The Sixth Petition: Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Sermon
What's That Supposed To Mean?
Using The Catechism In The 21st Century
Object:
The Lord's Prayer -- The Sixth Petition
And lead us not into temptation. What does this mean? God indeed tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and obtain the victory.
A trial or temptation shows what kind of person one really is. In the Bible, those two words generally translate the same word in the original language. A trial or temptation reveals either the strengths or the weakness of whatever is being tested. The Apostle James tells us how temptation works: "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Sinful desires give way to sinful deeds, which always end up killing the sinner. That's why we fail the tests that come our way. There is only one reason why I sin. I want to. Sure, the devil likes to team up with people around me to stir up my sinful desires, but he can't make me sin, and neither can anybody else. Sinful desires give way to sinful deeds, which always end up killing the sinner. Everybody fails the test! Death proves that.
The devil tries to find the cracks and weaknesses in my soul. These are in different places than they are in your souls. The weakness might be in self-control. It might be in faithfulness. It might be in ambition. A skinny person looks at a fat person and wonders why the fat person can't have more self-control at the table. The fat person looks at the skinny person with a bad temper and wonders why the skinny person can't be as patient as he is. So the devil helps steer us into situations where he can stretch and strain our abilities, hoping to see us fail. He's like the child who bends a pencil to see how far he can go before it breaks. The test is over when the pencil is broken. Once he finds a weak spot, the devil will try to destroy you or me by repeating those temptations over and over. And he will have plenty of help from the world and our own sinful human natures.
The devil tried this on Jesus. First the devil tried to see if Jesus was selfish by tempting Jesus to turn stones to bread. Jesus passed the test by quoting Scriptures to show that he trusted God to take care of Him. Then the devil tried to see if Jesus really trusted God by inviting Jesus to jump off the nineteen-story-tall Temple. Jesus passed the test by quoting the Bible again, saying that it was not His job to test God. Next, the devil tried to see if Jesus was afraid of death by offering to make Jesus king without having to die on the cross. Jesus passed that test by sending the devil packing, saying that He would only worship God even if it meant suffering pain and death. The devil took one last shot at this as Jesus hung on the cross by stirring people in the crowd to dare Jesus to come down from the cross. "We'll believe in you if you come down!" Wasn't that a real test for Jesus? Didn't Jesus want people to trust Him? Jesus passed that test also.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus was tested as we are in all things, except that He did not sin. That means Jesus endured the same kind of temptations we endure. He was tempted to lust, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to hate. But Jesus passed the tests. Because He did, we can be confident that He will answer our prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." First, we know that Jesus will never try to get us to sin. He doesn't have to test us to find our weaknesses. He already knows our weaknesses.
So Jesus will never lead us into temptation. But He will lead us through temptation. Jesus stands ready to help us past the tests the devil, the world, and our own sinful human natures like to throw our way. James tells us how: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." By nature, we like to sin. We like to fail the test. The only way we can pass the tests is to get a new nature, to start over, a birth through the word of truth. Remember, Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil by drawing on the strength found in God's Word. When enemies crushed Him, when cares of the world piled high on Him, He always retreated into God's Word.
James writes, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." If we will return daily to the promises God made to us in His Word and sacraments, we will find the strength to endure temptation. We will be able to pass the test, to overcome the devil, world, and flesh. We will also find blessing and eternal life.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us for blaming our sins on people around us. It's not their bad behavior that makes us sin. It's not the troubles we put up with that make us sin. We sin because we allow our sinful human nature to have its way in those situations. You have given us a new birth through Your Word and sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion. Help us draw strength from those blessings so that we may resist the temptations of the devil, the world, and our flesh. Guard and keep us, so that we may endure and overcome those temptations and finally obtain the victory You already have won! Amen.
Object lesson: Point to a bag marked "Temptation" and tell the children that there is a test inside. Take a candy bar from the bag and place it on a pew across the room from them. Pick two or three of the rowdiest children for a race. Say, "On your mark, get ready," but then pause long enough to get one or more of the children to do a false start. Tell them they have failed the test. (Give all a candy bar.) The real temptation was that I had the sack of candy bars in my office for part of the week!
The Bible tells us that we sin when we give in to temptation. But what is temptation? Temptation is a test of how we will act or talk or think. The devil likes to tempt us to do wrong. That means he likes to give us tests that he thinks we will fail -- just as I knew that a candy bar prize would tempt children to try and start running for the candy bar before each other.
The devil likes to see us fail many different kinds of tests. He likes to see us get really angry at each other -- that means we have failed to forgive. He likes to see us steal and cheat and tell lies -- that means we have failed to trust God to take care of us. The devil likes to see children disobey their parents -- that means that the children don't respect and honor their parents as they should. He likes to see us treat each other badly. He likes to see us fail to forgive.
Jesus is willing to forgive us when we fail the devil's tests. Jesus is also willing to help us pass the tests the next time they come. He does this by putting His Holy Spirit inside us as we go to Sunday school and church to hear the good news about Jesus.
