After forgiving those who sin against us we must be sure to not succumb to the sins of judging and condemning the one who sinned against us!
We all know that there is great danger in not forgiving those who hurt us. It is no accident that, after we pray for forgiveness and remind God that we have willingly forgiven others, Jesus talks about being led 'into temptation'. One of the greatest temptations we face in life is to judge and condemn others. I believe Jesus was talking about judging (condemning) others and specifically the one who most recently harmed you!
Francis prayed, "And lead us not into temptations . . ." 'neither hidden nor apparent, neither sudden nor persistent' "but deliver us from evil". . . 'past, present and future. Amen.'One sign that judging is a truly terrible sin is that, after doing it, we see the fruit of this sin - we conclude that the other person is "not as good as" we are - resulting in pride, arrogance and presumption. This seems reasonable since we have proof of the others 'inferiority' because, didn't they just sin!? We feel we have the right to judge because we feel confident in our own righteousness. (This is true EVEN IF WE COMMIT THE VERY SAME SINS against others that this person just did to us!)
However, seeing others as being 'less' is often unjustified. (Remember the story of the scribe and publican praying in the temple that Jesus told!?) Francis said that 'We are only what we are in the sight of God and nothing more!' Only God can truly see us - inside and out - for what we are.
Judging is wrong because, unless it comes from God, it is inherently unjust. 'How can someone who does the same evil deeds judge and condemn others for those same deeds that he or she commits herself?', St. Paul said. Also, 'Man looks on the outward appearance but God judges the heart'. Sometimes, after judging, we find out that the person didn't actually do anything wrong! It may appear that they stole something, etc. but it only SEEMED that way. For example, the thing we thought they stole actually belonged to them in the first place!
The devil is known to 'accuse the children of God, day and night, before the throne of God', St. Paul said. Jesus said, "I have not come to condemn the world but to give my life a ransom for many." As followers of Jesus we should act like Jesus and not like the 'accuser', our enemy! To judge and condemn others, even in our hearts, is to follow the devil's example because judging and accusing is not what our Savior Jesus does - He understands and forgives.
A 'temptation' is some 'evil' or unjust action (or thought) to which our sinful and greedy heart finds itself drawn. From this we can conclude that it is not God who leads us into temptation. As St. James said, 'God is not evil nor does He lead us to do evil. Rather, we sin when our wicked impulses draw us to do what is wrong.' Jesus also talked about this, ". . . it is from the heart of men that all evil and sinful desires arise." We should not fear God leading us wrong but rather our own sinful hearts.
Scholars of Biblical languages tell us that those who wrote in the Aramaic language (the primary language of the New Testament) did not have punctuation. Therefore, the words "lead us not into temptation" could also be written "lead us, but not into temptation". The weight of scripture makes it very clear that God DOES NOT tempt us to do what is wrong. Jesus tells us here to pray that God will lead us (obviously into what is good and right) and (implicitly) to help us restrain our sinful impulses.
To sin means that we act in a way that is hurtful and wrong - the opposite of what God has told us is good and right. However, it can be difficult to correctly judge whether a person has sinned because what is sinful to one person might not be sinful to another. Also, as previously stated, looks can be deceiving and the sin may not be something we can see but something hidden in the depths of our heart.
St. Paul said, "All things are pure to the pure of heart". Also, in another place, he tells us "We know that all things are good, made by God, but it is from their own hearts, filled with corruption, that this evil arises, polluting the good thing and making it into something that is evil". For example, having a glass of wine every day is good for your health but to an alcoholic, drinking wine is truly evil and having one sip can propel them down the slippery path of self-destruction! In like manner, going to a museum and seeing beautiful works of art depicting the human body can be inspiring but for one who struggles against sexual sin, the naked bodies depicted in art can bring up lustful thoughts. We know that wine and art are not evil but what our wicked heart does with them can be!
One characteristic of a sinful tendency is that it often leads to excess - an abuse of the object we sin with or an abuse (or misuse) of our body to 'enjoy' that sinful activity. Remember Jesus said that sin resides in the heart and St. Paul calls our 'flesh' sinful. The "Flesh" as St. Paul describes it is that aspect of our body which is urgent in it's desire to act without restraint in pursuing sensual pleasure. It seeks to exploit the good things of God greedily, casting aside any sense of responsibility (without thought of God's will or what is good for those affected by our actions). Although eating is good, gorging ourselves, eating even after our need for food has been met - is sinful. Eating is good but eating to excess is the sin of gluttony.
When we ask God to not 'lead us into temptation' we are asking Him to help us to fight the sinful tendencies of our flesh and to persist in pursuing what is good. Francis' response to this part of the Lord's prayer seems strange since he doesn't talk about temptation, sin or lust. Perhaps, at the time he was meditating on the Lord's prayer, he was already so pure that he didn't have any 'sins of the flesh' like the rest of us!
Francis focuses on what is at the heart of each temptation or trial we face - choosing to not trust that our heavenly Father really loves us or will provide for us. All of us have things that worry us so the question the devil always tries to keep at the forefront of our minds is: 'you have good reason to worry because God neither cares about you nor does He plan on helping you in your time of need'. Giving in to this temptation can cause spiritual death - separation from God.
Those who believe these lies of the devil have 'lost the faith'. Satan likes it when we have a 'form of godliness but deny the power of it', as St. Paul said. He likes it when we are content with having the mere appearance of being Jesus follower of, but in reality don't really trust God, try to follow Him or hold ourselves to the standard of behavior that Jesus set for us by His example. When we REALLY don't trust God for everything, REALLY don't believe His promises to us or that He REALLY loves us, then it is easy to settle for the mere appearance of being 'religious'. The devil likes this kind of 'faith' since it makes us like 'whitened sepulchers which appear beautiful and pure on the outside but are full of dead men's bones and all corruption!' as Jesus said. The devil knows this 'faith' is spurious and without substance. These are the people that Jesus called 'Hypocrites!' because they say one thing with their lips - "I believe!' - but their heart is actually empty of true faith. Jesus said, "They draw near to me with their lips but their hearts is far away".
It is this temptation to not trust God that Francis prays is neither 'hidden nor apparent, sudden or persistent'. This destruction of faith - going through some hard experience and concluding that God either does not exist, cannot help or chooses not to help - is what Francis truly fears! We all have trials related to our health, finances, relationships and many (seemingly too many!) other things. It is when things are most hard that we are most tempted to stop trusting God.
Francis concludes by asking that God 'deliver us from evil' - all evil. Evil from the past - sins, temptations and trials. Evil from the present - those hurtful and destructive things that are happening to us now. And evil from the future. Evil can be defined as anything that can separate us from God, causing spiritual death.
The main concern Francis has, is above all, that nothing separate us from God and His love. It is only in Him that we can reach our full stature as human beings, becoming the children of God. It is only in Him that our hunger and thirst for life and meaning can be met. He only is the answer to all we need and everything we could ever want. "I count all things but dung in comparison with the excellency of knowing God my Savior!" St. Paul said. St. Paul thought that giving up everything, even his life, to get what God offered was more than just a far trade - it was a GREAT deal!
PRAYER: God and Father, help us to not believe the lies of the enemy but trust You for everything. You ask us to give up our lives for You with the promise that You will bless us beyond our hopes and dreams. We believe Your promises and willingly offer ourselves to You. Help us to not judge others but to forgive them their failings, feeling compassion for them like You do for us. Lord, please keep far away from us the temptation to ever doubt You, to ever turn from You. Lead us Lord to light, to love and to all goodness. You are everything to us and from You we get all blessings that causes our hearts to overflow with joy. Alleluia! Amen.
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