“WORTH SUFFERING FOR”
Matthew 4:1-11
(03-10-08) Lent 1

Its only the second Sunday in February
and we are already marking the first Sunday in Lent.
The second Sunday in February
is also the date of our annual general meeting of the congregation.
Perhaps it is only appropriate that the beginning of Lent
is also the time for us to examine where we are as a congregation
and to think about where God might be leading us as his community.

Over the past 14 years, and now for 8 years as Senior Minister here at Grace,
I have been writing a message for the Annual Report.
Sometimes it feels like a State of the Congregation message.
How are we doing as a congregation?
Are we healthy, are we doing well?
By what indicators do we measure our health as a congregation?
Typically the answers might be found in looking at numbers.
What is our membership – are there more members this year than last year?
And, what is our budget – is our budget this year higher than last year?
Did we meet our budget last year?
Are we dipping into our reserves or are they growing?
If one were to measure congregational health by looking purely at numbers,
by the standards of the Presbyterian Church in Canada,
we are doing remarkably well.

But of course numbers only tell part of the story and even numbers can be deceiving.
For example, there is a clear trend among congregations in mainline denominations,
of which the PCC is one, that the larger the formal membership,
the more discrepancy there is between membership and actual attendance in worship. And conversely, the fastest growing churches in mainline denominations
often have stagnant membership numbers,
but their churches are full because worship attendance
from people who don’t officially belong as members are soaring.
Numbers are only part of the story, and more and more,
we are beginning to recognize that we are living in a time and among a generation
which believes that belonging is far more than a piece of paper or a number,
but belonging means believing in a mission
and being engaged in experiences that are compelling and profound.

Congregational health in the age of the post Christian culture
needs to be measured very differently.
Commitment to the church or to a particular church
is superseded by commitment to Christ.
Managing committees needs to make way for deploying missions.
Making decisions are not as important as making disciples.
Serving the church really means serving the world.
Rather than being preoccupied with raising money,
churches need to be preoccupied with rescuing people.
In this day and age,
congregations can’t afford to spend as much time surveying internal needs
as we need to spend becoming sensitized to the needs of our community.
Rather than perpetuating a heritage, we need to be about visioning a future.
(Growing Spiritual Redwoods. Bill Easum and Tom Bandy)

But of course, all this is easier said than done.
Although we see the truth in how our changing times
demand different responses than in the past,
we face many temptations in our efforts to continue in our faithfulness
to where God would lead us as his people.
When it comes to knowing how to deal with temptations,
there is no better place to turn to than our text from the Gospel according to Matthew.

The story is familiar.
Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
where he was tempted by the devil.
After 40 days of fasting, the devil tried to coerce Jesus with three temptations.
In each case the devil was unsuccessful.
One person has suggested that each of the three temptations
were invitations for Jesus to bypass suffering.
(Edwin Searcy, Blogging toward Sunday, 02/03/08)
The temptation to turn stone into bread
is an invitation to bypass hunger and need.
The temptation to jump from the pinnacle of the temple
is an invitation to bypass personal harm.
The temptation to bow down to the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world
is an invitation to bypass powerlessness.
Jesus rejects all the invitations.

The temptation to turn stone into bread
can be seen as an invitation to bypass economic suffering.
Those who are hungry are usually the poor.
For the church the temptation is to turn a blind eye
to the economic realities of our society,
especially when the internal economics of the congregation begin to become a bit tight. When money is in short supply,
the temptation of a congregation is to feed ourselves first,
to make sure that we are taken care of.
The temptation is to bypass suffering,
even if it means that mission makes way for maintenance.

Did you know that we as a congregation
gave $100,000 to Presbyterians Sharing last year?
That’s more than a tenth of our operating budget.
It may seem like a lot,
but its how the PCC is able to meet the many needs of a national denomination,
including staff costs, missionary stipends and programme outlays.
If our economics change as a congregation,
would we consider giving less to Presbyterians Sharing?
Would we consider giving less to PWSD?
As we vision about the kind of community God is calling us to be in this day and age, when economics gets tight,
does the temptation to avoid suffering take precedence over the call to mission?

Jesus says, One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
God’s word is about love and compassion,
its about mission and outreach, its about sacrifice and service.
The gift of Jesus Christ is not God’s measured response for the needs of his people.
In Jesus, God held nothing back.

