Scripture: Matthew 6:13 Series: 2023
The final sermon in a Lenten series on the Lord’s Prayer, preached on a day of congregational discernment/voting at Bee Creek UMC. It examines the petition ‘lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,’ treating temptation as the deceptive power of evil disguised as good and naming restraint and endurance as grace-given virtues to resist it. It distinguishes the prayer’s two endings (the abrupt biblical ending versus the later doxology), wrestles with belief in the devil and the radical demands of faith, and uses Edwards’ imagery to stress that only grace saves. The prayer ultimately teaches us to be needy and to begin and end every day with God; a keepsake prayer is shared for the congregation’s day of decision.
Illustrations: aunt-laura-premature-amen, cake-vs-chips-and-salsa, refusing-to-ask-for-advice, jonathan-edwards-sinners-angry-god
March 26
Lead Us Not into Temptation
And don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. - Matthew 6:13
Ever since I was ordained, I became the designated food blesser at family gatherings, both because of my seminary training and my succinctness. Before that, my aunt would often bless the food. My Aunt Laura is a very lovely and holy woman. I love her dearly. She would often bless the food in a rather thorough manner. Once, when I was a child, Laura was in the middle of a prayer, she took a breath and I blurted out Amen. She had not intended to finish at that moment, but everybody else said Amen with me and laughed and we ate. How to end a prayer is often trickier than how to begin one. When we begin a prayer, we go from not praying to praying. It is clear.
But when is the right time to stop praying? It rarely feels enough. We can never say all that we need to say to God. If we rush through it, like I did as a child, it seems like we’re not paying God enough attention. And yet if we linger too long, our mind is no longer present with God and we cease to pray: we just go through the motions. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, the prayer ended abruptly with the reading from earlier. Christians later came in and added a little bit to Jesus’ words. Which is the right ending? How should we conclude a prayer?
Series Intro
My friends, for this season of Lent, we are going to be slowly reading and praying through the Lord’s Prayer. These familiar (or unfamiliar words) are a radical call to seek God’s will in this world. And to understand God’s vision for ourselves and those around us. Today, And don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
None of the early manuscripts of the New Testament include the familiar lines: for thine is the kingdom and the power, the glory forever and ever. This is called a doxology and it is universally absent in early biblical manuscripts, whether in Greek or Syriac or any other language. It’s not wrong to say for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever. It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. It’s just not how Jesus ended the prayer in the Gospels. And so as we conclude our series on the Lord’s Prayer, as we conclude this period of discernment for Bee Creek UMC, we are going to look at these two endings of prayer and how they can each guide us in how we pray and in how we live.
First Ending
The first ending is much more direct. In the standard version, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. That’s how the manuscripts have it. I don’t know if it is just my person habit of saying this prayer that always makes me want something more or want a different ending than this. There is an unsatisfying flavor with just stopping a prayer at that moment. But it does. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Full stop. Wait, what? You can’t leave the prayer on a questioning note. But that is what happens Let’s go through these slowly. Lead us not into temptation, these are some strange words. In general, God is the one who loves us. God doesn’t lead us into any temptation. Temptation is about our own hearts. I think we should understand this phrase as following in an aspirational way, seeking after God’s will. May the path you have for us, oh Lord, not pass by temptation that is too strong for us. We ask it. We seek it. This doesn’t mean there won’t be temptations. Just as when we pray, give us this day our daily bread, that doesn’t mean that we will never be hungry. We may go hungry from time to time. That is not a weakness on God’s part. But when we pray in such a way as Jesus taught, we look forward to a life following God. We seek to follow God in a way that does not increase our temptation.
As a teacher of mine wrote,
temptation is the deceptive power of evil. Because evil is inseparable from what is good, it always has the appearance of what is good. Evil is always disguised as good, and so becomes the object of our desire.
Temptation is tempting. It is about what tempts you. For instance, let’s think about food. Cake does not tempt me. Chips and salsa does. In the moral life, each of us has our own temptations we must confront. They are always disguised as good. We can rationalize and lie to ourselves about anything. And yet Jesus shows us through this prayer, to admit our need for God to guide us away from temptation.
