Lent 3
– Luke 11:14-28 – March 18th and 19th,
2017
In the Name of Christ the Crucified +
In the Name of Christ the Crucified +
Excuses
in this world are a dime a dozen, especially when it comes to the
things of God. This is just part of our sinful, fallen nature. We
like to come up with excuses, with seemingly reasonable arguments for
why we should ignore the Word of God and just go on doing what we’ve
been doing – where we can find an excuse to ignore Christ Jesus, to
push His death and resurrection into a corner – treat as though
it’s only something that shapes our afterlife and not our very
lives and being now.
Excuses
are nothing new. We see one in our Gospel text today. “Now
[Jesus] was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had
gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. But some of
them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of
demons.’” What these people are
doing right here is making an excuse. They want their normal lives
to continue without any ripples – and seeing the Messiah come,
seeing the kingdom of darkness overthrown causes ripples, causes a
change in a person’s life. And so they make an excuse – eh, not
really from God – He’s just using demonic powers. Now, yes, we
know that this is a silly argument, but, put yourself in the shoes of
someone back in that day. They weren’t skeptics like us – they
knew, rightly, that demonic powers were very real. And so, the
suggestion that Christ might be casting out demons by demons is
almost reasonable – you had tales and stories of all sorts of
people who would invoke the spirits to their will – so the idea of
one guy using a big demon to beat up on a little demon – not so
strange in those days.
But
Jesus knows that it is just an excuse – and He cuts right though
it. Three things. First, there is the idea of a House Divided.
Satan isn’t dumb – he’s not going to fight against himself, and
this is a fighting against, a beating down of the demonic. Second,
Jesus points out that many folks in Israel at this time are casting
out demons in Jesus’ Name. This happens – two chapters earlier
in Luke the disciples had been sort of freaked out by this –
there’s some guy we don’t know casting out demons in Your Name,
Jesus! If the sons of Israel are casting out demons in Jesus’ name
– any accusation you make against Him rolls downhill on to them –
is that the argument you want to make, people? And third, and this
is the important one – “But if it is by
the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has
come upon you.” This is a Messianic
statement – this is bold. This is Christ saying, “I’m the
Messiah, and I am here to reign and rule, my Kingdom of redemption
and forgiveness is here – and are you really going to be opposing
that – because that is a horrible thing to oppose.” And so Jesus
lays bare what He is doing – He is the stronger man who comes into
this world to beat down Satan and wrest fallen creation back from
him, wrest you and I from the kingdom of Satan and bring us to the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness and His holiness.
Indeed,
my friends, this is what Christ accomplished for us in our Baptism –
it is what He does to us today through His Word, through His Supper.
He comes and brings forgiveness and life and showers it upon us –
calls us out of darkness, calls us away from our sins unto a life of
love and care. And yet, the excuses still come. And not just from
rank and gross unbelievers, not just from the people who have never
heard, not just from the people who have been taught lies from their
youth – but even from among us, from the Christians who should know
better. We make excuses. Need I go over them now? We don’t have
the time, for the list is far too long for one sermon. But you know
them, at least you know the ones that tempt you. And the thing is –
every excuse we make will sort of sound reasonable and okay – until
we examine it under the light of the Word of God, and it crumbles.
But here is the thing – Satan is going to try to tempt you to
minimize the role, minimize the time you spend in Church hearing
God’s Word preached, minimize the times when you receive Christ’s
Supper, minimize the time you spend studying and pondering the Word
of God. And why?
“When
the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through
waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will
return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds
the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there.
And the last state of that person is worse than the first.’”
