Are We Faking It?—Lent 1: A Convenient God?

By Scott E. Hoezee

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

A Convenient God?

Call to Worship

Let us worship God.

"He is our refuge and our fortress,
our God in whom we trust" (Psalm 91:2, NIV).

Let us confess with our mouths, "Jesus is Lord,"
and believe in our hearts
that God raised him from the dead.

"Everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13, NIV).

Let us then call upon our true God,
believing him in our hearts,
confessing him with our mouth,
worshiping him in Spirit and in Truth.

Sermon Text

Matthew 4:1–11 (for year C use Luke 4:1–13)*

*The Lectionary for Year C calls for the Lucan account of the temptations, but Matthew's version has some homiletical advantages for this message.

Sermon Notes

Sigmund Freud believed that Christian doctrines are not revealed by God but are rather invented by Christians as a way to sanction their wishes. These doctrines, and the religious ceremonies by which they are expressed, said Freud, serve as ways to legitimize peoples desires.

For example, Freud viewed the Christian ceremony of marriage as a way to legitimize sexual relations. To his way of thinking, it was not that God established marriage as the place in which to enjoy sexuality, but rather that marriage was invented by Christians so that they could enjoy sexual practice without guilt. In short, God did not create Christian doctrines; Christian doctrines created a God of convenience.

The Lectionary readings for the first Sunday in Lent remind us of the need to bow only before the true God as revealed in Scripture. But Jesus' temptations teach us that Satan regularly attempts to make us worship anything but the true God. As Richard Mouw wrote, "The Devil does not want us to worship God, but outside of that he's flexible—anything goes."

In the temptations the Devil tries to distort Jesus' view of God. First, since God had just declared Jesus to be his Son (cf. the baptism in Matthew 3:17). the Devil tries to make Jesus doubt God. "If you are the Son of God, prove it! Turn stones into bread, and then we'll know whether or not God lied back there at the Jordan!" But Jesus takes God at his Word. Next the Devil tries to make Jesus doubt that Word (the Scriptures). "If God's Word is true, test it—step out onto it!" Again, Jesus resists by relying on the Word. Finally the Devil tips his hand and shows what has been his goal all along— worship of himself instead of the true God. In the end the Devil is defeated through the one verse that always slays him, "Worship the Lord God and serve him only."

In our lives the Devil is equally interested in distorting the Bible's presentation of God. If Satan can't keep us out of church, he can at least try to distort our view of the God we worship there (cf. Lewis's The Screivtape Letters). Freud thought that Christians always distort God into someone more to their liking. By pointing this out, Freud unwittingly unmasked one of Satan's more common tactics.

As a Lenten message, this sermon focuses on the ways in which we distort God and so end up worshiping a God of convenience. Self-deception is that powerful player in our hearts by which we justify our sins (or by which we simply fail to notice them in the first place). In our self-deception we also make God what we want him to be—someone who ignores our sin by sanctioning our lifestyles.

In the temptations Jesus was essentially being asked to bargain with God. "Lord, I'll believe you if..." But the true God is not a God of bargains. Our role as Christians is not to negotiate our sins with God but to confess them and then, by the Spirit, to reform our ways. Our true God encounters us through the Word and sacraments not to do our bidding but to remake us into his image through Christ. Only a true, thorough knowledge of God's Word (note Jesus' refrain "It is written...") can serve as a defense against the distortions of God to which the Devil tempts us.

Prayer

Eternal God, you do not change.
You have revealed yourself to us in your Word.
You call us to worship you in Spirit and in Truth.
But we confess that we often worship not your true Self but who we wish you to be.
We too often ask you to bless what we do rather than seeking to do what you bless.
Forgive us for seeking concessions when we should be seeking guidance.
Forgive us when our worship shapes you into what we want instead of shaping us into what you want.
Help us to meet you here in your house
that we might bow before your unspeakable majesty
and so live for you now and ever, in the Christ. Amen.