Delivered Feb. 10, 2008
by Pastor Marilyn Henderson
Loyalty is a word, a concept, we don't hear about much in our culture these days. It's a rather old-fashioned word that seems to belong more to the eras of chivalry and Queen Victoria.
Loyalty is not necessarily a word used by the biblical writers or translators. However, I suggest that the definition is implicit throughout the biblical record and integral to the biblical story. The word "loyalty," by definition, suggests feelings of allegiance, devotion or dedication to, faithfulness, constancy or fidelity. It means binding oneself, intellectually and/or emotionally, to a course of action (Online OneLook Dictionary). Loyalty is aligning oneself with a particular purpose or idea or action or person. The concept of loyalty is integral to the Good News of God - that we are now free to choose God's way and follow Jesus. We are free to align ourselves to the way of God rather than remain in bondage to the tyranny of self.
The heroes and heroines of the Bible usually both succeeded and sometimes failed to be loyal to God and God's way. And it all started at the beginning - in the Garden.
Adam and Eve, the first people, were lovingly created and moulded by God's hands and given life by God's breath. They lived in a lovely Garden God had generously provided. Adam and Eve lived a perfect life, free of worry, sickness, danger and old age. They had no weeds to hoe, no snow to blow, no long commutes, no difficult people with whom they worked. They had plenty to eat, they enjoyed their daily work as well as their evenings with God, they enjoyed each other's company and they slept well. Adam and Eve really had it made!
But were they loyal to the One who had given them form and life? Did they completely accept and embrace to the vision of perfect relationship between all things, all beings, and their Creator?
Genesis 3.1-7 (The Message) The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?"
The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"
The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."
The Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating. She realized what she would get out of it - she'd know everything! So she ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate. Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on" - they saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.
Eve had it right the first time. God told Adam and Eve they could eat from all the trees in the garden - except one. There was an abundance of trees of whose fruit they had permission to eat. But they chose to listen to the seducer, a liar who twisted the truth that God's heart desire was for them all to live together justly and peacefully. They did not choose to be loyal to God and God's way.
Throughout the biblical story God tests His people. It is a test of loyalty. But it isn't only a test that determines whether you get an A or an F. It is similar to the testing of metal for its strength. It's the idea of seeing where you are on this journey with God. It is not a comparison with others but a measure of your spiritual maturity.
Abraham's loyalty was tested when he was commanded to sacrifice Isaac. He didn't understand it. He couldn't figure out why God would want him to sacrifice the son of God's promise. It made no sense at all, but he did it.
The next day Abraham made the necessary preparations and traveled three days until they could see the place God had shown Abraham. Abraham and Isaac left the servants and animals and finished the journey on foot. Abraham stacked the stones and laid the wood in order on top of the altar. And then, with tears running down his face, he bound his son and laid him on the altar. Slowly he took the knife and raised it over Isaac, his long-awaited and dearly-loved son. And at that moment, the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" Isaac was saved and God's promise was still viable. Abraham chose to be loyal to God and God's way.
In the days of the judges of Israel, Ruth, a Gentile, vowed to stay with Naomi because Naomi' sons and husband - her entire family - had died. Naomi had determined to take a long, difficult and dangerous journey back to Judah - alone. Ruth decided, out of love, not to return to her family home but to make her home with Naomi, to make Naomi her family. So Ruth accompanied Naomi on the long, difficult and dangerous trip to a strange country with strange customs where she knew no one but Naomi. She adopted Naomi's family as her own and worshiped Naomi's God as her own. Ruth, a foreigner who had observed the ways of God in her deceased husband and his family, chose to be loyal to God and God's way.
David had been anointed as king of Israel before King Saul had died. In the years before his death, King Saul's primary goal was to kill David. In the wilderness of Engedi, David had the opportunity to kill Saul a number of times. Killing Saul would have been justified in the minds of his followers and many others. But David said, "I will not raise my hand against my lord; for this is the Lord's anointed." David chose to be loyal to God and God's way.
After God vindicated Elijah on top of Mount Carmel by sending fire from heaven to consume Elijah's offering, Elijah had an immediate opportunity to stand firm against Jezebel, the queen who wanted to destroy him. But instead of standing firm and trusting God, Elijah ran scared. Elijah forgot about God's loyalty to him on Mount Carmel and ran away. He felt rejected and scared and alone. That time Elijah did not choose to be loyal to God and God's way.
Over and over God's people had to choose whether to take their own way or take God's way. Their loyalties, as do our own, sometimes wavered. Finally, God decided to make a personal appearance.
At the age of 30 Jesus was about to begin his ministry. He journeyed into the desert to meet God just as the Israelites had done centuries ago. The first step of preparation for ministry was baptism by his cousin, the Baptizer, and afterward the Spirit of God descended like a dove and came to rest on him - the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And he heard God's voice affirming him - "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."
