Call to Worship (Psalm 93:3-4)
The seas have lifted up, O Lord,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea ~
the Lord on high is mighty.

Unison Prayer (Breton Fisherman’s Prayer)
Protect me, dear Lord;
My boat is so small,
and your sea is so big.  Amen.

Words of Assurance: Mark 4:39, RSV
Jesus said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!”  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil;
for thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory forever.
Amen.

Opening Song: Elevation Worship, “Goodbye Yesterday”

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, Good News Bible
If you think you are standing firm you had better be careful that you do not fall. Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out.

Sunday Sermon

A lot of people seem to think it’s Labor Day Weekend, but that’s still a week off. This beautiful summer just keeps going. If you’re like me, you’ve been outside, you’ve been to the beach, you’ve enjoyed the blessings of good weather and halcyon days. And as much as people say fall is coming, it’s still hard to believe, except for this one, inescapable, widely publicized fact: pumpkin spice is back.

Pumpkin spice returned to the grocery stores in July. It struck Dunkin a couple weeks ago, with items such as the Pumpkin Cloud Dunkalette, Nutty Pumpkin Iced Protein Latte, pumpkin donuts and pumpkin muffins, and for those who don’t like pumpkin, Tiramisu Latte. This week Starbucks was attacked by pumpkin spice: in fact, they are calling this Pumpkin Spice Latte Season, or PSL for short, including Iced Pumpkin Cream Shaken Espresso, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew, and for those who don’t like pumpkin, Banana Bread Latte, Pecan Cortado, Iced Chaider (chai and strawberry açaí, why not), Hedgehog Cake Pops and more. The top of their menu says “More pumpkin please,” while ads urge customers to try them all. That is a lot of temptation.

I was at Panera Bread a couple weeks ago, having ordered half a sandwich and an iced tea, which I thought was pretty responsible, when the cashier said, “Would you like anything else?” and ceremoniously waved his hand over the dessert display next to the register (seen in the photo above). It reminded me of when the devil said, “All of this I will give to you if you just bow down and worship me.” I looked at the desserts. I imagined what it would be like to eat each one. I imagined how I would feel afterwards. I said to the cashier, “No, that’s it.” Victory!

But I kept thinking about the display case while I was driving home, and how there were so many temptations in the display case, and so many temptations around us, and how some desserts are more tempting than others and some are nearly impossible to resist. And how many of these we’ve given into in the past, and just when we think we’ve tamed all of our temptations, new temptations – like Pumpkin Cloud Dunkalettes – suddenly appear in our sight.

And then I had this flash of insight, that there are many more temptations than we think there are, and how the Dunkin menu and the Starbucks menu and the Panera dessert case are all parables of just how many holes there are out there for us to fall in and how many ways the devil can get to us and lead us not off our diets, but off our paths.

There is a story in 12-step programs that goes something like this:
I fall into a hole.
The next time I see the hole but then I fall in it.
The next time I walk around the hole but then I miss it and I go back and fall in it again.
The next time I just go around the hole.

There are temptations that are as old as the hills; there are temptations that used to be at the bottom of the chart, but have worked their way up over time; and there are brand new temptations and different versions of temptations, like different types of pumpkin spice lattes.

I’ll probably never preach a sermon about how we shouldn’t murder people. It should be obvious. But there are other ways to murder people: by using our words to judge and condemn them, by stealing their rights, by pretending they are less than human, by supporting the conditions that support poverty. There are pitfalls all around that make us participants.

We all know that we’re not supposed to let our anger take control. The Scripture says, “Don’t let your anger lead you into sin, and don’t stay angry all day.” But there are new ways to express anger that our ancestors didn’t have. In the old days, if you wanted to tell someone off, first you had to find them. Then writing was invented and you could send a letter, but it had to be on papyrus and you had to learn how to write. Then one day you could pick up a telephone and yell at them. Today most of us carry around a device that lets us yell at people all the time, but also lets us know if they are yelling at us, and the volume and level of yelling has increased.

Here’s another temptation that has always been around, but has been racing up the charts in recent years: the temptation to believe that everything around us is bad. It’s easier than ever to fall into this temptation because we are receiving more words than ever before telling us that things are bad. Our ancestors had to share bad news in person. Then it was newspapers sold on the streets once or twice a day. Then the evening news. Now it’s the 24-hour news cycle, plus the internet, plus the realization that bad news sells so our anxiety makes other people money.

There is also a huge temptation to believe that we don’t make a difference. Again, this is fueled by our inputs. If we fill our eyes and ears with stories about the enormity of suffering, we may forget Paul’s admonition, “Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, for nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless,” or Mother Teresa’s statement that “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

The point is, when we think we have one temptation handled, another pops up, like Whac-a-Mole. We are never completely free from temptation. The habit of switching one for another is captured perfectly in the movie “Airplane!” when an air traffic controller says, “I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue,” then proceeds to start drinking and chain smoking. In a similar way, we stop being judgmental, but we start being pessimistic. We stop being angry, but we start being sad. This is why Paul writes, “If you think you are standing firm you had better be careful that you do not fall.”

But thank God Paul also writes, “there is a way out.” The way out starts with the strength to endure the temptation. We have the power to stare at the dessert case of sin, imagine what it would be like to sin, imagine how we would feel afterward, and choose another path. We have the power to endure anger and sadness and disillusionment while we claw our way back to peace and joy and hope. In short, we have the power to say no to one life and yes to another.

Paul also writes, “Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people.” It’s important to remember that even if what we’re going through is rare, it’s not unique. For example, last week I mentioned the Lone Star tick virus, and afterward, two people told me they had it, although at first I didn’t know what they were talking about because they said they were both Alpha gals and I thought that was a sorority.

Never underestimate the power of Bible study groups, 12-step programs, support groups, weekend retreats and good old church on Sunday morning. These are places where people realize they are not alone: for example, realizing how many people in a room have had knee surgery, or have gotten divorced, or have had cancer, or have worried that they are unworthy, or have wondered what the world is coming to, or have prayed to God and not heard an answer, or have thought about suicide, or have lived with a secret pain they have never shared. There is strength in community; there is also experience, perspective, wisdom and hope.

And never forget that the Lord too had a hard life. The difference between us and him is that he chose it. He wanted to know what it was like to suffer, not by watching it from above, but by living it from below. People didn’t understand him. No matter how hard he tried, sometimes people wouldn’t accept gifts from him, or advice, or even salvation. One of his friends betrayed him. Entire towns rejected him. The people he thought would love him hated him. He had his heart broken. In the end, everyone left him. Don’t you think he understands?

And yet both Jesus and Paul, despite all they have been through, choose lives of joy, and command us to do the same. Not suggest, not encourage ~ command. They tell us that it is possible, and then show us through their lives and their teachings. There is a way out, or a way through, or a way around. We don’t have to fall in the same hole over and over again. God says, “I will give you the strength you need: strength to stand firm, strength to endure.”

May we find strength in the power of the Gospel: strength enough for the morning, strength enough for the day, strength enough to get through the year, strength enough to get through this life and on to the next. Amen.

Closing Song: Andrew Ripp & Jamie Campbell, “Hold Me Up”

Benediction
May the Lord
illuminate every path that is right for us,
and darken every path that is wrong for us,
so that we might find our way through this world
and back to Him. Amen.