March 4, 2001
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
Not long ago, there was a campaign in our schools and community to stop the use of drug abuse. We taught our young people to “just say no” when they were tempted to try out a new drug like Ecstasy. We applied this self-will power to other temptations that were causing havoc in our lives. Just say no to sex. Just say no to drinking. Just say no to domestic abuse. Just say no to your stressful job!
When we say no to something, we are indirectly saying yes to something else. When we say no to drugs, we are saying yes to be clean from our dependency on artificial substances to get through each day. When we say no to unmarried sex, we are saying yes to a commitment to a faithful and honest relationship with your spouse. When we say no to irresponsible and illegal drinking, we are saying yes to take responsibility for our actions and to obey the laws. Whenever we say no to something, we are affirming something else that we hope will define who we are.
On this first Sunday of Lent, we read in the Scriptures how Jesus said no to Satan three times. We discover who Jesus is on the basis of what he renounces instead of what he affirms.
Three Temptations
In the wilderness, Satan makes Jesus a number of tempting offers. Satan does not attack Jesus, assault him, or abuse him. Rather, he offers Jesus gifts. And they are good gifts too.
First, Satan offers Jesus bread. Jesus has been hungry for forty days, a very long time. What gift is more basic, or necessary for life than bread? Most of us spend most of our day working for bread. And fortunately for many of us today, we are still living through some of the most affluent times in our history. There’s just a lot of bread everywhere.
But what is Jesus’ response to Satan’s offer of bread? He refuses. Jesus says “No!”
Then Satan offers Jesus power. Satan tells Jesus that if he would pay him appropriate homage, he can have power over all of the kingdoms of this world. It says that Satan is in charge of these powers. And of course, power in Jesus’ hands would surely be power to do a good thing. Jesus would be able to take what powers that Satan has and turn it into righteousness.
We certainly live in a culture that values power. Since most of us have enough bread for ourselves and then enough to spare, we spend most of our time trying to get more power.
We want more power to live our lives as we please, to make the choices that we want to make. We admire people who have power and know how to use it. So Satan offers Jesus all the power one could want—power over every kingdom in the world.
And what is Jesus’ response to Satan’s offer of power? He refuses. Jesus says “No!”
Finally, perhaps sensing the sort of person Jesus is, Satan offers Jesus religion. Jesus refused bread even when he could have used it to feed many hungry people. Jesus refused power even when he could have used it to overthrow the Roman conquerors. Finally, Satan offers Jesus religion. Spiritual showbiz. Throw yourself down from the tower and there will be spectacular religious results. When the angels catch you, everyone will believe in what you have to say.
We would find this interesting and convincing, wouldn’t we? Many of us are looking for a spectacular religion that really works. I think that’s probably one of the reasons why the TV show, Touched by an Angel, is so popular. After about 50 minutes of drama even with commercial interruptions, Monica, Tess, and Andrew begin glowing spectacularly! The people believe in God because an angel protected them and guided their feet away from the stone.
Perhaps after trying to find happiness and health through bread and through power, we say, “why not try religion.” Wouldn’t it be a good thing to have so much faith that one can jump off the Transamerica building, confident of some divine protection?
And yet, even when faced with Satan’s offer for spiritual heroics, what is Jesus’ response? He refuses. Jesus says, “No!”
Jesus says “No!”
The temptation of Jesus happened at the very beginning of his ministry. In Luke’s Gospel, this episode with Satan in the wilderness occurs immediately after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. We get to know Jesus first not by the things he affirms, or the actions he accomplishes, but rather in what he refuses.
These are the first words we hear from Jesus as an adult. The first word is “no.” No is a very small word, but oh, how revealing! We usually want to know what a person believes in, rather than what a person doesn’t believe in. We are first of all most interested in what a person will do rather than what the person refuses to do. And yet, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus is known by what he rejects rather than what he affirms. Before Jesus preaches or heals, he utters a simple little word, “No.”
We say “Yes!”
The three things that Jesus renounces are the three most cherished possessions of our culture—money and possessions, power, and spiritual power.
But more than that, Jesus is at odds with the entire idea in our culture that more is better. Our favorite slogan is not “No!” Our favorite slogans are things like, “Go for it!” or “You deserve it!” or “Yes!”
We believe in affirmation rather than renunciation. We think of ourselves not primarily as citizens, or sisters and brothers, but as consumers. If we want it, we have a duty to do everything possible to get it. And if we can have it, we have the responsibility to take it.
Here’s an example of how our “Go for it!” culture works. Take a look at how teenagers spend money. Studies show that teens with jobs typically take home about $100 a week, and from this amount no more than $10 usually goes into savings. And that much is probably from parents’ urgings. The bulk of the paycheck goes into purchases, such as the wardrobe of one young man, which typically includes two leather jackets, six sweaters, 12 pairs of jeans, four pairs of shoes, two belts and lots of shirts, including a half-dozen silk ones. An average female high school senior reports 20 pairs of dress shoes—with a purse to match each one—plus 10 pairs of sneakers.
Now President Bush wants to give you a tax cut so that you can go out and say, “I deserve more shoes!” Don’t deny yourself. Learn to say, “Yes!”
