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Making Sense of the Devil *

April 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The Line Between Good & Evil
Making Sense of the Devil *
Sycamore Creek Church
November 22/23, 2015
Tom Arthur

Peace friends!

Today we continue in a three-week series on The Line between Good and Evil. Last week we looked at what evil is and how we overcome it. Next week we’re looking at evil’s ultimate defeat. And today we’re looking at making sense of the devil.

In 1942 C.S. Lewis, the British author of The Chronicles of Narnia, wrote a fictional set of letters from a senior demon named Screwtape mentoring a lesser demon named Wormwood. In the introduction he wrote:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors…Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar. Not everything that Screwtape says should be assumed to be true even from his own angle…

Screwtape answers this question of the Devil himself in one of those letters:

MY DEAR WORMWOOD,

I wonder you should ask me whether it is essential to keep the patient in ignorance of your own existence. That question, at least for the present phase of the struggle, has been answered for us by the High Command. Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves. Of course this has not always been so. We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence we lose all the pleasing results of direct terrorism and we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics. At least, not yet. I have great hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to belief in the Enemy. The “Life Force”, the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis, may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work—the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits”—then the end of the war will be in sight. But in the meantime we must obey our orders. I do not think you will have much difficulty in keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that “devils” are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you…

Your affectionate uncle,
SCREWTAPE

The devil in red tights. That’s how most of us imagine the devil. A comic figure. More to be laughed at than feared. Paul, the first missionary of the church had a different view of the devil. He wrote a letter to the Ephesians, which we’ll unpack throughout this message today, where he cautioned them saying:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
~Paul (Ephesians 6:10-17 NRSV)

The devil goes by many names: Belzubul, Belial, Satan, Lucifer, The Adversary, The Accuser, The Prince of the Power of the Air, The Tempter, The Liar, or That Old Serpent among others. Today I want to answer four questions about the devil:

  1. Is the devil real?
  2. Is the devil a personification of our inner struggles?
  3. How does the devil affect our lives?
  4. How do we overcome the devil?
  1. Is The Devil Real?

I know there’s an irony in a Blue Devil pastor asking the question of whether the devil is real. Of course the Blue Devils are real, but that’s not the kind of devil I’m talking about. Over the last week I’ve read every passage in the Bible about the devil. Let’s do a bit of a survey of the Bible starting with the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we get the name “Satan” for the devil. “Satan” comes from the Hebrew word “Ha Satan.” “Ha Satan” literally means the opposer or the accuser. “Ha Satan” can be used for anyone. In fact God or God’s angel is referred to as “Ha Satan” when opposing a false prophet. Otherwise, there are three passages in the Old Testament where “Ha Satan” is working to accuse God’s people.

In 1 Chronicles King David takes a census. This is interpreted as prideful and an unjust way of levying taxes. We’re told that “Ha Satan” puts him up to it. In Zechariah chapter three the prophet Zechariah has a heavenly vision and “Ha Satan” is making accusations of the high priest and God rebukes him. In Job, an example of ancient epic poetry wrestling with the problem of suffering among good people, “Ha Satan” is accusing Job before God. Ha Satan says Job’s only righteous because God protects him. So God allows Ha Satan to go ahead and test him. In Genesis we read about a snake who tempts Adam and Eve. Later Christians have read into this story that the snake is Satan, but the story itself doesn’t make this claim. The snake is just a snake, or a snake that happens to talk. As we continue our exploration of the devil in the Bible we read in Isaiah 14 about “Lucifer” which literally means “Morning Star.” Lucifer is an angel thrown down from heaven, but the original context of this passage is not about the devil but about the king of Babylon and Tyre. The king is called “Lucifer.” Then again in Ezekiel 28 we read about a figure who many have interpreted as Satan, but the passage was originally about the King of Tyre.

It’s interesting to note that most Jews don’t talk much about Satan. The Old Testament just doesn’t give a lot of evidence for the devil. But when the Jews went into exile in Persia they began to understand from Persian views of evil that the devil was a fallen angel and the source of evil. Thus, as we head into the New Testament there is a significant shift in description of the Devil.

