Gen. 2: 15-17, 3: 1-7                                                                                                     Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

Matthew 4: 1-11                                                                                                                           February 22, 2026

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”

Prayer: Do not let us fall into temptation, O Lord, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

I know many of you may not get this reference, but those of you around my age will remember comedian Flip Wilson’s alter-ego character named “Geraldine.” Yeah, I know… I’m dating myself! ‘Tis folly to get old! One of Geraldine’s catchphrases was, “The devil made me do it.” Whatever “it” was, when it wasn’t good, “The devil made me do it.” Remember that? Some of us do.

And some us like to think that the devil is someone out there, roaming around in the world, causing us to do bad things, or causing bad things to happen. But really, a scapegoat for all that goes wrong in life. The devil caused this. It’s the Evil One’s fault. The devil made me do it.

But, you know, I kind of dread this first Sunday in Lent because every year, the text from Matthew is about the devil tempting Jesus. And every year, I wrestle with my own beliefs about the devil. Because this story makes the devil seem like a physical figure. Like a human gone bad, or an angel condemned to wander the earth. And Jesus had to face him.

But for many of us modern day Christians, and you may disagree with me on this, which is totally fine… it’s good to share different perspectives…many of us do not believe in the devil as a physical being. But, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t believe that the devil is someone walking around the world, trying to trip you up whenever the opportunity presents itself.  I don’t believe that it’s a male figure, dressed in red, with horns, and carrying a pitchfork. And I don’t believe that serpents can talk, either. There, I said it!

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But, I do believe in evil personified. And that’s a totally different thing. The devil may not exist in the literal person of Satan roaming the earth, but evil? Evil I think, exists in varying degrees, in all of us, and is in a whole lot of places. It’s mean-spiritedness.

Evil can take over our thinking, our hearts, our lives, businesses, institutions, governments. It’s the darker side of us that we have to hold at bay. It’s the dark side of the force. And we all have it. Like the song by INXS says, (again, dating myself), “every single one of us has the devil inside.”

I think it may be time to honest about all that. Because evil is destructive. And divisive. And seductive. And if we’re not aware and are not careful, it can sneak in there, anywhere, and we don’t even know it. It can show up in disguise with false promises and fake news. It shows up and distorts our perspectives, and tempts us to shift our view away from God and God’s word.

The serpent in the Genesis story doesn’t care if Adam and Eve eats the fruit or not. Seems to me the serpent really wants is the couple to shift their attention from God and to ignore what God said.

I remember in 1988, when I was an Associate Pastor in SLC, Utah, Martin Scorsese’s film The Last Temptation of Christ came out. A bit of a spoiler alert here, (but since I’m dating myself again, oh well). Christ is crucified on the cross, and this sweet young girl walks up to the cross says to him something like, “God is very pleased with you. You’ve done everything asked of you. You can come down from there now. God decided not to punish you anymore.” And somehow, she helps Jesus off the cross.

Turns out that sweet young girl is the devil personified. The last temptation of Christ is to not to go through the passion. She tempts him to trust in things that are of interest in human life… like getting married, having kids, having money, being self-sufficient, privileged, powerful. She tempts him to not keep God and God’s word, God’s plan for him as number one in his life. She shifts Jesus’ focus away from God.

The devil in the temptation story doesn’t necessarily try to trip Jesus up. The devil is trying to distract Jesus’s attention away from God and the applicability of God’s word in his life.

Jesus’ three temptations are all worldly ones. Human ones. And they’re our temptations, too.

  The temptation of sustenance—make bread out of these stones. Be self-sustaining. We’re tempted to say, “I don’t need God. I can just be a good person and work hard. Even if it’s tough, I’ll provide for my family. It’ll be all right.”

The temptation of security—don’t worry if you put yourself in danger because, you know, God loves you. God will send angels to protect you. You can be reckless, if you want, because you can call to God to save and protect you making you secure.

Temptation of power—you can have power over others. You can decide who goes and who stays. Who’s important and who isn’t. You can rule the church. Some think they can rule the world. They think they can make laws that will get rid of all the bad apples, the people not in the mainstream, or the religious opposition or political opposition. Some people have bowed down to worship at the altar of power.

Sustenance, security, and power—all worldly parts of our lives, and to a degree, all are needed. But all of which can destroy us if we turn from God and God’s word and God’s ways.

Jesus’s response to those temptations is all about keeping focused on God and the Word of God. He quotes from Deuteronomy. What he says is quite simple, really. First, for the temptation to be self-sufficient—stick with the written word of God in addition to having the bread that you need. Check out Deuteronomy 8:3. You’ll find great spiritual nourishment in God’s word. And God knows what you need even before you ask. Live spiritually– stay in God’s word.

Second, for the temptation of security, take heed of God’s word that says “Don’t put God to the test.” That’s from Deuteronomy 6: 16. Don’t demand that God makes you secure when you mess up. Instead in humility acknowledge to God when and where you’ve misplaced your trust, and have faith in God’s understanding of you. God knows what you’ve got going on in your life. Live spiritually by trusting God’s word and wisdom.

Third, for the temptation to have power, again, keep focused on the scriptures. Deuteronomy 6:13 says, “Worship God and serve God only.” Don’t worship power. Don’t take power into your own hands. Don’t have a love of power, instead, have the power of love. Use the power of love that comes from knowing God in your heart. Live spiritually. In secret. In worship.

So, here we are, at the beginning of our “Living Spiritually” Lenten season. And I think that it’s a vital beginning step to spot the places where we are tempted to shift our focus off of God and onto our own stuff. Which can lead us to the sinful evil of making all this other stuff—sustenance, security, power—more important than God in our lives. That’s what sin is. And that’s what Jesus succeeds in repelling.

All the more reason why the phrase in our Lord’s Prayer is so significant. “Do not let us fall into temptation but deliver us from evil.” I try to pray this phrase as one sentence, with no break. Because the two are intricately connected. To not fall into temptation leads to being delivered from evil. I think that means discerning, for all things in life, where to focus—on God—living spiritually during the Lenten journeys and or life-long journeys.

Ultimately, I think, it’s all about hearing Jesus’ words “Follow me.” We are summoned by Christ Jesus to follow him by loving God, by zeroing in on God’s word, by caring for the least of these, by acting with love and peace for our neighbors and loving ourselves. Then we can say, “The Spirit made me do it.” And mean it. Amen.