The temptation to jump from the pinnacle of the temple,
knowing that the angels would keep him from harm,
was an invitation for Jesus to bypass the suffering of pain and personal harm.
For those who are part of the church this is particularly difficult.
All of us know people who we are close to, who we love,
and many of us personally, have experienced great pain and suffering.
The temptation is to believe that God wouldn’t allow such a thing
and that those who are faithful will be protected from harm.
The temptation is for the church to make promises which we know are not true.
Faith in God does not exempt us from suffering, from pain, from harm.
God does care for us,
even when that care doesn’t seem evident in the midst of our suffering.
To preach anything otherwise is to promise a false hope.

Slowly, the church has come to understand that suffering and pain
are not God’s judgment on people.
HIV/AIDS is not God’s punishment for a lifestyle choice.
The terrorist attacks on 9-11 were not God’s punishment for a sinful culture.
Being part of the church doesn’t grant us an exemption from suffering.
And so the church cannot fall to the temptation
of marginalizing or excluding those who suffer
as somehow being unfit or undeserving of God’s love, grace, forgiveness and mercy.

Jesus says, Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
When faith doesn’t produce the results we would like, will our faith falter?
Is our faith, faith in a God who must meet our expectations,
who must deliver on our requirements?
Or will we remain faithful, even when we hurt,
with all those who hurt and seek God’s mercy and grace?
Jesus could have chosen a life free from harm and suffering.
Instead he chose the cross.
Pain, suffering, in its proper perspective,
can be seen, not as punishment,
but sometimes as a means of God’s redemptive love.

The temptation to bow down before the devil
is an invitation to bypass powerlessness.
We all want to be in control.
It’s the same in the church.
Sometimes we would rather tell people how they should be
than serving them as they are.
The temptation is to be on the side of the majority
rather than being a voice for those who are voiceless,
being advocates for those who are powerless,
standing in solidarity with those who are on the margins and fringes of society.
Its far less threatening and causes far less suffering
when what we say as Christians is accepted by just about everyone.
We don’t cause any fuss because everyone agrees with what we have to say.
No controversy, no embarrassment, no suffering.
And maybe, too often in such cases,
no grace, no compassion, no gospel.
We want the right people in the church,
the ones who bring respectability and those who we don’t mind sitting next to.
In many ways the temptation is to become such a force on our own
that we don’t even need God to validate us anymore.

Jesus says, Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.
Authority and power do not come from the world
and the devil has no authority to grant it.
True authority only comes as God gives it.
The church finds its power, not because its full of the right people,
not because its says the right things, not because it is popular.
The church finds power when God is proclaimed,
when God moves his Spirit among his people so that we seek to serve
rather than seeking to be served.
The church’s authority stands in opposition
to what the voices of our world often proclaim.
As the apostle Paul so wonderfully put it,
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise,
God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom
and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Being faithful to God is not easy business.
The church which strives for faithful discipleship will face many temptations.
Protection of our own interests,
demanding that God deliver on our expectations,
wanting to be in control.
We are tempted by bypass suffering.
But the example of Jesus and the invitation of Lent
is to know that some things are worth suffering for.
Jesus resisted temptations at a level that none of us could possibly know,
and in doing so, he offers us someone to look up to,
someone to hold on to, when our own temptations assail us.
He offers us his assurance and his promise that our suffering will not end in vain, but that because of his life, we too will know life with him.

How is our congregation doing?
Where are we and where might God be leading us?
Where he leads us often will mean that we can’t bypass suffering.
Faithful stewardship is about risk,
not a manageable risk, but about risking all for the sake of God.
Was the death of Jesus a manageable risk for God?
Its incredible how many congregations want to be strong, vibrant and relevant,
without letting go of those traits which keep them mired in the past.
Healthy congregations, healthy Christ centred communities,
will be willing to sacrifice anything and everything,
property, financial security, traditions in worship, familiar heritage,
all for the sake of Jesus and his gospel.
The church needs to be about risking our death so that we can truly live.
And isn’t that what Lent is all about?
Jesus died for us so that we might truly live.
Some things are worth suffering for.

To God be the glory, Amen.