Category: Sermon Page

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
June 27, 2021

“The Grace of Giving” (2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15)

Today let’s talk about giving. Yes, that’s right, giving–like we do when we put offerings into the offering plate. Usually that’s a subject we like to avoid. People become defensive or uncomfortable if the subject of giving comes up. They’ll make excuses for why they can’t give more. They instinctively reach for their wallets and hold on tight, so that no one can get in there. And they close their ears as well. People don’t like to have someone put pressure on them to put more in the plate, like this is just some money grab and that’s all.

Well, not so. If we talk about giving from a biblical perspective, it does involve the giving of money, but it’s not just about money. There’s more to it than that. You see, Christian giving is a vital part of Christian living. The grace of God transforms us in every aspect of our lives, including our pocketbooks and what we put in those offering envelopes.

The grace of God: That’s where our talk of giving begins and ends–with God’s grace, his giving. It’s about what he gives to us. God’s gracious self-giving leads to our giving of what he has already given to us. We are simply channels for his further giving. The grace of God is such that he is rich in the blessings he gives us. And God’s grace in Christ is so rich that he would have us all excel in “The Grace of Giving.”

So, yes, let’s talk about giving. St. Paul does, in our Epistle reading for today, from 2 Corinthians 8. In this passage, we see a church that is being encouraged to excel in the grace of giving, as well as a church that already is doing that. Most of all, we see the source and power for us in our church to excel in the grace of giving.

First, we should give a little background for our text, so we can follow who’s who as the story goes along. The background is that the church in Jerusalem was in great distress. The Christians there were lacking food. They were hungry and in need. Either they couldn’t get food or they couldn’t afford it. And we’re not sure if their lack of food was due to famine or persecution. Either way, there was this great need.

So a special collection was taken up across the churches of Asia Minor and Europe, in order to send relief to the saints in Jerusalem. That’s the situation which 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 addresses. Paul gives guidelines and encouragement for finishing up the Corinthians’ share in this offering. You see, the church at Corinth had begun to gather up their portion, but in recent months they had fallen behind. So now Paul is writing them to tell them to get on with their giving and to finish what they had said they were going to do.

So Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to excel in the grace of giving. He writes: “Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you–see that you excel in this act of grace also.”

The church at Corinth was an interesting congregation. On the one hand, they had been blessed in many ways. Paul mentions how they excel in various things. On the other hand, Corinth was a difficult congregation for Paul to deal with. Think of all the problems he had to address in 1 Corinthians: factionalism, immorality, bad worship practices. Even in 2 Corinthians, it’s apparent there are some who are trying to undermine Paul’s authority as an apostle. Even so, Paul does not give up on this church. He continues to encourage and exhort them. He points them to God’s grace and urges them to grow in that grace. “Don’t quit now!” he says about their giving, which they had let slide. “Get back on track! Get on with the task! God will help you to do what you need to do.”

So if God does not give up on a church like Corinth, he will certainly help our congregation to grow in the grace of giving. God is not going to give up on us. He will help us to grow, and even excel, in Christian living and giving. And so today I point you again to God’s grace, so that we as a church will grow in that grace. There is work for us to do as a congregation. There are people to be reached with the gospel, both here and around the world. We have neighbors who do not know Christ or are not following him. These needs call for our personal involvement and our financial giving. There’s work for us to do, and God will give us the grace to give of ourselves to do it, with our time, our talents, and our treasures. Think of all that we could do with an even greater commitment from all of us, as God helps us to grow in the grace of giving.

The church at Corinth was a congregation that was being taught to excel. And in our text, we also see a church that was already excelling in the grace of giving. Actually, it’s a group of churches that Paul refers to here, the churches of Macedonia. He writes: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints–and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”

Macedonia was the northern half of Greece. The churches there included Philippi and Thessalonica. Corinth was in the southern half of Greece, the region known as Achaia. So Paul encourages the Corinthians to up their game by using the example of the Macedonians. Paul is essentially saying this: “You Corinthians, look at your neighbors to the north, up in Macedonia. Look at what the grace of God has accomplished there. Those folks are not rich by any means. But how they have been giving to this offering! They’ve begged me to participate. I didn’t have to beg them. They wanted to get in on the action. They didn’t want to be left out when it came to the grace of giving. And they didn’t give just a few dollars. They gave themselves. They gave themselves to the Lord, and not just to a project. And because they first and foremost gave themselves, and gave themselves to the Lord, then their dollars have naturally followed, and in generous supply.”

