Date: March 30th
Preacher: Pastor Ashley Rosa-Ruggieri
Reading: John 14:15-20
Theme: Saftey and Deliverance
“You will be given another Advocate…who will be with you forever.” Our reading tonight offers us the promise that has been given to us by Jesus, in which we are granted relationship with the Holy Spirit. Meant to be a companion throughout our life, a part of the Trinity that stays as close to us as our very breath. This week we look at the Lord’s Prayer petition: “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.” In some cases, the first part goes, “Lead us not into temptation.” This petition has two parts, and so we will break it down. The first part is asking for safety or guidance away from the trials and temptations of our lives. So, our first responsive question today is this:
Q: What are common trials or temptations we face here on earth?
These examples are some of the first things to come to our heads, when we consider the situations and issues that we encounter in our lives which create trials and temptations. These conflicts often come in the same form as in literature, where we are the character and our conflicts come through others, society, and even ourselves. Within our own lives there are always examples we can think of that fall into these three types of conflict. And so, when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer for God to save us from the time of trial or lead us not into temptation, we are recognizing that these conflicts exist in our lives, and we cannot get through them on our own.
Q: How does evil manifest in our world?
The second part of this petition can sometimes be dismissed, especially in Western Christian contexts. We do not always like to consider that evil is still alive in the world, and sometimes even works in ways that we do not understand. When we pray this part of the petition, for God to deliver us from evil, we are recognizing that evil exists in the world. It may go by many names but evil exists among us nonetheless. This petition allows us to name some of our own vulnerability. To admit the possible fear, worry, anxiety, or pain that evil elicits from us. And we ask for God to deliver us from that evil when it arises in our lives and attempts to overpower us.
Q: How does the Holy Spirit lead, save, and deliver us from these trials, temptations, and powers of evil?
Our reading tonight is a reminder that we do not have a God that created us, and then went to be far away. We have a God, who created us, walked among us, and promises to be with us always. Tonight’s passage gives us the assurance that we have in the Holy Spirit. God has sent us an Advocate, a companion, to abide with us and remind us of the truth when the world tries to drown it out. This truth that God offers us safety and deliverance, that God’s love and grace are poured out upon us, and that God has promised to accompany us always and forever through the Holy Spirit. As we head into this fifth week of Lent, our reflection question for this next week is this:
Q: What is one way we can remind ourselves of God’s presence among us when we cry out for safety and deliverance?