Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Introduction:

Today is the final sermon in our series on the Lord’s Prayer. Let me read the section I want to focus on today.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Let me anticipate some who may want to cry out, “How can this be the last sermon in the series when there is still another line in the Lord’s Prayer?” The words, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” The truth is these words do not appear in the earliest known manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew. Many, if not most Biblical scholars believe that these words were not ones spoken or taught by Jesus, but are probably a later addition of the church.

Yet, let me pause for a moment and reflect why they are an important part of our prayer. I believe they are a wonderful summation of the prayer, while reminding us about who the God we are praying to is. Take the first words, “For thine is the kingdom.” The first sermon I preached in the series focused on the understanding of God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. The word kingdom is better translated “reign of God.” O God we pray to for guidance and understanding and that it may guide everything we do and every relationship we have.

The next words, “the power.” These words are extremely important for we could do a series of sermons just on the different concepts of power and how each one influences how we practice relationships both in our personal lives and in our communal lives. So often power is understood as the ability to make someone do something you want them to do. Power is defined as the ability to control another’s actions and behaviors. But that’s not the power of God. God’s power is love, is relational. So these words of the prayer remind us that we seek God who shows us how to love and be compassionate in our relationships with each other and the world.

And then the last words, “and the glory forever.” Glory is the translation of the Greek word doxa, which is the root of our word doxology, the song we sing after the collection. It means brightness, splendor and radiance. We sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” But my favorite definition for glory comes from Iranaeus, one of the early Church Fathers. He said, “The glory of God, the radiance of God, is a human being fully alive.” What shows God’s glory, God’s splendor more than our lives changed, made whole, full of love and care for each other and all of God’s children. Think about that for a moment. What a contrast to the world we often see and experience. Our lives are made fully alive by the guidance of God’s love is what truly brings glory to the God we follow.

And we believe it is a love that is eternal, forever. We catch glimpses of God’s reign, God’s love in our lives today. But someday we fully expect to be able to experience it completely in the kingdom of heaven. It will indeed be the time we see God’s glory shine brightly, for it will be the time, we believe, that will allow us to know eternal life, life as it has always been meant to be.

These last words may or may not be a later addition from the church, but what a statement of faith by the ones who wrote them. What a wonderful summation of our faith in the one we seek to follow.

Having shared this, let me return to the lines I want to reflect upon today, as they are the lines that I often hear the most questions about.

“Lead us not into temptation.” You know the questions. You may have asked them yourself. “Would God really do that? Would God really actively try to tempt us? Why would Jesus have us pray these words to God?

George: I have to admit that I have a hard time imagining that God would purposely try to tempt us as a cause or as a way to have us stumble.

God: Excuse me.

George: Whoa! Who is that?

God: Who do you think it is?

George: God? Is that you?

God: Of course. Who else would it be?

George: You just sound so much different than the last time you interrupted our worship.

God: I had a cold then. I was a little raspy.

George: Oh.

God: Why do you believe that I would not purposely tempt you? Why don’t you turn to the story of Jesus’ baptism in Mark and read what happens.

George: Ok. Read Mark 1:9-13.

God: So what is the very first thing I did when Jesus was baptized?

George: You drove him into the wilderness where he was tempted by the evil one for forty days.

God: So if I am willing to tempt him, why do you have such a hard time believing I would not do it to you?

George: Well, why would you do this? What good reason is there for you tempting Jesus or we, as your church today?

God: I had to make sure Jesus was ready to do his ministry. He was my beloved, my chosen to convince the world of my love. Remember John’s words, “For I so loved the world I sent my Son.”

George: Yes. So the world might be saved. So we might live together in peace and harmony.

God: Exactly. So you could all know the real hopes and dreams I have for all of you.

George: Wait. You have a hope and dream for each one of us.

God: Of course. How can you love someone and not desire the best for them. You have children. Don’t you have hopes and dreams for them?

George: Of course.

God: How do you feel when you know your child has the potential to make so much more out of their life and they settle for less? Do you understand how deeply I hurt when I see you fighting and hurting each other? Do you understand how sad I am when you do not live up to the potentials you all posses? Do you understand that I cry when you do not love me back and live in my kingdom even now?

George: I think I am beginning to see what you are saying. Following you is the most important thing we can do, for it is how we receive and live fully in your love. But the world, those we share life with may try to tempt us or even bully us into living in a different way, to walk away from your love and replace it with something else. So sometimes you need to help us learn and grow and understand, so we will be ready to face whatever temptations may come our way.

God: Exactly, but more. It is not always easy to follow me. To love as Jesus loved can mean you may put your own safety, your friendships, your church relationships, even your family relationships in turmoil. If you are not strong enough to face these challenges it creates the temptation to walk away from me.

George: I see. If you do not help us discover and strengthen our abilities to stand for what is right, to speak up in love for those who are being hurt, a temptation we face is simply doing nothing so we may feel safe.

God: Yes! As you know, it is often hard to do exact translations of words from one language to another, and also that the meanings of words change over the course of time. In one of the more modern translations this line reads, “And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

George: So one could understand this line of the prayer as, “Please do not let us hide from facing those hard moments before us and then in our temptation walk away from you by walking away from those who need us.”

God: When Jesus was being tempted, did I leave him alone?

George: The story tells us the angels were with him through the forty days.

God: Yes! Today, you have each other as the church. You are those angels, those supports that give each other encouragement, strength and the resolve you need to face those difficult times, those temptations that seek to lead you from the ministry and mission I have now given to you.

George: So you would lead us into temptation if it was a way of strengthening us in our walk with you, if it made us stronger and more reliable disciples. And in doing this, you bring us from that time of temptation to walk away because it gets too hard.

God: Yes! All of you are my hope. I trust you to bring my love, my peace, my kingdom to fruition. I entrust you to speak for me? I entrust to you the mission to serve my creation especially as you serve one another?

George: So that is why we pray, deliver us from evil, or deliver us from the evil one.

God: Of course. Evil is live spelled backwards. Evil is what takes away life. Remember, Jesus came so you may have life and have it more abundantly.

George: I think I am understanding. If we do not have a better, more wonderful, meaningful and happy life as your followers why would anyone else want to try and follow?

God: Well, you almost have it. Love always seeks what is best for the one you love. I am not trying to use you to prove to the world that following me is the right thing to do. I want you to know life and joy and happiness and caring so deeply that your life becomes a beacon of my deepest desires for everyone.

George: Your glory becomes real through your love. People see your greatness, your beauty, your splendor in the great gift of life you give to all of us.

God: Exactly. I think you are starting to understand.

George: Ok. Well this isn’t going to be easy. I guess it is why we pray this prayer every week. If we can live it just a little more fully every time we pray, your kingdom, your reign of love becomes a little more real on earth as it is in heaven. So what should I do now?

God: End your prayer.

George: You mean say “Amen.”

God: Of course. You know what it means right?

George: Yes. It means “so be it.”

God: Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on May 30, 2010.