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PUT TO THE TEST
a sermon based on Luke 4:1-13
by Rev. Rick Thompson 

     An overweight pastor decided it was time to shed some excess pounds.  He took his new diet seriously, even changing his route to work to avoid going past his favorite bakery.  One morning, though, he showed up at work with a gigantic coffee cake.  Everyone in the office scolded him, but his smile remained nonetheless.  “This is a special coffee cake,” he explained.

     “What makes it so special?” asked a co-worker.  “Is it someone’s birthday?”

     “No,” the pastor reported.  “I forgot my intention this morning, and drove by the bakery without thinking.  The items in the window looked so good, and this looked best of all!  I was beginning to feel it was no accident I was there, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to have this delicious coffee cake, let there be a parking spot open right in front of the bakery.’”

     “So your prayer was answered?” asked the co-worker.

     “It certainly was!” replied the pastor.  “On my 8^th time around the block, a spot opened up right in front of the bakery!”

     Would you call that temptation?  That’s often how we think about it, isn’t it—temptation is giving in to the cravings and weaknesses we experience, indulging ourselves in things we enjoy, even when we know they are harmful to us.

     But I think the Bible would have us go deeper in our understanding of temptation.  Temptation, at its heart, is really testing—testing of whether we will remain true to our identity and mission as children of God.

     Abraham, for one, was tested.  He and Sarah had gone long years without a son, an heir.  They were old and fresh out of hope when God made them an incredible promise: “You will have a son!”  Finally, they had that son, named Isaac.  And the next thing we hear is God saying Abraham, “Now, I’m going to test you.  If you are who you say you are, if you trust me, you will do what I say: take Isaac, the promised son, up a mountain, and sacrifice him to me.” 

     Abraham was blessed with a son—and immediately put to the test!

     That’s kind of how Alex was tested—not by a bakery, but by a difficult dilemma in his own life.

     Alex had studied hard and worked hard to advance in his career, and now was in the job he had dreamed about for a long, long time.  He was earning more money than he had ever imagined possible.  He enjoyed his work and the people he worked with.  He was growing and learning every day.  It was a great job—until…

     Until his boss came to him and said, “Alex, the company is losing money.  I don’t want to lose the company, and you don’t want to lose your job, do you?  So, for a while, until things get turned around, we're gonna have to cut some corners—you know, skimp a little on quality without lowering prices, promise deliveries we know we can’t make, cut some service staff but continue to promise prompt service.  Whadya say, Alex?  Can you help me out on this one?  If you do, I’ll see to it you’re handsomely rewarded when the money starts coming in again.  Sleep on it overnight, and we’ll talk again in the morning.” [continue]