The sermon preached by Fr. Ernie on February 26, 2023.

Lead us not into Temptation

by Ernest Boyer

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” How often have we said these words? At this point we probably hardly even notice them. But we should. It’s temptations that can draw us away from path we need to follow, the road that gives us life. Is it really God who leads us into temptation as the prayer implies? Someone asked me that once. Personally, I think not. It’s not God who leads us into temptation. It is we ourselves. It is we, out of weakness, who are sometimes drawn to express the less than loving impulses of our nature. Often as not this happens in moments of anger, stress, isolation, hunger or fatigue — times, in other words, when we are less than at our best.

Even Jesus felt such strain at times. Jesus was fully human, after all — fully human and fully divine. That’s the point of the Nicaean creed. Led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus had just spent 40 day without either food or the sight of another human being. By then he was famished and who knows how much he was struggling or how often he managed to sleep. All this took its toll. He was weakened and vulnerable, and Satan saw his chance. Satan came to him and tempted him with three suggestions — three offers that are in many ways the three things that tempt us the most too.

Satan’s first temptation was to try to lure Jesus away from the spiritual insight that he had gone into the wilderness to seek and focus on satisfying his hunger instead. “If you are the Son of God,” Satan taunted, “command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Satan was saying, “Aren’t you God already, Jesus? So give it up! Forget all this spiritual crap. Fill your belly instead. What’s holding you back?”

And isn’t that the deepest human temptation, the desire to ignore all things spiritual and go for what makes us feel good in the short run? We see it so much these days:

“The meaning of life? Who cares?” People say.  “I just want a good time. I just want to bring in the dough and have some fun along the way. Who cares if there’s a God? I sure don’t. It’s a dog eat dog world out there — every man for himself. I just want to get my own, then take it easy.”

How many people in our world today say this or something like it? And if they don’t actually say it. They live it. They’ve fully surrendered to Satan’s first temptation, and it’s sad to see. It’s tragic. They’re losing out on life entirely. They’re completely missing what it’s all about. “‘One does not live by bread alone,” Jesus responds, “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Yes …yes. We do of course need food to keep us going, but that alone will not sustain us. Imagine standing before a table packed with food, but standing there completely alone, with no one to join you, no one in your life at all. Imagine looking at the turkey and the ham and the potatoes and the pies but feeling nothing but hopelessness, deep depression and despair. Do you think that banquet would bring you an ounce of joy, the smallest drop of pleasure? Would you even be able to bring yourself to actually eat it? I wonder. We have bodies that we need to care for, but we are at heart spiritual beings. Ignore the first and we die physically. Ignore the second and we die a deeper death.

The next temptation almost seems like no temptation at all. “Throw yourself off a high tower and let God send his angles to protect you,” Satan sneers. In other words, put yourself completely at God’s mercy. But what’s wrong with that? Don’t we often say, “Let go and let God?” How is this different?

Well, it’s different in this way. It’s one thing to turn to God when we know we are not in control and it’s another to refuse to take control when we not only have the power to act but need do so. The “Serenity Prayer” says it all so well: “Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The fact is, in all the larger things in life, it is God who is in charge. A person is truly wise when they recognize this and let God show them the way. But in many lesser things we not only have the power to make a difference, but God specifically intends for us to do just that.

You know, there’s an old story about this. I’m sure you’ve all heard it, but I’ll repeat it here simply because it is so true, and applies so well to this situation. There was a flood, and as a man named John sat in his house watching the water rise he prayed to God to save him, knowing at once that God would. The water rose up to the first floor window and as John sat and watched, another man in a canoe paddled by. Seeing John at the window, the other man stopped.  “It’s going to get bad,” he said. “Climb into my canoe.”

         “No, I’m fine,” John responded calmly. “God is watching over me.”

         “As you wish,” the man said shaking his head, “there are many others to save.”

         A couple of hours passed and by now the water had filled the first floor. John didn’t worry, though. He had a second floor. He was looking out of his second story window when a large Red Cross boat came by filled with wet and shivering people wearing life jackets.

         “You need to get in,” the captain called. “A lot of homes are already under water.” But again John declined, and when the Captain realized John was determined, he too sailed off.

         Finally, John found himself squatting on his roof as angry water swirled at his feet. He watched the sky waiting for the angels to appear. Instead a helicopter flew overhead and dropped a rope with a harness attached. “You haven’t much time,” someone called from the copter’s open door. Slip on the harness and I’ll pull you up.” John just laughed and waved him away.

         The next thing John knew he was coughing up great gulps of water and standing before God.

         “What happened to me?” John managed to say at last.

         “What happened?” God repeated wryly. “You drowned of course.

         “What do you mean I drowned?” John cried. “You were supposed to save me.”

         “John…John…John,” God said, shaking her head sadly. “I sent you two boats and a helicopter. What did you expect?”        

You see, that’s it. It happens so often that God’s help comes by means of the other people God sends to us, just as we ourselves are often the help that God sends to save someone else. That means, though, that it’s one thing to turn ourselves over to God. That’s always good. It’s quite another thing, however, to give in to the temptation to believe that, because God is in charge, we have no responsibility to act ourselves. Jesus’ entire ministry tells us otherwise. His whole message is about our need to act for others — and when the need arises, for ourselves too. To reject this idea is to reject God.

Finally, there’s Satan’s last temptation, the temptation to grab power over others. That’s what Satan offers to Jesus as long as he will bow down to him. This is without question the most dangerous temptation of all. It is probably the source of the greatest evil in the world, the will to power — the desire to gain control over other people. To go after power is always to give yourself over to Satan. We see this in Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine. We see it in the world-wide rise of tyrants. We see it, too, in our own nation’s turning away from justice as major politicians become willing to do anything and say anything — come up with any lie, promote any conspiracy theory — all in a grab for power. Those who counter them are men and woman not of power, but of strength. Power seeks to control others. Strength seeks to pass on to others the ability to take control of their own lives. Such people of strength are growing fewer and fewer in our world. It’s up to us to be among them and add to their ranks. 

So, you see, it’s more important than it ever was to join Jesus and resist temptation — and these three temptations in particular. We must remind ourselves, first of all, of just how central the Spirit is to all that is valuable and meaningful life. We must also remember that more often than not we ourselves are called to be God’s hands and heart in a world that badly needs both of these. And finally, we must remember that there is only one power we need to seek, the power of God’s love, which God has bestowed on all of us so that we can bestow it on others in return. And when we do these things we may find that, just as it was with Jesus, the devil will have no choice but to leave us so that we will then find ourselves suddenly … waited upon by angels.

AMEN

If you like this Sermon, feel free to leave a comment below or follow us on vimeo.

(