SERMON

SERMON= —1^ST Sunday in Lent—Feb. 25, 2007—Lk 4: 1-13—St. Paul.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father a= nd the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

= In our gospel reading from Luke, I find it rather interesting that the first things we find out about Jesus is not the things He affirms with Satan, or= the actions He accomplishes, but rather in what He refuses as Satan keeps offe= ring Him various gifts.

= I would like to point out, this is the first time we have seen Jesus in acti= on in Luke’s Gospel. This is= the very beginning. These are th= e first words we hear from Jesus as an adult.&nbs= p; And the first word is “No.”

= “No” is a very small word, but oh how revealing! We usually want to know what a pe= rson believes in, rather than what that person doesn’t believe in. We are first of all most interest= ed in what a person will do rather than what the person refuses to do. And yet, at the beginning, Jesus = is known by what He rejects rather than what He affirms. Before Jesus preaches or lectures= , He utters a simple little word, “No!”

= Luke says that, after these three “No’s” or renunciations by Jesus, Satan slinks away and “waits until a more opportune time.” That sounds a b= it ominous, doesn’t it? W= hen will that time be? When will= Jesus again be in the wilderness, hungry, alone, and vulnerable?

= For us and for now, here is an occasion for our consideration of all that we k= now about Jesus on the basis of that which He has renounced. In His three renunciations, Jesus= is at odds with three of the most cherished possessions of this culture--------<= o:p>

Money & Possessions--------Power---------Religion

= More than that, Jesus is at odds with the entire disposition of our culture—the way in which we tend to live. Our favorite slogan is not “No!” Our favori= te slogans are things like this---------

“Go for it!”--------“You d= eserve it!”---------or just plain, “Yes!”

= We believe in affirmation—“Yes” rather than renunciation—“No.” We think of ourselves not primarily as citizens, or sisters and brothers, children of God-disciples of Christ (good stewards), but as consumers. If we want it, we= have the duty to do everything possible to get it. And if we can have it, we have a responsibility to take it. Don’t deny thy self. Learn to say, “Yes” that’s the acceptable way is = it not—sisters and brothers?”

= I once heard of a young women who had just graduated from college and had be= en an excellent student. She was encouraged by both her family and her professors to continue on to graduate school, so she could pursue, what they envisioned as her calling, the brig= ht career of community of service, working for a meager salary in a community agency that assists poor women and their children.

= One of her supporters told her, “I think this is a waste of time. You are wasting your God-given ta= lents in turning your back on a career. <= /span>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 Jesus was confronted by Satan, 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. Luke tells us the Scripture that = Jesus quoted and the various quotes He uses are interesting. But mainly, all of this Scripture= can be summed up in the little word, “No” Jesus said to Satan.

= Do you know someone who has turned his or her back of this world and al that = it has to offer? Such people ca= n be a real threat to this world and to those of us who may have too easily surrendered too much to this world.

= And yet, sometimes we are attracted to such people in their ability to say “No.”

= A distinguished American historian was asked, “What was the key event = of the American Revolution?”

He answered, “The key event was when Washington<= /st1:State> laid down his sword, retired as Commander in Chief of the Army, and return= ed to Mount Vernon.”

= He went on to explain: “It is one thing to begin a revolution, but it i= s an even greater thing to sustain a revolution. Many would have been happy to ins= tall Washington as a benevolent autocrat. But Washington refu= sed. That refusal to be a King or Psue= do-King was one of the great moments in the American Revolution.”=

= On this Sunday we begin our walk with Jesus toward the Cross. Satan is now waiting for a more opportune time. The battle i= s not over, in fact, with Jesus’ renunciation the battle is just beginning. This story remind= s us, as disciples called to be good stewards of all God has gifted us, that Jes= us was sent to the Cross, not simply because He was the Son of God and people= were threatened by that. Jesus wa= s sent to the Cross because of what He said and did.

= He was not a robot who was born only 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 of todayR= 17;s story form Luke, He was put on the Cross for what He refused to say and do. He was put of the Cross = for saying, “No!”

= Let us be honest, something in Jesus both repels us and attracts us. We are frightened by One who is o= ffered everything WE love, all that we worship and are giving our lives for, and = yet still renounces—says “No”—and refuses all of that.=

= Still you have to admit that there is something about Him that also attracts us,= even in His ability to say “No.”&n= bsp; And we, who are urged to follow Jesus by taking up His Cross daily = and following Him, wonder, what this means for us. It is surprising that the temptat= ions which Jesus faced are the same as our temptations.

= Satan offered Jesus the same commodities that we are offered. He was able to stand up to His fu= ll moral height and say “No.”&nb= sp; Sisters and Brothers are we strong enough to do the same? Satan is now waiting for a more opportune time to assault Jesus with more temptation. When will be faced with that same= more opportune time from the greatest liar, Satan.

= As we begin this time of Lent and our own reflection upon our stewardship I w= ould like to offer a suggestion to you about that time. This story suggests that Satan= 217;s “opportune time” is that time when we are offered something th= at seems so right, so self-evidently good, that there is no need even to ques= tion its value.

= It will be something that 9 out of ten Americans think is good. Satan may even quote Scripture to= us just as He quoted scripture to Jesus.&nbs= p; And we will be tempted to say “Yes,” to affirm al that = is brightest and best within us. We may reach down, and not have the resources to say anything but “Yes.” Later, wh= en we realize now much this decision has cost us, we will realize that this has = truly been Satan’s “opportune time.”

= Or, we may remember this story. = While we may not be able, like Jesus, to have just the right scripture on the ti= p of our tongue, while we may not be able to fully articulate the theological r= ationale for our decision, we will be able to offer one little word. That little word will be “No.” It will be= word enough.

= In our tradition as Lutheran’s we have been blessed with a hymn by Mart= in Luther himself—“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” remember = when it says:

This world’s prince may rage, in fierc= e war engage, He is doomed to fail; /god’s judgment must prevail! One little word subdues Him.=

What is that “one little word?”

I have always assumed the one little word so devastating and defeating to Sa= tan was the word, the name “Jesus.” Now I wonder if the little word t= hat defeats Satan is even simpler.

That little word, spoken in the name of Jesus,

Is NO!

Amen.