"The Road to the Wilderness"

One fine morning, Toad mixes up some cookie dough, rolls it out, uses a cookie cutter, and puts the cookies in the oven. A few minutes later, the smell comes wafting into the living room and Toad says, "Man, do these cookies ever smell great!" After sampling on straight out of the oven, Toad proclaims, "Man, these cookies smell great, but they taste even better," Well, Toad is not one to keep good things to himself, so he runs over to Frog's house, bangs on the door and says, "Frog, Frog, taste these cookies I made." Frog picks up a cookie, takes a bite and says, "These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!"

So they go into Frog's kitchen, pour a glass of milk for the both of them, and commence to eating cookies. They eat a lot of cookies, one right after the other. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of cookie binging, Frog says, with his mouth still full, "You know, Toad, I think we need to stop eating. We're gonna get sick if we don't."

Toad stops munching long enough to say, "Oh, you're so right Frog. Let's just eat one last cookie; then we'll stop."

So Frog and Toad eat one last cookie, but notice the dozens of cookies remaining in the bowl.

Frog says, "You know, I don't suppose having one more cookie is gonna kill us. Let's have one last cookie." So they do. But the temptation is there in the form of a lot of cookies left in the bowl. Finally, Frog reaches over for another cookie and says, "You know what, Toad, what we need is willpower."

Toad stops munching his cookie long enough to ask, "What in the world is willpower?"

"Willpower is trying hard not to do something you really want to do," says Frog.

"You mean like trying hard not to eat all these cookies?" asks Toad.

"Right," says Frog.

Frog puts the cookies in a box. "There," he says. "Now we won't eat any more cookies."

"But we can open the box," says Toad.

"That's true," says Frog.

So Frog ties some string around the box. "There," he says. "Now we won't eat any more cookies."

"But we can cut the string and open the box." says Toad.

"You know, Toad, you're right. We have to take extra measures." So Frog gets a ladder and places the cookies on top of a high shelf.

"There," says Frog. "Now we won't eat any more cookies."

"But we can climb the ladder and take the box down from the shelf and cut the string and open the box," says Toad.

"That's true," says Frog.

So Frog climbs the ladder and takes the box down from the shelf. He cuts the string and opens the box. Frog then goes to the door, hops outside and yells, "Hey, birds, I've got a special treat for you. These are the best cookies in the world." And lickety-split, birds descend on Frog's back yard, pick up every last crumb of the cookies and fly off.

Toad looks out on the empty yard and a tear streaks down his cheek. "Now we don't have any more cookies to eat. Not a single cookie."

Frog gets this proud smile and says, "Yeah, you're right. We may not have any cookies, but we've got lots and lots of willpower."

At that, the Toad starts hopping away. "Where you going, Toad?" ask Frog. Toad answers, "You can keep ALL that willpower, Frog. I'm going home and bake a cake."

There aren't too many bakeries out in the desert. In this evening's text, that's where Jesus goes to fast for 40 days and 40 nights. His hair's still wet from His baptism, the voice of the Father is still ringing in His ears, and yet He deliberately takes the Road to the Wilderness for an extended stay.

This has always intrigued me: why Jesus went out to the desert, of all places? Why was it necessary to have this battle with the devil to begin with?

You will find that it is in the desert places of life where the incessant battles of the self take place. You will find that temptation really isn't as strong as you would think when you're out in glitzy lights. Actually, the temptation comes during those lonely times of your life when there's nobody else around but you and God. So Jesus is driven by the Spirit out into the wilderness. There He refuses to eat any kind of food. We call it fasting, the abstaining from some thing.

Now, most of us think that fasting is only staying away from Toad and Frog's cookies, but it can be much more than abstaining from food. Jesus is fasting in several ways. He is fasting from the companionship of His friends and family; He is fasting from the comforts of a nice bed and the things that help a person sleep well; and He is fasting from solid food.

So Jesus is led out into the desert, and after Forty days finds Himself tired from sleeping on something other than a Select Comfort mattress; He misses His family and friends, and he is as hungry as a lumberjack.

Have you ever been so hungry that objects begin looking like food? I can remember traveling and being so hungry that trees reminded me of spinach (which I happen to love); white grain silos reminded me of milkshakes; cows by the road reminded me of a very rare steak. So at the end of 40 days, Jesus is famished and even the rocks look like bread to Him.

The devil is waiting for this moment and carpes the Dei.

You know, for the longest time I had this notion that temptation is always aimed at the weakest point of your life. If your problem is food, you will have money to burn and more restaurants in which to binge than you could ever imagine. If your problem is self esteem, the enemy will assault your self-image. But after 9/11, I've had to rethink all this. Sometimes we can think that our strong points are such bulwarks that we can withstand anything the enemy throws at us. But I've come to believe that the enemy will attack your strong points if there's any susceptible attitude there. He'll attack your soft white underbelly; He'll attack your middle. He'll attack anywhere he thinks he can break through.

So Jesus is famished and the devil says, "Look Jesus, if You are the Son of God, do something simple: turn these rocks into bread."

It would have been so easy to turn rocks into bread. Think about it: Jesus could calm the seas; He could give the deaf back their hearing; He could have Forest Gump without the gimp; He put gold pieces of tax money into the mouths of fish; He could raise the dead. Then what's the harm in turning rock into bread? It's this: one of the biggest temptations you and I have is to rely on our own strength, our own resolve, our own conniving. Jesus said He had come to do the will of His Father.

