Serve Only the Lord

This is the English-translated outline of the Sermon preached by Rev. Musubi Tabuchi to the congregations of Ashiya Christian Church and Unfinished Community on Sunday, February 22, 2026, drawing from Matthew 4:1-11.

Last week marked the beginning of Lent according to the church calendar. This forty-day period leading up to Easter on April 5th is a season for deeply reflecting on Jesus' journey to the cross, His suffering, and death. In musical terms, the word “Lent” indicates a very slow tempo, and indeed, these forty days feel like a much longer season compared to the four weeks before Christmas. In our calendar terms, it might feel like spring is taking its time to arrive. Today's Scripture reading, depicting Jesus enduring forty days of temptation and testing by Satan—scenes of hunger, thirst, and intense struggle with Satan—is indeed a fitting story chosen for the very beginning of Lent. We too wish to remember that during this period, we are in trials just as Jesus was.

The three questions Satan poses to Jesus here are neither inherently evil nor misguided. Feed the hungry, you should be protected from all harm, you should gain higher status and fame. These are valid points, and we ourselves pray for such things. Precisely because they seem reasonable, they are temptations. Because we think they are obvious, we readily accept these questions. If we knew from the start that this was a trap to ensnare you, no one would listen to such words.

What does Satan's question aim for? It aims for a self-centered mindset. Feeding the hungry is important, but should you achieve it by your own strength? Karl Marx, as an economist, sought to solve society's poverty problems, yet he could not prevent violent social revolutions or the abuse of power by rulers adhering to his ideology. What Jesus demonstrated there is that precisely because these problems are so vital, we should seek their solution from God, and we ourselves should be individuals used for God's service. “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Worship and serve—these words are expressed in English as “Service.” The meaning of worshipping God is to live a God-centered life, to affirm the world. Losing sight of this—when we try to solve problems relying only on what seems plausible to us—leads to outcomes entirely different from what we imagined.

Let us pray: God, through Jesus, You taught us to pray, “Your will be done.” May our daily lives be times and places where Your thoughts are realized above all else. Please let Your kingdom (rule) come. We pray in the name of the Lord, Amen.