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Good morning, Alfred Street Baptist Church. I want to first give honor to God, who is the head of my life. I also want to celebrate our pastor, Reverend Dr. Howard John Wesley, and our supervisor, Reverend Dr. Marcia Norfleet. Thank you for welcoming me here today.
Let's turn to Matthew chapter 4, verses 1-4:
"Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterwards he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, 'If you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread.' But he answered and said, 'It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
The title of this sermon is: "I Said What I Said."
People often remark about my height, but what they don't see is the journey it took to get here. There were growing pains, sleepless nights, and a period of lanky awkwardness in middle school. I couldn't play tether ball, kickball, or double dutch—but there was one game I was good at: Simon says.
The object of Simon says is to perform commands only when the leader says, "Simon says." The game is simple but made complex by deception. As a camp counselor, I learned that navigating deception is part of the game of life.
Maybe you're not playing Simon says, but perhaps you find yourself wrestling in the tension of decision-making. You've heard instructions from God, but you hesitate to take that step of faith. You feel a tugging on your heart moving you in an unforeseen direction or calling you out of a habit. You don't know which voice is right—God's or the enemy's.
In Matthew 4, Jesus encounters Satan in a spiritual battle that resembles Simon says. Satan tries to take the role of Simon, but Jesus rebukes him at every step. Jesus's example provides us three lessons on how to hold on to the calling God has placed in us, even when everything else tries to pull us in another direction.
Jesus fasts in the wilderness outside the Jordan River—the same site where Moses delivered his farewell speech before passing away in Deuteronomy. Jesus fasted for 40 days, mirroring Israel's 40 years of wilderness wandering. All of Jesus's scriptural rebukes come from Deuteronomy.
Why is Deuteronomy relevant? In Deuteronomy, Israel stands on the border of the promised land, preparing to enter. The only physical barrier is the Jordan River. Moses tells the people: when you cross this river, you will be confronted with false gods and foreign enemies. Before you go and are tempted to stray from the path God has set, you must remember all that God has brought you through.
When you remember all that God has brought you through, when you recall the hand of God over your life, then you can trust that the same God is still able to carry you through this moment. You don't have to be afraid to step across that river because God has already gone on ahead of you. And if God has called you into it, He will sustain you in the midst of it.
You may not always have a clear vision of what's awaiting you on the other side. But understand this: the wilderness and the tragic circumstances you find yourself in do not determine how God is able to provide for you in that moment. No matter how bad it looks right now, God can make a way.
When you look back over your life, you can recall how God's steadfast hand was on you. When you remember your cancer treatments, you realize it didn't take you out. When incarceration didn't break your spirit. When layoff didn't derail your life. When betrayal didn't hinder your success. Two hundred fifty years of slavery did not break us. One hundred years of Jim Crow did not dampen our creativity and tenacity—because God had held our hands and sustained us all the way through it. And when you know your history, you know that the same God that brought us through then is able to bring us through now.
Jesus not only demonstrates the importance of knowing your history—he also demonstrates the importance of knowing yourself. Because the first thing Satan tries to do is question his identity.
But knowing yourself is more than knowing who you are. Knowing yourself is about knowing your habits. Satan sees that Jesus is hungry, which reminds us of how human he truly was—how tired he must have been. Some of us gathered in this church are tired on this day. Tired of turning on the television and seeing the same old news. Tired of going into the workplace and putting up with the same coworker. Tired of wondering when our brothers and sisters will wake up and stand with us. Tired.
Satan comes to tempt when Jesus is tired. Knowing our habits is important because Satan will continue to use the same old tricks to exploit our habits as long as we keep falling for them. If Facebook and TikTok algorithms study you to capture your attention, how much more has Satan, the father of lies, been studying you to capture you for all of eternity? You ever feel like that temptation was tailor-made for you? It's because it was.
Satan attempts the same variation of temptation that worked on Adam and Eve in Genesis. He questions what God has said and presents a convenient alternative—in the form of a stone. The problem is not the stone itself, but what it represents: a quick fix to ease Jesus's discomfort.
Jesus is fasting. The hunger is uncomfortable, but it is intentional—a time of preparation. The Spirit said to Jesus: when you come into this hard place, I will sustain you. And on the other side of this, there's going to be growth and power. When Jesus exits this wilderness, he comes out with all power and authority.
Sometimes we are in jeopardy of hindering the growth that God is coming to give us in that season of wilderness by accepting the convenient alternative that Satan is trying to give us. These things provide counterfeit comfort. The problem with our country today is that every time we experience growth and move toward greater equality, it reaches for the same old racism, the same old homophobia, the same old xenophobia that makes it comfortable. No matter how corrupt, unqualified, egotistical, or self-destructive that option may be.
But the truth is, if we're being honest in our own lives, we also reach for things that provide counterfeit comfort. When we find ourselves lonely, we reach for a phone number we know we shouldn't dial. When nervous or anxious, we head to that store on the corner or go back to a job or career that God has called us from because it's comfortable, familiar, and does the trick for a moment.
But that is not where God has called you to be. God is calling you much higher than your comfort.
We need to be disciplined in the discomfort. When we remain disciplined in the discomfort, we build positive habits that carry us through the storms of life. When we keep to the fast that God has put us on. When we keep showing up to work even though that coworker is on our last nerves. When we keep showing up to class even when financial aid is in question. When we keep going to chemotherapy and dialysis even though our aches and pains have aches and pains. When we keep journaling in the midnight hour. When we keep going to see our therapist. When we keep praying in the middle of the storm. When we keep lifting those hands in worship. When we keep giving God the praise in the discomfort—there God is able to meet you and work some things out. God begins to peel back the layers in our hearts and bless us in the midst of these storms.
Jesus defeats the lies of Satan with three words: "It is written." This is a refrain Jesus says before every rebuke of Satan throughout this temptation story.
"It is written" is powerful because it reinforces the word that God has already spoken before Satan even opened his mouth to contradict what God has said. It demonstrates that before you came up against this trial, God has already declared some things over your life. Before anyone tried to speak against you or a weapon was formed against you, God had already spoken protections over you, some truths in you, some power flowing within you. God had already provided from the beginning.
Jeremiah tells us: before you were even formed in the womb, I knew you. I ordained you a prophet. God has already written the hand of your life and is speaking in this moment.
When we know who's doing the saying, we know that we can trust in his words. When Jesus speaks, we can trust in his power. But I still, if I must confess, get worried every now and then. And I asked God, "How can I hold on to my faith in the midst of everything that's going on?" And Jesus told me, "Payton, trust in me because I said what I said."
Listen to what He said:
Though Satan may suggest that you're too tired to go on any longer, I hear Jesus saying, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Though Satan may suggest your heart is too broken to carry on, I hear Jesus saying, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Though Satan may suggest your situation is hopeless, I hear Jesus saying, "In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world."
Though Satan may suggest that God has forgotten you, Jesus says that even the very hairs on your head are numbered and counted in His eyes.
Though Satan may suggest that you don't have enough faith to make it through this hardship, Jesus says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move and nothing shall be impossible for you.
If you remember what is written and what Jesus has said, then you have everything you need to combat the lies of the enemy. We can take God at his word.
Back to that game of Simon says with the little boy and little girl. I threw every trick in the book at them. Finally, I said, "Simon says, 'Put your arms up.'" When I saw that neither one of them was going to budge, I said, "You did well. Put your arms down." The little boy put his arms down. But the little girl kept her arms up.
She understood the game. She wasn't listening to my voice—she was listening for "Simon says." When we learn to listen for God's voice, when we learn to discern His word from the noise around us, we can stand firm in our calling. Trust in what He said. Amen.
