Getting an a+
in Jesus’ school of Prayer #8 “appeal”
Reinbeck UMC
8/30/15
The
Lord’s Prayer in the New Revised Standard version has 58 words. 29 of those
words… exactly ½ of the Lord’s Prayer has to do with sin-- either resisting sin,
or forgiveness of sin. 50%!! … Today we are going to tackle one of the big
topics: temptation.
I
want to start by taking a quick straw poll. How many of you were tempted this
week? How many of you were in some way tempted to do something that you knew
you should not do in the last week? Maybe you did it maybe you didn’t, but you
thought about it. Just raise your hand? <<<About >>>
I
could be wrong, but I’d say there are two kinds of people those who admit that
they are tempted… and those who give in to the temptation to deny it.
Jeff
Foxworthy became famous with his routine that started with, “you might be a
redneck if… like…You might be a
redneck if you have flowers planted in a bathroom fixture in your front yard.
Let
me say to you this morning…
·
You might be vulnerable to
temptation
if you are in a spiritual slump, but also if you are coming off of a spiritual
high.
·
You might be vulnerable to
temptation
if you have strayed from God and never pray or read your Bible, but then you
might also be vulnerable to temptation if you are faithful I your daily
disciplines and feel closer to God than ever before.
·
You might be vulnerable to
temptation
if you are young, or if you are old.
·
You might be vulnerable to
temptation
if you are a new Christian or one of the saints.
·
Bottom line… you might be vulnerable to temptation, if you breathe
and have a pulse.
Paul
writes, “All have sinned.[i]”
Obviously, sin is a giving in to temptation. Temptation comes first. So Paul
could just as accurately say, “All have been tempted”
Jesus
is the only person who never sinned, but even he was tempted in the wilderness
for 40 days. And he was tempted at other times in his life too because Hebrews says
that Jesus was, “in all points tempted as we are.”[ii]
Jesus was TEMPTED WE ARE TEMPTED. That is part of being human.
So,
we come to the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer… by the way you didn’t sleep through the sermon on forgiveness. That was
Robyn’s sermon intended for last week, and of course she wasn’t here because
she was with the family in Cedar Rapids. I felt like I wanted to preach this
week, so we are doing these just a little out of order. She will preach hers on
September 13th. In a way, even though it is out of order in the
Lord’s Prayer, talking about temptation before forgiveness makes perfect sense
to me.
I didn’t think I would get very many responses
if I asked you to share your temptations at this point in the message. That’s OK.
Leadership Journal did the work for us. In a survey, they found the top nine areas
of greatest spiritual temptation are:
1.
Materialism.
2. Pride.
3.
Self-centeredness.
4. Laziness.
5&6. Anger/Bitterness.
Ties
with Sexual lust.
7. Envy.
8. Gluttony.
9.
Lying.[iii]
Now,
maybe your greatest temptation is not listed there. I know that some of you
struggle with the temptation to abuse alcohol or prescription drugs, others pornography,
still others gossip. Whatever your greatest temptation, I want to start by
asking you to remember two things
1.
You are not alone… not only do all of us face temptation, but so did Jesus he
was, “Tempted in all ways as we are.”[iv]
2.
Temptation is not in itself sin. Some people think that it is. They think that
being tempted is sinful. It is not. James says that it doesn’t become sin until
those thoughts give birth to evil actions.
So
let’s just start on that foundation.
1.
We are all tempted- even Jesus. And 2. Temptation is not in itself sin.
Turning
to the Lord’s Prayer, then, it says “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil.”
Let
me say right off that God does not tempt us. James is very clear about that, No
one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God;” for God cannot be
tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.”[v]
So,
then, why does Jesus teach us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation?” I read eight
different commentaries and a dozen sermons asking just that questions and each
one of them says about the same thing. They say, “That’s a really good question.” But none of them provided a really
good answer!
After
careful study, reflection, and prayer, I have come to see that the answer lies
in the next line, “but deliver us from evil.” I think we are talking about a 3-step
process.
1.
First step pray for
God to protect us in times of trial and trouble.
