Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Temptation is Everywhere

Today in our series in the Lord’s prayer, we come to what I think is the toughest petition to parse. We’ve heard earlier in the petition for daily bread that some of the words in the prayer are a bit hard to translate and that scholars differ in how they translate each particular word or phrase.

But when we get to the famous line, “And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil” we get to some even tougher interpretive dilemmas. In fact, the difficulty is so great that we’re going to spend a week on each half of this petition: This week we’ll talk about temptation and testing, and next week we’ll talk about evil and the Evil One.

But this week to temptation. As we talk about this word “temptation” we need to realize that we as a culture have domesticated the word. We’ve taken temptation and we’ve brought it down to our size and then we’ve even made it cute. And our advertisers have been at the forefront of this. Have you ever been to a restaurant and walked by one of those rotating dessert carousels? Those spinning stainless steel miniature Ferris Wheels of sugary delight? As you can tell, I have…and I don’t always say no, either. Well, how many desserts do you know that go by silly little names like “Chocolate Temptation” or “Sinful Decadence” or some other silly little name.

And it’s not just for humans that the advertisers train their targets! Oh no, they go for our four legged friends as well. As you can see here, in exhibit A, the cats in my own life face their own temptations and trials every day. In fact, when we’re done giving our cats these tempting little morsels, we have to hide away the bag…or else the cats will literally spend all day trying to get into this bag. I suppose I could use that illustration in a sermon on persistence, but it works equally well for temptation because temptation wouldn’t be temptation unless it was something we were willing to put in a little effort to get.

Now, so far, the temptations I have been describing have been fairly innocuous. Even for a large person like myself, one piece of cake isn’t going to make or break my health. And for my cats, most of whom do not share my portly paunch, a few extra treats aren’t going to make a big difference. But we all know that there are temptations more sinister that lurk around every corner. We all know that there are things that draw us toward the darkness. For some of us it might indeed be things like gluttony. I’ve seen the darker side of those temptations personally, particularly after my weight loss surgery when temptation often led to illness. And as you see, I’m not a poster boy for weight loss surgery either; I struggle daily with the battle against temptation, and I often don’t do as well as I’d like.

But that might not be a temptation for you at all. Perhaps for you the temptation is to work more to earn more so you can spend more. And in the process your family gets put to one side. Perhaps you are tempted to look around the corner for something better to come along. Maybe you are never satisfied with what you have and always have your eyes peeled for the next big thing; the next model car or truck, the bigger house, the fancier purse, the next big trip.

And as I’ve said, advertisers know our weakness. The goal of an advertiser is to manufacture an emotion in us and that emotion is desire. Desire for things we do not yet have and perhaps don’t even need. Now, we all need things like basic transportation and a vacuum cleaner, right? But the advertiser is going to try to upsell you on things. Just like the waitress or the fast food guy, they’re going to try to get you to add additional features.

Angela and I faced this dilemma when we were buying our new car last February. When we walked into the Subaru dealer, we were pretty set on the model of the car we wanted and we knew exactly what features we needed…but we weren’t necessarily set on the features that we wanted…hear the difference? We knew the basic minimum we would accept but then when we sat across from the dealer we quickly realized we wanted more (for us in the form of an upgraded sound system and navigation).

And television has perfected the temptation game. Now we not only get print or radio ads to tempt us to buy more, spend money we don’t have or make questionable decisions—now we get moving pictures luring our money out of our wallet’s grip. And then our television, the zeitgeist of our era even celebrates temptation. A few years ago, Fox ran a series called “Temptation Island.” On this show happy couples were placed in houses with single men and women supposedly “to test the strength of their relationship.” Well, as most reality television reminds us, placing ourselves directly in the gauntlet of temptation is rarely a good idea and most of those relationships were trash by the time the television was turned off.

But what is it about temptation that allures us so much? Why is it that it is so easy to succumb to one more bite, one last purchase before we stop, one more…just one more...