Can you imagine what it must have been like for Jesus growing up. Kids tease Him. Would not you and I have been tempted to call down fire from heaven? Mary tells Jesus to clean His room. Would not you and I have been tempted to snap our fingers and have the room tidy itself up? "Holy Spirit Maid Service: may I help you?" But Jesus knew that He couldn't rely on Himself: there is a power in dealing with temptation that is far greater than the strength you and I have. His name is God the Father. So in the face of this temptation where no one would have faulted Jesus for turning a rock into Wonder Bread, Jesus says, "But Man does not live by bread alone, but only by the Word of God."

You see, we think that this battle is merely a phys-ical thing. And in the case of the first temptation, on the surface the issue is physicality. But underneath every temptation lies a spiritual principle: when tempted, don't try to fight it out alone; call on God.

Now, note what happens. Round one is over and here comes the devil again. Jesus was sick and tired of looking at rocks and sand and scrub brush. We are visually-oriented people for the most part. My sense of Jesus is that He loved nature, that He loved to look out over the ocean and lift His eyes to the beauty of the stars. So Satan takes Jesus up to the highest pinnacle in the beautiful city of Jerusalem. Out there in the desert Jesus had been company to wild beasts of every kind. He had to fend off snakes and scorpions. He had nowhere to shield Himself from the burning sun; He shivered in the cold of the desert night. In all these things He was protected by His Father. And now, again, Satan gives Jesus a very simple proposal: "Throw Yourself down, Jesus. You quoted scripture to me, now let me quote it back to You. The Bible says 'He will give His angels charge of you and on their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.'"

In my home state of West Virginia there is a group of people we affectionately call snake handlers. These folks believe that dancing with poisonous rattlesnakes is a test of faith, and I guess in a twisted sense they're right. They believe that if they only have enough faith, that a copperhead bite will be no more than a little nick or cut. I don't mean to belittle these folk, but it's something like what Jesus goes through here. So Jesus quotes scripture back to devil: "You shall not put the Lord your God to a foolish test." This temptation was to do something big, something flashy, something sensational, something that will make everybody go "WOW." But Jesus didn't trust in the sensational. He did sensational things, but His ordinary course was to work within the confines of the simple and the every day.

Now, after warding off a hunger attack and a stupid attack, Jesus encounters one more temptation. The devil takes Jesus up to the highest mountain in the entire world. He looks all around and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world: Greece, Babylon, Rome, the British Empire, the United States. Satan says, "Look: You can have all this right now. It's all Yours if You'll do one tiny thing. We're out here all by ourselves; nobody will see You. All You have to do is for the briefest of seconds, get down on one knee and worship me for about half a second."

Now THERE'S a temptation. You won't have to put up with all these people who only like You because You feed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. You won't have to worry about the Pharisees. You won't have to worry about Pilate. And there's the cross, Jesus. How's it sound not to have to carry that thing through the crowds? How about not having to be flogged? How about not having to endure spikes driven through Your wrists and feet? How about it Jesus? No cross. No suffering. All for a half second's worth of meaningless worship."

And so it is. Have the crown without the cross. Would you want to go through that? In Gethsemane, a few hours before they would take Him away to His death, Jesus prayed three times for His Father to, if at all possible, spare Him the pain and bitterness of crucifixion. So great was His anguish that He sweat great drops of blood. "Father, if it be Your will, let this cup pass from Me."

And so it is. No cross, no redemption. No redemption, no faith. No faith, no hope. No hope, no life. No life, no nothing. Or, if I may correct my own grammar, No life, no anything.

You see folks, a cross-less Christianity is where the devil gets us to play church without true worship. Throw holy water over a building and turn it into nothing more than a sanctified social club. Give as little as possible and expect God to shower you with blessings. Substitute committees and board meetings and all kinds of things to keep you busy, busy, busy, and so busy that you don't have time to enjoy God. You see, temptations will come because they are part of who we are. And during this Lenten season, take note of the three areas: to handle things on your own strength; to expect things to be settled in stupid, showy fashion; and to follow Jesus without keeping your eyes the cross.

Once upon a time, a young man who had been having the hardest time overcoming temptation came to a wise king. All these things he wanted do were wrong and it seemed as if there was so much pressure inside that he would explode. "How," he asked the king, "can I deal with these temptations?"

The king takes a goblet, fills it with wine, and says, "Young man, I want you to walk the streets of this great big city for an entire day. I want you to come back here tomorrow with this goblet. See to it that you don't spill any of it. I am sending a soldier to follow you. Spill as much as one drop and that soldier will take his sword and chop your head off on the spot."

So the next day the young man comes back to the king's castle and gives him the goblet. Not one drop of wine had spilled.

"Well," the king asks, "what did you see in my kingdom? Did you see the beggars in the streets?"

"No."

"Did you see the fancy stores with their goods bidding you come and max out you Visa card?"

"No."

"Well, did you see all the bars and hear the clink-ing of glasses and all the drunkenness and all the laughter?"

"No." "And, pray tell, did you see all the beautiful women who wanted to spend the evening with you?"

"No, Sire, I didn't."

"Well, what did you see, what did you hear, what did you experience?"

"Sir, I only focused my attention on this goblet." And that day the young man learned something very valuable: that where we focus our attention will determine much of how we channel our desire.

There's a wilderness out there. A wilderness can pop up in so many places and so many spaces and the temptations will deluge you from every side. And sometimes, you don't even realize they ARE temptations. But if you keep your eyes fixed on the goblet, on the wine, on the saving blood of Jesus Christ, then you'll find that the road out of that wilderness might be rocky, but you'll eventually get back onto blacktop. And then, you may even want to treat yourself to a cookie.