​God knows a lot of things. In fact, God knows everything. And God knew that Adam and Eve would give in to temptation, and that Jesus would not.

Adam and Eve really didn’t stand a chance in the Garden of Eden. They were kind of new there, kind of new to life. They had neither the tools nor the life experience to resist the temptation of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Jesus, on the other hand, was rock steady in the face of some pretty powerful temptations. He never wavered.  In fact, Jesus already had an answer for each of the devil’s temptations.

Adam and Eve of our Hebrew Scripture reading represent one end of the spectrum for resisting temptation, and Jesus, from our Gospel lesson, represents the other end of the spectrum.  And you and I are somewhere on that spectrum. There are rules, there is free will, and there are consequences.

Psychology and the Social Sciences have done countless studies on a person’s ability to ‘delay gratification’. That’s a fancy phrase for ‘resist temptation’. And what science has found is that an inability to resist temptation, or delay gratification, can lead to all kinds of troubles: credit card debt, eating disorders, chemical dependency and addiction, even incarceration.
Those who are able to delay gratification are linked with healthier life outcomes.

Many scientists believe we are born with a base-line ability or inability to resist temptation.  But the cool thing is that no matter what your base-line, everybody can learn to delay gratification longer than their base-line. It may not be easy, but one can learn to resist temptation.

Now, it must be obvious by now that we are all closer to Adam and Eve on that spectrum than we are to Jesus!  Everyone here has their weakness, the thing they can’t resist. Everyone here struggles with giving in to temptation.

Recent studies have revealed that we possess a finite amount of ‘will power’. If we spend most of our day resisting temptation, we will have a very difficult time resisting in the evening.
And there are rules.  There is free will, and there are consequences. 

What made Jesus so steady in the face of temptation? Why was he able to stare down the devil offering food after 40 days of not eating? Jesus had the courage of his convictions, his faith, to help him through. Jesus had a goal, and what the devil was offering him wasn’t it.  Jesus didn’t need what the devil was trying to give him, so he could resist.

Adam and Eve on the other hand, had little resources to resist the serpent.  No faith base, no goal, no confidence, no courage…so they gave in to temptation because they could. There was a rule.  Don’t eat the fruit of that tree. They had free will, so they broke the rule.  And there were consequences.

Human nature is not inherently evil, it is inherently open to temptation. Humanity is not sinful by nature, but it is inherently open to sinning. There is a difference.

God knew Adam and Eve would not be able to resist temptation. But they needed to make their mistakes and experience the consequences.  That is true for each and every one of us, too. We are tempted, sometimes we resist, sometimes we give in. And there are consequences either way. But judgment isn’t one of the consequences. We are not bad people, or evil people, or sinful people because we have difficulty resisting temptation.

But we are sinners. And we are forgiven. Just as Adam and Eve were forgiven, even in the midst of their consequences.

So we’re on the spectrum of resisting temptation between Adam and Eve and Jesus. Between being unable to resist temptation at all, and being able to resist all temptation. And science is telling us that wherever we are on the spectrum, we can learn to lengthen the time we resist temptation. 

So how do we do that? If I had an easy answer, I would write a book and make millions of dollars! One way to start is to be prepared. Adam and Eve weren’t prepared.

If we know what some of our temptations are, and we know that they will be in front of us at some point, we can prepare our heads and our hearts for what that might feel like. And if we can plan for an alternative instead of grabbing the temptation, we also might be better prepared.

It doesn’t matter what our weakness is, they are all the same. Some may have more dire consequences: eating all the Girl Scout cookies is not the same as taking all the heroin.

God knows we will be tempted, and God knows we will give in to temptation during our lifetimes. That does not make us bad, or evil, sinful. But there are some basic rules to the universe, to the world, and to our lives. And we all have free will to follow those rules or break them. And the universe and world and life are really good at applying the consequences to our actions!

So it makes sense for us to familiarize ourselves with the rules. To try and understand the power of the gift of free will. And to anticipate the consequences of our actions when it comes to resisting or giving in to temptation.

