This is how you shall pray

Part V
sermon by Manfred Schreyer

Part IV : 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

When we have become Christians, after we have given our life to Christ, after we confessed our sins and after we have received the Holy Spirit, life for us changes. It changes in a dramatic way. We will find the way of God for us through His will by studying God’s Word for us. We look at the people’s experiences with God; the reaction of God to behavior God’s people displayed and so forth . . .

There has been a lot of discussion about God leading us into temptation in theological circles, especially after we just heard the words of James, who proclaims that God does NOT lead us into temptation.

As we walk this earth with the Spirit of Christ, we will not be excluded from the temptation of this world. The world is filled with temptations. Temptations that, once touched, give us the illusion to bring rationalized happiness to us and to make us feel good.

Temptation often cries out to us as if it yearns for us and we often live in tension with the old (we once were) . . . and the new (as we are now).

Now, temptation is not a sin itself. Think of Adam and Eve who were not supposed to eat the fruit. To eat the fruit meant to be separated from God. But God said something else . . . not even to touch the fruit. God places both statements into one thought, because God knows that once we touch that which is not meant for us, we will not be able to resist to go one step further.

When we are tempted to yearn for more money, when we are envy of our neighbors possession, we may take the shortcut of cheating, or even stealing.

I believe the one of the most common temptations in our society is to cheat on our income tax. We are tempted not to report a certain income, we are tempted to boost a receipt amount to bring our tax rate down, we are tempted . . . not to file. And then there is adultery: The word temptation is often associated with adultery. Adultery just does not happen. Adultery starts with the temptation of touching the "tree" . . . from the eye to the thought . . . to the action

I recently met with a man who I had known for some time and who I highly respect. He told me his story that he was involved in an affair with a woman. He knew he did wrong, he knew he was hurting his family, he knew this could end his career, but he was still obsessed with his temptation for her. But temptation pursued only leads to an accelerated movement toward destruction.

Temptation is the decision making process /moment between being whole or giving in to experience brokeness after longing for happiness.

Temptations sometimes are often validated: "The government takes too much of my money anyway . . . so I withhold it from her. . . .my spouse was not able to share the love for me that I felt I should have and when the other person came into my life I felt loved . . . "

Temptations lead to excuses, just as in the Garden of Eden where Adam said: "Eve told me to eat it"

Make no mistake we will always find excuses for our behavior, because we believe it is "all about us."

Yet the Gospel tells us differently. It not about you, it is about all of us. The decision in the moment of temptation can change peoples lives.

Do you remember how I told you that I believed for a long time that my life can be guided by my decisions? I believed that if I would make good decisions I would have a good passage through life . . . do you remember me telling you that? Do you remember what I said afterwards? I made the discovery much later in life that I was wrong with that assumption . . . in fact my life and your life is guided 90% of the time by other people’s decision.

And if that holds true then I and you have a direct influence on other people’s decision with your and my actions. . . .and therefore I must rethink my position, statements and thoughts constantly . . . I must not sway to please, I must not sway to follow my desires, I must not follow my habits that please me (and hurt others) . . . I must lay a foundation of truth for me and world after the model of Christ.

. . .lead us not into temptation is rather meant to bring us home onto the right path quickly as we have gone on the passage of temptation for so long.

The sentence is made as a petition to God to carry us home to his will.

But I must tell you that God sometimes leaves us on this way of temptation. As you may recall, God even allowed Jesus to be tempted by the Satan. And here it comes. . . .these temptations are purposeful.

Although these temptations are created by people like you and me . . . God knew our choices in advance and the choice we would make . . . in order to fulfill His history.

Mat 4:10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" :11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.