“They gave themselves first to the Lord.” Did you notice that? The most important thing you put in the offering plate is yourself. If you give yourself to the Lord, then your offerings will follow accordingly. You see, we give ourselves to the Lord, not just to a budget. But even in a small congregation, if we all give ourselves and our offerings to the Lord, then the dollars will be there. Notice, the Macedonians were not wealthy. Paul even mentions their “extreme poverty.” But that was outweighed by what he calls their “abundance of joy” and “wealth of generosity.” So, out of our gospel-given joy and generosity, we will have enough money to support and even expand the work of our church.

So let’s talk about giving. Let’s talk about the source and power for our giving, which is God’s giving! Our power source is the grace of God in Christ Jesus. This is what empowers all our Christian living and giving. Grace: It’s a gift word. It is a giving word. Grace means a free gift, God giving us freely all of his gifts, purely out of his goodness, without any merit or worthiness in us. A good way to remember this is to think of the word “grace” according to its letters, G-R-A-C-E: “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”

Grace, “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” That’s what Paul is talking about here. He says: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Yes, think of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the Son of God, enthroned in glory from eternity, set aside the riches of his glory. He came as a poor and lowly servant. He suffered hardship, loneliness, and rejection. He suffered agony and death for our sake. Although he had done no wrong, he paid the price for our sins. He took the mountain of debt that we owed and wrote across it, “Paid in full.” His holy blood was the price that set us free.

“So that you by his poverty might become rich.” Friends, think of the riches Christ has won for us! Jesus has redeemed us, in both body and soul. Our sins have been forgiven. Disease and death have been conquered. See the healing of the woman with the flow of blood and the raising of Jairus’s daughter for sneak previews of what is in store for us. New life now, eternal life forever–these are the riches God has freely given us for the sake of Christ. We are enriched beyond measure. God has blessed us richly in Christ our Savior.

God even blesses us to share in his character with the grace of giving. Our desire and ability to give generously with our offerings–this is a gift from God. God gives us the grace of giving, and so we give. God equips and enlivens us to give. It’s all by his grace. The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts through the gospel. Then that faith will produce its fruits in our Christian living and Christian giving.

Brothers and sisters, God will help you to grow in the grace of giving. So delight yourself in this grace, this gift of God that enables you to give. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” His grace is powerful and active. It changes you from the inside out. And so now you too will want to be in on the action, to share in the grace of giving.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 20, 2021

“A Great Storm, a Great Calm, a Great Fear” (Mark 4:35-41)

Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, from Mark 4, the story of Jesus stilling a storm. It’s only seven verses long, but this story will take us from a great storm to a great calm to–perhaps surprisingly–a great fear. So let’s get in the boat now with Jesus and his disciples, under the theme, “A Great Storm, a Great Calm, a Great Fear.”

First, a great storm. Our text begins: “On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.”

So here’s the scene: That day, Jesus had been teaching a very large crowd, right along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had been sitting in a boat, put out a little from the shore, so he could be better heard. After that, he explained to his disciples the parables he had been teaching. Now it’s evening, Jesus is tired, and he wants to get away. So he says, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” The boat is still there, and they all pile in. It’s a commercial fishing boat, so there’s room for them all.

Remember, a lot of these disciples were commercial fishermen, so they knew these waters better than anyone else. Now we often call it the “Sea” of Galilee, but really, it’s more like a big lake. However, it can certainly act like a sea, with big waves whipping up in a hurry. The Sea of Galilee is situated about fifty miles south of Mount Hermon, which is over 9,000 feet high. So with that steep downward descent down the Rift Valley, there can be strong winds blowing across the water all of a sudden. And that’s what happens.

It’s night, it’s dark, and now all of a sudden, there’s a powerful windstorm, and the waves are starting to beat against the boat, even starting to engulf it. The disciples are panicking. They’re frightened. It looks like they might be sinking any minute now. What to do?

“Ah!” they think. “The Teacher! He might be able to help. We’ve seen him do some amazing things.” For instance, they had seen Jesus heal a man with an unclean spirit, with the result that the people said, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” The disciples had seen Jesus heal many people who were sick with various diseases: Peter’s mother-in-law, a leper, a paralytic, a man with a withered hand. Obviously, their master had authority to do things such as they had never seen. So maybe he can help with this crisis of the great storm.

The panicked disciples turn to Jesus for help. “But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.” Huh, what? How can he be sleeping in the midst of this storm? So they wake him up and say, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Maybe that’s how we feel sometimes. I was in Indiana the last couple of days, and Friday night, overnight, there were great windstorms that blew through. Yesterday morning I drove past a house where a large tree had toppled over onto the neighbor’s roof. Maybe those people were thinking, “Lord, why did you let this happen? Why our house? The other houses were not damaged. Don’t you care, Lord?”

