We Christians sometimes put heavy pressure on one another to be superhuman.
A Sermon By
BPB
WUMC
January 15, 2012
THE DNA OF CHRISTIANS, Part II
Who’s Your Source?
(Matthew 4:1-11)
Dr. Les Carter, a nationally recognized professional in the field of Christian counseling, once shared a conversation with a woman about the irritations of parenting. When she explained how she frustrated herself by being impatient, Dr. Carter responded with a knowing nod, saying that he felt that same self-directed frustration whenever he snapped impatiently at his own kids. The woman’s eyes grew big as she said, “You have snapped at your children?” And Dr. Carter replied, “If you’re surprised by that simple revelation, I’d hate to have to tell you about some of my other sins!”
We Christians sometimes put heavy pressure on one another to be superhuman. We dislike admitting that a growing, mature Christian can actually struggle with the same problems as non-Christians. This feeds an unhealthy tendency for Christians to hide their humanness in the false hope that they can somehow fool others into thinking they are beyond common pitfalls and temptations.
The truth is that we all struggle against our own self-will. Even Jesus was not immune from this struggle.
I.
He had just been baptized. And then the next verse reads: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil” (4:1). His ministry had not yet begun. And it was God who had chosen both the time and the place for Jesus to come face to face with human temptation. God tests us but it is Satan who tempts us. God was testing His Son by allowing the devil to tempt Jesus.
Of course the temptations came at the end of 40 days. It was when Jesus was at His weakest. Even Jesus was vulnerable to His own humanness. That’s one of the reasons we trust Him, He knows what it means to be one of us.
The devil’s 3 temptations couldn’t be more representative of our own: “Turn these stones into bread!”…“Throw yourself down and test God’s love of yourself!”…“Worship me and not God!” Each time Jesus quoted Scripture to rebuke the devil. Was Jesus tempted? Well, heavens yes He was tempted. Had He given in to these temptations? No! And then the last verse reads: “Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.” Jesus had struggled with his own human self-will, the same self-will that you and I struggle with day after day.
II.
What is the DNA of Christians? That’s our theme. You see, it’s a person’s DNA that will decide blue eyes from brown eyes, athletic ability, intelligence, and susceptibility to which kind of diseases, and on and on. DNA establishes which traits and genetic coding we get from which parent.
But Christians have their own kind of DNA that Jesus gives to them. Our God doesn’t observe us from simply the outside; He literally enters us on the inside so that, over time, we begin to resemble Jesus more and more. We don’t become Jesus, but we can become more like Jesus.
Last week we would have looked at Jesus’ humble character and lifted it up as part of our Christian DNA (had I not been ill). He was King of kings and Lord of lords, but He was also born in a stable and laid in a manger. The entire Christmas story displays the humble character of God. Now, that “stable baby” is 30-years-old and He is tempted to test God and to worship another. Will the humble character of Jesus allow Him to do such things? He could…but will He? No.
And now, Jesus is hungry and thirsty, so will he turn stones into bread? He could…but will He? No. Remember, it was His Father who had sent Jesus out into the wilderness in the first place, full-knowing that He would be tempted there. Would Jesus exercise self-restraint or would He give in to self-interest? Here, I don’t believe it was so much that the Father didn’t know, as it was that the Father wanted the Son to know what He would do, Himself. It was in the desert that Jesus learned how dedicated He would be to God. Jesus’ decision to walk to Calvary where a Cross awaited him wasn’t made during Holy Week; it was made in the desert three years earlier.
The first DNA trait that Jesus gives those who follow Him is a humble heart; and the second trait is His self-restraint that can counter our own self-interest.
Sometimes people feel excessively guilty when they are tempted. If they envy another person’s success, they think to themselves: “I can’t believe I am jealous of my friend’s good fortune!” Or if they experience the hurt or pain brought on by someone else in the family, they think to themselves: “I can’t believe I want to hurt them right back to even the score; I must be the lowest of the low!”
This kind of self-deprecating pattern leads to another bad habit: forcing purity upon ourselves to the point that we don’t or won’t accept our personal frailties. One of Clint Eastwood’s famous lines from the movies is this one: “A man’s got to know His limitations.” We can’t force purity upon ourselves. We need to know our limitations, our weaknesses, those very places in our character where we are most likely to be tempted. And we need to put tall flag poles all around those weak points with bright red flags flying at the top to serve as a reminder to us; a reminder that says here, precisely here, is where we are vulnerable and weakest. And then we need to ask our Lord to come at that precise spot to place Himself in that very weakness of ours and implant His self-restraint right on top of our own self-interest and self-indulgence. Because here’s the news: There is no temptation that God and you together can’t overcome…but there are few that you and I can overcome on our own. Let Jesus’ DNA cover your own DNA like a blanket!
And the final thing to be said about Jesus’ self-restraint becoming your own is just this: Do what Jesus did…seek Scriptural guidance. Each time Jesus was tempted, He knew what Scripture had to say about it. Jesus withstood any invitation to self-serving enticements because He knew God’s Word.
Do you know Scripture? I’m not asking if you know many of the Bible’s stories. What I mean is, do you see and understand the logic and the wisdom of the Bible’s messages? Do you yearn to know it more deeply as each year passes?
Many people who succumb to self-indulging behaviors do so with a full knowledge that they contradict Scripture. They do it because often times Scripture has been presented only as a religious book of do’s and don’ts. Instead, Scripture needs to be understood as a guide that can keep us out of trouble with ourselves and in a good and healthy relationship with other people.
Do you consider Scripture to be merely someone else’s rules imposed upon you? Or do you see God’s Word to be like your best friend trying to help you—not harm you, guide you—not dictate to you, comfort you—not force you into some kind of corner?
This much I know, and I know it not from reading volumes of books but from personal experience: We can be assured that the devil’s attacks will continue; temptations will be an ongoing presence in all of our lives. They can come from the very people and places that you would least expect. But as we admit to ourselves and to God in prayer that we have such points of vulnerability, Jesus will spread His character over that of our own like a divine quilt of DNA, and the Lord can win the day for us, each new day.
Amen!