And let’s not kid ourselves: we all give in to temptation at some point. Nobody is as solid as Jesus was in the wilderness.

But we can be so much more prepared for the challenges ahead, the temptations ahead, if we were to take some time to reflect on the things that tempt us, the reasons why we find them tempting, and the consequences of giving in to them.

I would invite each of you to take some time this week to do just that: reflect on the role of temptation in your lives, how well you resist temptation, and the consequences of resisting, or giving in. The details don’t really matter. And we are not bad people, or evil people if we do give in.  But we know some of the consequences that will come from giving in to temptation.
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Jesus resisted temptation so that he could fulfill his role as our Savior. We are forgiven our sins, our failures, our giving in to temptation, because he did not give in.

And the closer we can move to Jesus on the spectrum of resisting temptation, the more solid we will be when those tempting moments come up.  And they will come up!

May this week’s Lenten Journey include reflecting our own temptations.  Amen.

​This Sunday is a day of celebration! Heritage Sunday, the conferring of Pastor Emerita status upon Rev. Tracie Martin, and Reformation Sunday.

And we know it’s something special when the bagpipers show up!

In recognizing our shared spiritual heritage in the Reformation movement, we can see how our spiritual forebears helped us get to this place, right here, right now.

Our inheritance comes as much from the Psalmist as it does from the story of Zacchaeus, as it does from Tracie.  We have been blessed to be heirs of the Christian tradition rooted in the Jewish tradition, and we have been blessed to have been served over the years by spiritual leaders trained and gifted to bring us God’s Holy Word.

The Reformation led to our shared heritage of 2 sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
Our musical heritage is rich and diverse.Today, we hear from the Presbyterian musical heritage rooted in the bagpipes.

In both our gospel lesson and in Joe’s very clever retelling of the Zacchaeus story, we know that Zacchaeus was short. Vertically challenged if you will. And in order to see Jesus, he needed to climb a Sycamore tree.

Using that metaphor, if we, too, found ourselves unable to ‘see’ Jesus, if we too, found ourselves ‘spiritually short’, we would need a Sycamore tree too.  Our heritage, both the Presbyterian heritage and the United Church of Christ heritage can be the sycamore tree we use in order to see Jesus.

Zacchaeus was short. Short on vision, short on understanding, but when he was forgiven, he became generous and faithful. Zacchaeus had a shortcoming that prevented him from seeing Jesus, that prevented him from being seen by Jesus. Something inside of him urged him to climb a sycamore tree in order to get above the crowd. That way, he could see what all the fuss was about. But once he got above the crowd, Jesus saw him, and invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house for dinner.

So if we were to try and put ourselves into this story by Luke, and we were to consider ourselves like Zacchaeus, what might our shortcomings be?  What aspects of ourselves get in the way of our seeing Jesus, and what aspects of ourselves get in the way of Jesus seeing us?
It’s not physical characteristics that prevent us from seeing Jesus, it’s spiritual, it’s emotional characteristics.

I know that I am not a very organized person.  Although I find ways to compensate for a lack of organizational skills, sometimes I find myself in a pickle because I wasn’t organized.  I wonder if I sometimes miss Jesus because I’m lost in the piles on my desk, or because I schedule two meetings at the same time.

But I can climb a sycamore tree to see Jesus more clearly.  I can pray, in quiet, in private, just him and me.  And when I do that, he can see me, and invite himself into my life, so that I have an opportunity to make changes in my life that will lead to forgiveness.

I don’t need to be forgiven for my disorganized approach to life any more than I need to be forgiven for being bald: my sin, so to speak, is that I allow myself to be hidden from Jesus, that I avoid him in my busyness, and in my scatteredness, so that I don’t have an opportunity to be forgiven, or even make a change.

Zacchaeus was broken in the way he approached the world with his profession, but beautiful in the way he repented.

So once you have identified a shortcoming, something that prevents you from seeing Jesus, the next thing is to identify what your sycamore tree is: what aspect of your spiritual life allows you to get above the chaos, allows you to see Jesus more clearly, allows Jesus to see you, and invite himself into your life?

