Temptation story. Full of the Holy Spirit led by the Spirit into the wild. What's this do to our "form" prayer that says, "Lead us not into temptation"? We may have heard that God doesn't lead us into temptation. Really? So what happened here? Is it possible that God not only may lead us into temptation but may also give us what we need through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to bear up under temptations? The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak...
In Luke's telling, when Jesus completes the testing, the devil retreats temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity. 1 Peter something-the devil prowls around looking for an opportunity...
Each temptation had to do with the exercise of Jesus' power-power to impose his will on creation, power to impose his will on the nations, power to become a talk-of-the-town celebrity. Jesus said no to each. Why? EP: "Power would have been used impersonally, abstracted from relationships, imposed from the outside, without any engagement in love."
"Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit." And as he taught, he was always personal and relational. It's always personalized power.
In his home town of Nazareth, where this prophet isn't welcome, he reads from the scroll of Isaiah. I'm here to preach Good News to the poor, to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!" This just came true, now, in this place. Ushers in the Kingdom of God...Could have made it come all at once, but that would be over-power, not relationship. He was banished from his hometown after this.
In Galilee, a demon says, "You've come to destroy us." Who is us? The God-denying, God-defying spirits of this world? Powers and principalities that keep people separated in their relationship with God? Jesus' words make things happen.
2 Corinthians 7-9
7:1. What a great invitation and hope for our following. "Make a clean break with everything that defiles or distracts us, both within (that's the moral inventory, for those in Life's Healing Choices) and without. Let's make our entire lives fit and holy temples for the worship of God."
Paul obviously had written a letter with some harsh words, judging from what he writes in Ch. 7. But it all worked out, as "you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from God-all gain, no loss." Growing pains.
The Macedonian offering. A communal illustration of sacrificial giving. "Incredibly happy though desperately poor...an outpouring of pure and generous gifts...they gave offerings of whatever they could-far more than they could afford-pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians...and it was spontaneous and their own idea."
Have you ever been in such a situation, on the giving or receiving end? If so, what happened?
"You do so well in so many things-you trust God, you're articulate, insightful, passionate, you love us-now do your best in this, too...bringing in the Macedonians' enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, hoping to bring the best out of you."
Spirit of acquisition or spirit of generosity? My acquisition is centered largely on books, though occasionally my shoes pile up, more because I fail to get rid of those I've worn out when I buy more. And clothes. And toys/entertainment for Sarah. And food--why do I, at my age, have a bomb shelter mentality?!
EP: "The offering is based on the conviction that we would have gotten nothing from all our sweat and exertion if God hadn't first given us the ground to use, the muscles to work, a brain to think, and a community to live and be employed in. Everything comes to us as a gift from God. Sunshine and rain. Fruitfulness and fertility. Strength and health. They are all from God. Our offering is acknowledgement of that. It's a way of honoring God and giving thanks to God."
"The heart regulates the hands." A bit more about the relief offering for poor Christians, and then Paul is done. Doesn't need to belabor the point. Pastors' emergency fund. Thank you for your generosity.
"A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop." No doubt why Jim Griffith and other church consultants are insistent that planting lead teams demonstrate their generosity through the tithe. "God loves it when the giver delights in giving." Hm...brain and heart fodder.
Our money is an extension of ourselves. If the money we give isn't delightfully given, it's because we aren't delight-full givers. The only way we give delightfully is to give out of love. Any other motive leaves one joyless. Joyless giving does little for Christ's kingdom, and nothing for us (1 Cor 13:3-"If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere").
"God throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon."
"Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone."
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