James: Where Faith and Life Meet
Desire and Temptation
2/26/12
Introduction –
Homer’s Odyssey is known as perhaps one of the first “books” (epic) ever written down. Historically stories were passed along verbally. It is believed to have been written near the end of the 8th Century B.C. This poem is the sequel to Homer’s “The Iliad” which chronicled a few weeks of the Trojan War. The Odyssey centers on the Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home after the fall of Troy. His journey takes ten years to reach Ithaca (his home) after the ten-year Trojan War. Throughout the story the hero encounters many dangers, pitfalls and mythological creatures. The adventure I would like to focus on for a moment is the story of Odysseus and the Sirens.
While on his journey Odysseus is warned by Circe (a minor goddess of magic) about encountering the Sirens who are mythological creatures that are half female and half bird who are, “enchanters of all mankind and whoever comes their way; and that man who unsuspecting approaches them, and listens to the Sirens singing, has no prospect of coming home and delighting his wife and little children as they stand about him in greeting, but the Sirens by the melody of their singing enchant him.” They are known for their enticing song that lures men in ships as they are enthralled with these creatures. In their enchanted state men either plunge to their death trying to reach them or are so enthralled they forget all about everything… eating, drinking and manning the ship. Ultimately in Greek mythology if one faces with the Sirens he was almost certain of death.
Circe tells him to get bees wax for all the ship mates and plug their ears so they cannot hear the luring voices. She then tells Odysseus to have the men bind his hands and feet so as they approach he cannot be physically lured away. As they drew nearer the bound Odysseus screams to his men to set him free so he can go to these beautiful creatures but they only re-enforce his ropes the more he screams ultimately escaping temptation and continuing his journey home.
Temptation and Desire
Since the beginning of recorded time (that we know of) temptations have been present to deceive men and women into all kinds of trouble and sin. In Genesis the serpent tempts the man and woman in the Garden to partake of the forbidden fruit. There are countless stories of temptation overtaking Kings and rulers who were deceived into believing they were entitled to more or whatever they want by compromising their morals or beliefs. Even our Lord Jesus was tempted to sin by the devil and resisted by the Word of God.
We read throughout the scriptures that the temptation to sin does have a strong desirous magnetic like pull to it, but we can, with the power of God, overcome any temptation set before us. We are reminded in I Corinthians 10:13 that no temptation has overtaken us nor will we ever be tempted beyond what we can handle. Unfortunately so many (Christians and non-Christians) view temptation as something that cannot be resisted or overcome. We hear of numbers of stories of infidelity in marriage because temptation could not be resisted. We also hear of men and women succumbing to their desires and committing some of the most atrocious acts of moral failure or sin. The excuse, it wasn’t really my fault (we hear the echoes of the words of Adam, “It’s the woman’s fault I sinned”) has become common place. It seems that wherever there is a situation to gain power, wealth, self advancement and recognition you can be assured the “Siren’s” of temptation will be lurking.
In today’s passage we will look at the DNA (if you will) of temptation. We will answer the questions… What is the source of temptation? Is temptation a sin? And what are the results of giving in to temptation? (Read James 1:13 -18)
We must continue to keep in mind the context of this letter. We are reminded that James encourages his readers to endure through trials, seek wisdom in our trials through prayer and for them to find their identity in Jesus Christ and not in what they have. Verse 13 ties all this together with him writing about the lures of the temptation to sin in their trials. To begin, James states that when they are confronted with temptation they must understand that God is not the source of it. God does not tempt his people to sin. James says, “God is not tempted with evil nor does he tempt others to evil.” He does on one hand allow trials in one’s life which can ultimately lead to temptation but he is not the source of temptation to sin. According to commentator Douglas Moo, “For every trial brings temptation. Financial difficulty can tempt us to question God’s providence in our lives. The death of a loved one can tempt us to question God’s love for us. The suffering of the righteous poor and the ease of the wicked rich can tempt us to question God’s justice, or even his existence. Thus testing always includes temptation, and temptation itself is a test… But while God may test or prove his servants in order to strengthen their faith, he never seeks to induce sin and destroy their faith.”[1]
So if God is not the source of our temptation then what/who is? Verse 14 answers this question directly. According to James we are tempted or lured away by our desires. The source of your temptation is you. So often we are quick to place the blame on others… We say, “The devil made me do it.” “My friends coerced me into doing it.” “That woman or man walking down the street is the reason I am tempted.” I don’t think James is stating that the devil never has a part to play in temptation because he does mention resisting the devil in 4:7. James does tell us here though that generally when facing temptation there is no one to shoulder the blame other than ourselves.
