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Rev. Lisa Lynne Kirkpatrick Sermon Manuscript

Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025

Oh geez! When was the last time The Devil popped up in your dinner conversations?

“Lawd Have Mercy, Jesus!” my grandma Lena used to say with her thick Louisiana drawl,

“Devil tryin’ to get me.” I used to think that was more of a Southern thing. Talk about “the

devil” or Satan or The Enemy. Frequency of mention features more prominent in

Charismatic Christian language, for sure Latinix, Korean and African communities of

Christians who tend to have a more heightened awareness of the presence of evil or what

they call “spiritual warfare.” We Western European Presby folks don’t much like to talk

about, think about, or much less even believe in the possibility of it. Martin Luther is

famous for saying, “you can’t prevent the birds of temptation from flying over you but you

can keep them building a nest in your head.” Fair point.

But I think one of my favorite perspectives comes from C.S. Lewis who said,

 

All of which is to say – to our peril, we disregard the realm of darkness as nothing, as if

the realm of evil doesn’t really exist and yet also, you can’t live your life looking for the

devil around every corner. Probably best to find a balanced approach somewhere in the

middle. Because temptation and the presence of evil has a way of sneaking up on us, we

are all vulnerable to falling prey to being overcome by darkness, making terrible decisions

that hurt both ourselves and others.

 

It turns out, we do, actually, engage discussion of evil as Presbyterians. When our new

officers made their vows last week – and when anyone joins the Presbyterian church for

the first time, there is in our Book of Order specific language in those vows which asks,

“do you renounce evil and rely on God’s grace.” And this is an important

acknowledgment, both theologically to be aware that there is a realm of darkness in our

 

world that we dismiss at our peril – AND – as part of our Christian commitment, that when

we see evil we renounce it, which is to say we formally declare it as evil, resist that evil

AND do whatever is possible to push back against darkness with the light of Christ. So the

evil of genocide simply must be renounced by all Christians – entire people groups wiped

out by some authority that has deemed them unworthy of life – there is evil there, yes? The

evil of sexual violence perpetrated against children and women, there is evil there, yes?

We could go on and on and name evil, abuse of power, there are sins of “commission” and

sins of “omission” and behind them all lies someone or some group or some system that

hoards power and misuses it. We, therefore, renounce evil in the name of Jesus.

 

So, at first glance, this text causes us to just focus on human temptations. Jesus

experienced temptation and resisted it and so, therefore, so should we. While that is true on

a certain level, perhaps we might see together what this wilderness moment is really about

here and what the power of evil seeks to manipulate and ultimately destroy.

Luke’s version of the story (Mark and Matthew have it, too, with a few variations but

essentially the same thrust) places Jesus as tempted in his humanity but having just been

named the Son of God in his baptism, he is faithful to God’s sustaining promises and he

uses Scripture in every one of his responses. This will be very important to us in the

coming months as we journey with Jesus in the gospel of Luke together. Jesus is the living

embodiment of the power of the Scriptures and he is also the fulfilment of the Scriptures.

We will also, in the coming months, see just how often Jesus will come up against the

presence of evil in his ministry, casting out demons from helpless victims, he renounces

the evil he sees in the Temple leadership, the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, all of

whom are hypocrites he calls a “brood of vipers.” There are significant power encounters

Jesus will have throughout his ministry.

 

This particular narrative functions uniquely, perhaps best understood as a symbolic

narrative. In some ways, it summarizes and foreshadows the temptations that Jesus will

 

experience throughout his living ministry. In other words, he will be tempted to use his

power in ways that would satisfy his human needs, that would politically and

inappropriately exercise his authority over others, and to save himself. He was able to

avoid sin while being tempted. How is that? What does God want for us to see here in this

strange narrative?

 

So this morning, rather than focusing just on the temptations we experience in general or

further yet, rather than giving The Devil too much airtime, what if the Temptation of Christ

story is really about something else all together. Could it be LESS about Jesus identifying

with us in our humanity as we do our best (and often fail) to resist temptation and more

about who Jesus is and his extraordinary relationship with God, his dependence on his

heavenly Father. Jesus is showing us what kind of Messiah he is choosing to be, and it isn’t

what they all expected him to be and I wonder if sometimes we expect him to be a Messiah

other than what God intended, too. Fully present and clear about his identity. Stronger than

Evil. Trustworthy. Jesus takes this Time of Testing from The Devil and transforms it into a

Time of Trusting God with his life. Every aspect of his life. His physical well being, his

authority and leadership and his identity.

 

Luke says from the outset that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit … and then “is lead by the

Spirit” into the wilderness. The Spirit didn’t pull up in the station wagon and drop him off

at the entrance of the wilderness and say, “see ya, buddy, I’ll be back in 40 days, good

luck.” No. The Spirit of God was with Jesus, empowering Jesus, holding Jesus,

strengthening Jesus. This will be a recurring theme of Luke’s gospel – and it will be

something we revisit together again and again in the coming months because Jesus models

for us what an intimate connection to God that is nurtured and cultivated really can mean

for our lives, too.

 

Three provocations are put before Jesus and they are indeed provocative. And in response

to each one of them, Jesus quotes passages from Deuteronomy by way of rebuke and

shutting them down. Before I go any further, The Book of Deuteronomy is part of the five

books of the Bible that are called The Torah, this is the Hebrew Scripture that is referenced

as “their Bible,” the law. Some of you know this already, so bear with me: The Torah is the

first five books of our Bible, they are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and

Deuteronomy. What is interesting about Deuteronomy is that it actually repeats a good

deal of the material found in both Exodus and Leviticus, it reiterates specific laws that

were given to Moses by God for the people Israel, how they were to conduct themselves,

function, survive so that they would ultimately be “set apart” so that the world will see

God in them. This was the goal, the hope, the plan. Didn’t go so well. But that’s for

another time.

 

For now, it is important to understand that Jesus is taking direct language that was given

By GOD to Moses that is not only the anchor for Jewish Life and a reflection of Yahweh

Elohim but would then be lived out by Jesus in real time. Jesus is not merely litigating his

position with the Devil by using Torah language. Jesus is pulling from the broadly known

Law of God and then embodying these truths with his actions and decisions. Just as the

people Israel were tempted in the wilderness and ultimately failed to stay strong in their

identity as the chosen ones to shine the light of God on the world – Jesus, by contrast, has

redeemed all of humankind through his ability to be human and also be intertwined with

God and overcome the power of evil.

So, what are the three questions and responses Jesus gave here. The devil said to him, “If

you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.”  4  Jesus answered

him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”

 

I’ve put on the screen here the actual text from Deuteronomy that Jesus

quotes. For Jesus, the word that comes from the mouth of the Lord is my bread. It isn’t that

bread is bad and he knows he needs it to survive. It is just that bread alone is never

enough. And he is not interested in using whatever transformative spiritual gifts that God

has given him to perform for the Devil, and he is determined that trusting God with

provision in due time will be enough. The food, the nourishment from the word of God is

what gives true life and will help him to survive this moment.

Notice how with all three questions, the Devil will say “IF you are the Son of God,” as if

trying to taunt him with doubt about his identity. Then, showing him “all the kingdoms of

the world” and offering him to have complete authority over them all, the Devil says “If

you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”  8  Jesus answered him, “It is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’ ”

 

Jesus seems to be saying “The power you want to give me is not the

power that God will give me. Political power is not why I am here, I am not interested in

dominating the kingdoms of the world.” Oh how this frustrates his disciples and his

followers and all the people Israel who are desperately hoping Jesus will be authority of

this world, THIS is their Messiah, God’s anointed to come and rule and give them back

Jerusalem and restore their kingdom to its former glory. Nope. When it became clear to

Jesus that he would be crushed and defeated by the Roman political authorities, thanks to

the cooperation of the Temple leadership, he would become the exact opposite of the kind

of Messiah that all the people had hoped for and dreamed of as he hung on the cross and

died. Jesus does not waver from worshiping his Heavenly Father alone. Because the plan

that God has for Jesus’ authority is so far greater than what the kingdom of any nation

 

could contain. It will come through the work on the cross. And it will culminate in the

power of the resurrection.

Third and finally, The Devil says “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from

 

here,” and then he quotes Psalm 91. The Devil says, “watch this, I’m

gonna use your strategy, Jesus, and pull from the Scriptures to get you this time. Deliver

yourself from death, jump and the angels will carry you, right?” Jesus does not take the

 

bait. He will not test God but he will trust God. There will be no rescue,

so it would seem, from his suffering. But Jesus will overcome evil when the power of

death has been defeated. The irony of the location of this temptation is that they are in

Jerusalem, where he will again refuse the temptation to save himself. He was taunted on

the cross, “if you really are the Son of God than get yourself down from there!”

