A kindergarten teacher was suddenly taken ill and a replacement was hastily found. The substitute teacher was at a loss as to what to do with the children. She decided to tell them stories. And always, at the end of each story, she would say, "And the moral of that story is..."
After dozens of stories, the children had sat through dozens of morals. The regular teacher recovered from her illness and returned to her class. One of her students greeted her with a smile and said, "Teacher, I'm sure glad you're back. I like you better than that other teacher."
The teacher was flattered, but curious. "Why do you like me better than the other teacher?"
The child looked into the teacher's eyes and said, "Because you don't have any morals." (1)
We may not end every story we tell with the words, "And the moral of that story is..." but every one of us gathered here this morning has morals. We wouldn't be here if we didn't. It's part of what calls us and draws us to gather together. And we learned those morals from our parents and teachers but especially from our relationship with Christ.
Yet, even though we have morals, every single one of those morals are challenged. Every single day, we step into the wrestling ring of life and struggle with living up to those morals and the relationship with God which those morals represent.
Jesus wrestled with the same sort of thing every single day of His ministry. Today we read in Mark about one of those wrestling matches. Jesus wrestled with the temptation to turn away from God and seek His own will.
Let's look Mark 1:9-15 (NRSV)
[9] In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
[10] And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.
[11] And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
[12] And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
[13] He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
[14] Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
[15] and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Jesus wrestled with temptation. Mark doesn't go into the detail the other Gospels do but we know one thing, Jesus overcame temptation. He was able to say "No" to temptation and "Yes" to God. Jesus won the "WWF: Smackdown In The Wilderness." Jesus triumphed.
I. W:Wrestling With Temptation
A. Like Jesus, you and I ought to be charter members of the World Wrestling Federation because you and I take on the worst wrestling opponent of all every day. You and I wrestle with Temptation every single day.
A few weeks ago, I talked about the seven deadly sins. Remember the list? Then I talked about them being the demons in our lives, the demons that need to be cast out by Christ just like he cast out the demon in the young man at the temple, proving who was really in charge. Remember?
Lust: that inordinate craving for the pleasures of the body and the overwhelming desire to possess whether it's a thing or a person.
Anger: which causes us to lose control. It not only smothers love but spurns love and lets fury reign.
Greed: that desire for material wealth and gain at the cost of ignoring the realm of the spiritual.
Sloth: that self centered aspect of life that says: "I don't have to do anything if I don't want to."
Envy; the desire for the traits, status, or abilities of another. We call it jealousy, it doesn't rejoice in the blessings of others. It curses their good fortune because it didn't happen to the envious person.
Gluttony: the craving and desire to consume more than is needed or required. It's pulling the stool up to the buffet and eating because it's there and you want to get as much as you can.
Pride: the excessive belief in one's own abilities that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is also known as Vanity. (2)
What we need to realize is that those demons don't just happen. They don't just suddenly show up and move in. They don't swoop down and invade. Those demons are the ongoing temptations of everyday life. We face them every single day.
They are there wooing and beguiling us. Waiting for just one small invitation. And once the door's open, they move in and take up residence like a destitute relative who won't help them self or move out and move on.
B. There's an old episode of the Dick Van Dyke show that I just love. The title of the episode was: "The Curious Thing About Women." In this episode, Rob's sense of humor backfires when he decides to base a television skit on Laura's curiosity and penchant for opening his mail.
After having a long discussion over Laura's curiosity and the sanctity of opening your own mail, a large package for Rob is delivered to the house. Laura is bound and determined not to let her curiosity get the best of her. But it doesn't work. She walks past the package and looks at it but then ignores it. She moves it. She kicks it. She tries to ignore it but it keeps calling her name.
She finds herself drawn more and more to the package. First she makes a little rip. Then tears the package a little. Then the peeks inside but can't see a thing.
She gets disgusted with herself but continues to come back. She finally gets the box open but then can't figure out what's inside. She sees a handle and pulls it. And rather quickly a self inflating raft opens up. Laura panics. She tries to hide it. And she tries to hide. Only to have Rob come home at the most in opportune time. He finds her hiding behind the raft which is leaning against the wall behind the living room door.
We all face that kind of temptation. Every single day our curiosity and our desires can suddenly become inflated. We've listen too long to the voice of temptation and then we find ourselves trapped behind the guilt of our sin. What are we to do when we WRESTLE WITH TEMPATION?
II. WW: Wrestling In the Wilderness
A. The fact is Jesus wrestled with temptation, too. JESUS WRESTLED IN THE WILDERNESS WITH TEMPTATION.
There wasn't any ring announcer. There wasn't any tag team partner. There weren't thousands of screaming fans lifting his spirits and encouraging Jesus to keep on fighting. But there was a World Class Wrestling match going on.
Nobody got body slammed. There weren't any choke holds. No half nelsons or elbows to the throat. But this was World Class Wrestling. A Wrestling match of the soul to determine the fate of the world, the fate of humanity.
This was a Death Match. Because if Jesus didn't win, Death would reign supreme. Our lives would have no other purpose than to be the playground for the terror of the wages of sin: death, to haunt and torment for eternity.
