We pray the Lord’s Prayer every Sunday.
I’m sure most of us can recite it from memory. Now, the Lord’s Prayer is
a wonderful prayer, and I’m certainly not going to suggest we stop using
it. But at the same time, because we say it every week, because we’re so
familiar with it, I suspect there are times when, during the Lord’s Prayer, our
minds wander a little bit. We start to think about other things. We’re still saying the words, but we’re not
really thinking about what we’re saying.
Now, please don’t hear that as a criticism. Or, if it
is, it’s as much a criticism of myself as it is of anyone else, because I’ve
done that, too. It’s just human nature, really. It’s the same thing when we recite the Pledge
of Allegiance or anything else that we’ve said that many times. We just
do it without thinking about it anymore.
I bring this up because there are ten words from the Lord’s
Prayer that fit in well with our reading for today. We don’t always think
of them as being connected, but they are.
“Lead us not into temptation”, and “but deliver us from evil.”
Those are really important words. “Lead us not into
temptation.” Why is that so
important? Because temptation is really hard to resist, right? If it was not, it would not be
temptation. We cannot be tempted to do something that we don’t want to
do, at least on some level. I cannot be
tempted to eat spinach, because I don’t want to eat spinach. I don’t like
spinach. I can be tempted to eat ice
cream, because I really want to eat ice cream.
And in this context, temptation is something that we really
want to do but we know we should not do. That’s the other reason we
cannot be tempted to eat spinach--eating spinach is a good thing to do. We can be tempted to eat ice cream, because
eating ice cream is not a good thing to do. Don’t get me wrong--I’m not
saying eating ice cream is sinful or anything.
But I think we all recognize that it’s not the healthiest thing in the
world to eat.
But it sure tastes good. And that’s the other thing
about temptation. The thing we’re tempted to do will be really
enjoyable--in the short term. I would really enjoy that ice cream. I would enjoy getting it in the spoon.
I would enjoy putting it in my mouth. I
would enjoy it as I swallowed it. I
would enjoy it as it went into my stomach. In the short term, I would
love that ice cream. It’s only in the
long term, when I saw my weight going up, when my clothes did not fit right
anymore, that I would realize the price I was paying for giving in to that
temptation.
And so, we look at the ways Jesus was tempted. He had
fasted for forty days and forty nights.
And the devil tells him, hey, you know, you don’t have to be
hungry. You’re Jesus. You’re the
divine Son of God. Why not just turn
those stones into bread?
Was that something Jesus wanted to do, at least on some
level? Probably--he was hungry.
Was it something he knew he should not do? Yes--he knew the time
had not yet come for him to do things like that, and he also knew that he was
not supposed to use his divine power just to serve himself. But would it
have been enjoyable, in the short term?
You bet. After forty days with
nothing to eat, bread probably sounded like the best thing in the world to
Jesus.
He did not give in, of course, and we’ll come back to
that. But then the devil took Jesus to the highest spot on the
temple. He says, hey, throw yourself down from here. You’re Jesus.
You’re the divine Son of God. The angels will catch you. Go for it!
Did Jesus want to do that, at least on some level?
Probably. It sure would’ve been a good
way to get everyone to believe. People seeing him survive jumping off the
temple, and in fact not just survive but bounce right up without a scratch on
him. Only the Messiah could do that, right? Word would’ve spread all over. Was it something he knew he should not
do? Yes--as Jesus says, we are not
supposed to test God. But would it have been enjoyable, in the short
term? Sure it would. Think of how that would feel, to be able to
do something like that!
Jesus did not do it, of course. So the devil takes
Jesus to a high mountain. He shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendor. And he says to Jesus, “I’ll give you all this if
you’ll worship me.”
Now, I’m not suggesting that Jesus wanted to bow down and
worship Satan. But the offer of the kingdoms of the world--well, did
Jesus want to rule all those kingdoms, at least on some level?
Maybe. After all, think of all the good
he could’ve done. He could’ve ended
poverty, oppression, injustice, all kinds of things. He could’ve made the
world as it should be. But was it
something he knew he should not do? Yes. The day will come when Jesus comes again and
establishes the kingdom, but the time for it was not then. But would it
have been enjoyable, at least in the short term? Yes.
