Under His Wings - A Sermon for the 1st Sunday in Lent

First Sunday in Lent
March 6^th, Year of Our + Lord 2022
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Under His Wings
Psalm 91 and Matthew 4:1-11

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, 
   who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord: 'My refuge, 
   my Rock in whom I trust!'
'And He will raise you up on eagle's wings, 
     bear you on the breath of dawn,
 Make you to shine like the sun, 
     and hold you in the palm of His hand.'
For to His angels He’s given a command, 
    to guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up, 
   lest you dash your foot against a stone.

      “On Eagles’ Wings.” This beautiful hymn repeats promises found in Psalm 91, fantastic promises of angelic protection, of direct divine protection, from all sorts of evils.  As the world moves on from the crisis of Covid-19 to the crisis of the invasion of Ukraine by Putin, we are aware that life is full of dangers: accidents, violent people, job loss, dangerous weather, war.  These dangers come from outside of us.  We also face disease, doubt, depression, addiction, loneliness, fear; dangers arising from within.  We long to be protected from all these dangers, and to know that our loved ones are protected.  And God makes just such a promise.  So we love this hymn. 

    We love it, and yet we struggle to believe it is true for us.  Because bad things still happen to us, even though we confess the Name of Jesus.  Are you tempted to doubt the promises God makes to you in Psalm 91? 

      satan tries to use the words of Psalm 91 to tempt Jesus.  Taking Jesus up to the top of the temple, satan says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' ".  What does it mean that the devil tempts the Christ to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple?  satan wants Jesus to force the Father to send angels to catch Him.  he wants the man Jesus to put God to the test, to see if God’s Word is true, if His promises made in Psalm 91 hold up. 

     satan is confused, or perhaps is ignoring, the Two Natures of Christ.  Even though the evil one says, “If you are the Son of God,” this temptation is really aimed at the man Jesus.  

    The promises of Psalm 91 are made by the LORD God, to mankind, to humanity.  Jesus is a man, and so this promise is also for him, no?  But Jesus is not only a man.  He is also God, the LORD Himself, entered into human flesh. 

 Equally as the Father or the Spirit did, Jesus made the promise of Psalm 91.  The promises of God are the promises of Jesus.  Jesus is the hen who gathers the people of God under His wings to protect them.  Jesus is the source of our hopes, the font from which flows the mercy of God.  Only as a man would Jesus Christ need the protection of God’s angels.  As Almighty God, He needs protection from no one; He is the Protector.   

      Of course, satan’s temptation of Jesus the man is also false, based on a lie, based on the twisting of God’s Word, as are all of the devil’s temptations.  For Jesus to swan dive off the top of the temple would also have been a failure as a man, an attempt to impress the devil by proving the ability to control God.  You see, the promises of Psalm 91 are for the man who dwells with God, who loves God and trusts in Him alone.  The promise is this “if you fall, if you are attacked, like by satan, God will rescue you.”  Someone who is seeking the devil’s approval has by definition rejected the promise of God.  Nor does Psalm 91 promise that if you willfully try to hurt yourself, God will protect you.  Although often enough the LORD does protect us, even when we seek to hurt ourselves.  Still, to willfully put your life at risk to show the devil who’s in charge is utterly foolish.  It is certainly not the behavior of one who dwells in the shadow of the LORD.  God in Psalm 91 promises protection to the faithful, not to rebels.    

    Jesus was never going to give in to satan’s temptation, like Adam and Eve did.  Jesus is God. Jesus created the angels, including satan and the rest who rebelled and fell away.  Jesus is LORD.  So He naturally dismisses Satan’s temptation to act like a sinful man.  Jesus rejects the temptation to serve Himself, for He came not to be served, but to serve, and give His life as a ransom for many. 

   And here we find the real goal of satan’s temptations: trying to get Jesus to serve Himself and avoid the Cross.
None of this was ever going to happen.  No way, no how, no contest.  Be gone, satan.   

    The fact that Jesus is God, Holy and Perfect, means He could not give in to temptation.  And, for the man Jesus, this made enduring the temptation much worse.  His divine power to resist all temptation does not minimize what the man Jesus went through; rather it increases His temptation, immeasurably.  The God Man Jesus could, and would, face far more temptation than we can even comprehend, precisely because He would never give in to sin.  All the way to the Cross, Jesus, knowing what was coming, had to face the constant temptation to give up, to turn from His path.   He was constantly tempted to serve Himself.     