Self-awareness can be a valuable tool in spiritual growth. It helps us have a realistic view of our whole person, the shortcomings and the skills that we possess that make us who we are.  But when in our daily lives are we ever asked to look at ourselves, inside and out, in order to assess what parts of us get in the way of our relationship with Jesus? Not often, until today.

The world we live in is obsessed with physical beauty, financial status, celebrity, and material wealth.  If you listen to the radio, watch tv, go to the movies, read a magazine or newspaper, you are bombarded with images and messages that speak to your value as a human being based on your beauty, your wealth, your status.

Sometimes I think it was a gift that I went bald in my early twenties. I was forced to realize at a fairly young age that hair is overrated! Once I stopped worrying about whether I had hair or not, I could get on with growing as a person. Now, others in my position have chosen to get transplants, or wear toupees. But that just wasn’t for me. Once I figured out that hair is a superficial characteristic that is optional, I was free to be me, just as God made me. Our shortcomings aren’t our physical flaws, our shortcomings are the unhealthy ways we respond to traumas in our lives. Our shortcomings are the things we do to avoid contact with Jesus, and by extension, God.

We hide from Jesus in the crowd when we regularly turn to unhealthy ways of dealing with the challenges of our lives. Ice cream, alcohol, opiates, shopping…tobacco, fast food, caffeine…yelling at others, or giving them the silent treatment, holding a grudge, indulging in what comforts us often prevents us from being seen by Jesus, and prevents us from seeing Jesus.

We have to find a sycamore tree to climb. What is it for you? Church? Prayer? Singing and music?  Reading scripture?  Helping others in need?  Self-awareness helps us see the things that keep us from seeing Jesus.  Self-awareness helps us identify the sycamore trees in our lives that help us climb up enough to see and be seen.

Sometime this week, I would ask that you find a quiet moment to yourself. And in the quiet moment, look inside for a shortcoming that gets in the way of you seeing Jesus. Then, just sit with that shortcoming for a few days.  And, if you think of it later in the week, find another quiet moment to think about where the sycamore trees are in your life. Pick one sycamore tree to climb, and make yourself visible to Jesus.

When we do that, Jesus will have  some words for us. His very presence will inspire us to make changes in our lives that will lead to growth. His forgiveness will prompt us to want to grow into better Christians, better neighbors.

Right now, at this very moment, our shortcomings, our debts, our sins, are forgiven. But will any of us make a faithful gesture of repentance by dedicating a substantial amount of our wealth in response to our forgiveness, in response to the relief we feel at being forgiven? I certainly hope so!

Each of us has a little bit of Zacchaeus in us: No, none of us extorts money from our neighbors, none of us knowingly defrauds people of their hard earned dollars. But each of us is in need of forgiveness, each of us is a little short on vision, short on understanding just what that forgiveness means. Each of us broken too. Unable to see Jesus, and be seen by Jesus unless we climb a sycamore tree. And each of us is beautiful in the eyes of Jesus when he finally does see us.  Broken and beautiful.  This is the way the Lord has chosen to save us.

And when we can practice self-awareness so that we see what Jesus sees in us, we will grow.
It is clear to me that Jesus intended to share a challenging message of what he hoped would be our response to the good news of our forgiveness.  It is clear to me that until we start changing and growing and giving out of our gratitude for our forgiveness, we will only give what we feel we can afford. And if we only give what we feel we can afford, the church cannot survive.

Yes, there are times when we need the church to carry us, when we need the faith community to help us.  But if we only receive help and never give help, the church cannot survive.

Jesus has put the story of Zacchaeus before us so that we might consider how we, too, can show our gratitude for the forgiveness he bestows upon us. I hope and pray that we each will find it in our hearts to look inside, find our shortcomings, allow ourselves to be seen by Jesus, and then appreciate our salvation, and to give back in proportion to our appreciation: the future of our church, the future of the church, depends upon it.

Shortcomings and sycamore trees. Our heritage and our inheritance. Symbols of how we can either hide from our savior, or how we can make ourselves visible to him. Let’s be visible.

Amen.