In the New Testament, the devil is called “diablos.” “Diablos” literally means slanderer, accuser, opposition, deceitful, or lying. The New Testament picks up on the Old Testament’s view of Satan but adds to it the aspect of the devil leading us astray, leading us off the path that God would have us walk. When I was in Yosemite I climbed up the back side of Half Dome one morning. There was a narrow path with a kind of iron cable guide on each side. You really didn’t want to get outside of that path or you might fall to your death. As we looked at last week, sin literally means to stray from the path. To repent means to turn back to the path. If you got out of the cable guides, you really wanted to repent and get back onto the path. Satan, in the New Testament, is the one who pulls you away from the path or puts obstacles in the path that lead to death.

In Matthew chapter four Jesus goes into the desert to fast for forty days, and he is tempted by the devil to leave the path. He’s tempted with pleasure, protection, and power, but he resists the temptations of the devil. Jesus then travels around the countryside encountering people who are demon possessed and setting them free or healing them. In Luke chapter ten, Jesus sends the disciples out to preach and heal, and when they come back, Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lighting from the sky.

In the various letters of the New Testament (The Epistles), Satan’s role includes devouring and hunting. Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends said:

Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
~1 Peter 5:8

If you’re not careful, you’ll miss out on the life you were meant to have and end up perpetuating evil.

In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, the devil takes on the form of a dragon, a beast, or an old serpent. He wages war against the people of God and works through various empires of the day, especially the Roman Empire.

So that’s it. That’s the entirety of what the Bible teaches about the devil in summary. Let’s move on to the question: is the devil a personification?

  1. Is the Devil Just A Personification of Our Own Struggles?

This question is the modern question. Is the devil really an individual “identity” or “person” or whatever word you want to use, or is the devil just a personification of evil that resides within all of us? I put this question to my friends on Facebook. I got about a 50/50 split on their answers. It’s important to note that most of my friends who answered this question are Christians. Many of them are pastors. Many of them are fully committed to following Jesus. But they disagreed on the answer to this question. In other words, faithful Christians disagree on whether the devil is a real person or a personification of evil.

Why is this? Why do Christians disagree? Because it’s possible to interpret almost all the references in the Bible in the metaphorical sense. For example, when Jesus is tempted, he could be being tempted by his own thoughts not a devil in red tights. He had been fasting for forty days after all! And when Jesus encounters demon possession, it’s very easy to read unexplained medical diagnoses into most of those stories. If the doctors couldn’t explain it, it was a demon. Today we would explain these “demon possessions” as a fever, epilepsy, or mental illness.   When the demons talk to Jesus, it’s understandable to see mental illness as the cause of these “demonic possessions.”   And when Jesus says he saw Satan “Fall like lighting,” Jesus is already using metaphorical language.

There is one hard example in the New Testament that is hard to read metaphorically. In Mark we read about Jesus casting a demon(s) named Legion from a man in the tombs and sending it into a herd of pigs. Here’s the story:

Then Jesus asked [the unclean spirit], “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”  He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.”

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.
~Mark 5:9-13 NRSV

It’s a bit hard to explain this story as personification. Jesus takes something that was in a man and casts it into something else. But, some scholars point out that the Roman occupation force is called Legion and Legion is cast into pigs. Pigs are considered unclean by Jews. So could this story be read as political commentary? Perhaps.

Here’s my point: It’s possible to be a deeply committed Christian and have different views on this question of personification. The rationalist in me likes the personification idea. I don’t need the devil’s help, I’ve got enough in me to tempt me. The idea of “Satan” tends to absolve me of responsibility. But I have three hesitations, personally, with the idea of the devil as personification. First, there’s a lot of scripture about the devil. Yes, it can be read as metaphorical, but it’s a steep hill to climb to build that case for every single instance. Second, people I know have had significant experiences with the devil or the demonic. These personal individual experiences are hard to ignore. Third, I think the answer to this question comes down to whether you believe that there is a supernatural world or whether you think that the only world is the material one. We all know that there is brokenness, sin, and evil in the material world. If there is a supernatural world, why would there not also be brokenness, sin, and evil in that world too? Is what we see all there is, or is there more? I tend to think there is more than what we see (but that depends on which side of the bed I wake up on each day).

Whether the devil is real or a personification, we experience temptation the same and answers to resisting the devil are the same. So let’s look at the next question:

  1. How Does the Devil Affect Our Lives?

Some Christians see the devil in almost anything. Growing up in the church I was in, bad stuff was usually the result of the devil, but sometimes God was said to be the cause of bad stuff happening. No parking spot? The devil did it. Computer wouldn’t work? The devil’s in the machine. Power went out? The devil doesn’t want us to worship, or maybe we’re not worshiping right, or maybe a branch fell on the power line. Alarm clock didn’t go off? The devil doesn’t want me to preach a powerful sermon, or God was trying to keep me from preaching a bad sermon, or I just forgot to set the alarm.

