a kingdom built of seeds

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

What does this mean? Save us from ourselves. God is not the cause of temptation, of our choices and actions, nor of the resulting suffering. If people are the problem then they can’t be the solution.

So we pray, Deliver us. From ourselves, our selfishness, our pride, our greed. From our ego. From “me first” and “my people first” and “my nation first” and “America first.”

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Wasn’t original sin birthed in the temptation, “You know better than God”?

Our temptation now is to believe, “You know better than the Christ.” Yes, he said to love our enemies, to forgive, to be meek peacemakers. But surely we know better now, don’t we? We need empires and military might. We need walls and borders. We need to be the powerful, not the weak, in order to guard our Christian values and keep our nation a Christian one. Surely so much can’t be asked of us, not when we have a country to protect, a culture war to wage.

Those we fight against in the name of Christianity are the ones the Christ invites to his table. The lost sheep we push further and further away are the ones for whom the Christ spreads his arms in welcome.

Woe to us, the religious. Woe to us, the powerful. Woe to us, the insiders who judge the outsiders.

Save us from ourselves. “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” We do what is right in our own eyes. Worst of all, we ascribe our rightness to God and place our actions under the banner of heaven. We come in war, not peace.

The temptations of power. Who can resist them? “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. How? Clothe yourself with the Christ.

Teach us to become like the Christ.

(Subscribe or check back in for more upcoming content, and please share if you feel inclined. Feel free to reach out if you have any comments or feedback.)