 

And this is what it really comes down to, this deep connection, this relationship between

Jesus and God IN the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, that allows him to be so

unwavering. He is not swayed because he already knows who he is and there is nothing

that is being offered here that is consistent with the Messiah that God is calling him to be.

He transforms this time of testing into a time of trusting.

 

And that is what the Spirit of the Living God can do for us, too. Our temptations can not

really be compared to these temptations of Christ. And yet Scripture says in the book of

Hebrews, “in every respect he was tempted as we are and yet without sin.” So there is

always the fundamental truth that Jesus identifies with us in our humanity. And yet this

encounter helps us to understand Jesus as Messiah from the outset of his life, in deep

connection to God and unwavering in his worship and devotion to God.

 

Our experiences of being pulled away from who we really are in light of God’s love for us

are real and we find ourselves listening to voices that do not have our best interest at heart.

 As one theologian explained, that this story reveals for us, too, the profound “temptations

to forget one's baptismal identity, to attempt to use one's religion for personal gain, to try to

be successful rather than faithful, to be dazzled by the riches of the world, to make

compromises where one is called to stand firm, and to avoid the path of sacrifice and

suffering.” We may not think of this as the outright work of “The Enemy” in our lives.

Similar to the image on the cover of your bulletin today, where this Devil just casually

ambles alongside Jesus attempting to lull him away from his true calling, it is shocking

how subtle and small temptation can be until it becomes something hard to contain.

 

Beloveds, how often have you find yourself believing things that are lies and then make

decisions with your life based on those lies? Being a Christian is just being religious, it

doesn’t have to guide your choices, right? Just do this and you will be so much more

satisfied. Just do that and you will have so much more power. Surrounded by those

messages – subtle and not subtle – we need the Holy Spirit with us to guard and guide.

Friends, I struggle with the popular notion: “God is testing me.” NO. God is loving you

through the testing you are going through. Life tests us. The pressures of our culture and

society test us. Our failing physical bodies test us. Our relationships test us. God is not

some cosmic, finger-wagging authority that shames us when we fail under the weight of

the stress and pain, longing and sorrow that comes our way. He sent his Son, the Beloved,

Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be Messiah we really need. Your Savior, worthy to

be trusted, becomes, for us, in his birth, his life, his death and his resurrection the

embodiment of this truth: you can trust God even in the wilderness. The call on our lives is

not gritting our teeth in obedience, but rather, responding to the love of God and trusting in

his purposes for our lives. Let’s continue to reflect on this together in the coming winter

weeks. And draw near to God, learning to trust more deeply. Amen?

​

Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025
At Welcome
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord be with
you …
This morning our worship together is marked by “grace upon grace.”
Because on this wintry morning, warmed by our fellowship and the goodness of God, it is
Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Scripture says:
“The Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a
father’s only son, full of grace and truth.  15  (John the Baptist testified to him and cried out,
“This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was
before me.’”)  16  From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”
And as we reflect together on what is significant about baptism in our lives, it is also quite
fitting that we celebrate the Ordination and Installation of New Officers. These lay leaders
will reaffirm their faith, remember their baptism and dedicate themselves to the health and
vitality of this community of faith.
And so welcome – you who are here every Sunday, you who are here when you can be,
you who are not even sure why you are here and yet here you are, and you who are at
home and yet with us. The reach of our hospitality to you is no less than the reach of God’s
grace to all of us. Welcome. Let us worship God.
Message
We are in the Gospel of Luke now and we will be for the next three months until Palm
Sunday (which comes late this year, not until mid-April). We have been in Luke’s Gospel
for several weeks, of course, because the most detailed account of the birth of Jesus comes
from Luke. And so here we move into the significant moment that launches his ministry,
the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River.
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Wasn’t it powerful this morning, to hear the words of ordination? Bearing witness to our
brothers and sisters in Christ make their vows of commitment to the church, it is so
hopeful. It is worth taking note: embedded within the liturgy of installation that you heard
is important language about baptism. It offers us the opportunity to revisit the significance

of what baptism is really about. The Re-affirmation of Faith and remembrance of baptism
during our new leaders’ installation gets rather lost in the moment and yet holds such
important theology. I appreciate that this can sound like obtuse “church talk.” But the
theology of baptism is so rich, and as Christians who identify as Presbyterian we ascribe to
reformed theological understanding that can be life-changing … if we allow it to be so.

