and cares for you. But sometimes what God asks is difficult. Sometimes it does demand sacrifice.

We need to be sensitive to what God is asking of us and be ready to do whatever it takes to follow God's will.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2008