Sermon by Rev. Russell Daye
St. Andrew's United Church, Halifax

Satan's Bad Rap

Joshua 1:1 - 9; Matthew 4:1-11

Undoubtedly some of our friends in other denominations have noticed the sermon title on our sign while driving by and have muttered to themselves 'typical United Church!' Yes, we are so inclusive that we even have empathy for Satan. Well, the literary figure of Satan actually has been given a bad rap. If you look in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, which we pejoratively call the Old Testament, for example in the opening chapter of the book of Job, you see that Satan is an accepted member of God's court of Angels. He's not the nicest guy in that circle - in fact his methods can be pretty brutal - but he is not the incarnation of evil. Satan is the best example we have of a 'devils advocate.' His job is to stir things up, to offer the contrary opinion, to test us when we believe that we have the right answer or have found the right path. My colleague at the other end of Spring Garden Road uses an interesting metaphor for Satan. Ross says Satan functions like an Auditor General. Let's hope that Sheila Fraser doesn't get wind of this!

This morning we picked up Matthew's narrative about the beginning of Jesus' Ministry just after his baptism in the River Jordan, where, as soon as he emerged from the water, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove. A voice from heaven said, 'this is my son whom I love and with whom I am well pleased.' We might say that this was a significant moment of empowerment. We might say that Jesus' self-esteem was fairly high at this point. We might also say that Jesus was therefore in a very dangerous place. For are not the temptations of pride and narcissism greatest in such a moment? So the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to undergo the kind of testing that would set him right for mission. The Spirit led him into the desert so that his power and his potential could be fully realised untainted by pride and self-absorption. And who did the Spirit arrange to have waiting for Jesus in the desert? None other than the great tester himself: Satan.

Let us be clear here: Jesus was subjected to real and perilous temptations. After fasting for 40 days and nights the tempter says to him, 'if you are the son of God, turn these stones to bread.' The second temptation was less concrete. The devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem and said,' if you are the son of God throw yourself down and allow the Angels to catch you.' And the final temptation had to do with power. Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said, 'these are yours if you but worship me.'

What's wrong with these things offered? What's wrong with Jesus eating or being kept safe by the Angels? Would not God's son be the best one to guide the kingdoms of the world? The problem with these temptations is that each would draw Jesus' mission and Jesus' power away from their ultimate purpose. The first would orient Jesus' power to his own comfort. The second would make Jesus' purpose his own glorification. And the third would distort Jesus' mission into the worldly governance. Each of these temptations would turn a penultimate good into the ultimate good. Each would raise a secondary good to the place of a primary good. Each would turn a second order goal into a first order goal. This is where real evil enters the equation. Evil can grasp hold of a person or a church or a mission or a nation in many ways but perhaps the most skilful technique that evil can employ is idolatry.

On the first anniversary of the September 11 atrocities, President George W. Bush traveled to New York City to make a speech. He stood before the waters of New York Harbour with the statue of liberty looming as the backdrop to all he had to say. He closed his address in the following way: 'Our cause is the cause of human dignity. Freedom guided by conscience and guarded by piece. This ideal of America is the hope of all mankind. That hope drew millions to this harbour, that hope still lights our way, and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. May God bless America.'

You may recognize the final lines from this beautiful paragraph. They borrow language from John 15. But, as Stephen Chapman points out in his essay Imperial Exegesis: When Cesar Interprets Scripture, Bush changes the referent in those verses. In John's gospel, the analogy of light in the darkness refers to God. In the speech of the 43rd President, it refers to America. Gently, subtly, standing in front of the Statue of Liberty and speaking to a nation still traumatised, the president raises America to the ultimate position, the position previously occupied solely by God. I wonder if those assembled caught a whiff of sulphur. The president was very successful in his attempt to turn a nation into a god, and we all know what followed.

In 2008 it is easy to pick on poor old George W., so let's hear something that's a little tougher, again from an American evangelical. Tony Campolo spoke recently to a very large gathering of Baptists in Atlanta. Seeking a show of hands, Campolo asked how many of the assembled clergy and church leaders drove BMWs or the like. Making reference to Luke 4, in which Jesus names the imperative to preach good news to the poor, Campolo then asked: 'Do you think Jesus meant what he said, or do you think he was kidding?' 'Jesus would not drive an $80,000 car while 30,000 children a day die in quiet despair and many older people have to choose between medicine and food.' 'Sell you car!' he demanded.

Campolo has an advantage; he is professor emeritus at Eastern University. He does not have to preach weekly to those who pay his salary. He's free to say, 'you are and trapped in the idolatry of materialism; sell your car! You have made status a god; sell your car! You are worshipping at the altar of comfort; reconsider that extravagant vacation that will burn so much carbon fuel.' Those of us who are beholden to the generosity of our listeners are tempted to simply quote Campolo and hope that you get the point! But even the most cowardly preacher when confronted with this passage from Matthew must feel some compulsion to stand before the congregation and do a little truth-telling. The truth that I would like to hold up this morning is that most of your choices about your relationship to God do not take place here. Out there, during the week, when you decide how to spend your money, when you decide how to spend your time, when you decide how to spend your passion, when you decide how to spend your love, you make real choices about the gods that form your pantheon. You make a real choices about the gods to which you give power and tribute.

This year is young enough for you to be able to look back over 2007 and review the way you used your God-given gifts of time, energy, skill, and money. Review, as an individual or a family, your year carefully and honestly and you will know who God is for you. You will know the god or gods whom you worship.

Our church too should undergo such a review. In his Atlanta speech Campolo made it clear that churches are not free from idolatries of materialism and status and comfort. Let's hear Campolo this morning. Let's hear him as the voice of the Spirit driving us into the desert for testing and temptation. Last week we launched our theme year, 'Crossing the River.' We claimed that we are, like the ancient tribes of Israel under Joshua's leadership, assembled at the bank of the River Jordan ready to cross into the land of blessing. Ready to embrace our future. Ready to build and to flourish. We are, in many ways, in the same heartspace as Jesus after his baptism. We feel the empowerment. We feel the hope. We feel confident. We feel the call to mission. And so, we are ready for testing by the great tempter. We are ready for our encounter with Satan.

Satan asks us what we will do with the new monies pouring in after our stewardship campaign, and he says to us, 'spend a little more on yourselves, don't worry so much about the less privileged.' Satan asks us what we will do with our new energy and confidence, and he suggests to us that the most important thing is that we feel good about ourselves. This is a more important focus than mission to the city and the planet. Satan asks us how we will navigate the tricky issues of inclusion across the boundaries of class and gender and generation and orientations of various kinds. He advises that it would be wiser to avoid tough issues that threaten harmony. Satan asks us how we will renew this building, and he reminds us we are the ones who own and fund this building and that God helps those who help themselves.

This is an exciting time for our church. This is a dangerous time for our church. Let us be alert for the whiff of sulphur. Let us face our testing, and let us emerge set right for mission. Let us emerge with our power and our potential untainted by idolatry.