This year was my 34th re-birthday. I celebrate it every year. I became a Christian in 1984. And I look back on those thirty plus years with amazement and wonder. God’s fingerprints are all over them. Do you ever do that? Look back and see what God has done?
I’m sure most of you know the poem, “Footprints:"
"One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints. Other times there was one set of footprints. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow, or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints. So I said to Lord, “the You promised me, Lord, that if I followed you, ou would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?” The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints Is when I carried you.”
That poem is famous, and justly so, because it is so true. But sometimes I think that my life is less like that beautiful picture than one I drew in a small group leaders training class back about 15 years ago. The trainer asked each of us to draw a picture of how we saw our walk with the Lord at that moment in time, and I drew a figure dressed in Biblical robes (recognizably Jesus) dragging along a kicking, screaming, rebellious 2-year old - by the hair.
My prayer for far too much of my Christian life has not been so much “deliver me from evil” as “deliver me from pain and inconvenience and embarrassment.” How many of you can say - deep in your heart, without admitting it to anyone but yourself and God - that you have not experienced similar feelings of rebellion?
This single line: "and do not bring us to the time of trial" takes us right into those feelings of rebelliousness and blame, when we ask God why on earth he’s brought - name one - illness or unemployment or loneliness or confusion or - there’s a whole list of possible trials to pick from. Maybe you’ve matured enough in your faith so that’s not your heart’s automatic cry when things go wrong. I’m working on it myself, and have actually seen some progress recently.
Because we don’t want to be tested, do we. We don’t relish being brought to a time of trial, when we come to a crossroads and are asked to choose the path of faith or the path of doubt, the path of obedience or the path of resistance, the path of confidence or the path of fear. We don’t relish being asked to put our faith on the line, and find out for sure what it is really made of, how deep or solid our confidence in God actually is.
The traditional words we use when we say the Lord’s prayer are somewhat different. We say “lead us not into temptation.” And that’s not such a challenge for us to understand, because of course since we know God isn’t the one who doesn’t tempt us. “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.” [Jas 1:13] No one with any sense wants to be tempted.
But to be brought to the testing point, to be brought to the time of trial, that’s another matter, isn’t it. Because God is perfectly within his rights - as a just God who desires for us to grow strong in our faith and confident of his goodness - to give us the occasional pop quiz or even a full-blown Spiritual Achievement Test.
We don’t like these times of trial, but the fact is that they are good for us. This is why at the beginning of his letter James tells us, “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.” [James 1:2-4]
Scholars disagree as to how to translate this passage - the language is a little ambiguous and the fact is that we don’t know whether Jesus is teaching us that it’s okay not to be eager for our faith to be tested, or whether it’s a plea to be kept safe from the final judgment, the last great testing of the saints at the end of time, or just for help in dealing with the little everyday temptations that lurk in our paths like roller skates on the stairs, just waiting for a careless moment to send us flying.
I’m inclined to think that it’s a little of all of them. Because when God leaves something in Scripture ambiguous, it’s usually a signal that it’s not an easy issue, not something we can solve quickly and put neatly away in a closet. It’s something we have to wrestle with all our lives, in many different forms. And testing - trials - temptations - are going to be a part of our lives until the Lord either comes back or calls us to himself.
The fact of the matter is that there is a tempter we can never escape from, and that tempter is our own selves. The worst enemy we have is in our own hearts. And what mkes it even worse is that the enemy isn’t even some-thing alien that has happened to get accidentally stuck in our otherwise pure and sinless hearts. “We have met the enemy,” as Pogo says, “and it is us.” It is our own hearts. You may have seen the bumper sticker, “Lead me not into temptation, I can find it for myself.”
We’re not dogs on a leash, with God walking us into situations he knows we’re going to be tempted by. Instead, we’re asking for protection against yielding to the temptations that we are inevitably going to encounter. And we’re asking God for the wisdom to make decisions that will keep the temptations we that encounter from being fatal. And that will be different for each one of us. I am not, for instance, much tempted by either alcohol or anger. My temptations run more along the lines of sugar and sloth. What’s your area of weakness? We all have one, and usually more than just one.
Whenever we pray this prayer we’re admitting that there’s something inside our hearts that really wants some-thing that isn’t going to please God. We’re admitting that there’s a part of each of us deep down in our hearts that doesn’t want to be faithful - or wants to take things that don’t belong to us - or wants success regardless of who it might hurt - or wants to tell a lie or break a promise or have a little fun at someone else’s expense. So when we pray this prayer we’re admitting that we can’t handle that part of ourselves all on our own.
Most of us have a tendency to think we can handle the urge to disobey God all by ourselves. We’ve been trained to keep these urges under control, to reject our dark side. And it’s all too easy to fool ourselves into thinking our hearts are actually different, and that the seeds of evil and violence that lead to such horrible acts of cruelty and barbarism in other parts of the world - or even, sometimes, right next door - those seeds of evil can’t be present in our hearts, after all we’re good, decent, church-going Americans. We may face a small temptation here or there, but my goodness! We know the difference between right and wrong, we’re not about to put the moves on our neighbor’s spouse or beat the kids or walk out of the store with something that doesn’t belong to us.
But we forget that life is full of things we are not expecting, full of events that take us by surprise and require decisions we aren’t ready for. We become like Peter. Do you remember Peter at the last supper? He overestimated his power to stand against temptation. Peter told Jesus, “Though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” [Mt 26:33] Peter was sure that his love for Jesus was so strong that he’d never even be tempted to abandon him, or if he was, that he’d be able to resist. But Jesus warned him, “Peter, you will deny me three times before the rooster crows.” And that’s exactly what happened.
Jesus includes this line in our prayer because knows what we’re made of, he knows the weakness of our wills and the rebellion in our hearts. And there are two keys to keeping from being blown of course when temptation rears its ugly head. Those two keys are prayer and practice.
Paul tells the Galatians to “live by the Spirit ... do not gratify the desires of the flesh, for what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want... By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. [Gal 5:16 17, 22 23]
There’s a kind of war that goes on within each of our hearts. It’s a war between what God’s Spirit is prompting us to do and what our “sinful nature” or “flesh” wants to do. And when we invite the Holy Spirit to be in charge of our decisions, the ability to “just say no” to temptation is no longer out of our reach. A supernatural resource is offered to give us a victory we cannot possibly achieve on our own.
This strength to resist temptation is neither totally active nor totally passive. Paul isn’t telling us just to try harder, but he’s also not saying, “let go and let God.” We’re called fight a battle, but we’re not called to fight it alone. We are given strength by the Spirit. But we are also given directions. “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” [1 Cor 10:13]
The Holy Spirit gives us the strength to withstand temptation, but he also shows us the path to take to move us out of danger. Psalm 119:9 asks, “How can young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” The way that works is explained later in the same Psalm.“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” [Ps 119:105] It is through Scripture that we know which way to go, it is only Scripture which shows us whether it is God’s spirit or our own desires or fears that are pulling us to take one direction or another.
So we have strength through the Spirit, and direction from the Word, and we have been given one more advantage. The God’s word is a dual-purpose gift. It is also a weapon, and that’s where practice comes in. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. [Eph 6:17]
Scripture not only shows us the path, it sweeps it clean before us. The Spirit gives us the light to see and the strength to stand, but the Word is what will ultimately defeat the enemy. That is how Jesus himself defeated the enemy. After he was baptized and was sent out into the wilderness to get ready for the three years of ministry which led to the cross, it was with Scripture that he protected himself from the seductive promises Satan waved in front of him. We’ll look at that time in Jesus’ life in more detail as we move into the season of Lent, but for now it’s enough just to know that God’s word is stronger than any temptation that the evil one can throw against you - but you have to have to know it to use it. “Teach me your way, O LORD,” says the Psalmist, “and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” [Ps 27:11]
The first enemy is ourselves. But the second one is equally real. The second enemy is the enemy of God. “Rescue us from the evil one,” says the second half of this petition.
Now, in recent years it’s become unpopular to believe in Satan; three out of five American adults - including Christians - believe Satan is simply a symbol for evil. I’m not going to argue that point today. Whether it’s personal or impersonal, there is something in this world who - or which - is actively trying to defeat God’s purposes by seducing his children away from the path to life. It is when we fail to recognize or resist the temptations - the tests - that life places in our paths, then we become easy prey to that enemy.
We have forgiveness for our sins through Jesus Christ. And every time we are forgiven, it is as if God picks us up, dusts us off, and puts us back on our feet again. God promises emergency roadside service with no expiration date... But if you don’t carry the card with the toll-free number on it, how are going to get the help and direction you need when the time comes when you take the wrong turn or blow a tire or run out of gas? You’re easy prey for anything that might happen along the road. Yielding to temptation puts you right where God’s enemy wants you. Believing that we can resist temptation on our own, without God’s Spirit and God’s word to help us, puts us on a road to nowhere.
Jesus tells us not to be confident in our own spiritual strength, but to put ourselves under God’s daily protection. James puts it this way: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. [Jas 4:7-8,10]
What do you see, when you look back on the road you have walked with God? Where do you see God’s hand, God’s presence, God’s guidance and help? The fact that you are here, today, is living proof that God has been with you on your journey. You may not even have noticed the trials and temptations he rescued you from, but they were there, and he has protected you.
“Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come;
‘tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
