911 JESUS

Photo by Channel 4, CBS News    Denver, Colorado

Luke 4:1-13
Romans 10:8-15

Living in the Most High's shelter,

camping in the Almighty's shade,

I say to the Lord, "You are my refuge, my stronghold!

You are my God -- the one I trust.

          Psalm 91:1-2

On January 29, 2016, Channel 4, CBS News, Denver Colorado, reported that, in Westminster, Colorado, firefighters came to the aid of a man and his cat stuck in a tree after the ladder he was using to rescue the cat fell, leaving both the man and the cat stranded 30 feet above the ground.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt?  Well, maybe not literally, but the human race has the habit of making decisions that  figuratively leave us stuck up a tree.  When that happens, who are we going to call?  In case of temptation:  call 911 JESUS.

Whether we're talking about cats or people, we end stuck up in those tress, facing the consequences of our actions because of the less than loving decisions we made.

Maybe we realized it was a mistake a minute after we did it, and thought, "Well, this was stupid!"

Or perhaps, even knowing it was the wrong thing to do, we had climbed that same tree several times and gotten away with it.  Only this time, we find ourselves too far up and out on a limb to get ourselves back down to the safety and the security of the ground.

Giving in to temptation will do that to us.  Instead of having it made in the shade of God's shelter, we find ourselves climbing further and further away from God, until ...

Lent reminds us that no one is exempt from temptation.  The struggle with making with the choice between doing what is good and what is selfish and self-serving is a universal human condition.  Even Jesus, who put on our humanity, was tempted by the devil.

As God brings order, love, health, wholeness and peace into this world, the devil creates chaos and brokenness -- the struggle of good versus evil.   The forces of evil oppose all who obey God and work for God's purposes, including Jesus, and temptation is one of the weapons used against us.

Contrary to what we might think, temptation doesn't play on our weakness, but on our strengths.  We can't be tempted to do what we aren't able to do.  Take a look of the story of Christ's temptation we find in Luke 4.

Could Jesus, God incarnate in flesh, rearrange the elements to turn stones into bread to feed his hunger?

Could he, who had been given all power and authority, use political and military power to achieve his goals?

Could Christ force God's hand and coerce the religious leaders in Jerusalem with a show of angels and his divinity into following him and preventing his death on a cross?

Yes, yes, and yes.  And if he did, to what ends?  Whose will and purposes would ultimately be fulfilled.

But he doesn't.  Full of the Holy Spirit, Christ remained connected to God and committed to God's will and God's mission.  He was living sheltered in the presence of the Almighty God.

Full of the Holy Spirit, the word of the Lord was near him, in his mouth and in his heart (see Romans 10:8).  Jesus is able to counter the devil's inappropriate use of scripture with God's truth and resist temptation.  The devil left him to wait for another opportunity.

Temptation is part of our human situation.  Being a Christian is not a guarantee that we won't be tempted, and yes, we will at times find ourselves stuck up a tree because we give in to temptation and make the wrong choices.  Because God loves us to much to leave us in peril of our immortal soul, when we repent of our willfulness and unloving action, 911 JESUS is there with forgiveness and mercy. (see Romans 10:13)

More importantly, the story of the temptation of Christ teaches us that through the power of the Holy Spirit that is ours through our faith in Jesus Christ, we too are empowered to resist temptation.  The Holy Spirit brings God's word to dwell in us, strengthening us with it's truth and it's power.  More importantly, the Holy Spirit indwells the presence of Christ, Christ the living Word of God, in our hearts and in our minds.  Jesus who understands what it means to be human, what it means to be tempted, is always with us.

The devil doesn't give up, always waiting for the next opportunity.  We will always be tempted, but the one who resisted the devil and lived, died and rose again so that we may share in his power, will be there with us, keeping our feet firmly on the ground and rooted in God.

God's word promises us that all who call 911 JESUS, will be saved and led away from temptation and to love, health, wholeness and the peace of God.