Now that’s about physical storms. But I suppose we can have the same perplexity about the metaphorical storms of life: A brother dying of a brain tumor. Financial setbacks. Divorce or depression or disappointment. Family problems–a kid going the wrong way in life. These are the metaphorical “storms of life” that can afflict us.

So we look to the Lord for help. But it seems like he’s asleep in the boat! We’re getting swamped, and he doesn’t seem to care! “Where are you, Lord? You had said, ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you.’ OK, so where is the deliverance? It says in the psalm, ‘He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.’ It says that, but it sure looks like you’re sleeping! Why are you letting me go through this? Don’t you care, Lord?”

Why the Lord lets us go through these things, we don’t know. But we do know that the Lord does care. He does love us. And so, when he lets us go through those storms, when it seems like he’s asleep and not caring, God has a good purpose in mind for his children.

How do we know that God is going to preserve us and keep us safe eternally when we’re stuck in a storm? We know this, because of what Jesus has done for us. God sent his Son into our world to deliver us from all evil, to save us for eternity. The Son of God in our mortal flesh, Jesus went the way of the cross to pay the price for all our sins. That’s what would have sunk us–our sins. But God was not willing that we would perish eternally, and Jesus did the job that saves us from that fearful fate. By his death and resurrection, we are saved and safe forever.

Now back in the boat:  In order to demonstrate his care and his authority over all that would harm us, Jesus gets up and astonishes his disciples: “And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

A great calm: Amazing! Who can do such a thing? To still the storm simply by speaking a word to the wind and the waves? The disciples are gobsmacked. They don’t know what to make of this.

Now you might think their reaction would be: “Thank you, Lord! Thank you for calming this storm and saving our lives! We know now that you really do care!” It should have been like what we heard in today’s introit: “Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!”

You would think it would be like that. But their reaction is a little different. Instead of great gratitude, the disciples are filled with a great fear. So Jesus says to them, “‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’”

Who is this man Jesus? That’s really the point of this storm and this story. Who is Jesus? That’s what the stilling of the storm is causing the disciples to ponder. In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, author James Voelz writes: “The disciples are confused by the ambiguous picture presented by Jesus, who sleeps through a storm, seems unconcerned by their plight, then exerts control over nature with a mere word, even as does Yahweh.” “The disciples know that humans cannot control the waves of the sea, but they see that Jesus can, and it confuses and frightens them.”

Jesus has power and authority beyond what a mere man can do. “Who is this guy we’ve been following?” the disciples wonder. It’s becoming more and more clear that he has power that only God has. God spoke the earth and the sea into existence way back at creation. Jesus speaks his authority over wind and sea here with a word. “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Who indeed? And so this story speaks to us today. This Jesus is the very Son of God in the flesh. His word carries divine authority to do what it says. He speaks to wind and sea and they become calm. He speaks to us and calms our fears. We know that whatever the storms we experience in life, whether weather or water or wind or whatever–we know that, even when it looks like Jesus is asleep in the boat and not caring, he does care, and he will see us safely through to the other side.

“Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. . . . The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 13, 2021

“From Our Earthly Tent to Our Heavenly Home” (2 Corinthians 4:13-18; 5:1-10)

As some of you know, my older brother Jim recently was put on hospice with an inoperable brain tumor. He doesn’t have long to live–any day now, it looks like. So I wanted to talk with him while there was still time. He had retired to North Carolina, so we had to do this by video chat, and at a time when he was awake and alert enough to do it. Well, we talked a couple of days ago, on Thursday. His family was there with him to make it happen.

It was tough seeing Jim in the condition he was in. It was hard to hold back the tears, knowing this might be the last time I talk to him. Jim wasn’t able to talk much, but he could hear what I was saying. I shared some memories with him. I told him I loved him and have always looked up to him. And I shared a Bible verse with him. It was from last week’s Epistle reading, 2 Corinthians 4:16, where it says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Now why could I say that? How could I say, “we do not lose heart,” when what I was seeing on the screen was so heart-breaking? Here’s why: Because I know, and I know Jim knows, we will be going “From Our Earthly Tent to Our Heavenly Home.”

An earthly tent. A heavenly home. That’s the imagery St. Paul uses in our Epistle reading for today from 2 Corinthians 5. The earthly tent is where we are now, in this body, in this life. The heavenly home is where we’re heading, the eternal dwelling waiting for us.

First, the earthly tent: Paul refers to this several times. He writes: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed”; and again, “For in this tent we groan”; and once more, “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened.” The tent that Paul is taking about is our body, this flesh-and-bone body in which we live in this world.

