You Do Have A Choice
Luke 4:1-15
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Lou Nyiri
September 16, 2007

I love the movies.  I love them because Hollywood has a way of taking us places we’ve never been before.  And Hollywood has a way of showing us a little about ourselves in the process too.  I love the way a movie can find its way into your life and take up residence within your psyche.  For me, I love the way scenes or lines from movies come back to teach me about who I am.  Even if you’re not much of a movie buff I’m sure you’ve read a book or listened to a song that has periodically come back to remind you of an important life lesson. 

One such lesson that has been with me since I saw it comes from the movie Dangerous Minds starring Michelle Pfeiffer.  The movie is based on the auto-biographical book of the same name and tells the story of LouAnne Johnson who “bullied, bluffed and bribed her students into liking school.  And if that didn’t work, the pretty, petite ex-marine told them she'd been trained to kill with her bare hands.  They were called the class from Hell-thirty-four inner city sophomores she inherited from a teacher who'd been "pushed over the edge." She was told "those kids have tasted blood. They're dangerous."  But LouAnne Johnson had a different idea.”  (The quoted description is taken from the write up of the book on a Google Book Search performed on 9/13/07 at 3:50PM.) 

The scene I remember from this movie shows her standing in front of the class and challenging them to take their school work and their attendance seriously.  She was frustrated with the excuses she was hearing and she tells them, “There are no victims in this classroom.  You have a choice.”  One student says, “Yeah, right.  We have to be here!”  To which Johnson replies, “No you don’t.  Who says you have to be here?  Nobody makes you.  You have a choice.  You choose to get up in the morning.  You choose to get on the bus and come here.  You choose once you’re here to come into this classroom.  You have a choice!  Now use it!”

Let me pause and say (lest the parents and teachers here think I’m stoking the embers of anarchy), this is a line from a movie, taken from a book, written by a teacher who was teaching youth who cared little about school, AND who was an ex-marine who went out of her way after making this statement to personally ensure those students attended school.  SO I’m not telling, nor giving any high school OR college students the right to choose NOT to go to class…because you all know better.

Johnson’s point however is a good one.  We all have a choice.  Between what happens to us and what we do about it is our ability to choose a response.  WE HAVE CHOICES!  Especially when faced with life’s temptations!  Now sometimes we forget that we have a choice.  And while I can’t go into all the temptations of this world in the time we have this morning, let me simply say, you and I – we know what our individual temptations are – we know those areas of life we wrestle with most frequently – the question is, “Do we realize we have a choice to rise above the temptation and do what God would have us do?”

This morning’s passage helps us see when we might be most susceptible to temptation.  If you remember from last Sunday, as part of this Gospel of Luke sermon series, Rev. Hans preached about Jesus’ baptism and how upon his rising out of the water, “A voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’”  (Luke 3:22)
And shortly after we read Jesus’ lineage links him all the way back to being Son of God.  (Luke 3:38)

Now I don’t know about you, but affirmations of this sort could make one’s ego swell. 
It could also cause someone to over-flow with pride. 
It could give some a reason to boast even become arrogant. 
And such boastful pride and arrogance could lead one into sin.
For some people in this world this passage and Christmas are very difficult because for them it’s hard to believe that they aren’t God’s gift to the world.
And maybe that is when we are most susceptible, vulnerable and subject to temptation. 
Maybe it’s in those moments of life when we are most prideful, boastful and arrogant OR when we think too highly of ourselves OR when we think we don’t need God very much because everything is going so right, maybe it is in those moments when temptation befalls us.

Temptation boils down to choice.  AND we do have choices.
We have the ability to choose between what we want to do AND what we need to do.
We have the choice to satisfy short term needs or to rise above them and be part of God’s long term plan.
It’s the Temptation of turning a rock into a loaf of bread. 
And in this temptation Jesus reminds us life is bigger than just us and many of life’s circumstances require more than a quick-fix mentality.

