Sermon: 14 Pentecost (6 September 2009)
(Isaiah 35/Psalm 125/Ephesians 6:10-16/Mark 7:24-37)
And having done all, to stand…
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.
Do you think the Christian life is easy? Some think it is, or think it should be: just health, wealth, and prosperity all along the way – one victory after another. Some get famous and rich peddling this notion. But, that is just not my experience. I find the Christian life hard, hard as hell – literally – because all the powers of hell are arrayed against the soul set on salvation. In fact, I suspect the easy Christian life is not the Christian life at all. G. K. Chesterton likely got it right when he said, “The Christian life has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” [1] That is the experience of the saints of blessed memory and of the saints among us still.
Do you think the Christian life is reasonable? Some think it is, or think it should be: logical, orderly, all just cause and effect – amenable to human reason. Some write books and teach courses and grow careers espousing this notion. But, that is just not my experience. Penicillin is reasonable; healing prayer with anointing is not. Psychological disorders are reasonable; demonic possession is not. Death is reasonable; resurrection is not. Science is reasonable; faith is not: unless of course the world is radically different from our natural perceptions and thoughts, unless there is a spiritual reality even more fundamental and foundational than our physical experience. And that is the experience of the saints of blessed memory and of the saints among us still – a living experience of angels and archangels, of the church militant and the church triumphant, of God himself.
The Christian life is neither easy nor reasonable. It is a struggle in the realm of the spirit. So writes St. Paul to the Christians in Asia Minor.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:10-12, NKJV).[2]
The Christian worldview is unavoidably and unapologetically primitive, filled with angels and demons, saints and sinners, God and the devil. Spiritual forces of wickedness – principalities, powers, and rulers in the spiritual realm – war against God and against the people of God, intent on their everlasting destruction.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (1 Pe 5:8-9).
I have read the consistent witness of the saints in their lives and in their writings and I have known enough evil myself – both within and without – to believe this, to know this is true. The Christian life is struggle against spiritual forces and against institutions and individuals under their influence. Evil walks our streets; we’ve seen much of that in the news lately, individuals used by the evil one to inflict almost unimaginable harm upon the innocent. Evil infests our social and political institutions; a culture of death supports abortion, terrorism, state-sanctioned torture, war – all tools of destruction used by the evil one. Evil possesses our culture; you’ve seen and heard the level of human degradation in our music and film, in our art and literature – sexuality and violence and perversion used by the evil one to inflame the passions and separate man from God. Evil infiltrates our thinking and distorts our worldview; we’ve removed God from public discourse in our schools and in our courts and we’ve accepted the premises of relativism and tolerance – an implicit denial of God orchestrated by the evil one.
There is a war raging about us and there is no neutral territory. And while the foot soldiers may be men and women and human institutions, the true enemies are spiritual powers: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).
So it comes to this. We have powerful spiritual forces arrayed against us and against those we love – forces set upon our eternal destruction, forces both crafty and strong, forces who know our weaknesses and how best to exploit them. How then should we live? If it is a battle we face, then we must live as soldiers: vigilant, disciplined, equipped, and obedient to our Leader’s commands. We must not live carelessly – heads in the sand, ignoring the battle that rages about us.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Eph 6:13).
God, himself, has equipped us for the battle that we may be able to withstand the enemy; he has equipped us to overcome the weapons of our ancient foe – the weapons of deception, temptation, discord, and illusion.
Jesus once offered a group of Jewish would-be followers truth and the freedom which comes from that truth. He has equipped us with truth, righteousness, peace, and faith.
“If you abide in My word, your are My disciples. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. how can You say, ‘You will be made free’(John 8:31b-33)?”
When this group later claimed not only to be descendants of Abraham but also, through that lineage, to have God as their father, Jesus responded,
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).
The devil is a liar and is the father of deception; lies and deception are and always have been his weapons of choice in the war against God’s people. From the dawn of creation in the Garden to the culmination of the ages at the Great Judgment, the devil is the great deceiver of the nations. I do not know what lies he whispers into your ears, though I suspect you do. But I do know where truth is to be found and in whom truth is to be found. For, truth is no abstract notion, but a person: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” Jesus said to Thomas and Jesus says to all (John 14:6.) If the word whispered in your ear is not a word proclaimed from the rooftops by Jesus and his disciples, then it is a lie – a weapon of the evil one for your destruction. If the word whispered in your ear is not the word of the church proclaimed in Scripture and Creed, in bread and wine, in liturgy and prayer, then it is a lie – a weapon of the evil one for your destruction. If the word whispered in your ear and in your heart is not Jesus, then it is a lie. The only weapon we have against the deception of the evil one is the word and person of Truth: “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth” (Eph 6:14a).
