The Lord’s Prayer: Sixth Petition

Sermon for midweek of Advent 2

Small Catechism Review: The Lord’s Prayer, Sixth Petition

Including this evening, there are three Wednesdays left in the Advent season. And it so happens that we have three sections left to consider in the Lord’s Prayer: The 6^th and 7^th petitions, and the Amen at the end. So tonight let’s turn our attention to the 6^th Petition. Our Father, Lead us not into temptation.

What does this mean? God surely tempts no one, but we ask in this prayer that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world and our flesh may not deceive us, nor mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and although we are troubled by these things, that we would, nevertheless, overcome and stand victorious in the end.

What is a temptation? In Scripture, there is a single Greek word that is sometimes translated “temptation,” sometimes translated “trial,” and sometimes translated “test.” It all depends on the context. For example, Scripture says that God does test people, as He tested Israel in the wilderness. At the same time, it says that God tempts no one. To test someone is to put him through some hardship in order to see what comes out on the other side, not unlike a test at school. More than once the Bible gives us the analogy of a lump of gold ore which is heated up in the fire to a very high temperature. All the impurities are burned away in the fire and heat, while the gold comes through it unscathed and purified. That’s testing. And a trial is just a time or an instance of testing.

So God does test or try people, and the purpose of that testing is never to harm, but only to help, to teach, to discipline. It’s never to drive someone away from Him, but always to drive them closer to Him, to depend on Him and Him alone.

So God tested Abraham when He told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. His purpose was to put Abraham through that trial, through that hardship, so that, not God, but we could see the purity of Abraham’s faith (and Isaac’s faith, for that matter!) on the other side. As we know, it was never God’s intention for Abraham or Isaac to be harmed, but to be stronger in the end, to become examples of faith, and even to be praised by future generations for their devotion to God above all things.

God tests believers. But God doesn’t tempt anyone. As James says, Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Temptation is the attempt to get someone to sin against God. The devil tempts us. The world tempts us. Our own flesh tempts us. These enemies afflict us with some hardship, or they entice us with some promised benefit held out in front of us like a carrot on a stick in front of a horse, with the intention of getting us to disobey God, to curse God, to give up on Him, to turn away from Him.

They use deception as their primary tool. Think of the temptation of Eve in the Garden. The devil deceived her, tricked her, told her things that were either only partially true or completely false. He held up a fake hardship in front of her eyes, as if she and Adam were lacking some good thing in the Garden because they had been deprived of the fruit of that one tree. His intention was obvious: to get her to disbelieve God’s Word and to disobey God.

They also attempt to lead us into false belief, either believing something about God that isn’t true, or even believing something about our neighbor that isn’t true. And you know how dangerous that is, to believe something that’s false, to rely on something that isn’t reliable, to lean on something that won’t support your weight.

Our enemies also attempt to lead us to despair. The devil would gladly deceive us so that we despair, so that we lose hope, lose hope in God, lose hope in His forgiveness in Christ, lose hope in His good and gracious will for us, lose hope in His mercy.

And then there’s the great shame and vice to which temptation leads, all the filthy sins of the flesh, idolatry, blasphemy, lawlessness, murder, adultery and sexual sins, theft, drunkenness and drug abuse, and the list goes on and on. These are things toward which the devil would lead us with his temptations, and the world and our flesh are his willing allies.

We are so weak in the face of all these temptations. But we have a Savior who is strong. As it says in Hebrews, We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And so we pray, Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation! Spare us! Deliver us! Have mercy on us! Don’t punish us on account of our sins by allowing our enemies to be successful in their temptations.

But when you pray, Lead us not into temptation, don’t mean the wrong thing by it. Don’t ask God not to test you. He must test you for your good. And don’t ask Him not to allow you to face hardships, or to spare you from all earthly troubles, or to keep the devil, the world, and your flesh from tempting you at all. As the Apostle Paul said (after being nearly stoned to death), “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” And Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” What’s more, St. Peter says this about the devil: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

No, the devil is not going away until Christ’s second Advent. He will tempt you to sin against God. And you will face troubles and crosses and testings and temptations throughout your earthly life. But we pray in the 6^th petition that although we are troubled by these things, that we would, nevertheless, overcome and stand victorious in the end. That’s what we’re praying for in the 6^th petition, for God’s help to resist the devil, to resist temptation, to enable us to bear our crosses with patience. And our Father in heaven will certainly hear us when we pray. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. May our Father grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.