St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A sermon preached by the Very Reverend Rowan Smith in the Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr at the Cathedral Eucharist on 21 February 2010

"When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time..." Luke 4 v 13

We are all aware that in this liturgical year, we have the gospel of St Luke as our guide and in our Advent Forums recently we looked at the manner in which he portrays Our Lord. Always keep in mind the audience being addressed so that we may then ask of ourselves, 'what does St Luke say to me about Jesus? Given that Luke came from a Gentile background, yet conversant with the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish Scriptures, he should be the one who best commends the good news of Jesus Christ to us.

Unlike the other two Synoptic writers, Matthew and Mark, Luke takes pains to show that our redemption in Jesus Christ is by God's total participation in our humanity so that the preparation which is what the account of John Baptist birth is about is as important as the annunciation to the B.V.M

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God." Luke 1 v 35

This is not a God who takes short cuts because Luke then gives us other instances of both the total humanity of Jesus e.g. he is circumcised as well as being prepared for his life's work: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favour". Luke 2 v 52

Now fast forward to the Gospel for today and Luke tells us:

"Jesus full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. 4 v 1

For those who knew the Jewish Scriptures they may have recalled the reference we had today from the book Deuteronomy:

"A wondering Aramean was my ancestor, he went down to Egypt and lived there as an alien. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and brought us into this place and gave us this land…" 26 v 5

For the children of Israel the wilderness was a time of trial but also where they put God to the test. Now too Jesus goes into the wilderness where he is tempted, put to the test by the devil. These temptations will return again and they show us the humanity of Jesus and that he is indeed like us in every way only without sin. As l pointed out last weekend to those who had been on retreat, it is often at those times when we have experienced God's grace in a special way that we too face temptation by the devil.

As part of my own re-entry process on Monday l went to see the movie "An Education" and what a delight and wonderfully relaxing. Do try to see it. In some ways it could be a modern parable of temptation as presented by St Luke, that of taking shortcuts. "Do not labour for what you want," says the devil:

"If you are the Son of God command this stone to become a loaf of bread." v 3

Why follow this path to redeem the world which will only lead to the cross;

"To you l will give their glory and all this authority, if you, then, will worship me…" v 6f

Then the most subtle, which makes use of Scripture, "Why not put God to the test now"

He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you…" v 10

In the film Jenny is likewise tempted, "why go to Oxford to study and build a career" says Peter and his friends "when all you need is to be street-smart, know the right people and use your sexual charm to live a glamorous life." And Satan is so seductive and crafty and both Jenny and her parents allow Peter to lead them up the garden path. Taking a shortcut brings about their fall. These are the temptations we also face and more particularly in this season of Lent – is all this discipline really necessary? Then we look to Jesus and we hear St Paul encouraging:

"… the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call upon him." Roman 10 v 12b

This is not putting God to the test by living out of our faith in his grace in us. This is the God to whom we come today to bring the first fruits of our lives and in this Eucharist acknowledge him who journeys with us and feeds us with His heavenly food until we reach our true home. So Jesus this Lent we pray:

"O guide me, call me, draw me,
uphold me to the end;
and then in heaven receive me,
my Saviour and my friend." (AMR 33)

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