Lead
Us Not into Temptation, but Deliver Us from Evil
James
1:12-18 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-14
This sixth petition is a good news, bad news petition. You know the classic good news, bad news joke, don't you. A man comes home to his wife and says, "Honey, I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" "Oh," she says, "I've had a terrible day. I can't take anymore bad news. Tell me the good news first." "Well," he says, "the airbags on the new car work great." Good news and bad news.
The
bad news of this sixth petition is that sin and are real. They are not figments
of the religious imagination, nor outdated language used by the Church that
does not apply to today's modern world. No, just the opposite. There is sin and
evil in the world, and they live within human people. I wish it were not so,
but it is and always has been. The same sin and evil that led a human being to
hold the Israelites captive in Egypt, and that led another to take the
Israelites into captivity in Babylon, and that led still more to crucify the
Christ of God, that same sin and evil is around today. It was a human being who
shut the vents and put the gas into the showers of Auschwitz. It was a human
being who built and detonated the bomb in Oklahoma City. It was a human being
that started the fire that burned the children in Waco. But let us be clear: the
dividing line between good and evil is not “us” and “them.” The Christian faith does not distinguish
between good people and evil people.
No, for the Christian faith, the distinction is between sinners who have
accepted God’s mercy and sinners who still resist God’s mercy. The dividing
line between good and evil runs through every human heart. Let us remember that it was good, church
going, Christians who in a free, open and democratic election made Hitler their
leader. It was good, church going,
Christians who sat passively by as civil liberties were stripped from their
neighbors and war was waged on other nations.
The bad news is sin is real. Evil is real. And it lives among us. It also lives within us.
As
we look today at the sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer -- "Lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil" -- the key word is "peirasmos," which in the Lord's Prayer
is called "temptation" but which can also be translated
"trial" or "testing." So in some Bibles the sixth petition
is translated in the traditional way, while other Bibles translate this
petition as "Do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver us from the
evil one" (NRSV), or as "Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us
safe from the Evil One" (TEV). The literal translation of Scripture says,
"Lead us not to the time of testing," but whether
"temptation" or "trial" or "testing" is used, the
message is pretty much the same: there is sin and evil in this world; we cannot
avoid it. It comes to us. And when it does, our faith is put to the test, our
faith is put on trial, our faith is tempted to fail. And there are so many ways
that our faith is put to the test.
The
testing of our faith may come to us without our doing anything wrong at all. It
starts as a cough or some discomfort, which leads to an office visit, which
leads to a diagnostic procedure, which leads to those words we never want to
hear: bypass, chemo, or simply, "I'm so sorry, but there's nothing we can
do." We've done no wrong, yet when we hear these words, our faith is put
to the test.
Or
the test may come while we are at work and an opportunity comes our way to make
a few extra bucks, only the opportunity requires that we bend a few rules. We
hear the temptation when that voice goes through our head that says, "No
one will find out. No one will ever know but you." And we know the voice
is correct, no one will know but us...but we will know. And that's the point at
which our faith is put on trial.
Quite
often, and quite obviously, the test comes through our physical desires. We
are, after all, animals--biologically speaking, of course. We have urges and
appetites for that which feels good to indulge. Sometimes the temptation is for
sex outside of marriage, sometimes it is for drugs or alcohol, sometimes it can
be for binge eating. But always the temptation that comes through our physical
desires is an invitation for our faith to fail.
We
can even put ourselves to the test in ways that would be almost comical if they
were not so sad. For most of us, the testing comes then our faith is tempted to
fail. For others however, our faith fails and then the temptation comes. Our
faith may fail when we are hurt. When there has been a trauma that sweeps into
our lives and overwhelms us. Or when years of emotional baggage slowly builds
up and our anger and resentment, our sadness and turmoil get mixed together
until we simply stop caring. I have seen it: we can hurt so bad we stop caring.
Then, we start lying to ourselves and saying things like, "I hurt so bad,
I deserve this." And, "You don't know how long I've deprived
myself." And these things are said as if they are legitimate excuses for
what is clearly destructive behavior.
Perhaps
the hardest test is the one we notice the least; it comes as nothing. We merely
drift along, like people asleep, and wake up to find that we have left our
faith behind. In a country where we are not imprisoned for our beliefs, and
where Bibles lie about for the taking in hotel rooms, we simply forget the
importance of the Father in daily life, and Christ becomes a stranger to us.
The very absence of pressure leads to our forgetting, our not taking it
seriously, our falling away. We sort of let it slide. We get busy with trips
and outings and vacations and forget about praying and reading the Bible and
staying close to Christ. We never plan it this way. It just happens. Casual temptation
rather than formal temptation, yet our faith is just as truly on trial.
The testing of our faith is not always an individual crisis. Sometimes churches are put to the test. A church's faith may be tempted to fail. A friend of mine received a call from a man who had been recently released from prison as a pedophile after a highly publicized trial. The man wanted to come to her church. And the whole church would know who he was and what he had done. A Session meeting was called. It was clear that there were essentially two conflicting notions about what to do. There were those people who had real fear and anger about the idea of this man being a part of their church family. They were angry at what he had done and feared for their own children. Then there was the gospel: "Friends, believe the good news! In Jesus Christ we are forgiven!" Yes, but do these words apply here? To him? How can they? It's one thing to say we believe in the forgiveness of sins...but for him? Finally, after most folks had an opportunity to give voice to their fear and anger, one elder leaned forward and said, "We all wish this cup would pass from us. But for whatever reason, God is giving us this opportunity to show our Christian faith and our trust in his love and mercy. I don't see how we can turn him away." If this is not a church whose corporate faith was being put to the test, then I don't know what this sixth petition means!