Now, I am not much of a fisherman (I don’t want to get into any horror stories about my fishing excursions) but I do know the basic principles of fishing. We put bait or lures on the fishing line to catch fish. I don’t know the success rate of just sticking a bare hook in the water to catch fish but I am going to guess it’s not very high. So what is the purpose of a lure or bait? Isn’t it to entice the fish to follow after it and ultimately “catch it”? James use the language of a fisherman as he tells us that our desires are the bait or lures in our lives in regards to temptation. In the NAS Bible the word for desire is actually lust which can be translated as longing after that which is forbidden. We are tempted when our hearts desire to gain things that are forbidden or don’t belong to us. D.A. Carson writes, “it is quite simply the undifferentiated ‘I want’”.
This brings us to the second question, “Is it a sin to be tempted?” The answer is no. The sin is not in the temptation but the potential for sin comes in our response. We all have unhealthy and unwanted desires in our hearts but how we respond to them is crucial. When we allow sinful desires to take root or conceive in our hearts then temptation gives birth to a brand new baby named sin. This is a vivid picture of what happens when we allow temptation to reign free in our hearts. We are reminded in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. Here James once again agrees with Paul. Unchecked and unrepentant sin allows our baby named sin grow into a full grown entity known as death. Is this a physical death? Not necessarily. James is probably referring to the spiritual death that sin brings forth. Sin always separates from God and as believers God has given to us his Spirit so that we may overcome any temptation and have life.
James states in verse 16 don’t believe the lie that God is tempting you to sin; He in fact is the giver of good things. Let us not be deceived into thinking that God is not a good God based upon the negative or tragic circumstances in our lives. I know of many people who have “lost their faith” because of a tragedy or a difficulty in life where they blame God for their mishaps. R. Kent Hughes writes, “Let’s face it – we sometimes think evil of God when tragedy comes to those we love, when we have been fired or have undergone a divorce, or we observe the dominating presence of evil in human life. Honesty with ourselves reveals that questioning God’s goodness is endemic to the human condition.”[2]
James calls God the Father of lights where there is no variation or shadow due to change. Unlike the double minded person who is unstable, God is single minded and constant and never changing. He is the good gift giver and he always will be. In a world of continual change it is comforting to know that we have a God who is never changing.
Verse 18 tells us of God’s own will (because He is the good gift giver) He created us so we might be the first fruits of all He has created. We are special in the eyes of God. We are his people and this is solely based on his grace and goodness. We are his because He desired that we be his. Knowing that God is good and has called us to be his people is comforting and able to keep us grounded in our understanding of God during our trials, tribulations and temptations.
Conclusion
When we read the words of James we are reminded that we will face trials, we will need to seek wisdom in our trials, our identity is in Jesus and we will face temptations in our trials. As I noted earlier our response to temptation is key in our Christian walk. The lusts of our hearts are ever present with us day after day. Some of you face temptation to moral failure and sin on a daily basis and are constantly feeling as though the temptation is from some source other than ourselves. Let us be reminded about the root of temptation and the outcome of surrendering to them. Certainly if you are facing a temptation we are to bring them before God. Maybe when we pray to God; instead of asking God to take the temptation away that we ad to the prayer for God to change our hearts so our desire is for him and not the lustful luring and deceitful desires that lurk in our hearts.
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