Through his lies the devil leads us into temptation; so, rightly we pray to our Father in heaven to deliver us from the evil one. For the tempter comes to us all as he came to Jesus in the wilderness, preying on our weaknesses, twisting even scripture itself to suit his ends. It was through his discipline of prayer and fasting, through his devotion to the word, through his commitment to a life of righteousness – to the glory of his righteous God and Father – that Jesus conquered temptation. So it must be for us. I do not know what the tempter offers you when he meets you in the wilderness, though I suspect you know only too well. Does he appeal to your pride or inflame your passions? Does he promise you security or power? Does he entice you to judgment or hypocrisy? Such are the common temptations of us all.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13).
The way of escape is the way of righteousness: the way of prayer and fasting, the way of confession and repentance, the way of subduing the passions and purifying the heart, the way of life in the church and in dependence on the Spirit. Our weapon against the temptations of the evil one is righteousness: God’s absolute commitment to putting creation and man to rights again and our own Spirit-empowered commitment to righteousness of life. Stand therefore, “having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph 6:14b).
From the beginning the evil one has sown discord in God’s good creation and among God’s image bearers; it is another powerful weapon he wields against us. Eve entices Adam to sin and Adam accuses her before God: all at the instigation of the evil one. Cain rises up against Abel and spills his blood and his life: all at the instigation of the evil one. From individuals the discord spread to nations; there have been wars and rumors of war ever since: all at the instigation of the evil one. The powerful subjugate the weak; the rich oppress the poor; tribe murders tribe: all at the instigation of the evil one. From individuals to nations and back around again as families and homes are devastated by anger and bitterness and individuals are alienated from one another, from themselves, and from God: all at the instigation of the evil one. I do not know what bitterness and discord the evil one sows in your heart: what grudges your nurse, what forgiveness you withhold, what anger in you simmers – all at the instigation of the evil one. But you know only too well. Yet, into this cosmic and personal discord our God speaks a word – a good word, a gospel word, the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was himself God – a word of peace and reconciliation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:17-20, NIV).
The evil one wars against the world and against God’s people in the world with the power of hatred and discord. We counter with a stronger power – the power of reconciliation and peace. We counter whenever we proclaim the gospel of Christ with our lips and with our lives. We counter whenever we turn the other cheek, whenever we go the extra mile, whenever we forgive from the heart seventy times seven. We counter whenever we reject the bad news of anger and hatred and embrace the good news, the gospel, of peace and concord. Stand therefore, “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15).
The enemy also wages a fierce war with the weapons of illusion, blinding the world to the devil’s own existence and activity, and obscuring the reality of our God who is everywhere present and who fills all things. Every step away from the reality of revelation – revelation in Jesus, in the church and its sacraments, in the lives of the saints – is a step into the illusion of the evil one. It is a step away from life and toward death. Every forgetfulness of God or false notion of God is illusion. Every reliance solely on self is illusion. Every security founded on things of the world is illusion. Power is illusion. Pride is illusion. Sin is illusion. Everything not of faith is illusion. Faith is the reality.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:1-3, 6).
I do not know what illusions shimmer before your eyes cast there by the evil one. But I know that faith – the true faith and true practice of the church – can reveal them as the dust and ashes they are and can point the way to the reality that is our Lord Jesus Christ. “Above all, [take] the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
The world is a dangerous place, a battleground for the fate of the cosmos and the souls of men. Either we are engaged in the battle or we are casualties of it. And it is not a fair fight. Against us are all the forces of hell: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Our weapons are Truth, righteousness, peace, and faith. And our Champion Leader is the Victorious Christ. It is not a fair fight. The enemy has already been defeated by the Lamb of God slain from the foundations of the world, the Lamb of God who rose and who now lives forever. So, “my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…and having done all, to stand” (cf Eph 6:10-13). Amen.
[1] http://thinkexist.com/quotation/christianity_has_not_been_tried_and_found_wanting/206595.html , accessed 9/1/09.