This first temptation is befitting of the situation.
What better temptation for a starving Jesus, then to fill his stomach with a little bread made from rocks?  It parallels God’s providing hand for the Israelites during their 40 year wilderness wanderings.  Biblically speaking 40 is most likely NOT the exact year or day time frame.  The Israelites most likely did not wander for 40 years and Jesus most likely did not wrestle 40 days with temptation.  It could have been more or it could have been less.  In Biblical talk, the number 40 basically means, “the amount of time needed.”  And so for the amount of time needed until they got it straight the Israelites wandered in the wilderness AND Jesus wrestled with temptation. 

And during their wandering, the Israelites grumbled against Moses for taking them away from Egypt, “at least in bondage,” they whined, “we had food enough to eat.”  So God gives to them the manna to eat each morning – the bread from heaven that would sustain them each day.

And Jesus is tested to feed his hunger by making bread in the wilderness.
No one would blame him for feeding his hunger – after all he is God’s son and doesn’t that come with some perks?
And yet, Jesus knew there was so much more to living than just fulfilling short term physical needs.
Jesus’ calling was to feed others and not simply himself.
Jesus refused to fulfill only his superficial, selfish interests.
Jesus was able to see that if he had fulfilled short term needs quickly, so much would have been lost in the ministry because at that point people would have come looking for quick fix to long term problems.  We might come merely asking to be excused, rather than asking for mercy and transformation from the one who can change lives.

Jesus gave up his need to fulfill and satisfy his own physical hunger because he knew there was more to his calling than just taking care of himself.
There is more to our calling then merely sacrificing the future in order to gain a short term fix.
We read about and hear about them all the time. 
A broken vow…A misguided business practice…A videotaping of opposing coaches defenses to gain an edge on the playing field…A plagiarized paper…A copied exam…the list is endless.

The point is all of these are practices which replace future fulfillment with tarnished memories all for the pleasure of near-sighted gratification.  – NO Matter how one might spin it!
I’m not saying we don’t believe in grace and forgiveness and new beginnings – after all that’s the stuff of the Gospel!  That’s why we’re here!
I am saying, however, if we could learn to see the consequences of our actions before we make a decision we might save ourselves future disappointment, despair and hurt –AND more importantly we can spare the innocent ones who are left in the wake of our poor choices.

I think Jesus was able to make the right decision because he knew his identity was based on his belonging to God.  You might remember from last week’s sermon that Jesus knew his purpose in life (who he was) by knowing whose he was.
Out of that identity, he was able to avoid the temptation to feed only himself because he realized the work of God’s Son involved more than just meeting his own physical needs.  In time he would provide people the Bread of Life AND it would sustain us on our faith journey.
The same can be said of us, knowing who we are stems from knowing whose we are. 
This knowledge will help us avoid the temptation of short term gratification at the cost of long term fulfillment.  It will also help us leave more positive impressions on the people around us.
This also empowers us to steer clear of the 2nd temptation.

The Devil brings before Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says they will all be his IF…
“If” is a very small word, usually followed by very large requests. 
I’ll mow the lawn IF you pay me $20.00. 
You will have car privileges IF you fulfill your responsibilities to this family. 
You can become CEO of the company IF you sacrifice your time to the company.
Authority over all the kingdoms of the world will be given to Jesus IF Jesus will worship the devil.

It’s a tricky temptation because there is so much good that could occur if Jesus would give in to this temptation.  Think about all that power!?  Jesus early on in the ministry could have instituted incredibly beneficial reforms:  world peace, universal employment, human rights protection, established a true justice system.
That’s the thing about temptation some times the ends look like they justify the means…until we really see the effects of those means.
I can provide a better living for my family with more income by taking that promotion…but then 30, 40, 50 years later after continual 70+ hour weeks we can’t get Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle” out of our minds.
Professional athletes look for improved performance by introducing foreign substances into their bodies to gain an edge on the competition.  Then years later they discover their bodies have failed to work properly because of that edge AND their records now have asterisks next to them.
The catch to the temptation of over zealous ambition is that it presents itself in a non-threatening even life-enhancing way.  