    Jesus’ temptation was far worse than we can imagine.  Because in the end, the ordeal Jesus was being tempted to avoid was suffering the entire wrath of God against all human sin.   

    We cannot imagine very far down the road of ever-increasing temptations, because we give in so easily.  I pray that you and I resist temptations.  We ought to, for how can we who died to sin through our Baptisms, how can we who have received the Name of God, how can we who confess Jesus as LORD, then turn around and live in sin?  We ought to resist, and we do.  We try, but not very successfully.  Now and again we resist sin bravely, God be praised.  We may even, over time, more or less successfully set aside gross sins that once plagued us.  With discipline and support, alcoholics and drug addicts can avoid the chemicals which attract them.  The violent can resist lashing out at people in anger.  Adulterers can learn to be faithful to the spouse God has given them.  But still, when we are tired, or confused, or angry, or embarrassed, whenever our human weaknesses show up in our lives, we are easy marks for all too many temptations.  Even if we refrain from the outward acts, in our hearts and minds we fall so often.    

    Indeed, this is why, even though resisting temptation is important, resistance to sin is not the heart of Christian living.  Repentance is.  Returning to Christ, again and again, confessing our failures and seeking forgiveness, this is the heart of Christian living.     

   Confess your sins daily, like Jesus Himself teaches us to do, right there in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer.  And Jesus will take your sins from you and give you Himself, again, for another day, another hour.  God will forgive and restore you as often as it takes to lift you up, forever. 

    Why?  Why does God forgive us, again and again?  Why did Jesus fast forty days and forty nights, and then face satan’s temptations, in our place?  Why did Christ go all the way to the Cross, never straying from the path His Father set for Him?  Why did He do all that He did, even though in return, we do so little for Him? 

    Well, it’s not because God is just, although He is.  We see divine justice fulfilled in the fact that Jesus suffered for the sins of the whole world, paying the price, once for all, so that divine justice is served, perfectly, completely, eternally.  Justice had to be fulfilled, and it was.  But it was not the driving cause of Jesus’ faithfulness.

    Nor did Jesus do what He did because God is all powerful, although He is.  Indeed, we see the almighty power of God in the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and in His Ascension on high.  We see Christ’s almighty power in the continued endurance and growth of His Church, despite all that the devil, the world and our own sinfulness do to defeat her.  The more you know the about persecution of Christians around the world, the more you follow current events, the more you deal honestly with your own sin, the clearer it becomes that only God’s almighty power could keep the Church alive in a world like ours. 

   But neither God’s power nor His justice is the cause of Jesus’ actions.  No, Jesus, indeed God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, does what He does to win and deliver salvation to us, simply because God is love.  The love that flows, and has flowed forever between Father, Son and Spirit, the love that is God has overflowed, for us.  To give us life.  God loves His people, the crown of His creation, loving us in spite of the sad fact that we are fallen, sinful, runaway children.  And the way that God loves humanity is Jesus, the Sinners’ Friend.  

   This is our good confession, that the God-man Jesus Christ was tempted, without ever giving in to sin.  He suffered, without turning back.  He died, not just a physical death, but also a spiritual death, enduring the hell we deserve, in order to save you and me and the whole world.  Jesus denied all temptations, in order to gather you under His wings, the wings of His Cross, where all your sins were carried away, where your death was defeated, and where your new and eternal life was won.  And, dwelling in the shadow of God’s forgiving love, you will then share that love and forgiveness with others.  Indeed, it is only when you rest in God’s great work for you that you can do truly good works for others.        

    This is the promise of Psalm 91 for you.  Danger and enemies and disease and all sorts of bad things will attack you in this life.  But the consequences of sin which ruin this world have no ultimate power over you, for you live in Christ.  God’s promise to raise you up stands.  Indeed, it is already fulfilled, in Jesus, who has risen to all glory, for you.  Because He has defeated temptation, you will defeat temptation.  Because He has died in your place, your death has no power to separate you from God.  Because He has risen to the right hand of glory, He will send His angels, to carry you to Himself.  

    Stay under Jesus’ wings.  Come to His Table; dine with Him.  Stay under God’s wings, by staying close to His promises, to His Word of Grace, which has made you a believer, and which keeps your faith alive in this world full of temptations and sin.  Jesus gives you strength for living, He lifts you up, daily, and eternally, by the forgiveness of all your sins, Amen.