In
order to understand that, we have to know that the Greek word used in the Lord’s
Prayer can be translated as “temptation,” but it is more often
translated “test” or “trial.” We are all tested. That is the nature of life.; whether
it is the death of a loved one as my family is facing, or financial difficulty
that some of you are facing, or illness that others struggle with, or
relationships which are a challenge for all of us at one time or another, or
loss of a job, or persecution for one’s faith, or prejudice, or anything else.
Those are the hard times that test our strength and our faith. So the first
part of the answer is that this
is a prayer for God to protect us in times of trial and trouble.
2.
Second, this is a prayer to lead us
away from temptation when we are weak. When we go through those difficult times, it is hard
to keep our eyes on God. I know… when you are in the midst of those terrible times,
God seems so far away and we feel weak. That is when we are most vulnerable to
temptation. We think, “If only I had more money or more stuff that would solve my
problem.” We think we have to handle this all our own, so we stop praying and
connecting to God’s power and that makes us weak. Under times of stress, we often
get tunnel vision and only think of ourselves and our problems, and that makes
us weak. When life is really hard, we might be tempted to become angry or
bitter at others or often times God, and that makes us weak. In our weakness, we
might be vulnerable to envy those whose life seems so easy compared to ours, or
we might turn to food for comfort… (let me tell you when hospice keeps plates
of fresh cookies out all the time for families who are going through a hard
time, I didn’t resist that temptation very well last week), some people lie to
themselves or others, or they turn to alcohol, or to a lover, or gossip to
focus on someone else’s problems. Worst of all we might be tempted to think
that God has abandoned us, or we may be tempted to stop praying, or give up
faith altogether. It is in those times when we are weakest, that we need God
help the most.
John
Piper says that, “sin gets its power by
persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of
all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier." [vi]
I said before that Greek word that we translate
temptation is more often translated test, or trial, but temptation is a valid
translation. And I think both are part of this prayer. Something like, “God protect us in times of trial, and lead us away
from temptation when we are too weak.”
3.
Finally, this is a prayer that if we
are tempted, that God will help us to resist. in the face of the trials, in the face of the tests
when we are most likely to face temptation… the prayer goes on to ask God to
deliver us form evil. Keep us from acting on those temptations. Keep us from
succumbing to those temptations. Keep us from letting the temptations become
sin. Deliver us from turning our tempting thoughts into evil actions.
I
think the spirit of this petition in the Lord’s Prayer is, “God protect us in times of trial, and lead us away
from temptation when we are too weak. But Lord if we are tempted, help us to
resist.” It
is a brutally honest admission of our weakness and our need for God’s help.
Temptation
is automatic- but sin is not.
Sin is not automatic. Evil
is not automatic. Transgression is not automatic. It requires our help.
We
cannot avoid temptation, but we can avoid sin. The problem is that too often,
instead of avoiding it; we make plans for it ahead of time.
A father was very clear in
telling his son, “Do not swim in the river.”
"OK, Dad," he
answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening.
"Where have you
been?" demanded the father.
"Swimming in the river,"
answered the boy.
"Didn't I tell you not
to swim there?" asked the father.
"Yes, Sir,"
answered the boy.
"Why did you?" he
asked.
"Well, Dad," he
explained, "I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn't resist the
temptation."
"Why did you take your
bathing suit with you?" he questioned.
"So I'd be prepared to
swim, in case I was tempted."
Too
many of us act as though sin is a foregone conclusion so we prepare for it, trusting
in God’s forgiveness, rather than resisting temptation. That is a little like
intentionally wrecking our car because we have insurance. Or eating until we
are sick because we have plenty or pepto bismol in the cupboard.
Jesus’
point in this petition of the Lord’s Prayer is that sin is not a foregone
conclusion. Sin is not an inevitability to be prepared for.
So
when you leave this place to face the trials and temptations of your week,
leave your swimming suit at home and take Paul’s advice“Put on the whole armor of God,
so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For
our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present
darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore,
take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that
evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and
fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of
righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to
proclaim the gospel of peace. (Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.) With all of these, take the
shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows
of the evil one.. [vii] and
pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” AMEN
