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Lead Us Not into Temptation

Wednesday February 14 2018

Reflection from the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning

WHAT is it for you?

Is it chocolate? Is it that dark, unctuous slightly bitter taste; or the soft, silky creaminess of milk chocolate; or is it the sugary sweet, childhood memory of milk chocolate, mild and rich? Is it wine – the rich, luscious reds or the slightly flinty sharp taste of a good white? Is it whisky, the smooth warmth of Speyside or Campbelltown, or the peaty, rich tar flavours of the Islay malts? Is it the juniper berry that entrances you with the sparkle of tonic? Is it the baker’s shop, with the wafting aroma of so many breads, and the bejewelled array of cakes and tarts and pies and pastries?

That’s a whole lot of temptation in one paragraph. I can hear you salivating from here. Temptation comes in many forms. New clothes, books, the latest music, shoes, cars, holidays, so often hovering around possessions.

Temptation comes in other forms. The temptation to have the last word in every argument. The temptation to believe that you are always right, even when you know that is not the case. The temptation to look after yourself first rather than consider the needs of others. The temptation to take the easy option and cut a corner rather than doing the job properly and see it through to the end. The temptation to judge. The temptation to criticise rather than to praise. The temptation to walk by on the other side and not get involved. The temptation to laziness, or indecisiveness and putting everything off further and further. The temptation to take on too much, or to think that you’re indispensable, or bury yourself in work to avoid resolving other issues.

The temptation not to listen to inconvenient truths, and gloss over challenging facts.

A writer comments on Rembrandt drawing several pictures of the devil tempting Jesus. In one of them the two look like friends. They appear to be ambling down a country road, deep in conversation. The devil is half a step behind Jesus. His head is skeletal, but there is an urgent, deeply human look on his face. He is reasoning with Jesus, not menacing Him. One of His wings is thrown over Jesus’ shoulder in an almost friendly fashion.

He leans in, mouth open slightly, eyes on Christ, speaking quietly, a heavy stone in his hands. He holds the stone out as if it were a gift. “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”

This is what temptation is like: powerfully intimate. There is nothing monstrous about it on the face of things; it often looks reasonable on the scale of what is permissible. That is the way most of our temptations appear. They’re all too plausible.

Jesus was tempted to sacrifice the truth of Who He is for material gain, or prestige, or power.

At the beginning of the season of Lent the story about Jesus’ temptation, and how He chose to overcome it, reveals something about God. Jesus, in the face of temptation, chose not to go down that road but chose another that would lead Him to the cross.

And beyond.

Instead of choosing the power and the authority and the control that we expect 
of God, Jesus chose ultimate weakness, ultimate vulnerability and ultimate sacrifice.

By overcoming temptations Jesus’ story sets out on its road to the cross. Had Jesus responded differently to the temptations, His story would have ended differently.
 By refusing to practise human power, Jesus made Himself vulnerable to human power. The path chosen was vulnerability, and in that vulnerability, Jesus overcomes. He does not give in to temptation, but the path He chose forced His reliance on God to sustain and help – the long way round – not the short and easy route.

Life involves choices, some easy, some hard. Perhaps this Lent you might choose not only to give up something, which is hard enough; you might alongside, or instead, choose to take up something positive, and see what kind of difference for good that choice might make in your life.