Filled with the Spirit
The reason why we say “Yes” to the temptations in life is that we are blessed. We are fortunate to have the privileges and opportunities as Americans because we probably have the largest economy that the world has ever seen. For many in the world, their choices are limited if not none. For us, the choices are expansive. We are filled with blessings.
I think that it’s very interesting to note that at the beginning of Jesus ministry right after he was baptized, Luke said that Jesus was “full of the Holy Spirit.” Filled with the Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where Satan tempted him for forty days.
I would think that the gift of God’s Spirit would have led Jesus toward peace, satisfaction, joy, and good feelings. No, for Jesus, the gift of the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. There, in the wilderness, far from the city, from the support of others, and the comforts of civilization, Jesus encounters Satan.
As Christians today, we pray for our lives to be filled by the Holy Spirit. We want to know God personally in our lives. However, just when we feel that the Holy Spirit is now filling our lives with blessings is also the same time that we begin to become tempted. It happened to Jesus. This happens to us too. Maybe with the many privileges and opportunities that we have before us is the reason that leads us to choose the easier path of accumulating more bread and power then to say “No!”
There was a young woman who made excellent grades in college. Her professors encouraged her to go on to graduate school, conceived for her a bright career in the academic field in which she excelled. But she declined. She chose instead a career of community service, working with a meager salary in a community agency that assists poor women and their children.
One of her professors told her, “I think this is a waste. You are wasting your God-given talents in turning your back on a career. God has given you these talents; you ought to use them.”
Our culture thinks more of people who say yes than those who say no.
When Satan confronted Jesus, he resisted Satan, not with Satan’s weapons of violence, coercion, or physical force. All he did was speak to Satan. He resisted only with words, the word. He quoted Scripture. Jesus said,
“One does not live by bread alone”
“Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”
“Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”
With these Scriptures, Jesus tells Satan this little word, “No!” Jesus says “no” to Satan.
Do you know of someone who has turned his or her back on this world and all that it has to offer? Such people can be a real threat to this world. They threaten us too when we have too easily surrendered too much to this world.
When we keep our church doors opened to our neighbors, morning and evenings so that they may learn English and citizenship and become active and contributing members of this country, we are saying “no” to Satan.
When we give to the America for Christ Offering to start new churches, develop healthy communities, feed the poor, we are saying “no” to Satan.
Even when we are beginning to just explore what it might be like to participate in an Habitat for Humanity project in the Bay Area in order to make a difference for one family to have affordable housing, we are saying “no” to Satan.
This little word, “no” becomes our renunciation of the things that the world wants us to believe in. And we are then able to affirm and say “yes” to the things that God wants us to do.
Lent
On this first Sunday of Lent, we begin our walk with Jesus toward the cross. When Jesus refuses Satan for the third time, it says in Luke, “Satan departed from him until an opportune time.” The temptation to seek after more money and possessions, more power and more easy answers to faith continues to challenge us. We seemed to have many opportune times to be tempted today.
This story reminds us that Jesus was sent to the cross, not simply because he was the Son of God and people were threatened by that, Jesus was sent to the cross because of what he said and did. He was no robot or angel on TV who was only born to walk toward the cross and die for our sins. Rather, he was put on the cross because of what he said and did. Or more to the point, he was put on the cross for what he refused to say or do. He was put on the cross for saying “no!”
And for some strange reason, we find ourselves both attracted to Jesus and frightened by him. He tells us that in all the things that we love and worship, we need to say “no” to them. But yet, he is also the one who can look into our hearts and invites us to take up his cross daily and to follow him. We don’t like that he’s telling us to say “no” to more possessions and things and “no” to more power and privileges, and “no” to demanding spectacular proof that God is indeed alive. And yet, we are still attracted to him. That’s the reason why we are here.
When Satan offered Jesus great gifts, he was able to stand up and say “no.” Would we be strong enough to do the same? Will Satan wait for an opportune time to tempt us as he said he would do that for Jesus?
Do we know when the opportune time is? The opportune time is when things seem so right, so self-evidently good, that there is no need to even question its value. It will be something that nine out of ten average Americans think is good. That’s the time when we are tempted to “yes” to bread, power, and spectacular religion. And surely when we say that, “We deserve it,” we realize that Satan’s opportune time just happened.
So how can we resist temptation and remain faithful to God? Jesus had on the tip of his tongue the ability to recite Scripture against Satan. While we may not be able to fully articulate the Bible verses when Satan’s opportune time is coming for us, we do have a response. We will be able to offer one little word. That little word will be “no.” And surprisingly in Christ, we will find that it will be enough.
In Martin Luther’s hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” do you remember when it says, “The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him?”
What is that “one little word”? I have always assumed the one little word so devastating and defeating to Satan was the word, the name “Jesus.” Now I wonder if the little word that defeats Satan is even simpler.
That little word, uttered in the name of Jesus, is “No!”
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, the enticements of the world are tempting us and it is difficult to say no. It’s even difficult for us to know that there is something to which we ought to say no. We seldom deny anything from ourselves and lack the skill to refuse. Lord, teach us the virtue and faith to say no to the world’s easy things and to say yes to accepting and taking up the way of the cross. This way is the only way that leads to life. Amen.