[2] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
(Isaiah 35/Psalm 125/Ephesians 6:10-16/Mark 7:24-37)
And having done all, to stand…
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.
Do you think the Christian life is easy? Some think it is, or think it should be: just health, wealth, and prosperity all along the way – one victory after another. Some get famous and rich peddling this notion. But, that is just not my experience. I find the Christian life hard, hard as hell – literally – because all the powers of hell are arrayed against the soul set on salvation. In fact, I suspect the easy Christian life is not the Christian life at all. G. K. Chesterton likely got it right when he said, “The Christian life has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” [1] That is the experience of the saints of blessed memory and of the saints among us still.
Do you think the Christian life is reasonable? Some think it is, or think it should be: logical, orderly, all just cause and effect – amenable to human reason. Some write books and teach courses and grow careers espousing this notion. But, that is just not my experience. Penicillin is reasonable; healing prayer with anointing is not. Psychological disorders are reasonable; demonic possession is not. Death is reasonable; resurrection is not. Science is reasonable; faith is not: unless of course the world is radically different from our natural perceptions and thoughts, unless there is a spiritual reality even more fundamental and foundational than our physical experience. And that is the experience of the saints of blessed memory and of the saints among us still – a living experience of angels and archangels, of the church militant and the church triumphant, of God himself.
The Christian life is neither easy nor reasonable. It is a struggle in the realm of the spirit. So writes St. Paul to the Christians in Asia Minor.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph 6:10-12, NKJV).[2]
The Christian worldview is unavoidably and unapologetically primitive, filled with angels and demons, saints and sinners, God and the devil. Spiritual forces of wickedness – principalities, powers, and rulers in the spiritual realm – war against God and against the people of God, intent on their everlasting destruction.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (1 Pe 5:8-9).
I have read the consistent witness of the saints in their lives and in their writings and I have known enough evil myself – both within and without – to believe this, to know this is true. The Christian life is struggle against spiritual forces and against institutions and individuals under their influence. Evil walks our streets; we’ve seen much of that in the news lately, individuals used by the evil one to inflict almost unimaginable harm upon the innocent. Evil infests our social and political institutions; a culture of death supports abortion, terrorism, state-sanctioned torture, war – all tools of destruction used by the evil one. Evil possesses our culture; you’ve seen and heard the level of human degradation in our music and film, in our art and literature – sexuality and violence and perversion used by the evil one to inflame the passions and separate man from God. Evil infiltrates our thinking and distorts our worldview; we’ve removed God from public discourse in our schools and in our courts and we’ve accepted the premises of relativism and tolerance – an implicit denial of God orchestrated by the evil one.
There is a war raging about us and there is no neutral territory. And while the foot soldiers may be men and women and human institutions, the true enemies are spiritual powers: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).
So it comes to this. We have powerful spiritual forces arrayed against us and against those we love – forces set upon our eternal destruction, forces both crafty and strong, forces who know our weaknesses and how best to exploit them. How then should we live? If it is a battle we face, then we must live as soldiers: vigilant, disciplined, equipped, and obedient to our Leader’s commands. We must not live carelessly – heads in the sand, ignoring the battle that rages about us.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Eph 6:13).
God, himself, has equipped us for the battle that we may be able to withstand the enemy; he has equipped us to overcome the weapons of our ancient foe – the weapons of deception, temptation, discord, and illusion.
Jesus once offered a group of Jewish would-be followers truth and the freedom which comes from that truth. He has equipped us with truth, righteousness, peace, and faith.
“If you abide in My word, your are My disciples. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. how can You say, ‘You will be made free’(John 8:31b-33)?”
When this group later claimed not only to be descendants of Abraham but also, through that lineage, to have God as their father, Jesus responded,
“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).
The devil is a liar and is the father of deception; lies and deception are and always have been his weapons of choice in the war against God’s people. From the dawn of creation in the Garden to the culmination of the ages at the Great Judgment, the devil is the great deceiver of the nations. I do not know what lies he whispers into your ears, though I suspect you do. But I do know where truth is to be found and in whom truth is to be found. For, truth is no abstract notion, but a person: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” Jesus said to Thomas and Jesus says to all (John 14:6.) If the word whispered in your ear is not a word proclaimed from the rooftops by Jesus and his disciples, then it is a lie – a weapon of the evil one for your destruction. If the word whispered in your ear is not the word of the church proclaimed in Scripture and Creed, in bread and wine, in liturgy and prayer, then it is a lie – a weapon of the evil one for your destruction. If the word whispered in your ear and in your heart is not Jesus, then it is a lie. The only weapon we have against the deception of the evil one is the word and person of Truth: “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth” (Eph 6:14a).