“The devil made me do it” is a common phrase we hear. But the devil can’t make you do anything. He’s not that powerful. The devil only has the power of suggestion, but he is a very good salesman. The devil uses certain well-worn wiles:

Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
~Ephesians 6:11 NRSV

What’s a “wile”? A wile is a trick. The devil uses certain tricks to sell us on certain things. There are three well-worn wiles of the devil.

Three Wiles

  1. Old Tapes

The devil likes to play images of all the old things that hurt you. Your father didn’t say he loved you for years and years. Your mom said hurtful things that left a scar. But devil likes to take these old tapes and make them sound worse than they were. Even if they were really really bad, the devil makes them really really really bad. Or the devil likes to remind you of that bad thing you did. Make you feel guilty and shameful all over again. He tells you that the world would be better if you weren’t here. This is all the opposite of the Gospel. That’s why it’s so important to know the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus. The devil says you’re worthless but the Bible says you’re worth as much as God’s Son. The devil says it’s hopeless, but the Bible says there’s always hope. The devil says you’ll never be forgiven but the Bible says you’re never so far from God that God can’t forgive you. One wile of the devil is to play old tapes.

  1. Old Lies

A second wile of the devil is tell you that what is not good for you is good for you. They’re old lies that the devil likes to tell. I did a little research into Anton LaVey, the author of the Satanic Bible and the founder of the Church of Satan. Interestingly, I learned that LaVey and the Church of Satan don’t actually believe in a literal Satan. What they don’t believe in is the ethics of the Bible. There are nine satanic principles and they’re just the opposite of biblical ethics. For example, don’t abstain, indulge. Don’t show kindness to everyone. Show kindness only to those who are worthy. Don’t forgive, show vengeance. These are lies. At times they sound like truth, but that’s all they are, “truthy.” They are wiles and tricks of the devil. Follow them and they will lead to death and destruction.

I’ve been working with a physical trainer now for about two months. I began working with him in part because I was having a hard time sleeping. But when you work out really hard at night and have enough time to cool down before you go to bed, you sleep really well. Really well. I’ve experienced this truth over and over again. But every single night that I’m scheduled to go to work out with him, I am tempted by an old lie, “You’re tired. It would be better to just rest and then go to sleep.” Yeah, the truth of that lie is that I won’t sleep well. It’s a wile of the devil. It’s a lie. The devil uses old lies to trick us off the path of life.

  1. Old Slippery Slope

The third wile the devil uses is the old slippery slope of temptation. The devil tries to sell us on the idea that we can get just a little bit off the path and we’ll be ok. But what we don’t realize is that it’s a slippery slope of temptation. An addiction to pornography begins with a curiosity about nudity. God made nudity, right? Yes, but…then you’re not getting the intimacy you want and need from your spouse so you go back to porn. Just once a week turns to several times a week turns to sneaking around behind your spouse’s back. It all begins with legal forms of porn, but porn has a desensitizing nature. Like drugs, you always need the bigger hit.   Your legal forms of porn turn to illegal forms of porn. Eventually you slip up and you’re arrested. You lose your spouse, your career, and your dreams. What was supposed to give you life (sexual intimacy within the confines of a life-long commitment of marriage) ends up on the slippery slope of temptation and destroys your life.

Or consider all the athletic scandals we’ve seen over the years. I bet Barry Bonds thought, “One shot won’t hurt.” Lance Armstrong probably said to himself, “I overcame cancer. Come on. I deserve to win a race or two after beating cancer.” Tiger Woods probably thought, “No one will ever find out.” Interestingly when I was thinking through all this, I had to go way back to find a woman on this course. Tonya Harding probably thought, “I just won’t say anything. If I don’t say anything, then I’m innocent.”

The devil uses at least three wiles, three tricks: Old tapes, old lies, old slippery slopes.

  1. How Do We Overcome the Devil?

So how do we overcome the devil? I want to suggest three defenses to overcoming the devil.