The
testing of our faith comes in so many ways, but it is always the same
test: will we let Jesus Christ stand at the center of our lives? The bad news
is: sin is real, and evil is real, and they both are trying to keep us from
putting Jesus Christ at the very center of our lives. Sometimes sin and evil do
their work in obvious, highly destructive fashion. Sometimes sin and evil do
their work in ways so subtle we hardly notice that we are being tested at all,
but we are! But the test is always the same: will we let Jesus Christ stand at
the center of our lives?
I
said this is a good news, bad news petition, and I've probably spent too much
time on the bad news. I've done this because we need to know our enemy. But we
need to know even better our ally, for the One who is in us is stronger the one
who is in the world. This leads us to the good news of this morning. The good
news is that God is real. Sin and evil are real, but God also is real. And God
is here to help. Paul encourages us with his words of promise, "No
temptation has overtaken you, except what is common to all. And God is
faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will provide a way out so that you can stand." God
delivers us from evil.
I
want to suggest four ways that God delivers us from evil. These four ways can
be summarized by four words. Write these words down, either on your bulletin or
in your long term memory: piety, passion, practicality and personhood.
The
first way God delivers us from evil is by calling us to piety. Piety is
simply a word that means the practice of spiritual dining. We eat everyday for
our bodies' health. We pray and read Scripture everyday for our spirits'
health. The Scriptures say, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word
of God" (Romans 10:17). This is the most common thing most of us think
about when the topic turns to how God helps us in our struggles with sin and
evil. But it is no less important because it is common; indeed, it is the most
important thing we can do to keep Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. Sin
is conquered, not in the moment of temptation, but in the long, prayerful
discipleship that precedes it. God delivers us by calling us to piety.
The
second way God delivers us from evil is by calling us to passion. We all
know folks without some kind of passion in their lives; they wander about
aimlessly. But if we have a passion, if we choose our goal, choose our cause,
then we will go somewhere. The Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard said,
"No thing good is accomplished in this world without passion." And he
is right! Jesus' passion was the Cross, so the Scriptures tell us that he
"set his face resolutely toward Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). Jesus had a
passion for the Cross; his passion kept him on the straight and narrow way.
This is a truth of life: problems are insoluble. Problems never leave us; they
merely fade in power because something new that is a stronger life urge comes
in to replace them. Unless we concentrate on being completely devoted to Christ
in our hearts, then we will be subject to whatever strong urge seeks to capture
our attention. But if our chief purpose in life is to glorify God and enjoy him
forever, if our passion is to allow Jesus Christ to stand at the center of our
lives, then our passion for Christ, our unashamed, uninhibited passion, will
bring us safely through the time of testing. God delivers us by calling us to
passion.
The
third way God delivers us from evil is by calling us to practicality. Practicality.
In other words, common sense. My dad used to tell me, "Son, if you find
yourself someplace where you're tempted to do something wrong, then you're in
the wrong place. Don't go there." This is practical advice. Now, sometimes
temptation finds us no matter where we are. Sometimes we can't help but put
ourselves in places where temptation will be found. But sometimes we can help
it. And if we can help it, we should. The twelve-step movement talks about this
as "staying away from the slippery places." The twelve-step movement
also has a practical acronym, HALT, that reminds us that we are weakest at our
time of need and so that is when we need to be most careful. The acronym HALT
reminds us we should take care when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
This makes sense. Rarely are we tested at a church supper when we are full,
happy, well rested and with other Christians. No, the temptation comes in the
moment of weakness when we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. It is good
common sense to take extra care at such times. God delivers us by calling us to
practicality.
The
fourth way God delivers us from evil is by calling us to personhood. A
Dutch theologian was contacted in 1939 by several German friends who were
concerned because many of their Jewish friends were missing. They asked what
they ought to do. The theologian said to them, "I cannot tell you what to
do. But I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are you will know what
to do." The theologian's friends went out and organized the Resistance movement.
As temptations and trials and tests of our faith come to us, we need to
remember who we are, and then we will know how to act and what to do. We are
sinners saved by God's grace. We are children of our Father in heaven called to
love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Think about that: when
was the last time you prayed for the Iraqi insurgents or for Osama? I know we pray for our soldiers, and that’s
appropriate, but are we also praying for our enemies? Please note that Jesus never said that we are to pray for the
soldiers of our own army, but he did say that we are to love our enemies and
pray for those who persecute us. What a
radical idea! But this is who we
are. Therefore, let us live our life
"in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." God delivers us by
calling us to personhood.
The
bad news is: sin is real and evil is real. As we pray this sixth petition,
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," we recognize
that our prayers are a cry for help. Prayer is not a polite request for a hand
with the housework but the howl of a man caught in quicksand, the shriek of a
woman faced with an attacker, the moan of a hostage handcuffed to a radiator.
The implications for the sixth petition are clear: We are not strong enough,
as individuals or as a people, to resist those forces that tempt us to disobey
God. Good and evil are so mixed up in our circumstances that we are
continually faced with impossible choices. There is no way, by our own wits and
willing, that we can avoid doing harm to ourselves and to others. That is why
we pray this sixth petition: we cry out to God for help! But the good news is:
God also is real. And God is here to help. And God will deliver us. Through
piety, passion, practicality and personhood, God will help us to stand. God
will help us to keep Jesus Christ at the center of our lives.
When you pray, not "if" but when, pray like this: Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil