Introit
(Psalm 25)
St.
Luke 11:14–28
In
the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today's Introit
Psalm is the same as last Sunday's: Psalm 25. We look at this Psalm from a
different perspective this week. Last week we prayed that the Lord would
remember not our sins, but remember us according to His mercies in Christ. This
week we are praying especially for rescue from our enemies. "Turn to me
and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Let me not be put to
shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble. Pluck my feet out of the net."
When a Christian thinks, “Who is my enemy?” the
obvious answer is the devil. But of course, he is not obvious to everyone. Our
Lord said that he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. Perhaps his
greatest lie is that he doesn't exist; that He is just a superstition, an old
way of thinking, and he has no real power. But if our time and place will not
recognize the demonic forces, or if we do not see any visible manifestations of
the devil and his allies, we shouldn't assume that they do not exist. The devil
easily keeps us guarded and in his own possession when we deny that he exists. He
loves that, because we do not resist or fight what we don't believe and fear. The
influence of the Devil is not less these days because we don't see people
demon-possessed. The devil's influence is not less powerful because it is hidden.
It is more powerful.
It is worse than what Hollywood has shown us of
demons. The devil is a master liar. And our world loves lies. They are easier
to handle than truths. The devil twists and blinds man's thinking. We see this
in the reaction of the people of Judah to Jeremiah. He comes speaking the Word
of God, a call to repentance, and a warning of judgment for those who refuse. But
the people only hear this: "Jeremiah said something bad about our
city." And they prepare to kill him. Never mind that it is the Lord's
Word— not hate speech. Never mind that the Lord speaks it for the sake of
repentance, with the promise that He is faithful and just to forgive their
sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. It is very much like
the ridiculous conclusion of the Pharisees, that Jesus must be casting out
demons by the power of the prince of demons. Jesus easily shows the flaws in
their argument. They are confronted, just as Judah was by Jeremiah. And if it
is by the finger of God that Jesus casts out demons, they must acknowledge that
the Kingdom of God has come upon them.
So hear this Christians: Be
strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So writes St. Paul
in the chapter just after today's Epistle, where He describes in plain terms
what our Lord says in His parable about the strong man. The devil, that strong
man, had all of us. He ruled us and held us captive. We were darkness. We were
caught in the net. We were surrounded by enemies and put to all sorts of shame.
But now, Jesus, the stronger man has come, attacked the devil, taken away his
arms, and divided his spoils. And here is where we see that Psalm 25 holds
together. Because our enemies are not only external things. We are not
wrestling against flesh and blood and not even simply against demons, as if we
could pull out a sword and chop off the head of this dragon. Our enemies
include our own sinful flesh. The devil has an ally in us. Paul does not write
that we once were victims of darkness; he says we were darkness.
The weapons of the devil actually include our
sins. We are afflicted, assaulted, and taken captive by many spiritual enemies.
But we also cooperate with the enemy. When the strong man, fully armed,
guards his own palace, his goods are at peace, says Jesus; when the
stronger man, who is Jesus Himself, comes, there is division. We must
pray and fight against those three enemies of which the Catechism so often
speaks: the Devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. We must fight against
ourselves, that we not have hearts that are empty, idle, and waiting for the
unclean spirits to come back and take over.For then our last state would be
even worse than the enmity with God which we all have from birth. O Lord,
preserve us!
So we pray with Psalm 25: Consider
my affliction and my trouble! And we might expect the Psalm to continue,
"put an end to all these enemies that cause me affliction and trouble.” But
instead, the verse continues, and forgive
all my sins. Again with the sins? We need rescue from our enemies, not more
forgiveness! Oh how weak our faith is, dear saints, and how easily we are
deceived with empty words. The Stronger Man who comes to conquer Satan does it
by taking away the armor in which he trusted, to divide us from
the devil's keeping and separate us as a holy people for Himself. He takes away
what the devil holds against us. He takes away our sins. The enemies we face
are all out to keep us from having this: the forgiveness of sins. The
forgiveness of sins is the devil's undoing. The world doesn’t understand this,
because it neither believes in sins nor is willing to be righteous in any way
but through its own efforts. But our sins—our unholy alliance with the forces
of darkness, in which we once walked and toward which our hearts still incline—our
sins can only be dealt with by the blood of Christ. That is how He rescues us.
Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and
keep it.
For the Word is the finger of God. It casts out our enemies, because it
forgives our sins. And keeping it—guarding it, holding onto it, returning
constantly to it in repentance and faith—that is life. The Catechism teaches us
this when it speaks about that other tremendously powerful gift of God, by
which he touches our tongues and opens our mouths to speak: The Lord's Supper. These
Words, "given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," show us
that in the sacrament, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us
through these Words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life
and salvation. It is not that we need the forgiveness of sins plus many
other things too. Rather, we need the forgiveness of sins because it is the
answer to much more than we know. We think we need forgiveness only when we
feel guilty; but the forgiveness of our sins is the medicine, the antidote, the
weapon against all of our enemies. It is what removes shame from us. It is what
gives life. It is what emboldens us to be imitators and beloved children of God,
to walk in love and offer a fragrant sacrifice in every aspect of life.
Guard my soul and deliver me! we pray. And
Christ does. Our strong man, Jesus, has taken away what the devil used to hold
us captive. He has forgiven our sins. And He has not left us alone to await a
worse fate, another enemy, or the world's shame and affliction. He has blessed
us with His Word to hear and keep, so that we turn in the midst of all our
distress toward Him, that He would pluck our feet at last out of the net. In
Baptism He cast out the unclean Spirit from us and gave us His Holy Spirit. In
His Word of Absolution and in His Holy Supper, He again opens our mouths just
like the mute man in the Gospel. And we sing: Christ, Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world; have mercy upon us; grant us peace!
In
the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
This sermon was written in collaboration with Rev. Sean Daenzer, Trinity, Great Bend, & Peace, Barney, ND. 2016
