“Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.”

Sixth Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer

Easter VII (Ascension Sunday); May 28, 2006

I Corinthians 10:6-13

You and I are used to saying, “Lead us not into temptation.” I think the newer version, “Save us from the time of trial,” is a response to modern sensitivities. This text from I Corinthians has no time for those sensitivities. First, Paul reminds his readers of things that happened during the Exodus that we don’t usually talk about. We talk about the good things, the exciting things: freedom from slavery, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah, battles won, manna, the Conquest of the Promised Land. But St. Paul reminds us that the people made an idol of gold, the Golden Calf, and danced around it. God’s wrath was terrible. Thousands died in a plague that the Bible attributes to the Israelite men fooling around with Moabite women (Numbers 25). The deaths from serpent-bites were said to be God’s punishment for griping that they didn’t have enough to eat and drink (Numbers 21); other terrible things happened because the people were constantly complaining about something.

One wonders which is harder to take: the Old Testament assumption that these bad things were God’s punishment because the people never met a temptation they didn’t like, or St. Paul’s assumption that they happened as examples to warn us not to give in to temptations. The temptations haven’t changed much, they just wear different faces: the temptation to idolatry, to worship something other than the Lord God, to give something else credit for what God has done; the temptation to sexual immorality; the temptation to obsess on food and drink and other goods; and, of course, the temptation to whine about one’s fate.

There is a central question in all this, and a central point. The central point is Paul’s statement, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall;” we’ll come back to that before this sermon is over. The central question is the kind of thing that the twenty-first century keeps asking of the Bible: “Really?” I don’t mean did those things really happen – idolatry, plagues, sexual immorality, snakes and constant complaining are still part of the human landscape – but did God really make bad things happen to people as a punishment to them and a warning to us?

If I were a card-carrying conservative, I would probably say, “Yes.” If I were a card-carrying liberal, I would probably say, “No.” Honestly, part of what afflicts us radical centrists is our inability to answer questions like that with a simple “Yes” or “No.” Jesus, of course, rejects the notion that when something bad happens it is a punishment from God, but in the same breath he says that when you see these bad things happen to people, you ought to take that as a warning to repent (Luke 13:1-5).

Here is what makes sense to me about this: temptation is real, God takes it seriously, and God is willing to help us deal with it. A lot of temptation is simply the result of the creatures we have evolved to be. Here is a trivial example. I run, to help control my weight. Our bodies have evolved so that our resources are stored and allocated, and our brain warns us of possible depletion. So when I take a long run – for me, six miles is long – I start getting warnings at about four miles to stop, lest I run out of resources. This is the temptation to give up. So I say to myself, “There is plenty of energy left; I don’t need to stop now; besides, I’m looking at a good breakfast at the end.” Eventually that part of my brain gets the message and no longer tries to get me to give up.

Many of our temptations are of that sort: temptations about food and drink, about sex, about violence and aggression. They arise naturally within us and are dealt with by a combination of self-discipline, self-control and the grace of God.

But there are other temptations, and this makes sense to me too. Christ died and was raised from the dead to save us from the power of sin, and there is a spiritual force of malevolence that earnestly does not want us to be saved. That force will use whatever it can to try to lure us away from Christ. The men of Israel indulged in sexual immorality with the Moabite women not only because their libidos were acting up, but also because that got them involved with another god, Baal-peor, a god they wanted to hang around with, and that lured them away from the Lord.

Preachers harangue you about spiritual disciplines such as worship, prayer, Bible study and generosity not only because we are professional cranks. It is because we are concerned about your salvation and the forces in the world that want you not to be saved. Whether you and I pray, “Lead us not into temptation” or “Save us from the time of trial” we are taking seriously that there are spiritual realities that wish us ill, and we want God to “deliver us from evil.”

That’s what the last part of this text from I Corinthians is about: that God really does deliver us from evil. Unfortunately, sometimes Paul’s words get corrupted into the stupid saying, “God never gives you more than you can handle.” You and I know from experience that that is not true, and it is not what Paul says. In a nutshell, this is what he says. Whatever temptation you and I experience, whatever comes upon us to lure us away from God, is not unique; other people of God experience it too. The Universe is not a conspiracy against you and no one is being singled out. As well, although God does not micromanage your life, yet God is faithful and is involved enough to protect you from temptation that is beyond your strength to endure. Consequently, by the grace of God every temptation carries its own means of not giving in to it. We can stand fast, we can remain true to God, because God himself is helping us remain true.

You have, I suspect, never done anything colossally wicked; why is that? Perhaps the temptation was there, but God’s grace and your strength were sufficient to withstand it. I wish God had given that grace to Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling.1 Or perhaps you have been spared such temptation; after all, you and I pray, “Lead us not into temptation” and God does often give us what we ask for. If you have remained true to God, true to God’s Word and not had overwhelming temptations to idolatry, immorality and so forth, then give thanks to God for hearing and answering your prayers.

And so Paul’s central point: “If you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” If you think, “Yeah, I’ve never cheated on my wife, or on my income taxes, or the company, or the shareholders; I’ve attended worship every Sunday; I don’t give in to anger but discipline my children firmly but kindly” and so forth, be careful of thinking you are a moral champion. Give thanks to God for the grace to aid you in temptation and to protect you from temptation. At the same time, if you have fallen, if you have given in to temptation that arises from the flesh or temptation that arises from the Evil One, then get up and get moving again. God’s grace is not only a supporting grace but is also a forgiving grace, as I hope you remember from last week’s sermon. You and I, despite the warnings, despite the care and protection of God, do fall.

I’m not sure you have noticed, and I know I have not pointed it out, but I should finish this series by mentioning it. The Lord’s Prayer is entirely in the plural. Even when you say it as part of your personal daily devotions, you still say, “Our Father,” “Give us today our daily bread,” “Forgive us our sins” and so forth. None of us is in this alone. If you fall, there is a whole fellowship of people here who are committed to giving you a hand up. Your sisters and brothers in Christ will hold you by the arms and help you to stand.

Here’s another example. I met a man who knew he needed to quit smoking. The temptation to light a cigarette is, of course, an enormous physical and psychological temptation. So he had an arrangement with a friend, another man in his church. Whenever he felt the strong urge to smoke, he would phone his friend. They would talk, only a few minutes, and by the time the conversation was done, the urge would have passed. He knew he could not stand on his own and God’s grace acted through his friend to show him the way out for this temptation.

God does answer prayer, and we may very well be tempted far less than we would be if we were not asking God regularly to deliver us from evil. Even so, we will be tempted, by our flesh and by the Power that wishes us ill. Put your arms under each other, people of God, and by the grace of God we will be able to stand.

Sovereign God, we are assured that you will help us in temptation. Give us grace and strength to remain true to you, for you are always true to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa

[1]Convicted this week in their trial as a result of the Enron debacle