Pastor Will Rose, affectionately known as "Chill Will from Chapel Hill," delivers a profound homily that urges listeners to discern the authenticity of their faith, particularly in the context of the season of Lent. The central theme of this discourse revolves around the notion of a "deep fake Jesus," a metaphor for the misleading portrayals and expectations of Christ that can lead us astray from his true mission and teachings. Through a detailed examination of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, Pastor Will articulates the need for vigilance against forces that seek to distort the essence of Jesus's message, emphasizing that true discipleship entails a commitment to God's priorities of love, mercy, and justice. He invites us to reflect on our responses to hunger, power, and attention, challenging us to embody the values that Jesus exemplified. As we navigate this Lenten journey, we are called to reaffirm our understanding of who Christ is and how we might faithfully follow him in our daily lives.

Pastor Will Rose, affectionately known as Chill Will from Chapel Hill, delivers a compelling homily that invites us to delve deeply into the essence of our faith during this Lenten season. The homily begins by addressing the timeless struggle between the divine mission of Jesus and the temptations presented by the adversary. Drawing from the Gospel of Luke, Pastor Will recounts the familiar narrative of Jesus's temptation in the wilderness, framing it within the contemporary context of societal distractions and misrepresentations of Jesus's true nature. He cautions against the perils of a 'deep fake' Jesus—an image of Christ that conforms to worldly desires for power, control, and superficial success, rather than the radical love and humility that Jesus exemplified. Throughout his discourse, he emphasizes that understanding who Jesus truly is—and the implications of that understanding—shapes how we live our lives and interact with others. This Lenten journey, as he articulates, is not merely about personal piety but about a collective responsibility to embody the values Jesus taught, particularly regarding compassion for the marginalized and oppressed. As we reflect on our own lives and the societal constructs that may lead us astray, Pastor Will urges us to remain vigilant and discerning, ensuring that our faith is anchored in the authentic representation of Christ rather than diluted by cultural misunderstandings or manipulations.

Takeaways:

• Pastor Will Rose emphasizes the importance of discerning between the true message of Jesus and distorted interpretations that can arise within and outside the church.
• During the Lenten season, we are called to reflect on our understanding of Jesus, particularly in relation to his teachings on poverty, oppression, and love.
• The temptations faced by Jesus in the wilderness serve as a model for our own struggles with power, attention, and materialism in contemporary society.
• Pastor Rose invites listeners to consider their responses to hunger, power, and attention in light of their faith and the teachings of Christ.
• The message of the homily encourages a collective journey towards understanding Jesus's mission and priorities, particularly during the holy season of Lent.
• As followers of Christ, we are urged to renounce the superficial and false portrayals of Jesus, committing instead to a deep and authentic faith that serves others.

Foreign thank you for engaging with the homily by Pastor Chill Will from Chapel Hill.

I hope this message encourages you, challenges you and moves you to go deeper in your faith and enrich how you love God and love your neighbor in your day to day life. Just a reminder.

Like the Scriptures and Gospels themselves, this homily was written for a particular community in a particular context, time in history and yet, like our sacred texts, I hope that these words hold timeless truths about God's unconditional love and grace. We hope these words speak to you in a meaningful way.

The Holy Gospel According to Luke Praise to you O Lord Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days and when they were over he was famished.

The devil said to him, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become a loaf of bread. Jesus answered him, it is written, one does not live by bread alone.

Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said to him to you I will give their glory and all this authority, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone whom I please.

If you then will worship me, it will all be yours. Jesus answered him, it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve only him.

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. Jesus answered him, it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test. The devil had finished every test.

He departed from him until an opportune time. This is the Gospel of the Lord May be Seated. The name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I don't normally title my sermons, but if I was going to give today's sermon a title, I would name it Beware of Deep Fake Jesus.

And by deepfake I'm alluding to the growing number of AI images and pictures and videos that can be doctored and created to give a false image, false narrative or false reality. Let me be really clear up front and honest.

I'm not scared of AI or technology, but with all things it's how you use it, how it can be manipulated and the enduring question and calling of how we are to be good stewards of the tools we create and how we use them.

When it comes to deep faking Jesus from the very beginning, we have to be honest and acknowledge that there's been a long history of competing images and narratives who seek to manipulate, appropriate or even commodify Jesus and what he stood for and taught and lived, not just from outside of the church but also from within. As Lutherans, we are a reform movement and we are not free from the ongoing discernment of reform ourselves.

Like with the ongoing continuous work of of being good stewards of our tools and the relationships entrusted to us, those who claim to follow Jesus, there is an ongoing continuous call, work and discernment of who we believe Jesus to be and how that impacts how we live and operate in the world.

With the season of Lent and with the current state of our country and world, this is a great time who hear the call to be intentional and proactive in discerning the difference between deep fake Jesus and Jesus who meets us in Word Sacrament this past Wednesday we kicked off the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday with ashes in the intentional shape of a cross, we not only remember that we are mortal, that our time on earth is limited, dust to dust, but we also begin our journey with Jesus following him to the cross, to his execution, and to a world flipping surprise at his tomb three days later.

As we journey through the 40 days of Lent with the destination of Holy Week, the first Sunday in Lent presents us with the same gospel story every year, the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. This year we hear that story from the Gospel of Luke during the season of Epiphany. Remember? Wow, I had an epiphany.

