As always, we look to Jesus’ own experience for guidance. The accounts of Luke and Matthew (which are read in other years) include Jesus’ debate with Satan, providing a biblical model and working strategy for overcoming temptation. However, Mark’s gospel is typically short on such details, telling us only that the wild beasts were with Jesus and that the angels cared for him. It seems that Mark is not concerned to give us a divinely approved script to follow, but to make the point that we are most empowered to resist temptation when we remember who we are.

Wild beasts and angels; Temptation puts us in touch with the raw, elemental truth about our animal nature, the more instinctual, undomesticated part of our being. It’s about what we want, about wanting it now, and wanting it no matter what. At the same time, being subject to temptation, when approached consciously, connects us with our higher nature. Temptation then provokes questions like: Is this what I truly need? What will be the impact of this decision on my sense of self, my communion with Spirit?

Seen in this way, temptation a holy moment of truth and spiritual struggle…hazardous, yet potentially rewarding. It can’t be avoided. The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness. The circumstances of our lives drive us to those places where our own temptations await us. This can be anyplace, even while we are engaged in holy things. Martin Luther was tempted while working on a sermon! But we do not enter the wilderness unfortified. It is God’s image and likeness, and our divine purpose that we are tempted to abandon in the wilderness. We are in no way obliged to abandon it. And there are angels.

Temptation comes in many forms. For as long as I can remember, my parents have kept a supply of Planter’s Dry Roasted P-Nuts in their kitchen. When I come home for a visit, those nuts sit there on the counter whispering my name whenever I walk by. I’ve always known that they are a temptation, but this really became clear during this last trip home. One day, I grabbed a handful as I went out for my daily exercise…and another handful as soon as I got back. For a guy trying to trim his gut, this was both stupid and impractical. But what was really revealing was that I said to myself (even while continuing to unscrew the jar) “This is both stupid and impractical”! It would have been helpful to employ a conscious Lenten discipline, slowing the process of indulgence long enough to reflect: if you eat those nuts, you not only undermine your own effort to maintain your physical health, you give all your energy to gratifying your senses, at the expense of attending to what you’re thinking and feeling inside, and hearing what God is saying to you. Is that what you really want, right now?

The poet Robert Browning offers this perspective: "Why comes Temptation but for man to meet and master and make crouch beneath his foot, and so be pedestaled in triumph?" Browning sees temptation as an occasion for character development and transcendence…a scriptural view. The root meaning of "temptation" in biblical Hebrew and in the Greek is "testing" or "trial". It’s a fine point, but important to note here that it is not God who creates occasions for sin. The Apostle James writes, "No one, when tempted, should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God…tempts no one. But one is tempted by one's own desire, being lured and enticed by it;" (1:13-14)

That is why our greatest temptations are so directly related to our greatest personal needs. St. Ignatius, in his spiritual Exercises, depicted Satan ("The Enemy of Our Human Nature") as a brilliant field general, first probing our defenses for weak spots, and then sending out his troops to attack us directly at those vulnerable points. For example, experts say that eating disorders can reveal an inner emptiness and a doubt that we are loved. In C.S. Lewis’ story, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, the younger brother, Edmund, falls under the influence of the evil White Witch, who tempts him with magic candy. Once under its spell, the insecure boy is willing even to betray his own siblings to satisfy his craving.

The temptation to unethical conduct in financial or business affairs may reveal a fear of scarcity and a lack of trust in God's provision. Sexual temptation is often an expression of a need for a deeper connection with others, with ourselves and with God. In other words, temptation can help us discover just what we are made of and where our need for healing lies.

In his epistle, James also declares, "Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life…"(1:12), something "that the Lord has promised to those who love him." Resisting temptation is an expression not only of will power, but also of love and devotion to God. It is not a matter of self-deprivation for its own sake (which can become a source of spiritual pride) but of true self-interest, the expression of our higher nature and our oneness with God.

We all know how difficult it can be to act in our own best interest (assuming we can remember what that is). The Apostle Paul, in Romans 7:19, writes with anguish, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” Is there anyone here who has not experienced this? Have you ever said to yourself, in the middle of an encounter, "No, I'm not going to say that hurtful thing", and then you gone ahead and said it anyway? Have you ever been called to take part in some worthy project but then found it easier or more comfortable to just stay home instead? Paul feels powerless in the grip of temptation: “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” But then, he remembers he’s not alone in his wilderness, saying, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

This is the secret to facing and enduring and triumphing over temptation. Jesus, our model, was not alone in the wilderness. Angels were there with him, serving him, reminding him who he was. Taken as a whole, scripture says that angels serve two primary functions; as messengers of God's Word and as bearers of a divine, encouraging presence. In this connection, we do well to recall Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 10:13); "God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."

That way out is the spiritual presence of God that comes to us through all sorts of angels (including those wonderful human angels who come into our lives just when we seem to need them most). It comes to us through the teaching and example and living presence of Jesus Christ. It comes to us through prayer and self-examination. And, it comes to us through the indwelling Holy Spirit, given in baptism and renewed continually through sacramental communion.

So the next time you are faced with a temptation…like, say, in the next five seconds, or during coffee hour or on the way home from church…in addition to praying for God's help, you might also offer a prayer of thanksgiving. You might say, "Thank you, God, for helping me to see this temptation for what it is, for making its attraction plain, for showing me the truth about myself, for revealing the weaknesses in my defenses, for helping me fortify myself in these places, for providing clear alternatives from your Word, and for giving me the power of your Holy Spirit to choose the way of life. Like Jesus, let's trust that the same Spirit which drives us into the wilderness of self-examination and temptation will sustain us during our sojourn there and then bring us out, not only intact, but empowered and enthused for ministry. AMEN