Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
It was 1945. The War in Europe was over, and Hitler was dead. Yet war still raged on. Japan had brought us, the United States, into the war through the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and our military wasn’t going to let that slide. But people were becoming weary with the War and ready for an end.
During this time, our country had developed the first atomic bombs. These bombs were seen as a way to end the war quickly and with as little loss of life, specifically American life, as possible. An ultimatum was presented to Japan, but they refused to surrender.
So it was that two bombs were dropped on Japan, one in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki. The effects were devastating. Not only were those cities destroyed, but many people died afterwards from radiation poisoning. Seeing the sheer destruction they would face, Japan chose to finally surrender.
The full effects of nuclear weapons was not really known as this point, but we knew they would be powerful. We wanted to end the war quickly and as painlessly to us as possible. The result was we opened a Pandora’s Box in the world. We had no idea the effect radiation would have on the citizens of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, nor that the effects that would last from the radiation for years to come. We didn’t realize we would pave the way for a nuclear stalemate in the Cold War. We couldn’t have imagined the effect the existence and the threat of use that nuclear weapons would have today back then. All that mattered was the quick solution. It’s so unfortunate that there were so many consequences for that action.
Quick solutions are tempting. On the surface, they seem to fix things faster. They seem to lead us to the results we want now in the best possible way.
That temptation is the same as what Jesus faced. They are what the devil, the evil one, presented to Him.
Being presented the entire earth as a kingdom: that would have made Jesus’ job so much easier. He wouldn’t have had to journey along the Galilee region of Israel hoping that someone would listen to Him. He wouldn’t have to die for the world. Instead He could declare that all the world must believe and serve the Lord, and they would. All it would take is falling down and worshiping the devil.
The evil one’s next temptation, to fall from the top of the Temple and let the angels catch Him, this too would have aided Jesus in His mission. There would no doubt in anyone’s mind who Jesus was after that. He would no longer have to convince people. They would just know. The only cost would be to test God, but what a little thing to have an immediate evangelistic conversion in the world.
These would have been the easy ways to accomplish Jesus’ mission. Yet He didn’t do either of them because it would have meant turning His back on God. It would have meant failing the mission ultimately.
For those of us who want the quick fix, who want things done now, Jesus’ actions should give us great pause. If Jesus had given into temptation, the world would be so different today. We would all be believers, yet what would we be believing in really?
If Jesus didn’t take the easiest solution, then we should be hard pressed to take it either. That does mean things will be harder. It does mean things will take longer. Yet in the end, maybe the world will be better for it. After all, it was better for Jesus not taking the quickest action to His goals.
This is something we need to think deeply about, especially with everything going on today. We have been through a long, difficult path these 2 years with the Pandemic. We may face another hard journey with Russia’s attack on Ukraine. We even face change in our local situation with our rector search here at St. Luke’s. If we’ve learned anything from the past, it is that we don’t know where any of these events we face will lead. I don’t think we can even say we know the answer at this time. Yet we need to have Jesus’ patience. We need to be willing to take the longer path, even if it is more difficult, because often times that path is the better one for us and for the world.