This wasn't some practiced and staged entertainment event for the crowds of adoring fans. Jesus didn't just go through the motions. Jesus was tempted in every way. He was put to the test.
B. The Apostle James in his letter writes: James 1:12-14 (NRSV)
[12] Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
[13] No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.
[14] But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it;
What desires did Jesus have? There in the wilderness, after having fasted for 40 days: there was hunger, a very real, physical desire. And of course that was the first Temptation.
There was the temptation to use all the power of heaven for His own selfish purpose. To show the world and the Tempter just who he was. That was the Temptation to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple and let the Angels rescue Him.
The greatest desire of Jesus was to bring the whole world back into relationship with God. That's His message, that's His purpose, that's His calling. And that's why the final Temptation was to bow down to Satan. By doing so, the whole world would bow to Jesus. But really it was an offer to shortcut God's purpose by avoiding the cross. And in bowing to Satan, the people, though they bowed to Jesus, would really be bowing to Satan as well.
Temptation is sneaky. It uses our wishes and desires to entice us away from God. Sometimes it even leads us to believe that the shortcut we take is really for the benefit of God. We take the shortcut to succeed when all God really wants is faithfulness and obedience.
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING, THE LIKES OF WHICH WILL NEVER BE REPEATED TOOK PLACE IN THE WILDERNESS.
III. WWF: Wrestling In the Wilderness for Us
A. Finally, you might ask why? JESUS WRESTLED IN THE WILDERNESS FOR US.
You see, it wasn't just for the direction of His ministry that Jesus wrestled. It was for us. We were the prize. The only trophy Jesus received was a crown of thorns. The only belt Jesus received were the lashes of the whip as they wrapped around His weakened body.
In the final round of the wrestling match, bruised, bloodied and battered, Jesus went down. It looked like He had been pinned. It looked like He'd never get up again. He was body slammed onto the cross. He was Airplane Spun into the air. Then when all semblance of life had drained from His body, He was thrown into a borrowed tomb.
The opposition cheered. Even the unwitting pawns of the opposition cheered inwardly. They thought it was all over but then three days later, the stone was rolled away from the tomb and what had looked like a loss became a great victory.
While Sin and Death were celebrating at the after fight victory party, Jesus rose from the dead. Sin and death have both been vanquished. In the end, in the final round, Jesus won. And he did it for us.
B. And what that means for you and me is that we never, ever, not once, have to face the temptations of life alone again.
In Hebrews 2:18 (NRSV) we read: "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."
And then in Hebrews 4:15 (NRSV) the author says: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin."
We don't ever have to face Temptation alone. We don't ever have to wonder if God knows just how hard it is to face that Temptation. The answer is "Yes, God knows." Because through Jesus, God experienced the anguish and the struggle of our Temptation.
In James 4:7 we read: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Do you know why? Steve Brown, in his book Overcoming Setbacks say: It's not because we're so smart or have the power. It's because of what was done by Christ at Calvary. Then he tells the story of when he was growing up.
A bully moved into the neighborhood. He was about four years older. One day the bully decided it was Steve's turn to be picked on. The bully came into Steve's front yard and scared him to death. After a couple of, tense moments, he decided the only way to get this guy to back off was to stand his ground.
Much to Steve's surprise, the bully became scared. He started to tremble all over! Steve thought: "Man, I'm really something!" Then he heard a noise and turned around and noticed that his father was standing behind him on the front porch. Steve hadn't terrified the bully, the presence his father did.
It's the same way for Christians. God is always there. Not standing behind us. But through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Jesus, God is with us.
Who's going to stand up to that? Temptation? Not on your life. Sin? Death? They've already been defeated. Temptation doesn't stand a chance when you call on Jesus.
Conclusion
Our attempts at avoiding temptation usually aren't very effective. Sometimes we take half-hearted measures in dealing with sin. We don't deal with the real root of the problem. And we don't call on the one who has already defeated Temptation.
A kangaroo kept getting out of his enclosure at the zoo. Knowing that he could hop pretty high, the zoo officials put up a ten-foot fence. However, the next morning the kangaroo was out again, just roaming around the zoo. So, the zoo officials raised the height of the fence to twenty feet.
Again, however, the next morning the kangaroo was out again, roaming around the zoo. This kept up, night after night, until the fence was sixty feet high.
Finally, the camel in the next enclosure asked the kangaroo, "How high do you think they'll go?"
The kangaroo replied, "Probably a hundred feet, unless somebody starts locking the gate at night!" (5)
We have plenty of morals that we have learned at the feet of Jesus. But for some reason we want to wrestle with Temptation on our own. Jesus has already won that Wrestling Match. Let Him help you win your wrestling match with Temptation. Whatever it is. Bring it to Him.
1. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), August 1993
2. http://deadlysins.com/sins/index.htm (adapted)
3. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), March 1999
4. From Overcoming Setbacks, by Steve Brown, published by NavPress, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1992, pp. 60 & 61+
5. The Pastor's Story File (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), July 2000