Deliver Us from Evil

An Ash Wednesday Sermon

Preparatory scripture readings: Isaiah 55:1-13; Psalm 51;Psalm 143; James 4:1-10; Matthew 6:7-15; Mark 3:20-35; Psalm 51; Ephesians 1:-3-4; 4:17-32; 5:1-15; 1 Peter 2:9-10

There are ten basic truths we need to review to remind ourselves of why we are here tonight. When I have named those ten truths, this sermon is over, so li sten fast.

Truth Number 1: In the beginning, God created human beings in his own image, with the goal that they would represent his nature and purposes in their dealings with one another and with all creation. The purpose of your life is to be a child of God showing your likeness to your Father God.

Truth Number 2: From the very first human beings, we have exchanged our destiny as children of God living in the image of God for what appear to us to be shortcuts to satisfaction. We have done this out of lack of trust that God’s way will get us to a desirable goal. God’s way seems too slow, too difficult, too costly, and so we trade it in for a cheap substitute, and we become less than we were meant to be. We were created to be great masterpieces, and we settle for being kindergarten finger paintings.

Truth Number 3: No matter how many times we have fallen short, and how badly we have messed things up, God has not given up on us. God chose Israel to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood representing God’s perfect character through their culture. After many centuries of Israel’s failings, God called the church of Jesus Christ to be a holy people and a royal priesthood, representing God’s perfect character and redeeming love across every cultural boundary. There have been many centuries of our falling short of that goal as well. Nevertheless, many lives are still being redeemed and transformed through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that counts for more than all the failings.

Truth Number 4: When we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the only appropriate response is for us to repent. Repenting does not mean wallowing in guilt and shame. Repenting means turning away from our moral shortcuts and turning back to faith in the goodness and sufficiency of God’s ways. We are here tonight to repent.

Truth Number 5: Sometimes when we have gotten off track, perhaps every time, we have not done so by ourselves. We are still personally responsible for our sinful choices, but we have had help in making those wrong choices. Our families of origin, our families of choice, our friendship circles, our choices of entertainment, our places of education, our places of work, even our religious institutions have in various ways misled us and perhaps even damaged us. We are still responsible for our personal sin, but there are evil influences from which we need to be delivered. It is right and proper for us to come here this evening praying, “Deliver us from evil” or “Deliver us from the Evil One, the Liar, the Deceiver, the Tempter, the Accuser of God’s people.” Jesus modeled that petition for his disciples. We pray it every time we repeat “The Lord’s Prayer.” Breaking free from evil influences is part of repenting.

Truth Number 6: Breaking free from evil influences does not often mean running away from home, quitting school, resigning your job, leaving your church in a huff, divorcing your spouse, no longer speaking to your friends. There are extreme cases where such steps may be necessary. But the perfect marriage, the perfect family, the perfect job, the perfect church does not exist…and if it did, the sin we bring to it would soon spoil it. We cannot go through life fleeing from every imperfect thing. Being delivered from evil most often means ceasing to be the victim of deception and instead becoming a vessel of truth and redeeming love.

Truth Number 7: Changing from a victim of deception to a vessel of truth and redeeming love has two parts. Part 1 is making sure that we are connected to the source of truth and redeeming love, who is God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We connect with the Source though activities such as reading our Bibles, praying, fellowshipping with mature Christians who can help us grow in our understanding—these are the ways that we turn things around. Part 2 is making sure that godly influence is flowing out from us, rather than letting evil influence flow into us. We don’t have to be a victim of evil influences. We can be a positive force in changing the influences around us.

Truth Number 8: The evil from which we need to be delivered is not just doing bad things, but failing to do the good things to which God is calling us. God did not create us just to refrain from doing bad things; God created us to do good things, to be active representatives of his goodness and love reaching out to a broken world. We need to be delivered from whatever is holding us back from being God’s active representatives.

Truth Number 9: One of the key ways evil works is to get us focused on self—self-righteousness, self-satisfaction, self-fulfillment, self-preference, self-protection, and so forth--rather than on the redeeming love and mission for which we have been created. Being delivered from evil means being centered on representing the redeeming heart of God in our interactions with the world. Jesus had to confront the Sadducees of the temple, the Pharisees of the synagogues, the citizens of his hometown, and even his own family about their self-serving, inward orientation. Jesus is still confronting his church on this point, and, when churches are declining and dying, it is often because they have refused to let Jesus deliver them out of self-centeredness into becoming what God created them to be, active agents of his redeeming love. This is a matter for repentance, for being delivered from evil. Maybe all of us need to be delivered from a bit of this problem.

Truth Number 10: Being delivered from evil includes being delivered from some things that sound pretty good. As the Apostle Paul says, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Even Jesus’ family was probably sincerely convinced that, in trying to take him away from his ministry, it was only thinking of his well-being. Among the things of which we repent, let us repent of things that sound good, but that cause us to stop short of God’s calling of us for this time and this place. Lord, deliver us from all manners of evil that hold us back from being all that you have created and called us to be.