Through his lies the devil leads us into temptation; so, rightly we pray to our Father in heaven to deliver us from the evil one. For the tempter comes to us all as he came to Jesus in the wilderness, preying on our weaknesses, twisting even scripture itself to suit his ends. It was through his discipline of prayer and fasting, through his devotion to the word, through his commitment to a life of righteousness – to the glory of his righteous God and Father – that Jesus conquered temptation. So it must be for us. I do not know what the tempter offers you when he meets you in the wilderness, though I suspect you know only too well. Does he appeal to your pride or inflame your passions? Does he promise you security or power? Does he entice you to judgment or hypocrisy? Such are the common temptations of us all.
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13).
The way of escape is the way of righteousness: the way of prayer and fasting, the way of confession and repentance, the way of subduing the passions and purifying the heart, the way of life in the church and in dependence on the Spirit. Our weapon against the temptations of the evil one is righteousness: God’s absolute commitment to putting creation and man to rights again and our own Spirit-empowered commitment to righteousness of life. Stand therefore, “having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Eph 6:14b).
From the beginning the evil one has sown discord in God’s good creation and among God’s image bearers; it is another powerful weapon he wields against us. Eve entices Adam to sin and Adam accuses her before God: all at the instigation of the evil one. Cain rises up against Abel and spills his blood and his life: all at the instigation of the evil one. From individuals the discord spread to nations; there have been wars and rumors of war ever since: all at the instigation of the evil one. The powerful subjugate the weak; the rich oppress the poor; tribe murders tribe: all at the instigation of the evil one. From individuals to nations and back around again as families and homes are devastated by anger and bitterness and individuals are alienated from one another, from themselves, and from God: all at the instigation of the evil one. I do not know what bitterness and discord the evil one sows in your heart: what grudges your nurse, what forgiveness you withhold, what anger in you simmers – all at the instigation of the evil one. But you know only too well. Yet, into this cosmic and personal discord our God speaks a word – a good word, a gospel word, the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was himself God – a word of peace and reconciliation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:17-20, NIV).
The evil one wars against the world and against God’s people in the world with the power of hatred and discord. We counter with a stronger power – the power of reconciliation and peace. We counter whenever we proclaim the gospel of Christ with our lips and with our lives. We counter whenever we turn the other cheek, whenever we go the extra mile, whenever we forgive from the heart seventy times seven. We counter whenever we reject the bad news of anger and hatred and embrace the good news, the gospel, of peace and concord. Stand therefore, “having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15).
The enemy also wages a fierce war with the weapons of illusion, blinding the world to the devil’s own existence and activity, and obscuring the reality of our God who is everywhere present and who fills all things. Every step away from the reality of revelation – revelation in Jesus, in the church and its sacraments, in the lives of the saints – is a step into the illusion of the evil one. It is a step away from life and toward death. Every forgetfulness of God or false notion of God is illusion. Every reliance solely on self is illusion. Every security founded on things of the world is illusion. Power is illusion. Pride is illusion. Sin is illusion. Everything not of faith is illusion. Faith is the reality.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:1-3, 6).
I do not know what illusions shimmer before your eyes cast there by the evil one. But I know that faith – the true faith and true practice of the church – can reveal them as the dust and ashes they are and can point the way to the reality that is our Lord Jesus Christ. “Above all, [take] the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”
The world is a dangerous place, a battleground for the fate of the cosmos and the souls of men. Either we are engaged in the battle or we are casualties of it. And it is not a fair fight. Against us are all the forces of hell: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Our weapons are Truth, righteousness, peace, and faith. And our Champion Leader is the Victorious Christ. It is not a fair fight. The enemy has already been defeated by the Lamb of God slain from the foundations of the world, the Lamb of God who rose and who now lives forever. So, “my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…and having done all, to stand” (cf Eph 6:10-13). Amen.
[1] http://thinkexist.com/quotation/christianity_has_not_been_tried_and_found_wanting/206595.html , accessed 9/1/09.
[2] Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the New King James Version ®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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