And lead us not into temptation. What does this mean? God indeed tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and obtain the victory.
A trial or temptation shows what kind of person one really is. In the Bible, those two words generally translate the same word in the original language. A trial or temptation reveals either the strengths or the weakness of whatever is being tested. The Apostle James tells us how temptation works: "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Sinful desires give way to sinful deeds, which always end up killing the sinner. That's why we fail the tests that come our way. There is only one reason why I sin. I want to. Sure, the devil likes to team up with people around me to stir up my sinful desires, but he can't make me sin, and neither can anybody else. Sinful desires give way to sinful deeds, which always end up killing the sinner. Everybody fails the test! Death proves that.
The devil tries to find the cracks and weaknesses in my soul. These are in different places than they are in your souls. The weakness might be in self-control. It might be in faithfulness. It might be in ambition. A skinny person looks at a fat person and wonders why the fat person can't have more self-control at the table. The fat person looks at the skinny person with a bad temper and wonders why the skinny person can't be as patient as he is. So the devil helps steer us into situations where he can stretch and strain our abilities, hoping to see us fail. He's like the child who bends a pencil to see how far he can go before it breaks. The test is over when the pencil is broken. Once he finds a weak spot, the devil will try to destroy you or me by repeating those temptations over and over. And he will have plenty of help from the world and our own sinful human natures.
The devil tried this on Jesus. First the devil tried to see if Jesus was selfish by tempting Jesus to turn stones to bread. Jesus passed the test by quoting Scriptures to show that he trusted God to take care of Him. Then the devil tried to see if Jesus really trusted God by inviting Jesus to jump off the nineteen-story-tall Temple. Jesus passed the test by quoting the Bible again, saying that it was not His job to test God. Next, the devil tried to see if Jesus was afraid of death by offering to make Jesus king without having to die on the cross. Jesus passed that test by sending the devil packing, saying that He would only worship God even if it meant suffering pain and death. The devil took one last shot at this as Jesus hung on the cross by stirring people in the crowd to dare Jesus to come down from the cross. "We'll believe in you if you come down!" Wasn't that a real test for Jesus? Didn't Jesus want people to trust Him? Jesus passed that test also.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says that Jesus was tested as we are in all things, except that He did not sin. That means Jesus endured the same kind of temptations we endure. He was tempted to lust, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to hate. But Jesus passed the tests. Because He did, we can be confident that He will answer our prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." First, we know that Jesus will never try to get us to sin. He doesn't have to test us to find our weaknesses. He already knows our weaknesses.
So Jesus will never lead us into temptation. But He will lead us through temptation. Jesus stands ready to help us past the tests the devil, the world, and our own sinful human natures like to throw our way. James tells us how: "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." By nature, we like to sin. We like to fail the test. The only way we can pass the tests is to get a new nature, to start over, a birth through the word of truth. Remember, Jesus resisted the temptations of the devil by drawing on the strength found in God's Word. When enemies crushed Him, when cares of the world piled high on Him, He always retreated into God's Word.
James writes, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him." If we will return daily to the promises God made to us in His Word and sacraments, we will find the strength to endure temptation. We will be able to pass the test, to overcome the devil, world, and flesh. We will also find blessing and eternal life.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us for blaming our sins on people around us. It's not their bad behavior that makes us sin. It's not the troubles we put up with that make us sin. We sin because we allow our sinful human nature to have its way in those situations. You have given us a new birth through Your Word and sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion. Help us draw strength from those blessings so that we may resist the temptations of the devil, the world, and our flesh. Guard and keep us, so that we may endure and overcome those temptations and finally obtain the victory You already have won! Amen.
Object lesson: Point to a bag marked "Temptation" and tell the children that there is a test inside. Take a candy bar from the bag and place it on a pew across the room from them. Pick two or three of the rowdiest children for a race. Say, "On your mark, get ready," but then pause long enough to get one or more of the children to do a false start. Tell them they have failed the test. (Give all a candy bar.) The real temptation was that I had the sack of candy bars in my office for part of the week!
The Bible tells us that we sin when we give in to temptation. But what is temptation? Temptation is a test of how we will act or talk or think. The devil likes to tempt us to do wrong. That means he likes to give us tests that he thinks we will fail -- just as I knew that a candy bar prize would tempt children to try and start running for the candy bar before each other.
The devil likes to see us fail many different kinds of tests. He likes to see us get really angry at each other -- that means we have failed to forgive. He likes to see us steal and cheat and tell lies -- that means we have failed to trust God to take care of us. The devil likes to see children disobey their parents -- that means that the children don't respect and honor their parents as they should. He likes to see us treat each other badly. He likes to see us fail to forgive.
Jesus is willing to forgive us when we fail the devil's tests. Jesus is also willing to help us pass the tests the next time they come. He does this by putting His Holy Spirit inside us as we go to Sunday school and church to hear the good news about Jesus.
