Does God have a Direct Hand in our Temptation?
From the Rev. Marya DeCarlen:
In December, Pope Francis made news by suggesting that the words of the Lord’s Prayer should be changed from “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation.”
Christian doctrine does not include God tempting us to do evil, but helps us be freed from it. We all fall into temptation at various points in our lives, but God does not push us into it.
After sharing this news with our worship team at All Saints North Shore, and suggesting that we might want to be on a different diet of the Lord’s Prayer during Lent, I learned firsthand that many people still have the traditional Lord’s Prayer memorized. It surely is the best known religious text in the world and a reliably familiar prayer, accessible in both our hearts and minds.
This prayer if often used to begin or end conversations that are difficult, joy-filled or community blessed. It is for these very good reasons that our worship team unanimously turned down my suggestion to replace the words of the Lord’s Prayer during Lent from “lead us not into temptation” to “do not let us fall into temptation.”
The New Testament translations of Jesus’ spoken language, Aramaic, were translated into Greek and then into English. Many of us would agree that accuracy is relative even though some of us still have red letter versions of the New Testament which highlight, Jesus’ words. Yet, none of us really know what Jesus actually said.
So, instead of experimenting during Lenten worship with this beloved prayer, I invite you to take a tussle or two as you pray the Lord’s Prayer remembering those French speakers all across the world who continue to pray it differently that we do (below).
I look forward to hearing from you about your temptations. Marya+
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Do not let us fall into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Isn't a prayer a conversation between a person and God? Under a variety of circumstances many of us do not know how to initiate or engage in a conversation and we may further be uncertain of when and how me may speak directly with the Supreme Being. To help us initiate conversations with God, certain prayers have been formulated over the centuries by learned clergy and lay leaders. This gives us a starting point when we wish to speak with God. Does anyone really believe that God who can see into our hearts and soul is bothered by a limited vocabulary or a faulty translation? I think not. My daily reading today suggest: "Limitations can be liberating when your strongest desire is living close to Me." Limited vocabulary? "Our Father ...."
ReplyDeleteBill Hooper
Well said good and faithful servant!! I appreciate your quote from your daily reading: "Limitations can be liberating when your strongest desire is living close to Me." I agree with you that God is not bothered by our limited vocabularies. However when the one praying uses language which is a deterrent or a distraction from the desire to live close to God, it can be valuable to liberate oneself from the distractions!
ReplyDeleteWhat it [the Lord's Prayer] teaches us to pray is that the temptation does not take us in. Don’t lead me into temptation. Deliver me from this evil that is set before me. Read more here: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-god-lead-us-into-temptation
ReplyDelete-- by John Piper, founder and teacher, DesiringGod.org