Well, I think the basic answer is that you and I, human beings, are creatures of desire. And in our culture, desire often gets a bad rap. For some people, desire is basically the same thing as temptation; to be tempted is to desire. But I think these folks have it wrong. Because I think desire is a good thing that is God-given. God is perfection and the moral standard by which we should judge ourselves. And Scripture very clearly says that God desires certain things. God desires fellowship with human beings. God desires that people would repent and turn homeward to God through Christ. God desires community so much that God exists as a community...

So desire in itself is not a bad thing. No, the bad thing is DISORDERED desire…when our desires get twisted by selfishness, greed, violence, clinging to power—in other words when desire gets corrupted by sin.

And so, as we turn toward our Scriptures today, we’re going to have some work to do. We need to figure out the difference between temptation and testing on the one hand and we’re going to figure out whether temptation comes from God or whether testing comes from God. We might not settle it all this week and we’ll have to come back to some of these themes next week.

But first, we need to talk about temptation and testing. When I preached on this topic awhile back here when we were discussing the Sermon on the Mount, someone talked to me after the service and said that I didn’t make a good distinction between these two concepts; and I went back to my manuscript and found out that it was indeed true that I didn’t.

So, let’s make some nuanced definitions here. Temptation is being led by desire towards harmful and sinful behaviors. Very often the actor in temptation is our own will or the will of another human being. As our James passage for today notes, God is not in the temptation business. God does not dangle things in front of us and say, “Doesn’t this look nice, it’s so sweet and so decadent…but you can’t have it....but it looks soooo goood....” No, we all know where that voice comes from. And before you say, “Could it be…SATAN?” look in the mirror.

Temptations like that come from hearts, minds, and wills that have not been sufficiently formed into the image of Christ. As we’ll indeed talk about next week, there is evil in the world that tends toward corruption and the manufacture of desire…but giving in to that temptation is no one’s fault…but our own. It is us and our weak wills that give in to that passing glance, that leer, that solicitation to do something that isn’t in our or our family’s best interest. It’s all us and our training…a them I’ll come back to in a bit.

So far we’ve seen that God is not into the temptation business. God does not actively work to seduce us towards evil. But as I was negligent in pointing out several months ago—God does test God’s children. God does place situations in our way at some points to try and refine our faith.

For a classic example, we need only look to Jesus. Jesus, after his baptism and the Holy Spirit coming upon him like a dove, was driven out into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights to be tried. How did the trial come? Well, we know that the Evil One, the Satan came and offered Jesus the world in exchange for worship. He offered Jesus bread by coaxing him to use his miraculous powers. He offered him protection by tempting him to use his authority over angels to call them to his aid.

Notice that Jesus was tempted by things that were legitimately either in his hands or in the hands of the Satan. Scripture tells us that, at least in part and in a qualified way, the Satan has power and dominion over certain aspects of our fallen world. Particularly when it comes to the exercise (and abuse) or power, the Satan can be called “The Prince of This World.” In other words, when Jesus was offered the kingdoms of the world, it was a legitimate offer. Jesus could rule the world right then and there.

But there was a problem. Jesus would have to give worship to the Satan; bow down before the enemy. But in that one quick act, the rest of his life would be as ruler of all. But Jesus could not compromise, he knew that we must love the Lord and serve him only. And so Jesus rebuts the Satan with Scripture from Deuteronomy that tells Israel to worship God alone.

And the same with the other temptations Jesus face. Jesus had authority to turn stone to bread but he turns to Deuteronomy and reminds the Adversary that “humans don’t live by bread alone but by every word that come from God.” And when he was offered to make a spectacle of himself by throwing himself off the pinnacle of the Temple thus drawing large crowds to himself, he reminded the Accuser that “humans should not put the Lord to the test.”