To be able to do all that would’ve been awesome.
But again, Jesus resisted. And that brings us to the
other words of the Lord’s Prayer that we’re looking at: “but deliver us
from evil”.
We recognize that the things Jesus was tempted to do were
evil because they came from the devil. Anything the devil tempts us to do
is pretty much evil by definition. But,
is evil really involved in everything we’re tempted to do? You might say
no--but think about it. We’ve already
said that the things we’re tempted to do are things we should not do. That means they’re not good things.
Well, if something is not good, what is it?
It’s evil, right? What other
choice is there?
Maybe you say, well, but some things are not really good or
evil. They’re just neutral. Well,
maybe. But if we’re doing things that we
would call neutral, by definition that takes our time, our effort, our focus
away from doing things that are good. And that’s one of the ways that
evil attacks us. Evil does not always
attack us by trying to get us to do things that are clearly wrong, like murder
or stealing or things like that. If it
did, it would be a lot easier to resist--most of us are not killers or thieves
and don’t have any desire to be. Evil attacks us by telling us, “Oh, go
ahead. It won’t hurt anyone. Nobody’ll know the difference anyway. Besides, it’s not really wrong. Just do it.”
We pray for God to deliver us from evil because evil can be really
persuasive.
But here’s the thing: God may not lead us to
temptation, but quite often we lead ourselves there, because the thing we’re
tempted to do will be so enjoyable in the short term. And God may want to
deliver us from evil, but quite often we refuse to be delivered, because we
really want to do the thing we know we should not do. So what do we do?
Well, what did Jesus do? Each time Jesus was tempted
by the devil, Jesus quoted scripture. Jesus said to the devil, you’re not
going to get me to do something I know I should not do, because I know the will
of God the Father. I know what God wants me to do, and it’s not what
you’re trying to get me to do. So I’m
not going to do it.
Now, does that mean we should all go home and memorize
scripture so we can resist temptation? Well, it would not hurt
anything. There are certainly worse ways
you could spend the afternoon. But no, I don’t think it means that. Here’s what I do think it means, though.
It means, for one thing, that we need to be prepared.
We need to be prepared to fight temptation and be delivered from evil.
Jesus was able to resist the temptations of the devil because he was ready for
them. Jesus was not taken by surprise by anything the devil did or
said. You and I need to be ready,
too. We need to know what we’re going to say or do when we’re tempted, so
we don’t stumble simply because we’re caught by surprise.
And it also means we need to stay close to God. Jesus
was not just pulling random scripture quotes out of the air. Jesus was
quoting the right scriptures at the right time.
He was able to do that because he knew God’s will. And he did not
just know God’s will in a general sense.
He knew God’s will for him, personally.
He knew why he was here and what he was supposed to do. He knew
that because he was close to God.
Do you know God’s will? Do you know God’s will for
you, personally? Do you know why you’re here and what you’re supposed to
do?
If not, again, don’t take that as a criticism. It’s
not always an easy thing to know. Some
people go their whole lives not knowing it. But we should try. And the only way I know to do that is through
prayer.
Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. You and I
probably need to spend more time in prayer, too. I say “probably” because
I don’t know how much time you spend in prayer. I don’t doubt there are
people here who spend more time in prayer than I do. But I’d encourage us
all to try to spend more. And when we
do, ask God about this. Ask God what God’s will is for you,
personally. Ask God why you’re here and
what you’re supposed to do.
And then try to hear God’s response. It may or may
not come in words. But if we pray this,
and if we pray it sincerely and consistently, and if we keep our eyes and our
ears and our hearts open, I’m pretty sure God will give us a response.
And once we have that response, we’ll be much better able to resist temptation
and to stay away from evil.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil”. That’s not just words we say.
It’s a lifestyle we need to acquire. And if we spend time with
God, we’ll be able to acquire it. We
will stay away from temptation and have more time to do good. We’ll be
following the example of Jesus Christ.
And there’s no better example we can follow than that.
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