Allow me to repeat a portion of what you just heard in my prayer:
We praise you for sending Jesus your Son, who for us was baptized in the waters of the
Jordan, and was anointed as the Christ by your Holy Spirit.
Through the baptism of his death and resurrection you set us free from the bondage of sin
and death, and give us cleansing and rebirth. We praise you for pouring out your Holy
Spirit, who teaches us and leads us into all truth, filling us with a variety of gifts, that we
might proclaim the gospel to all nations and serve you as a royal priesthood.
We rejoice that you have claimed us in our baptism and anointed us for service in Christ’s
name, and that by your grace we are born anew.
God claims us in our baptism. I remember that being a big deal when my baby girls were
baptized, the humble reminder that these precious beings were our to raise and yet claimed
by God. Some of you were baptized as an infant and so all you know is that other folks
made this commitment for you on your behalf, performed and blessed by a pastor, or some
of you a priest. Some of you made a decision for baptism later in life and may have more
memory of it. Some of you might not be baptized at all – which is okay, perhaps all in due
time – all of which is to say that baptism is, well, significant.

Here is a section from the Book of Order of our denomination, this is our Presbyterian
Constitution, if you will, it has our polity spelled out, how we govern, and it also has
beautifully articulated theological statements to anchor our beliefs and practices. Listen
now to some of the language around baptism that might help us to understand why we

“remember our baptism” today, listen and follow along and please, I invite you, to take this
in for a moment:

1) 2)
Baptism is the sign and seal of our incorporation into Jesus Christ. In his own baptism,
Jesus identified himself with sinners—yet God claimed him as a beloved Son, and sent the
Holy Spirit to anoint him for service. In his ministry, Jesus offered the gift of living water.
Through the baptism of his suffering and death, Jesus set us free from the power of sin forever. After he
rose from the dead, Jesus commissioned his followers to go and make disciples, baptizing them and
teaching them to obey his commands. The disciples were empowered by the outpouring of the Spirit to
continue Jesus’ mission and ministry, inviting others to join this new way of life in Christ. As Paul wrote,
through the gift of Baptism we are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).
Baptism enacts and seals what the Word proclaims: God’s redeeming grace offered to
all people. Baptism is at once God’s gift of grace, God’s means of grace, and God’s call to
respond to that grace. (Book of Order W-3.0402)
“Baptism is at once God’s gift of grace, God’s means of grace, and God’s call to respond
to that grace.” Beautiful. So the water of baptism that is the covenant symbol of God’s
grace that we employ, it is the living water, the sign that we are made alive to God in
Christ Jesus. So here we are, this morning, formally marking a new chapter for the church
by adding these leaders and it felt important to understand our tradition’s theological

underpinning for these significant moments.

And it is rooted in this text from Luke, this is at the heart of how we come to this theology.
And, certainly, it is a familiar story to many of us. Not just because we hear it every year at
this time but also because it, notably, this story of Jesus coming to the Jordan river to be
baptized is told in all four Gospels. You have heard me say it before, that means
something, to be sure, it is not to be missed or omitted. As different as each of the four
Gospels tells this story, this moment comes at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and
launches us into a new season of walking alongside him all the way to the cross.

It seems that the gospel writers ALL want to emphasize the same point: That John the
Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But John, of his own
declaration, was merely “preparing the way” for the Son of God who would baptize with
the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at what this passage in Luke says:

SLIDE HAS FOUR SECTIONS

John the Baptist said: “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is
coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and fire.”
John, like the prophets of old, had been shouting in the wilderness “repent,” his baptism in
the Jordan for the forgiveness of sins. But he makes it clear that Jesus will baptize with the
Holy Spirit and – fire? That sounds unpleasant. We dare not even visualize such a thing,
given the images of Los Angeles in flames right now, people suffering unimaginable
trauma and loss. For context, this fire language is frequent in Hebrew Scripture that would
have been familiar to the people Israel, John the Baptist employs this ancient language
from the Psalms, purifying fire, separating wheat from chaff, burning off the sin. This is
how John would characterize forgiveness. But God has something else in mind.
What happens next, this is amazing.
Luke records: Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been
baptized … CLICK SLIDE HERE
So Jesus comes to the Jordan, stands in line and when all the people were done it was his
turn. WITH All the people AS all the people. The sinners. Or at least those willing to
admit they had sin and desiring baptism. Jesus, in their midst, with them, among them. Not
condemning them. Not shouting “repent.” Nothing to repent of himself, in fact. Yet, in the
muck, in the mess, with them. With us. Notwithstanding. CLICK SLIDE HERE
But wait, there’s more it goes on: Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus
also had been baptized and was praying