This may be one of the more chilling things that Jesus says. But
think about it for a moment. Take the person who has always been an
unbeliever, who’s never been a Christian. When they are up to no
good, at least they're honest about it – at least they admit that
they are just out for themselves, that they are just looking out for
number one. But what happens to the person who knows better, who
knew what is good and right… and then ends up ignoring it and
falling away? They’ll be just as wicked and self-centered as the
other guy, but what do you hear from them? “Oh, how dare you, I’m
a good person!” Won’t even admit their wickedness – and that
is being truly depraved. It’s one thing to do bad because you are
foolish and think its fun – it’s another thing entirely to do
things that are bad and then say that you’re a good little
Christian. The worst, the most obstinate people are the ones who
used to be faithful, who were put in order… but then stopped paying
attention, and just started to go along with the flow of this world,
and slipped and slid and became worse and worse while pretending and
assuming that everything was just fine. This is what Christ is
warning us against here – this is a warning to us today. It is
possible for us Christians, for the we who believe, to stumble and
fall away into vice and shame and even all the way into utter
unbelief, where on the last day we could be those crying Lord, Lord,
and who hear, “Depart from Me, I do not know you.” This is a
warning against letting our own complacency and self-confidence lead
to an utter fall.
So,
how is this to be avoided? We hear at the very end of our lesson.
“As He said these things, a woman in the
crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that
bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!’ But He said,
‘Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!’”
Now, dear friends in Christ – you need to hear our Lord’s Word’s
rightly. Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. We
hear that Word “keep” and suddenly the works righteous preachers
are off to the races – oh, you’ve got to do this and that and if
you drink or smoke or use playing cards you’re just kicked off the
holy bus. Not the point – in fact – not even the right idea. I
don’t like going into Greek in the sermon too often – that’s
what Bible study, where I have my nice big white board, is for.
However – the Word here is “Phulassontes” – which means
“guards”, or keeps safe, or protects. The idea here isn’t one
of going and doing a giant checklist, but of clinging to the Word,
paying attention to it. This is not a call to action, but a call to
attention – that we are to be hearers of the Word – those who
hear the Word of God and believe it, who continually hear it and
remain in it – as opposed to those who hear it, and then end up
making excuses and ignoring it and falling off into all sorts of
wickedness.
And
lest you think I am just making stuff up – that keep doesn’t mean
to simply protect and listen to the Word, let me ask you a two
questions that all of you over the age of 13 should have down pat.
What is the 3rd
Commandment? Remember the Sabbath day by KEEPING
it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that
we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold
it sacred and gladly hear
and learn it. Do you see how that works? As Christians we are to
hear the Word, we are to treat it as valuable and continually pay
attention to it – we are to protect and safeguard our time in the
Word. That’s what this is about. And why is this to be our
attitude? “Blessed are those who hear
the Word of God and keep it.” Because
it is in hearing the Word of God, in hearing the Gospel of Christ
Jesus, in hearing of His battle against Satan, His victory by His
death upon the Cross and the Resurrection, that Satan is defeated in
our lives. The Word of God gives to us what it says, what it
proclaims – and so when the Word of God proclaims Christ’s
victory and forgiveness, it drives Satan away from us and forgives us
our sins. Moreover, with the Word of God there is always the Holy
Spirit – wherever the Word of God is being proclaimed, there the
Holy Spirit is – and when the Word of God enters through your ears,
the Holy Spirit enters there as well. And what does that mean? It
means you are not left like that empty house, simply waiting to be
consumed by wickedness – it means that you are a filled house,
filled by God – indeed that you are God’s own temple. Do you see
how this works – the way to avoid the fall into self-righteousness
is to hear the Word of God. You hear the Word of God which cuts
across your excuses and casts them down. You hear the Word of God
which pricks your conscience and drives you to confess your sins.
And then most wonderfully, you hear the Word of God which brings you
Christ Jesus and gives the life and salvation He gives to you – and
then you are full, then you are safe, then you are rescued out of
Satan’s Kingdom and rejoice knowing that you are in the Kingdom of
Christ.
And so
dear friends, be wary of the appealing excuses to avoid the Word of
God that Satan will throw your way – for the old evil foe knows
that while he is stronger than you and can overpower you, he cannot
overpower Christ and His Word. As such the devil will try to
convince you to separate yourself from Christ and His Word. Instead,
keep His Word, hold fast to it, safeguard it in your life – for in
the Word you are given Christ Jesus, the source of life and
salvation. Christ has defeated Satan, and by the continual and
constant and repeated proclamation of His Word and by the His holy
Supper, He beats down and defeats Satan in your own life. God make
us to be partakers in His victory. In the Name of Christ the
Crucified +
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