Rebuke
First, overcome the devil by rebuking the devil In the name of Jesus. Name him. “Satan, get away from me in the name of Jesus.” Or as Jesus said, “Satan, get behind me.” There’s something powerful about putting a name to the evil in our lives. It’s like taking a cold shower. It wakes your defenses up.

Remember
Second, overcome the devil by remembering that the devil is not as powerful as you think. The devil is not omniscient, omnipotent, or omnipresent. It is possible to resist him. Paul tells us to put on the armor of God:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
~Ephesians 6:13 NRSV

He goes on to tell us to put on truth, faith, salvation, righteousness, prayer, and scripture. These things help us remember who we are and what we’re all about. They help us remember that the devil is not all powerful.

Reach Out
Third, reach out and get help. I recently read with horror about a United Methodist Pastor who a year ago killed his wife, attacked his daughter, and tried to take his own life. He was arrested and tried. All of his friends, church members, and fellow pastors were shocked. This was not the person they knew. It slowly came to light that he had been in a car accident and had a head injury. He had not really been himself since that car accident. He was eventually acquitted of the crime for not being sane, but was committed to a mental institution. I can’t help but think, “If only he had reached out.”   But the devil uses mental illness to cloud our sense of help. The devil pushes us into isolation. Reach out for help. Reach out to overcome suicidal thoughts. Reach out to overcome alcoholism or drug addiction. Reach out to get rid of porn in your life. The devil will try to tell you not to ask for help. The devil tells you that you are too far gone. But Jesus breaks the prisoner free if you ask for help. Jesus’ brother tells us to:

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
~James 4:7 NRSV

Peter encourages us to:

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
~1 Peter 5:6-7 NRSV

Rebuke. Remember. Reach out. Resist the devil in these ways. Martin Luther, the great 16th century Protestant reformer wrote a well known hymn called A Mighty Fortress. It’s a powerful reminder that you don’t have to give in to the devil.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

Prayer
Some of you have been listening to those old tapes, the lies of the devil. Hear the word of the Lord. You are loved. You are worthy. You are never too far gone. God help me to hear the truth rather than the lies. Help me to hear your voice. Help me to trust your love.

Some are at the beginning of a slippery slope. A little won’t hurt anyone. God help me to stand firm against any “little” bit of evil.

Some are stuck. Some are enslaved to something that is taking your life away. Help me, Lord. Help me. Give me your strength. Bring me back to your path. Give me courage to ask others for help.

By the power of Jesus Christ, may the Evil One be gone from your life today. Amen.

 

*This sermon is based on a sermon first preached by Adam Hamilton

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God on Film: Maleficent – Real Evil

June 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment

GodOnFilm

 

 

 

 

 

God on Film: Maleficent – Real Evil
Sycamore Creek Church
June 1 & 2, 2014
Tom Arthur

 

Peace friends!

Today we’re beginning a new series called God on Film.  During the summer we’ll be looking at some of the summer’s biggest blockbusters and exploring the themes those movies raise from a biblical perspective.  Today we’re kicking the series off with a nice light topic, evil.

There are three kinds of evil that we find in the world.  The first kind is supernatural evil.  This is the kind of evil that a movie like Maleficent brings to mind.  Supernatural evil from a biblical perspective would include demons and the chief demon, Satan.  Then there’s what is often called natural evil.  This would include things like natural disasters.  Consider Hurricane Katrina or the tornado that recently hurt nine people in North Dakota.  The third kind of evil, and perhaps most disturbing, is moral evil.  This kind of evil would include war like the Ukraine civil war going on right now or the girls kidnapped in Nigeria or the shooting by Elliot Roger at  University of California, Santa Barbara that killed six or even more close to home the shooting at Frandor a couple of weeks ago.  It’s not hard to look around the world and see all kinds of evil.

A book that has been helpful to me preparing this sermon is N.T. Wright’s Evil and the Justice of God.  If you want to explore this issue further, pick up Wright’s book and read it for yourself.

The Predictable Argument
When it comes to these three kinds of evil—supernatural, natural, and moral—there is a very predictable argument that springs up for the Christian.  It goes something like this:

If God is all powerful and all loving, why did God create a world that allowed evil?  We all have heard this argument and most of us probably know the predictable response to it.  Perhaps one of the most succient and clearly articulated responses to this argument comes from C.S. Lewis:

God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go wrong or right. Some people think they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong, but I can’t. If a thing is free to be good it’s also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible. Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they’ve got to be free.

Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (…) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.
~C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

The Unpredictable Argument
So that’s the predictable argument and while there is more to be said about it, that’s not really where I want to spend our time today.  I want to wrestle with the unpredictable argument.  The unpredictable argument goes something like this: What is God doing about evil?

The answer to this question is not so predictable, but there are two things that God is doing about evil:

  1. God judges evil;
  2. God promises to overcome evil.

Let’s go back to the very beginning of the story and see where evil enters in.  Right at the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis, which means beginning, evil enters the story.  God creates Adam and Eve and a garden with one rule to follow: don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  A snake shows up and tempts Adam and Eve to eat the fruit.  They do, and their eyes are immediately opened to what good and evil are because they have just participated with evil.  Of course we want to know the answer to all kinds of question chief of which is, why was there a snake, how did he get there, and what is he doing talking?  But the Bible doesn’t seem very interested in these questions.  The Bible assumes that evil exists and doesn’t try to explain why.  Rather the Bible tells us what God does about this evil.  He judges it.  Here’s how God judges the evil that has been done in his creation.

The Curse: Genesis 3:14-20 NLT
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”

God judges the evil that has happened.  He holds it up to the standard of good and finds it lacking.  So he pronounces a judgment, a curse, upon the evil.  This continues throughout the entire Bible all the way to the end of the Bible in the book of Revelation.  We see in Revelation the story coming full circle.  Jesus returns to judge the evil that has taken over the world.

The Second-Coming of Jesus: Revelation 19:11-16 NLT
Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

Jesus comes in a “robe dipped in blood.”  This is a reference to his death by crucifixion.

One of the key claims of the Christian story is that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the ultimate victory over evil.  I don’t want to go into this a great deal right now because in August we’re going to do a whole four weeks on the question: why did Jesus die?  Rather, what we see in this story is that Jesus is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and thus, he rightfully pronounces judgment on evil.  The story continues…

The Final Judgment: Revelation 20:11-15 NLT
And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Jesus sits on this throne and judges all who come before him.  “All were judged according to their deeds.”  Even death itself is judged and is thrown into the lake of fire.  No more death.  Death is dead.  So if death is dead, what’s left?  What’s left is God’s promise to overcome evil and restore and renew creation.

The New Creation: Revelation 21:1-2, 22-27
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city.  Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Notice that “nothing evil will be allowed to enter.”  Evil is done.  No longer.  Kaput.  Sayonara.  Hasta la vista, baby.

So what is God doing about evil?  God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil.  But that’s not the end of the story.  Because it’s not enough for God to overcome evil at some future point.  God is in the business of overcoming evil right now.  That’s where you and I come in.  We participate in God’s judgment of evil and restoration of creation.  So now the answer to the question about what God is doing about evil becomes another question: what are you doing about evil?  God has given us three things that each one of us and we as a community are to do about evil.  We are to pray, seek holiness, and establish justice.  Let’s look at each one.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Praying.
Prayer is fundamentally about aligning our will with God’s will for creation. The other day I was in Noodles and Co in East Lansing, and I thought prayer was making a comeback.  There were lots of young college students in the restaurant.  I was one of the older people there. I looked over at a table and saw a young woman sitting with her head bowed and I thought, “That’s cool.  She’s praying.”  Then I noticed her fingers twitch under the table and I realized, “She’s not praying. She’s texting with her phone under the table!”

One of Jesus’ disciples named John wrote about prayer.  He said:

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
1 John 5:14 NRSV

Did you catch that?  This is an “if…then” statement.  If we ask how?  According to his will.  Then we know that God hears us.  Prayer is a process of aligning what we’re
asking for with what God wants for us.  Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th Century Christian Philosopher, said, “The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.”

So how do you do this?  I think you do it by listening in prayer.  Prayer is essentially communication.  And most of our prayer, I think, is us talking expecting God to listen.  While this isn’t bad, don’t forget that communication goes both ways.  You ask and you listen.  Or maybe you listen first then you ask.  Prayer can be understood as an acronym, P.R.A.Y.  Praise, repent, ask, and yield.  The key word for our conversation today is “yield.”  You ask and listen and then you yield to God’s will.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Seeking Holiness.
The second thing each of us can do about evil is to seek holiness.  Holiness is another word for righteousness or right relationships.  Holiness is having a right relationship with God, others, ourselves, and all of creation.  When we seek holiness we seek to align our actions with God’s love for creation.

