The Ring of Power - Temptation

Luke 4:1-13

There is a wonderful story, which many of you probably know, by J. R. R. Tolkien, which was made into several blockbuster films, called The Lord of the Rings.  In it, a character named Frodo carries with him a secret, a ring he has inherited from his cousin, Bilbo Baggins.  As the story develops, we come to realize that this ring is the source of a great and terrible power.  Dark creatures, wraiths, and riders are all attracted to this ring.  As long as he carries the ring without using it, Frodo is safe.  However, the moment he uses it, he will become one with it, unleashing its power, joining with its unspeakable evil.  The temptation grows ever stronger until, finally, Frodo puts on the ring – and steps into darkness, surrounded by all sorts of evil.

Like Frodo’s ring, all of us carry within us a great power.  Like the ring, this power attracts evil to us, evil that wants us to use this power.  The more we refrain from using it, the more strongly evil will attempt to trick us into unleashing it.  We carry within us the power to believe that all we are, and all we have accomplished, we have through our own merits, our own abilities, our own will.  We have the power to forget - that all we have is loaned to us by God - the power to set ourselves up in God’s place.  From God we have the gift of free will, and with it comes this terrible power to choose sin.

Temptation has been with us from the moment of our birth, and the reason why is poetically recorded for us in Genesis.

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Up to this point, only the command of God has played a role in the way humans relate to the that tree.  But what does Eve do next?  She goes to the middle of the garden and takes a look at the forbidden tree, and when she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.

As long as she listened to God and did not gaze on the tree itself, the temptation to go against God’s command remained a concept, and temptation lay dormant.  But once she had taken that first step, gone to look at what was forbidden, she could not resist the temptation to do what she had been told not to do, and to go against God’s command.

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.” 

The Holy Spirit, which at Jesus’ baptism has recognized Him and proclaimed Him the Son of God, now leads Jesus into the wilderness, and there Jesus is meant to stay, fasting, praying, drawing into ever closer union with God.  But Jesus is human, and within Him, as within all of us, lies the great power to sin.  Thus, Satan, who also recognizes who Jesus is, both man and God, takes his best shot, and Jesus must face temptation.

Jesus ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."

Of the many temptations the devil puts before Jesus, and while we may on some levels crave power and glory, there is one to which we can most easily relate – hunger.  We have all been hungry, very hungry sometimes.  But - some of us have dietary restrictions we must follow for our health, while others of us simply have to refrain from overeating.  It isn’t easy to not put on our “ring of power” and indulge – “just this once”.  But then, once can become “the next time” and the time after that.  The temptation can grow into addiction, and most, if not all, of us know what that feels like too.  We may joke about our “little addictions”, or take action to try to get the greater ones under control – but we all know what temptation can lead to.

The devil makes temptation sound so appealing.  Food for Jesus’ hunger, glory and authority in the world, and when neither of these work, the temptation for Jesus to prove that He is who He truly says He is.  All Jesus has to do is make a decision, set Himself against the leading of the Holy Spirit, and become independent from God.  Just put on the ring!  Satan tries to make the choices sound reasonable, but Jesus will not be fooled.  He drives Satan away, warning him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

The great trickster attacks us in the same way he attacked Jesus, by trying to make the temptations that lead to death sound reasonable.  And yes, we face temptations lead to death.  Where is the harm, we want to know, in going along with what society endorses, with what seems easy and profitable?  Yet, as we go along with “the world”, we are often aware that we have been unkind, uncharitable and unchristian.  Did you give to the beggar, or even speak to him or her?  Have you phoned the relative you had a fight with, and made amends – even if you think you were right?  Are you willing to turn the other cheek, or to give in so many ways it hurts?

And on a larger, but more general scale, if I can beat you to the front of the line, why shouldn’t I?   Why should I care what happens to you, if ignoring you will bring glory, success, security, and comfort to me and mine?  We know the answers, but we sin anyway.

Sometimes, even when we have good intentions, when we set out to do God’s work, we still fall victim to our pride.  This can happen even in the most loving of congregations, as what starts out as a charitable plan, falls victim to squabbling over whose idea of what form that plan should take, and how to execute it takes center stage – and the plan ends up being set aside until egos cool down.

Today, the devil offers Jesus all the things that tempt us; food for our hunger, worldly power, and finally what we’d call “fifteen minutes of fame”.  Does the devil have the authority to offer Jesus world-wide political power?  Probably not, and Jesus has no need for vain glory, no need to do something extraordinary – a thing not in accordance with God’s plan of salvation.  But the devil is appealing to Jesus’ human nature, the sort of temptations we would find appealing, the desire we all have for power, and the pride we have that makes us want to be recognized, to be the ones in control.

What strengthens Jesus’ resolve is His absolute centeredness in His heavenly Father.  Jesus knows who He is and what God’s plan for Him entails.  We might think this is something only the Son of God could achieve, but this isn’t the case.  We too can become centered in God, but we have to want to do this, we have to be willing to surrender to God’s will, and we need Jesus’ help to accomplish this transformation in our hearts and souls.  Lent gives us a time to really concentrate on letting go – on becoming one with our Lord

This is very hard to do, because we like the sin of pride.  It makes us feel strong, important, and right.  It fools us into thinking we are in control.  We don’t like the word “sin”.  We don’t like to acknowledge that we are sinners.  But that is what we are, and Jesus died to save us from what we are.

Like Frodo, we carry a great power, the power for evil, the power to sin.  Like the “one true ring” it travels with us; it is part of our human nature.  The choice is ours.  We can give in to temptation, and choose death, or, with the help of God to resist, choose life.  When temptation comes, and it always does, pray.  Pray, and ask Jesus for help not to sin, but rather to surrender to the will of God.

St. Paul tells us, ‘No one who believes in Jesus will be put to shame.’ ... the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.  For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Let us pray:

Give us grace, O Lord, to resist temptation and answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of His salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of His marvelous works; and be filled with Your Love, in Jesus Name. Amen.