Sermon Index
February 18, 2024, Lent 1B
The theme of the Bible readings for the First Sunday of Lent every year is the Temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. This year we also read how the faith of Abraham was tested by offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord God. Today, let’s think about how our faith is tested and how we are tempted to sin.
The words “tempt, test, try, and trial” are similar, they call for a choice or a decision about something. Not all temptations are sinful, e.g., when you are tempted to eat too much Valentine chocolate. The problem with the temptations that lead to sin, is that they can separate us from God. They separate us from God when we do not seek forgiveness, or when we doubt the grace of God, or when we hurt ourselves or other people. The trials and tribulations of life make us doubt our faith in God. That is why temptation and testing is so dangerous. That is why we were taught to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
I want to share with you how I pray those words. In the brief time it says to say those ten words, a lot goes on in my brain.
I pray that God would not lead me into temptation, but rather lead me away from it. I pray that my faith would not be tested either by God, the devil, the world, or by my own sinful nature, or by my own heart and desires. I know that I am weak. I know that I have fallen to temptations many times in my life. I know that my faith has been tested or even attacked many times. I know that I am stubborn and want to do things my way, and so if tested or tempted again that I might fail—probably would fail and fall into sin or, as in Martin Luther’s words in the Small Catechism, be misled into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. And so, with humility, I plead and pray that there be no temptations or testings in the first place.
But if and when I do sin, I earnestly pray the following words of the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver me from evil.” Because of my sin, I know, as we say in the confession of sin at the beginning of the worship service, that I deserve punishment because of my sin. But I pray for God’s mercy. I pray for God’s protection even when I am in the midst of sinning. For example, if I get angry at someone and start arguing, that that person does not attack me. Or, if I am tempted to break the speed limit, that I do not get a speeding ticket. That my misdeeds not be found out or that I be shamed. That I do not get sick or injured. I pray that God would deliver me from all forms of evil.
The first words of the Lord’s Pray are “Our Father.” I am not praying only for myself, but I am praying for other people too. I pray that we are not tempted. I pray that when we are tested and have to make hard decisions, that we make the right choices. I pray this for my family, for my church, and even my country. We all have to make decisions that will affect our futures. I think about some of my decisions that I have made in the past. Some I regret, some I am happy that I made. And often I see God’s guiding hand. For example, the Holy Spirit has given me the wisdom to go to Seminary, to come to Japan, to become a pastor of the Japan Lutheran Church, to marry Masako, etc., etc., etc. There were problems, but God has kept me safe from evil. And when evil and danger has come, like in serious sickness or heart by-pass surgery, God has been with me in the time of evil. And so, the words, “deliver us from evil” often become in my heart, “Thank you, Lord, for delivering me and others from evil, or delivering us in the midst of evil and danger.”
Even in the midst of evil and other bad situations, I remember the Bible verse, Romans 8:28. It has been my favorite verse ever since I was a Sunday school kid. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
When God tested Abraham and saw Abraham’s faith and trust, he stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac. Instead of Isaac for the sacrifice God provided a ram that had been caught in a thicket by his horns. When God sees our faith and trust, he provides, as a sacrifice, a Lamb nailed to a cross. It is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It is the Lamb of God that is with us in our wilderness of sin, who is with us in the time of temptation, and who delivers us from evil.
That is the God to whom we pray. We do not rely on our own merits or power. We rely on the mercy, grace, forgiveness and love of God. Why does God love us? Why does he have mercy on us and help us? The answer is in the last words of the Lord’s Prayer.
“For Thine is the Kingdom and Power and Glory, forever and ever. Amen.”
May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Sixth Petition
And lead us not into temptation.
What does this mean?
God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.
The Seventh Petition
But deliver us from evil.
What does this mean?
We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church