Sermon for Lent 1A, preached by the Rev. Daniel M. Ulrich on Sunday, March 1, 2020.
Look at Adam and
Eve’s temptation. Look at Christ’s
temptations. Look at your
temptations. They’re not the seedy and
blatant evil that we often think of, are they?
Most of the time, temptations look pleasant and harmless. That’s why we struggle to resist. They look good, or at least they look like no
big deal. But they are a big deal, and
they’re not harmless. Far from giving
the good things temptation promises, sin only brings death.
Everything was
good in the Garden of Eden. All of
creation was in perfect order and harmony.
Adam and Eve walked with God and they were joyfully living the life God
gave them. They tended to the plants and
cared for the animals. They loved each
other completely; husband and wife, one
flesh, united perfectly. Everything was
how it was supposed to be. And then
Satan, the serpent, came and asked Eve what seemed to be a harmless question: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat
of any tree in the garden’? (Gen 3:1).
Eve could’ve answered by simply
restating God’s command and leaving at that, but she didn’t. She added to it. She correctly answered they could eat from
any of the trees, except for the one in the middle, but then she added, “neither shall you touch it” (Gen 3:3). She played with God’s Word, and the door was
now open. Satan crept in and with
twisted words he made it look like a good thing to go against God’s.
He promised that eating that fruit
would open Adam and Eve’s eyes; they’d know good and evil and they’d be like
God. How can that be a bad thing? Obviously it’s good to know good and
evil. Obviously it’s good to be like
God. So it must obviously be good to eat
the fruit. Satan dressed up evil and
made it look good. And he did the same
thing when he tempted our Lord.
Again, the temptations of Christ
don’t seem to be a big deal. They aren’t
blatantly evil. Turning stones into
bread, where’s the harm in that?
Obviously it's a good to take care of our bodies, bodies God has given
to us. If Jesus turned those stones into
bread He’d be benefiting it, not harming it.
And Satan’s second temptation, encouraging Jesus to jump from the
temple, this too can’t be all bad, because by jumping Jesus would be showing
His faith, right? God’s Word does say He
will command his angels to watch over us and guard us (Ps 91:11). And lastly, bowing down to Satan, what’s so
terrible about that? Jesus only had to
bend a knee. Seems like a small
thing. Just a little prostration. It wasn’t like Satan asked Jesus to sacrifice
children to him.
It’s easy for us to look at
temptation and see good. Like Satan,
we’re very skillful at twisting God’s Word.
We can reason and self-justify just about anything in order to get what
we want. We see Satan and sin’s
temptation and they look good. Sin
promises us happiness, and doesn’t God want me to be happy? So, in pursuit of happiness, we fulfill our
lustful desires; even at the expense of our spouse and family, even when it
goes against the design of God’s creation.
In pursuit of happiness, we let loose anger filled words because it’s
not good to keep our feelings bottled up.
In pursuit of happiness, we convince ourselves that murder of children
is okay because this world is a painful place to live and it wouldn’t be fair
to bring a child into it. In the pursuit
of happiness we shirk the responsibilities of our vocations: fathers and
mothers who complain their children ask too much of them, children who think
only of their wants instead of honoring mom and dad, church members who decide
it’s better to sleep in on Sunday morning instead of being in God’s house to
encourage their brothers and sisters in Christ through worship.
Temptation looks pleasing to our
eyes, but looks are deceiving. Sin
promises happiness and joy and fulfillment, but it can’t deliver. Our eyes are easily deceived looking at those
false promises. Even when we’re told the
full story, even when God’s Word lays it all at and plainly tells us that sin
brings nothing good, we still choose to give in. We still want to believe what our eyes think
they see, trusting in the pleasing fruit of sin.
When Adam and Eve
ate that fruit, their eyes were opened, but they didn’t see the good that Satan
promised. They saw their nakedness and
felt great shame. Their shame didn’t come
from being naked though. They’d always
been naked and it never mattered before.
No, this shame came from their guilt.
It came from looking at each other and instead of seeing the wonderful
gift of husband and wife, they saw a person they could use for their own
selfish desires. So they tried to cover
up thinking it would get rid of that shame and guilt, but it didn’t. God would have to be the one to do that, and
it would require blood.
God told Adam that
if they ate from that forbidden tree, they would die. Sin brings death. This is the fact that Satan and temptation
tries to hide, but it can’t. Adam and
Eve saw firsthand what sin caused as God made clothes for them.
We remember the fig leaves that Adam
and Eve sewed together, but we forget that God made them clothes, garments of
skin from an animal. Imagine what Adam
and Eve must have thought seeing that animal slaughtered, witnessing its blood
being spilt so that their shame could be covered. There’s no way they could see that and say it
was a good. But it was, because it
pointed forward to the redemption God promised to accomplish through His very
own Son.
We say Jesus on the cross is a bad,
it’s an ugly sight. It’s not something
we enjoy seeing. I’ve only seen Mel
Gibson’s Passion of the Christ once
because I can’t watch the crucifixion again.
Looking at Christ on the cross, we see what our sin truly brings. Sin’s temptation promises pleasant things,
but it only brings death. “Sin came into the world through one man, and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom
5:12). We all bare the shame and
guilt of sin. Not one of us is
innocent. With Adam and Eve, we stand naked
with our guilt and shame before God. We
stand condemned, deserving death. But just
as sin entered the world through one man, righteousness and salvation are given
through One Man.
The shedding of that animal’s blood
in the Garden pointed to Christ’s blood shed on the cross that covers all
sin. Jesus’ innocent death saves us from
our deserved death. Jesus didn’t give
into Satan’s temptations. He resisted
the devil’s false promises and spoke the complete and untwisted Word of God. He was righteous and without sin. But with grace and mercy, He took your guilt
and shame and carried it to the cross.
He died your death in your place, and because of that, God freely gives
you Christ’s righteousness. He clothes
you with the white robe of Christ’s righteousness, received at your
Baptism.
Christ recognized
the deception of Satan’s words. He
resisted, continued in righteousness so that He could save you from your
unrighteousness. Christ is the Lamb who
shed its blood to cover your shame and guilt.
The killing of that first animal appeared bad, and yet it was God’s way
of covering shame. Christ on the cross
looks bad, and yet it’s what brings you life!
Don’t be deceived by the good looking fruit of sin. With eyes of faith, see it for what it truly
is. With eyes of faith look to your
Savior, look to His blood. It may look
bad, but don’t be fooled. Christ, His
cross, His blood, His redemption, these are the true good things. In Jesus’ name...Amen.
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