The Battle for You
Luke 11:14-28
March 15, 2020 anno Domini – Redeemer
Who among us does not want peace? What a treasure when your health is good, your children are prospering, your job is stable, your stress is low, and the stock market is high.
Then you turn on the news which might as well begin every night under this banner, “Terror on Every Side. We’re all going to die.” Everything you made last year in the stock market you lost this past week. There’s a virus that has affected 130,000 people in the world, which is .0016 percent of the world’s population, and we’re hoarding supplies and getting ready for the end of the world.
Why is there no peace? Because you’re in the midst of a battle. There is a fight in all of creation, within your body, within every organization of human beings whether it be a government, a corporation, or a congregation. But take heart, while the battle is tough and terror filled, the war has already been won. And take warning you’re either on the winning side or the losing side. There is no neutral ground in this battle for your soul. You can’t stand in the midst of this battle field and pretend to be neutral. You either belong to the devil or you belong to Christ. You’re either living or dying. And it’s a tough battle because good is called evil and evil is called good.
Now Jesus was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled. This is the battle according to God’s own Word. God against Satan.
You were born possessed by Satan. Oh, he may not make you mute like the man in the text or throw you into a fire, or make you an uncontrollable monster, but he owned you. He had title to you and it was written in God’s own hand. God’s Word says that your sin is incompatible with God’s holiness. Your unrighteousness has no place in heaven. Because of sin the devil has full claim to you. He is the strong man of Jesus’ little parable in the text. He’s fully armed with some devastating weapons. He guards his possessions well, and his goods are safe because no human on earth can overpower an evil spirit.
All evil in you and the world is from the Evil One. When marriages are torn asunder that’s his work. When God’s good gifts are perverted he’s the perverter. When we’re addicted he’s giving us another bottle or flashing the next screen. When our hearts become callous toward the poor, suspicious of our neighbor, and willing to use someone for our own gain, he’s the cheerleader encouraging us. But that doesn’t mean you can use the old Flip Wilson excuse that the Devil made me do it. The right confession is that the Devil desires to own me and He’s got a strong ally in my own sinful heart. Lord, help me.
The Lord helps. Jesus undid evil. The demon was gone. The mute man spoke. This is good because the man is restored to what God intended. His tongue is now loose and can speak. But Jesus’ good is called evil. “Oh sure, you can make the mute man speak, but give us a real sign from heaven. Yes, you can cast out demons, but only because you’re Beelzebul himself.”
There is probably not a worse word you could call Jesus. Beelzebul was a slam on the Devil. The Jews made fun of Satan by calling him “Beelzebul” which meant Lord of the Flies, as in the flies that circle a manure pile. The Jews had a dump outside Jerusalem, where all the waste was deposited, and all the garbage, and also all the victims of Roman execution. It was a dump of death and dung, with smoldering fires and buzzing flies. That is what they said Satan ruled, but now they used that epithet for Jesus, the Son of God.
This is one of Satan’s tools against you. He calls good evil and his minions echo his sermons. No one really doubts that marriage between one man and one woman is not only good it’s the best place for children. Ask a school teacher the number one factor for determining a child’s success – a mom and a dad together engaged in their child’s life. Ask all the county and state workers who assist troubled youth and families. One man and one woman committed to each other in marriage is one of the best ways to avoid poverty, crime, and to ensure successful children. Even if none of that was true God gave marriage before the fall into sin. He says “It is very good.” But if I put on our church sign “God’s Will is one man and one woman for one lifetime” our church might get vandalized, you might be called a bigot, a homophobe, and it’s possible we might be charged with hate crimes.
Our enemy is not those who oppose marriage. Our enemy is Satan who has these people locked up in his prison house of mirrors where he distorts and destroys God’s good gifts making them look evil and making evil look good. This is how he attacks us from without.
But He attacks from within. Here he also uses something good from God against us. He uses God’s Law, the Ten Commandments. He used the Law to claim us when we were conceived in sin, but now, as soon as Christ has claimed us in baptism, the Devil comes at us. He unloads the Law on us like a massive carpet bombing. You called yourself a Christian and look what you do week after week. You’re no better now than you were before you believed. You haven’t forgotten what you did in High School, did you? Or in your 20’s? Or on that trip out of town? You keep coming back for forgiveness, but you are weak against your sin. You’re no child of God. He couldn’t love you.
When the Devil comes at you from within, defend yourself as Luther did, not with yourself, but with Jesus. Luther preached it this way. So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: “I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” When the Devil fires his darts at you, pricking your conscience, so you’re burning in guilt and shame, defend yourself with Christ. The waters of your baptism will douse that old devil’s darts. Declare God’s good word to the Devil and to yourself. “I am baptized. Christ Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead. Do you have that power Devil? Can you resurrect my sins from the Christ’s grave? Can you storm heaven and steal me from Jesus? I didn’t think so. Christ buried my sin and has already taken me to heaven. Every day in His prayers He brings me before the Father. You have no power against Christ and if you want to use the commandments against me try them on Jesus first. If you can get through Him then I’m fair game. Good luck with that.”
The same Christ that wins the battle for your conscience within is the One who helps us stand for good from without. Why do we oppose abortion, stand for marriage, believe Christ alone is the way to the Father, baptize infants, and close the communion rail to those who do not believe what we believe? Why are we willing to be called “strict,” “old-fashioned” or even “bigots” or “haters?” Because of Christ. He, the One who rose from the dead, the One who brings us to the Father, He said, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” That word “keep” does not mean obey. It’s the same word used earlier to indicate the strong man “guarding” his possessions. He treasures them. He holds them. So also with God’s Word. God’s Word brings us Jesus. God’s Word is our power against Satan. The Devil can’t talk back to God. He has no response to God’s forgiveness in Christ. But if we put holes in our armor, if we give up the value of human life, redefine marriage, deny Christ alone as the way of salvation, well any soldier will tell you what weak armor leads to – mortal wounds. So we guard the Word, because the Word is Christ’s Word, and Christ has won. So battle on dear Christian soldiers, in this confidence, even as the battle is fierce and the warfare long. You’ve already won. The victory is yours. Defend yourself in the name of Jesus Amen.