Ambition has a way of over-taking our lives so that we lose what most important to us…and it does so while convincing us we’re doing it for the betterment of what is most important to us.
Do we want people to say at our funeral, “Man he made a lot of money.”
Or, do we want them to say, “She was a good friend.  He was a great father.  They were loving, committed parents to us kids AND to each other as spouses.”
Ambition is good when it does not fail to lose sight of that which is most important.
Ambition is good when it motivates us to do the best we can – as long as the best we are being is in line with who God would have us be.

When ambition becomes like a “fire in the belly” that motivates us to disregard people and find our way to the top no matter the cost, then it becomes overzealous. 
And it has become a hindrance instead of an inspiration.
In a sense we gain our power by compromising more important values.
When our ambition has us worshiping someone or something other than God we have given in to its subtle temptation and promise to bring happiness. 
And in so doing, we often over look others and some times destroy good relationships through selfish actions. 
We have forgotten Jesus’ reminder, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”  (Deuteronomy 6:13) 

And as we Worship God & Serve God, we are more able to make the right choice and not give up anything important to us because what we decide to do is in line with what God would have us do.  Our worship of God first in our lives also enables us to avoid Temptation #3.

This temptation is the pinnacle of temptation for it is so creative and so wonderfully devious.
Jesus up to this point has fended off temptation through the use of Scripture. 
And now Scripture is used to tempt Jesus.
It takes us back to Psalm 91:11-12, saying in effect, “Did the psalmist not promise angels to protect you and to bear you up so that you would not even strike your foot against a stone?...If you are the Son of God,” challenging Jesus once more, “throw yourself down from here.”

The temptation is to put God’s promises to the test. 
Specifically, Jesus is tempted to ask God to deliver him from death in Jerusalem. 
Ironically, we know that eventually Jesus will face death once again in Jerusalem AND he would choose not his own deliverance but faithfulness to his Father’s will.  (Luke 22:42)
Jesus’ response to the devil here is the counterpart to his prayer in Gethsemane’s Garden.
Jesus accepts his Divine Sonship not by escaping death but by accepting and defeating death.
In his response to this temptation Jesus offers not a prohibition to the devil, rather it is a command to which he himself submits.

In modern day parlance, Jesus “puts his money where his mouth is.”  And so should we.
Jesus certainly believed God would protect him AND YET he refused to test God’s protection through a foolish pursuit.
We too believe God will protect us, shield us and save us AND UNLIKE Jesus we often engage in foolish pursuits.
Giving in to this temptation could exhibit itself by doing stuff like:  Drinking too much alcohol or taking drugs…Engaging is unprotected, promiscuous sex…Not gaining control of our finances until we reach a level of spending that far exceeds our income and crying out to God for the windfall we call powerball…Letting personal health care go unexamined for too long then blaming God when we develop chronic conditions that could have been avoided…
Sometimes we want to excuse our way out of situations we have behaved ourselves into.
It is not a sign of sincere, genuine faith to behave in self-destructive ways and then expect God to save us from our actions.

And are choices are these:

• We have the choice whether or not to make life more than just the pursuit of our physical needs at the cost of long term fulfillment.
• We have the choice whether or not we worship and serve God and God alone.
• We have the choice whether or not to test God by engaging in self-destructive lifestyles.

Put these choices together and reduce them down on a low simmer and you get this, “The supreme purpose of all life is the worship of God.”

• Any pursuit, priority or preoccupation that diverts us away from that purpose should be seen for what it is:  temptation.

It’s up to each of us individually to decide what we will choose. 
The effect of our choice though can be seen in how we are seen by the people around us.
It was so for Jesus. 
Our passage this morning ends with these words, “Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.  He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.”  (Luke 4:14-15)

What will people say about you and me?
Well that all depends on what we choose?

Return to the Sermons Menu