Holiness is kind of like growing up.  Holiness is a kind of maturing.  It’s like moving from being a grown up toddler to be a grown up adult.  What if we adults all still acted like toddlers?  It might look like this:

 

There would be no peace anywhere!  The ultimate effect of a holy alignment between our will and God’s will is peace.  The prophet Isaiah said:

The effect of righteousness will be peace.
~Isaiah 32:17 NRSV

Perhaps the most important way you can align your will with God’s will is to read scripture daily, or at least as often as you can.  A couple of months ago we did a series called Committed to Christ.  One of the sermons in that series was making a commitment to read your Bible.  Many of you made commitments to read your Bible daily.  How are you doing?  Read your Bible to learn what holiness is all about, to align your will with God’s love for all of creation.

What Are You Doing About Evil?  Establishing Justice.
Let’s review where we’re at so far.  We’ve been exploring what God is doing about evil.  God judges evil and God promises to overcome evil.  One of the ways God is overcoming evil right now is through each one of us and what we’re doing about evil.  We judge evil and overcome evil through prayer and holiness.  We also judge and overcome evil by establishing justice.  Justice is aligning our systems with God’s image in all of creation.

Sometimes justice happens on an individual level.  I recently read about some eBay justice.  A guy posted and sold two sports tickets for $600 to a woman.  He kept waiting for the payment but it never came.  The night before the game he got this email from the woman who won the bid: “I overbid and my husband won’t let me buy these. Sorry and enjoy the game! :)… It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.”  With time running out he tried to sell to the other lower bidders but had no luck.  He decided to take justice into his own hands.  He set up another eBay account and a Google voice phone number.  He emailed the original winner with a fake name telling her that he saw she won the tickets and offered her $1000 for the tickets.  After some assurances were made, she emailed the guy back and offered to buy them for her original bid of $600.  The met at  midnight to exchange the tickets.  Then he emailed her back under his pseudonym saying, “It’s eBay, not a car dealership. I can back out if I want.”  LOL!

The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible and Psalm 94 says:

Judgment will again be founded on justice, and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.
~Psalm 94:15 NLT

Justice isn’t just about individuals.  It’s also about entire systems.  This past year I was given season passes to Peppermint Creek Theater Company (PCTC) right next door to North Elementary.  Sarah and I were thrilled to have a theater so close to our house in South Lansing.  The passion statement of PCTC is: to produce contemporary theatre that addresses vital issues in our society, raises awareness, and encourages dialogue while entertaining. In other words, they want to engage issues of justice in our culture in a way that is engaging and entertaining.

The last play of the season was called Clybourne Park and was about racism and white-flight in Chicago.  The first act was set in the 1940s in a white neighborhood.  The family is moving out to the suburbs and has sold their house to a black family.  The local neighborhood association sends a representative over to try to stop the sale.  The sale goes through.  The second act is in the same house, but this time the neighborhood is a black neighborhood.  The family that wants to buy the house is a rich white family.  The neighborhood has created guidelines for remodeling these homes so that the current residents are pushed out by rising housing prices and rising taxes.  This phenomenon is called gentrification.  The issues are complex and there are no easy answers, but I was grateful for PCTC putting on the play and creating the opportunity for reflection and dialogue around this issue of racism and justice.  I was reminded of a distinction that I learned in college between prejudice and racism.  Prejudice is an attitude of superiority or bias.  Prejudice is individual.  Racism, on the other hand, has to do with systems that unjustly privilege one group over another.  You can be unwittingly and without prejudice participating in racist structures in society.  This distinction helped me humbly examine my own actions and how they play into privilege without getting defensive about whether I was prejudiced or not.  Clybourne Park brought up all these questions in my mind again.  It was an opportunity to ask: am I living justly or am I buying into unjust systems that perpetuate racism?  So if you want to live justly, one step you could take is to go see some plays at Peppermint Creek Theater next season and allow the play to challenge and examine you.  I don’t always agree with everything the theater does, but I do appreciate the opportunity for self reflection.

So what is God doing about evil?  God is judging evil and overcoming it.  How is God judging and overcoming evil?  God will have an ultimate day of judgment and renewal of creation but in the mean time, God is working through you and me.  So what are you, what are we doing about evil?

 

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