Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
By: Rev. Charles Crutchfield
Friends: As it happens, I’ve been asked to reflect on the phrase in the Lord’s Prayer “….And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil….” These words challenged me for years.
My name is Charles Crutchfield. I’ve been married to Karen for 55 ½ wonderful years. I am a fourth generation United Methodist pastor which accounts for 12 different home addresses in five different states and Scotland (where we both attended the University of Edinburgh). We have both had the privilege of serving the UMC as a pastoral family, annual conference leaders, general agency members and in the episcopacy. That said, being part of the Central family since 2015 has been extraordinarily special for us. Finally, it is “Our” church home.
I do not know when I did not know the Lord’s Prayer. As a child it became a part of my faith framework to be repeated from memory. As I became a little older, and perhaps a bit more thoughtful I wondered about the phrase “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” I got it about the deliverance from evil, but would God intentionally lead us into temptation? Must we pray for deliverance from that? I know what the words seem to say. But what do the words actually mean?
A very wise pastor once said to me that words of scripture point beyond themselves. When I understood this, the light began to dawn. Now, when I read “lead us not into temptation” I also recall David’s words, “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil….” And then I remember the words from the Epistle of James, “God tempts no one.” And further, “One is tempted by his own desire.” I remember Jesus’ words to love one another as he has loved us. I remember Jesus saying that loving God and neighbor are the very heart of the Gospel. Would that loving, gracious God do so unloving a thing as to intentionally tempt us to sin and failure? I believe not! Scriptures help reveal the deeper meaning of these words. This is a cry that recognizes our very real, personal inability to resist temptation. It is a desperate cry to be embraced and led by a God who does indeed deliver us from our weaknesses, our fears and sins.
The wise pastor I mentioned also said to me, “Prayer never leaves us where it finds us.” These words in the Lord’s Prayer, every time I pray them, remind me that in an age of loneliness and isolation, a time of fear and temptation, there is One whose constant love walks with me. I am, no, we are never alone.
