Lent I Good Shepherd sermon, March 9, 2025. Luke 4: 1-13
“Diabolically Miscalculated”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
A few times a day, I will glance at my watch, tap the face, and
see how many steps I’ve taken up to that very minute. It will
also show me steps converted into miles, as well as how many
flights of stairs I’ve negotiated. But it’s the steps that most
people hone in on. The daily goal for many is 10,000 steps.
Others, many more. And, for others… just getting back on their
feet and putting one foot in front of the other, with good balance
and without tiring is the goal.
But, for a person who has suffered from alcoholism, or
addiction to virtually any other substance, there are only 12
steps of any consequence. For addicts, especially in early
recovery, it was the “Twelves Steps” that can help them in their
attempt to overcome their addiction demon. Sounds pretty
simply, huh?
Well, not so much.
I counseled addicts and alcoholics professionally after the first
two years of my sobriety and vividly remember a patient who
described to me during an aftercare session, what I will call his
“wilderness temptations.”
His name was Tom, who had successfully completed a 28-day
stay of in-patient treatment. He told me how he “reluctantly”
walked into a liquor store, headed over to the area where half-
gallons of vodka were on display. He knew he was in the wrong
place, yet there he was. In the midst of enemy territory…around
eleven in the morning. A decision to drink or not to drink was
going to be made. Tom walked out empty-handed. Thank God.
He said that he felt good about the decision to leave, but then
around mid-afternoon, he returned to the same place and the
same shelf. He stood there…looking. He told me his heart was
racing as he so wanted to stay sober, but something in his mind
was trying to convince him that he could “handle it” even
though he had heard a multitude of stories to the contrary during
treatment. He had me on the proverbial edge of my seat. Tom
walked out empty-handed.
Tom was terribly confused. There he was well into his second
month of sobriety – more than 40 days – feeling pretty good
about not drinking, yet there he was that day – – – smack dab in
enemy territory, if you will.
(Sharp exhale)
There is a page in what’s nicknamed, “The Big Book” that
uses three adjectives to describe addiction to alcohol. Those
words are cunning, baffling, and powerful. Let me read you the
following three sentences from Chapter 5:
“Without help it is too much for us. But, there is One who has
all power – that one is God. May you find him now.”
As mentioned, Tom was in enemy territory – a wilderness
where the enemy roams freely. I have heard the enemy tagged,
“The Diabolic One.” Ooooh-yeah, that says a lot. Whatever
you call him, I just know he targets people of all ages,
nationalities, color, socio-economic status, and, yes – – – people
of all faiths.
There are two critical verses in First Peter, Chapter 5, as it
resonates with me in so many instances in life. And, how
applicable for Tom in his wilderness, just as it was for our Lord
during his trials in the wilderness. Here are verses 7 and 8 from
the NIV:
Verse 7 reads, “Cast ALL your anxiety on him because he
cares for you.” Then, verse 8: “Be alert and of sober mind.
Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.”
During the temptations that confronted Jesus in the
wilderness, he stood upon the Word of God to deflect the verbal
arrows of temptation the devil was hurling.
You might be thinking, “Yeah, but that’s God in the flesh!”
Of course, you’d be right, but the key word there…is flesh.
Jesus as fully human was led by the Holy Spirit into the
wilderness, but there is a key term I intentionally left out. Jesus
was “FULL” of the Holy Spirit. The very same Holy Spirit that
lives within those of us who love the Lord.
In another 40 days, including today, we will enter the darkest
day in history – Good Friday. The crucifixion of God in skin.
In his book, The Cross of Christ, brilliant, 20 th -Century Anglican
theologian, John Stott wrote:
“God could quite justly have abandoned us to our fate. He
could have left us alone to reap the fruit of our wrongdoing and
to perish in our sins. It is what we deserve. But he did not.
Because he loved us, he came after us in Christ. He pursued us
even to the desolate anguish of the cross, where he bore our sins,
guilt, judgement and death. It takes a hard and stony heart to
remain unmoved by love like that.” (pg. 85)
It was thru this Holy plan by God Almighty that was able to
win you and me back to God. The Word of God is what Jesus
stood upon and drew from, telling the Diabolical One
he didn’t have a prayer
to move Jesus one step away from the path God wanted him to
travel. Jesus came to give the greatest gift anyone could ever
give – himself.
And, just like us, when we have triumphed over temptations
of our own, the Diabolical One is hardly finished with us. Look
at verse 13 in today’s text –
“When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him
until an opportune time.”
That opportune time came in Luke 22, when Judas approached
the Lord while he was speaking to a crowd. Jesus asked him,
“Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Yes,
Judas succumbed deeply into temptation for a paltry sum of
silver.
When tempted for any reason, my prayer is that we will
remember how the despised and rejected Jesus has been with us,
step-for-step, in the darkest, lowest days of our lives.
We cry – we grieve – we fear – we are often misunderstood, as
we are broken. The overcomer of trials in his life, Jesus, knows
all about the wilderness and temptation. The enemy diabolically
miscalculated the power of the love of God in Christ. And he
will underestimate the power of the love of Christ in you and
me, because each step we take, whether literally or figuratively,
Jesus is right there beside us. We too, stand upon the Word of
God.
May the peace, love, and wholeness of our “temptation
overcomer,” Jesus Christ, guide your every step this day…
(Pause)
and always.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.