Jesus is in the muddy, rushing waters of the Jordan right along with everyone else and then
moves on to pray. To convene with his heavenly Father. Praying for them? Praying for
himself? Or just doing what he has done from the beginning, maintain connection and
communion with divine presence. In the midst of his praying, he is set apart and this is the
heart of the matter: Jesus is WITH and AMONG but Jesus is named as the Son of God.
And so HERE is where the Holy Spirit enters the scene.
CLICK SLIDE HERE
Now when all the people were baptized and when Jesus also had been baptized and was
praying, the heaven was opened,  22  and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form
like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased.”
Jesus comes, insists on identifying himself along with everyone and is baptized, and there
is a shift. No emphasis on consuming fire, separation, condemnation. No demand for
repentance as a pre-requisite to forgiveness.
God ordains and installs Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus Christ the
love of God will be made known and transforms human kind’s relationship with their
Creator into one of compassion and mercy, what we call grace.
How many times have you heard these words “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I
am well pleased.”and blown past them?
Alas: God is well-pleased with Jesus, Lisa Lynne, great thanks for the news flash.
Obviously. Here’s the thing: the confluence of truths happening here: Jesus has nothing to
repent of but is baptized by John. Jesus in his humanity, identifies with sinners. Jesus has
yet to do anything up to this point that God would declare being well-pleased with him. He
just IS. This is his identity: He communes with and identifies WITH the people and the
Holy Spirit comes while he is praying and he is called by name, God’s Son, and not only
that he is called with affection, the Beloved, and God is pleased with him.
God comes: Human with you. God says: Belongs to Me.

For many of us Christians, this moment, this language feels like old news. Fair enough.
Because here is where all of Scripture is connected, this over-arching theme of God
intervening to keep covenant with creation, to keep coming after us in love. From Genesis
to Revelation, this huge love story, and Jesus, God with us, Emmanuel, the embodiment of

God’s love they had all been waiting for.
This is so beautiful, hang with me, here is what we heard God say through the prophet
Isaiah earlier, listen to this again:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
   I have called you by name; you are mine.
2  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
   and the flame shall not consume you.
3  For I am the LORD your God,
   the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Israel, at this point in biblical history, was a total mess. In fact, it was non-existent. The
people Israel were scattered. Why? Because they had totally blown it. They had not
obeyed the Commandments, they had neglected the poor the orphan the widow they had
not worshiped only their God, their priorities went totally hay-wire, they were selfish and
negligent and self-serving and violent. And God waited for them to finish self-destructing.
The Assyrians from the North and the Babylonians from the South and East, took over
Jerusalem and they were sent into exile and worse. They were – wait for it – sinners.
In their suffering they cried out to God and here is how God responds. God is so
consistent. Do not fear for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine.
It gets even better, he goes on to say this: Because you are precious in my sight and
honored and I love you.

Centuries later, they would come to the Jordan and repent – seeking forgiveness.

In their midst would come the one who would stand with them, be baptized just
as they were, but who would then be anointed by the Holy Spirit, the One who redeem
them beyond all imagination, not of their own deserving - not of our own deserving.
Because this is the character of God, and this is the intervening work of God and this Jesus
is the manifestation, the incarnation of the love of God.
Grace upon Grace, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus will live and love and heal, Jesus
will die and rise that we become dead to sin and alive to God.
Through the Son of God we are given this identity by God: I claim you as my own, he
says, I love you, I redeem you, I give you new life, and I call you by name so that you will
always know who you are and to WHOSE you really are.

This is why we revisit baptism together today. When we affirm our faith with our voices
and our hearts, and when lay leaders make these ordination vows, and when we remember
our baptism we mustn’t allow it to be relegated to ceremonial pomp and circumstance of a
special Sunday. Let me assure you it is anything but. God’s gift to us this morning as a
body of faith, and God’s gift to every single one of YOU, is to remind you that you are
called by name, you are loved, AND (maybe this is the most important thing) you belong
to God. Not to the powers that be in your life. Not to your government. Not to your body
as it ages, not to your doctors and your medications.
Not even - dare I say it – to your spouse, to whom you are betrothed.
Your children, as much as you love them, are not “yours” to own and control.

Baptism is at once God’s gift of grace, God’s means of grace, and God’s call to
respond to that grace. Sinners though we are, we need not be afraid. Not in the waters of
the rushing river, not in the fires that flare up around us.
No amount of sin or darkness will ever alter your identity in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice in your baptism, beloveds, knowing whose you really are.
 

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