It is revealed to us that at Jesus's baptism we hear a voice from heaven say, this is my son in the synagogue.

With his teaching and first sermon, Jesus reveals his mission and priorities and makes them clear that in him Isaiah's vision is fulfilled, that there is good news for the poor, there is release to the captive, there is sight for the blind, there is freedom for the oppressed.

Jesus then calls a group of fishermen on the margins and on the underside of success, and he calls them to be his disciples to share in this vision and priority list. And then, if it wasn't clear in the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches, blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are those who weep.

Countercultural indeed, not how the world operates if you want to be successful. Holding all that in heart and mind, we embark on this 40 day journey to the Week we call holy and the Friday we call good.

And we begin with Jesus's head to head duel with the devil tempter Esther, Satan, and their attempt to deep fake Jesus.

Now, I know that there's a lot of baggage attached to theological and pop cultural depictions of the devil and Satan and we don't have time this morning in a 15 and a half minute sermon, well, maybe 15 minutes to unpack all that. But this literary device to show what's going on with Jesus and what kind of messiah he is is in continuity with Genesis in the book of Job.

In Luke, after Jesus's baptism, he's filled with the Holy Spirit. And before he embarks on his journey of messiahship, we get this kind of Rocky Balboa, Karate Kid, Cobra Kai training montage. There are three tests.

First up, food. Bread. Hey, Jesus, who I just overheard, you're the Messiah and the son of God. You've been out here in the wilderness a while.

That biblical number of 40 days of testing and it appears that you're hungry. What do you say? Use your power and influence to turn these stones into bread. Turn inward, consume. Jesus resists.

Quotes Deuteronomy, Jesus's favorite book. One does not live by bread alone. The devil's like, dang it. Try again. Next up, power, where we direct our worship. Okay, take a look at all this.

All the kingdoms of the world, you could have it all. The power of the dark side. We could rule the universe. Bow down to earthly power. Sell out. Who needs weakness? Who needs empathy and mercy. Boring.

Command the room. Command the world. Command the universe. Jesus resists and recites the first commandment. Worship the Lord your God and serve only God.

I envision the devil being like, oh, okay, this is going to be hard, but one more. The next test, the final one for now, showing off ego. Okay, if you're the son of God, prove it. Let them see you fly. Be a superman.

Everyone loves a superhero. Make a spectacle. Use your power and influence to get lots of attention. Make it all about you. And if you can quote, I can quote scripture too.

For it is written, angels were to protect and catch you. We heard it in the 91st Psalm this morning. Jesus spars back. It is said, do not put Lord your God to the test.

Okay, you won this time, but you'll see me again. Lest we reduce the devil to a cartoon character, the very serious temptation is to turn Jesus into something he's not.

A deep fake Jesus that bows and submits to control and power and profit. Profit with an it turning inward rather than outward.

And what's at stake in this story and for our Linton journey and for our whole journey of faith, is the vocation of the Messiah. We heard Jesus's mission and priorities. The tester, the tempter is like, don't do Messiah that way.

The Devil's Messiah Success Seminar seeks power and profit. Maybe Jesus could get you crucified. This temptation and testing solidifies Jesus's mission and priorities.

What does it mean to be the Messiah, the Son of God? Well, for Jesus, it means standing in solidarity with all of humanity. It means his story becomes intertwined with our story.

It means a priority list that focuses on the other, the poor, the hungry, the oppressed. And it involves a cross.

So I don't care if you believe in God, but I do care what kind of God you believe in and worship, because that affects how you see yourself and me and how will you see and treat your neighbor. I don't care if you believe in Christ, but I do care in what kind of Christ you believe. Follow. Yes, there's a vibe shift with the season of Lent.

And yet the good news of the season is that it calls us to examine and reexamine that ultimate reality, takes up sandals and enters the wilderness with us. He doesn't do messiahship as a lone ranger who needs all the power and attention.

He calls and empowers 12 and then expands and empowers from there a community and a group of mortal human beings to do the same verbs that he's doing.

And so, as we examine Jesus and his response to hunger and power and the seductive nature of attention, not only in this specific story, but over his entire life, over all of his teachings and his final week of life, we as his followers are faced with the same questions, the same tests. What is our response to hunger? What is our response to power? What is our response to attention?

In our baptismal liturgy, we open ourselves up to the good news that we are claimed beloved children of God, and that this covenant with God, birthed out of water to create new life, comes with questions and responses. In that liturgy, we ask the person being baptized or the family who brings their child to the grace filled waters?

I ask you to profess your faith, reject sin, and confess the faith of the church. Do you renounce the devil and all the forces that defy God? We say, I renounce them. Do you announce the ways of sin that draw you from God?

Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you, that defy God? And we answer, I renounce with the gift of baptism Jesus's priority list.

We are entrusted with responsibilities to proclaim Christ through word and deed, to care for others in the world God made and to work for justice and peace. We respond I do. I ask God to help me. So over the season of Lent let us examine and re examine what kind of Messiah in Christ Jesus is and isn't.

Let us beware of deep fake Jesus, of false Christs, of antichrists, of parody Christs. Let us follow Jesus together to the week that we call holy and the Friday we call good, knowing that Jesus leads the way. We respond I will.

I ask God to help. Thank you for listening.

If there is anything that stood out for you or if you have a question or you just want to have a conversation, you are always free to reach out and contact us. And remember you are not alone and that you are loved with a love stronger than death.