At this point Matthew says that Jesus was led further into the wilderness by the Spirit of God. The second step of preparation for ministry was to fast and spend time with God for 40 days. Jesus spent this time focusing on God as his only source of both physical and spiritual life. The lessons learned in those 40 days would be put to in the ministry-filled days ahead. Jesus' desert retreat was integral to how he was able to perfectly live and embody God's law in the days and years ahead.
Step number three - three really big entrance exams, proctored by the devil. I believe that these tests were not just a form to be gotten through, but that these tests were very real and actually tough ones for Jesus for he was completely and fully human as well as divine. Paul says in Philippians 2.6-8 that Jesus " ... was in the form of God ... " and " ... being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death ..." Jesus chose to remain human in the way he responded to temptation and to life. Each test appealed to different aspects of Jesus' humanity. And as a human being Jesus passed each test perfectly by relying on God and God's word in Deuteronomy.
The first test spoke to his immediate situation. The New Revised Standard Version uses the word "famished" to describe Jesus' condition after 40 days of fasting and praying. The tempter came to Jesus and suggested that he step out of his God-ordained role of human and use his divine power to make himself a sandwich. Jesus, though physically weak, was strong in the Spirit of God and ready. He responded with strength and purpose - "One doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Jesus had just spent 40 days on a spiritual retreat in the desert with God as his only companion. He absolutely knew and embraced the truth and power of those words. Do we?
Jesus' second test appealed to the human desire for recognition and empowerment. "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 ...' " The devil even used scripture in his attempt to seduce Jesus away from his loyalty to God's purpose for him. And Jesus responded in kind, "Again it is written, 'do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "
With his answer Jesus totally rejected any act that would draw attention solely to himself. Jesus was focused completely on God as his source of power and fulfillment. Are we?
Test number three took place on a high mountain. The devil posed as a realtor: "All these kingdoms of the world and their splendour I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me." "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord you God, and serve only him.' "
First of all, Jesus personally knew the "owner" of those kingdoms and it certainly wasn't the devil. Perhaps he recognized a potential alternative to the plan God had mapped out for him. And there may have been a desire, on some level, to avoid future suffering if he could.
But Jesus had just spent 40 days in the desert with God. He had chosen his course and his destiny. He had already decided he would not be distracted or lured from his purpose. Jesus remained, always and forever, loyal to God and God's way for himself and for the world.
Remember Adam and Eve? The consequences of their choice affected the entire world and the destiny of the generations to come. The consequences of Jesus' choice continue to affect the entire world and the generations that have been born since his death and resurrection. Paul says it well as he compares Adam's choice with the choice Jesus made in Romans 5.15-19:
"But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many."
"And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man's sin. For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of Adam's trespass or sin, death had dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness will have dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."
"Therefore just as one man's sin led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."
Just as Adam, by choosing his own way, brought separation from God into the world, so Jesus, by his choice to remain loyal to God's way, brought and brings joyous reunion with God. When we choose to align ourselves with Jesus in his ministry, suffering, death and in his glorious resurrection, we choose to hang on to God and God's purpose and way like Jesus did. When our boys were small, I learned to do most things with one hand because I often was holding a little one. When they were old enough, they learned to hook their arm around mine so that when I needed to lean down or moved quickly they wouldn't lose their grip. When we choose God's way we choose to tightly grip God so we don't lose our way and fall.
Lent is a time when we thoughtfully and prayerfully walk with Jesus into that desert of preparation and testing and beyond. This year's Lenten theme is "Out of the Depths." The banner Carolyn and Linda and I created suggests an upward movement from darkness to light, just as the branches of the arrangement reach out and upward. Jesus reached out to God when he was at his weakest, trusting God to lift him from the depths of physical starvation and spiritual temptation. I believe God invites us to trust Him in the same way.
If we are to be true followers of Jesus, we need to look carefully at how he prepared for ministry. Remember? First of all, Jesus was baptized to symbolize that he was completely and truly loyal to God. Acceptance of God as our true and only source of life and hope is the only way to begin. This means that we not only accept God as our source, but that we become followers and imitators of Jesus.
Secondly, we must discern which spiritual disciplines we need to practice so that we will grow in our loyalty to God's purpose. Jesus had begun to prepare in his childhood by memorizing the Torah, the Law and the prophets. Jesus prepared by retreating into the wilderness to be alone with God. He removed the distraction of food so that he could remain focused on God. Jesus continued to practice this rhythm of solitude and prayer throughout his ministry. If Jesus needed to practice spiritual disciplines, we surely do. How are we doing with spiritual disciplines?
Last of all, Jesus was prepared for the tests God allowed because he was rock solid with God. He already knew the answers and he was ready to give them. It doesn't mean that Jesus didn't think about the devil's words. But he was ready for the tests.
The good news is that God wants each of us to choose His way for our lives. God desires us to get acquainted with Him, to grow and mature in the things of the Spirit. God believes that we can, with His help, resist the temptations to choose our own way.
Let us choose to be loyal to God and align ourselves irrevocably and completely with His purposes for our own good, for the good of the church and the good of the world.
Petitcodiac Mennonite Church