Sermon – May 17th, 2026
Hope Lutheran Church, Port Coquitlam BC
Text: 1 Peter 5:5-11
Theme: “Humble yourselves”
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Intr – The name Manfred Von Richthofen perhaps doesn’t ring a bell for most of us, but his nickname may be well known: “The Red Baron.” Red was the color of many of the planes with which Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen flew and took planes down, more than any other known record, during World War I. As far as the official numbers go, he sent at least 80 aircrafts hopelessly to the ground.
On April 21st, 1918, the Red Baron started to chase a Canadian airplane that was trying to escape from him. In the pursuit, he ended up entering behind the enemy’s lines, diving at a very low altitude. He also didn’t notice another Canadian plane behind him who came to help his friend. It is not known for sure whether it was a shot from the ground or from the pursuing plane which, that day, shot the Baron down, a single bullet in his chest. What we do know is that he was shot dead for the mistake of going too far, for too long and too low into the enemy’s territory.
It might not be daily, but in many moments, we are red barons, flying after temptations for a long time, too far and too low, entering beyond the enemy’s lines. We forget that we are not as invincible as we would like to be. Not even close. When we realize it then, we become easy targets to the enemy who is ready to shoot us down.
Peter in our epistle today is warning us against the temptations of the devil that ultimately aim to drive us away from Christ. It may start with a very small, almost inoffensive thing. However, in time it may generate a ripple effect that will push us away from faith and Him.
Listen again to Peter’s counsel: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
It is important to be warned about the temptations. But even more important is what Peter says next, “resist him, firm in your faith.” As we stand in faith we stand in the knowledge of God’s will. And that protects us from falling for the ultimate temptation: to believe that the lion is not as harmful, or… “does it even exist? Or is the devil just a legend created by the Church to control people by fear?”
Yes, perhaps we may have what I called in another sermon our “favourite temptations.” The ones we find justification for, stretch our tolerance with, and way to easily indulge in.
I think here about Judas. Someone who could have been with the other 11 when Jesus ascended to heaven. But he wasn’t. He was dead. What led him to betray His best friend and promised Messiah? Think about how much stretching and accommodation he had to perform in his conscience so that he would comfortable with what he was planning to do, and effectively ended up doing.
Do we think we are better than Judas? In some sense, we may be, for we go back to Christ’s forgiveness when we sin. But we are human, and if we allow our consciences to perform the same type of accommodation for wrong things we desire to do, only God knows where that will end.
When we think about the History of the Church and many false teachings and heresies that arose over the centuries, not all of them started as a direct attack on the Truth. Rather, in many of them people didn’t pay attention to the first small departures; then their thoughts became their norm, leading to many distortions and blunt errors. They might have been sincerely grappling with important theological questions, but they failed to recognize the beginning of the dissonance. They ignored the lion, ignored the advice to stay firm in faith, and eventually their temptation became their orientation.
Not only in the past, but the present brings similar situations too. We see even inside Christian circles the Church being called outdated; old doctrines are hastily dumped in favour of more progressive ones; the Bible is broken in a million pieces to be rebuilt, in an attempt to convey what might have been God’s intention. We see constant changes in the list of commandments (what was wrong yesterday is right today, and vice versa), and so on. Some of these movements don’t sound like blatant heresy but attempts to convey the Gospel to the 21st man. Still, whenever there’s departure from the Orthodox teaching, there the Lion prowls even louder, knowing that he is just about to have a big, fat dinner.
Yes, there are many opportunities to fly too far, too low and for too long into temptation’s field, leading to being eventually taken down by the enemy. How much mental exercise do you make to have your conscience comfortable and appeased when you are going to indulge in your favourite temptation?
Now, where does it all begin? Usually, with pride. Lack of humbleness. St, Peter’s counsel then is timely and timeless: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” Also, we should not only see this out there but remember Paul’s words: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” As sinners, temptations constantly knock at our door and invite us to ignore the perils.
At those times when temptation appeals to you, when you realize you’ve ignored the warnings and you are flying low, far and dangerously, there is a place to go. Or rather, a place to return to: near to the one where the Son of God went – the cross. He went that far and that low, where no one else could go, because He wanted to bring us close to Him. And because he knew He was going to shoot down the enemy in his own line. He cares for you – key words here. He does the work no one else can do. His work brings health to the soul through faith by forgiving our sins and giving us His Word and Sacraments. His work brings protection and security by delivering it from Hell and giving us eternal life.
Faith in Christ + Humbleness is the essential way to fly safely and resist temptation. He not only brought us close, but he also assured us that we can fly with Him wherever we go, for as long as it takes, wherever we are. Especially, not giving in easily, and not losing sight of the limits of our weaknesses in the face of temptations. He’s invincible. We are not.
This doesn’t eliminate our daily struggle but puts it under the One who is stronger than the prowling lion. And we need Him, for that struggle is not abstract. Temptation not always announce itself with a clear sign, but shows up in small moments — the conversation that ends up in gossip, the screen that keeps you from what matters, the shortcut that seems harmless, the slow cultivating of resentment instead of release. It happens gradually, quietly, one small compromise at a time. And that’s exactly why Peter calls us to stay alert — not paranoid, but awake. Grounded in Christ. Because the one who wants to bring you down is not necessarily waiting for a dramatic moment. He’s patient.
But so is the One who holds you. Jesus cares for you. Think about what it means to know that someone is thinking about you. Maybe you’re going through a hard week — tired, stretched thin, feeling invisible — and then you find out that someone, without you even asking, was already talking to someone else on your behalf. They were already making a call, or putting in a good word – already caring. Think about how much that means. Now imagine that it’s not a friend, not a family member — but the Son of God. And He’s not making a phone call. He’s praying for you. Hear His words in John 17:
“I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Cc – Christ, and Christ alone, gives us the assurance that, when we are attacked – and that will happen more often than we’d like it to (that old lion the devil, keeps prowling around as hungry as ever), we don’t need to despair. We know that suffering will always come. However, we know also that He has already come to give us strength and courage facing the storm. And, unlike the Red Baron, whose flying career never took off again, we will be kept by Him in our flight path, through every temptation, heading the House of the Father.
Photo by Phyllis Lilienthal: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wwi-biplanes-in-flight-over-florida-sky-32588239/
