Temptation for All Age Worship Matthew 4: 1-12

Before the service everyone who came in was given a toffee – in a red or blue wrapper and told ‘this is not for you, hold on to it and you will be told what to do with it’.

Who can tell me what this is: a stone

Who can tell me what this is: a loaf of bread

Two stories about Jesus:

The first:

Jesus had just been baptised and God had said to him from the cloud above him
that he was pleased with him: the Creator of the universe was pleased with him
how amazing was that!

But then Jesus is taken into the desert to be tested by the Devil.

He had not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights

Has everyone had breakfast?

Have you ever had a day when you did not eat anything?

How did you feel?

Jesus did not eat for 40 days and 40 nights, so he was really hungry. So the devil says to him why don’t you turn that stone into bread? So that you are not hungry any more?

He was saying ‘because you are the Son of God use your gifts to make yourself comfortable, so that you can have a nice breakfast croissant or panini’

Did Jesus agree with him?

What do you think?

It was a test

What do you think Jesus said?

Jesus said to the devil who was testing him

‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

But we need to work out what that means?

Does that mean: God doesn’t think that you need to eat when you are hungry
and that you should read the Bible instead?

Does it mean that?

Jesus had not eaten for a very long time

All the tests in the desert: there are three – we are only dealing with one today

All the tests in the desert are about Jesus’ ministry:

what sort of person he was going to be?

what sort of leader?

what sort of messiah?

Because if you have power to do something; its very tempting to use it for yourself
Its tempting to eat that toffee which you were given on the way in….Don’t do it though!

Did Jesus have power to turn the stone into bread?

How do we know that he did?

By another story:

When he was with his friends and thousands of people were in the desert listening to what he had to say; he spoke for a really long time and the people did not have anything to eat: they were famished

And all the disciples had to feed them were five loaves and two fishes

What did Jesus do?

Made them into enough food to feed the 5000

So he could easily turn stone into a croissant if he had wanted to do so

Jesus gifts, his power to make bread out of nothing were not for himself,
but for others

He was being tested to see if he would accept the discomfort and pain of hunger even though he had the power to make the rocks into bread

He needed to accept any amount of hunger and pain for himself even though
he had the power solve the problem

Because he knew what his gifts were for: Thats how he resisted the temptation to use his gifts badly: he knew what his gifts were for… what he was for….

That’s what he said to the devil: I know what I am for, my life is about living for God and his priorities; for other people: not what I want

that’s who I am

Jesus was essentially saying:

Gifts are for giving not for guzzling

We have gifts as well

who is good with numbers?

who is good with words?

who is good with people?

who is good at sport?

who is good with all four?

We have all been given something by God

If you don’t know what your gift or gifts are yet you will find out while you are at school
or college, that is partly what school is for

our young lives are about finding out what our gifts are

But we also need to work out what our gifts are for

Are they for giving?

or are they for guzzling?

We can be tempted to spend our entire lives guzzling the fruit of our gifts
Using them just for ourselves

I did, I spent most of my life using my gift with words for myself as a lawyer, not for others

Doesn’t mean that being a lawyer is wrong

The question is why are we doing it?

To support the family is a good reason

But sometimes it goes beyond that….

Jesus says ‘Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’

And the word of God is: love God and love neighbour

Our gifts are for giving not for guzzling….

Now you should still have a sweet.

Either a red sweet or a blue sweet

Your sweet is a gift from me, which is not for you

It is for someone else: find someone who has a different colour sweet to you

 

Gifts are for giving not for guzzling

Don’t give in exchange, take the risk that they have given away their sweet already
and it will come round so that you get one I promise you…..

Gifts are for giving not for guzzling

Amen