There are two virtues which which God infuses in us to resist temptation: restraint and endurance. Restraint keeps us from over-indulging in something good. Endurance let’s us stay faithful during hard times. Restraint keeps us from the temptation of abusing the good. Endurance keeps us from losing faith and hope when circumstances change. Both are tempting at different times. And both require the Grace of God, not simply will power.
We need help. Which is why we call on God again and again.
And deliver us from evil. There are two ways for us to understand this part of the prayer. The first way: deliver us from evil or misfortune. The second way: deliver us from the evil one, from the devil, from Satan, from the enemy. The first way is straightforward for all of us. Keep evil away from me. Save me from evil. Protect me from evil things. This is clear. When we get to the Devil, things are a little less clear.
Some Christians are more comfortable in talking about the devil than others are. I think it’s similar to how some Christians are more comfortable talking about giving away everything they have and following Jesus than others are. I mean that seriously. I think it’s a comparable metaphysical understanding of the call of faith. We can think to ourselves: is it easier to believe that devil is real or that Jesus sincerely calls us to give away every single one of our possessions, let go all worldly power, comfort and influence, and follow him. Honestly, i think we should believe both. We should fear the devil and that God is asking us to do something radical like give everything away, even our pension or 401k. Where is the limit of our faith? Is found in our culture? Our expectations? Our philosophy? Our bank accounts? The Lord’s Prayer addresses all of this every time we pray it.
The evil one is the Lord of this earth and offers brokenness, selfishness, and pride. The evil one offers rationalizations and justifications and left lived for pleasurable pursuits at the expense of others. The evil one offers a life where we are not burdened by having to think of others. When we pass someone in need and say to ourselves, not my problem, we can thank the evil one. Or we can stop and help and worship Jesus Christ. This is the depth of claim found in the Lord’s Prayer.
And we’re not done.
The language of deliver us from evil is similar to the language we will sing next week on Palm Sunday: Hossana. Hoshona, which means save us now.
It’s also a phrase that can be translated as snatch us out of the jaws of the evil one. It makes me think of the powerful imagery of Jonathan Edwards in his sermon Sinners in the hands of an angry God sermon. Many of us have read it in a secular setting that whose imagery is still profound with its imagery of hanging by a thread, there but for the grace of God go we.
“And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God’s word and providence.”
I don’t agree with Edwards’ view of God’s wrath, but the contingency he illustrates is super biblical. Only grace saves us. Only grace can deliver us from the evil one. The structural powers of evil in this world are too much to face alone. They are too tempting. The devil is too tempting.
To really pray this is to admit that we are in need. We are in need of being saved. We’re on the verge of falling. We are in need of deliverance.
It is humbling to admit a need. It cuts against pride directly. I don’t know how many of you like to ask for advice. I do not. If I come across a problem at home with the plumbing or with technology and I try everything I possibly can before asking for advice. Part of it is stubbornness. Part of it is pride. I don’t like the feeling of being needy. All of us have things we think we should have figured out by now.
When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, he teaches them to be needy. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we admit to God that we are needy. We need God to save us from the evil one.
The gospel writers end it there. The Christian tradition continues with the doxology. What the church has taught through the centuries, through the doxology, is that we should center prayer on God. We start with God and we should end with God.
The Lord’s Prayer is not simply a set of words or a pray to repeat again and again. Jesus offers us a way of life. It is a vision of the world to which we have become numb through repetition, but that doesn’t make the vision of this prayer less true.
This is a long day in the life of this church. May it start with God and prayer. May it end with God and prayer.
I am sharing a prayer with you all in the bulletin. This is for you to keep and say today. Whether you are voting or not. No matter what happens, it is a prayer for us all to say at the beginning of the day and at its end, whatever may be in store for us.
God of us all, your love never ends. When all else fails, you still are God. We pray to you for one another in our need, and for all, anywhere, who grieve with us this day. To those who doubt, give light; to those who are weak, strength; to all who have sinned, mercy; to all who sorrow, your peace. Keep true in us the love with which we hold one another. In all our ways we trust you. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.