Deliver Us From Evil | Trinity 13

Faith Lutheran Oregon, Wisconsin

“Deliver us from evil.” This is the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer, but how often is this the first thing we pray for? When something terrible happens to us, we pray: “God save me from this, make it stop.” When poverty, shame, or misfortune strikes, we pray, “God, please restore my life.” We pray it even at times of inconvenience; even sitting in traffic: “God, make this traffic clear up, I need to get somewhere.” Twenty-one years ago our country prayed it on this day when terrorists and evil struck on 9/11: “Deliver us from evil.” It’s a petition so often heard in the Psalms: “Make haste, O God, to deliver me, Make haste to help me, O Lord.” So we should pray for this. It is good. God wants us to pray to Him concerning all the things that affect our body and life.

But the petition “Deliver from evil,” is also so much more than that. It’s the sum of everything we pray for. It’s to be truly delivered from all evil.

And our text for today is perhaps a surprising place to find deliverance from evil, at least the kind we expect.

Sermon by Rev. Jeff Hendrix on the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:23–37 as well as the 7th Petition.