Thus, unlike Israel, who failed their forty year test in the desert by grumbling continually before God, Jesus passed his forty day test. Jesus, relying on God’s word, denied himself, his wants, his desires, and then the Evil One fled from him. And in its place came ministering angels to provide for Jesus and all his needs. God will not let us suffer after resisting temptation. Often God gives us something better in its place; something we might not have dreamed or hoped for.

But, you might be asking, how does this square with James’ teaching about God not tempting us?

That is a good question. And I have to admit that there is some tension here and more than a little. The way I see it, and you may feel free to agree or disagree with me here as always, is this: God will allow us to enter certain situations as a test to our faith and trust in God. God will allow us to be in situations where our moral and spiritual integrity will be tested. But yet God is not the one who is doing the tempting.

This was clearly seen in Jesus’ temptations. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness, but it was the Satan that was doing the tempting.

And no, this does not give us the easy out that “the Devil made me do it.”

No, YOU made you do it and to blame someone else is to shirk your responsibility for your own sin.

So, then how does God test us and why?

I believe that God tests our will, our resolve to follow after God’s precepts in order to strengthen our character. It is very much like the image we see in the Bible. Trials come into our life in order to refine us. Because it is often in the struggles of life that we realize just where our weak spots are. And once those weak spots are identified, they can be refined, worked on, reinforced—or whatever metaphor you like that shows us that it is in weakness that we build up our strength.

I think that is what is going on in Gethsemane too. Jesus clearly tells Peter and the disciples to watch and pray so that they don’t fall into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But what we don’t see in that passage is that Jesus is being tested again. This was the more opportune time in which the enemy comes to Jesus with the ultimate threat: death. Jesus’ life and ministry have come to one point, the decision to go to the cross willingly or flee.

And Jesus does exactly what Peter did not do later—he watched and prayed. And yes, Jesus did pray for that cup to pass—but it was a qualified prayer, wasn’t it—not my will by yours be done…And it was God’s will, as the Trinity spoke before time itself that the Son be sent to the world. That the Son be tested and tried by the greed, violence, and sin of humans.

And ultimately, the Son would succumb to the temptations of human beings. Friends, it was temptation that killed Jesus—but not his own. It was the temptation of the disciples to run things their own way that got Jesus killed. It was the temptation of Pilate not to arouse a riot among the Jews and give them Barabbas instead of Jesus that got Jesus killed. It was the temptation of the Jewish leadership to hold on to their own power and traditions that got Jesus killed. It was us that got Jesus killed, not God.

But God worked through that temptation, evil and violence, just like he worked through the greed and violence of Joseph’s brothers. What they meant for evil, God meant for good and the salvation of many was the result.

How much more then does God deliver us through the sacrifice of Jesus? How much more did God work good out of evil in the death of God on the Cross? He showed us how far he would go to demonstrate his love for this world, in that he would deign to die by the hands of his own creatures? What wondrous love is this, O my soul?

But we know death was not the end. And that the same Spirit who drove Jesus into the wilderness was at work on that third day raising Jesus from the dead. God won the victory and now, through that same Spirit, you and I can win the victory over sin and temptation.

But it’s not an easy cure…it’s a journey. I told you I would come back to the theme of training. The Christian life is an instant fix, is it? We don’t become Christians and then all temptations cease. No, in fact, it’s usually the opposite. Temptations come like never before. But the difference is, it is in our power now, through God’s Spirit, to resist. But how do we do that? Through practice.

Virtue, the ability to choose the right and turn from the wrong, comes through practice. At first, it might be exceedingly difficult to turn from things that tempt us. But over time, as you train your resistance muscles, it becomes easier. It’s like any habit; it takes many times to gain master, but over time, you will start to instinctually choose the right and forgo the wrong.

So, as we go this week, pray that we be lead not into temptation. Pray that when trials come we are given the strength to endure. Pray also for your brothers and sisters as well. Each of our races will be different, but we must run them. And through God the Spirit we can win the victory. Amen.