I’m guessing that most of you, if you’re like me and you’ve been using this tent for a good long while, you’ve done a little groaning. Maybe you’re feeling the burden. The wear and tear on your tent has been adding up. The fabric is getting worn out. The tent poles are rusty. It’s getting harder for the tent to stay upright. In other words, the aches and pains of your body are taking their toll. Now if you’re young, and your tent is still relatively new, you’re wondering: “What are you talking about? There’s no problem. I’m young! I’m invincible! There’s nothing wrong with my tent!” Well, just wait a while. A few decades of camping out, and your tent won’t work so well, either.

“Our outer self is wasting away.” It’s not going to last. You can watch what you eat, you can go the gym, but still your body will wear out and waste away. You can feel it in your bones, literally. Maybe you’ve made it to 70 or 80, but the time of your tent is limited. Heart disease, cancer, brain tumor–something is going to catch up to you in due time. And that time could come anytime. Even if you’re young, and you feel invincible, you aren’t.

When Paul says, “if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed,” that “if” is more like a “when.” It will happen. This earthly tent will be destroyed. Death will take it down, and then where will we be? Good question. Where will we be? Do you ever wonder about that? Where you will be when you die? We know the body we’ve been living in will be lifeless. We see it in the coffin. We bury it in the grave. But is that all there is, my friend?

No. For Christians, for those who trust in Christ their Savior and who die in that faith–for people like you and me–for us, death is not the end but just the beginning. The beginning of an eternity that will be so much better than what we experience in this life. And this promise of God gives us hope and courage even now.

This earthly tent will not last. It will be destroyed. And that actually is a good thing. The thing about a tent is that it is temporary. It’s not your permanent lodging. Now, while you’re on a journey, a tent will do. But the goal is to get to your destination, to reach home.

That’s what we’re looking for. That’s what we’re looking forward to. Something better. Far better. Paul writes: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Our earthly tent will be destroyed, but we have a heavenly dwelling that is eternal. That life is what we’re looking forward to in the age to come.

And it will not be body-less. We will not be disembodied ghosts, floating around. Paul does say that in this body we groan and are burdened, and that this body will be destroyed. It will be dead and buried and return to dust. But notice, Paul adds that by putting on our heavenly dwelling we will “not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed.” Here Paul switches metaphors, going from the image of a house to the image of clothing. He says that we will not be naked, we will not be unclothed. That means we will have a body in the age to come. Not a groaning, achy body, subject to death, like the one we have now. But a body that will last for life, eternal life. “So that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

God is committed to a physical creation. It was that way before the fall into sin. And it will be that way when Christ comes again. All creation, including our bodies, will be wonderfully restored, better than ever. “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” This is the Christian’s hope, based on the sure promises of God and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You, dear Christian, you are baptized into Christ’s resurrection! You will share in it, a physical, bodily resurrection.

But what happens between now and then? Between the time we die and the day when Jesus returns? We know that these bodies of ours will be resting in the grave. So where will we be? Our souls, I mean.

There isn’t much that Scripture tells us about the so-called intermediate state, that is, our situation between death and the day of the resurrection. But we do know that we will be with the Lord, and it will be good, better than our life now. Paul says in our text: “We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” So we do know that when we die and our body is laid in the grave, we will be with the Lord.

There are a couple of other Scripture passages that tell us about the intermediate state. Like when Jesus told the thief on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” That’s pretty good! Or Philippians 1, where Paul writes, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” So, to depart this life and be with Christ is far better than what we experience now.

But even then, the best is yet to come. And that will happen when Christ comes again at the Last Day. When that day comes, our Lord Jesus will raise up our dead bodies and give us glorified bodies, like his, fit for eternity. With soul and body reunited, you and I will serve the Lord in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. That will be the heavenly home in which we will dwell. That glorified body will be the new clothing we will wear.

From our earthly tent to our heavenly home. But how do we get there? Through Christ, of course. Our Lord Jesus Christ will get us from here to there. Because Jesus offered up his body for us on the cross, bearing the burden of our sin, a burden we could not bear. By faith in Christ, we are freed from that load. And that lifts the load of death from off of us. The stone has been rolled away. Christ Jesus is the one who empties the tomb, first his own, and then, at the Last Day, ours. By his death and resurrection, by the forgiveness he won for us and the righteousness he bestows on us, you and I will be able to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. And the judgment will be “Not guilty.” We will receive eternal life as God’s gracious reward. The Lord will welcome us into our heavenly home and clothe us with our spotless garment, a resurrected body made glorious.

The groanings and burdens of this life are transient, temporary. They cannot compare with the glory to come, which will be eternal. But at the moment, the groanings and the burdens can seem overwhelming. If you, dear friend, are feeling that burden right now, we don’t want to dismiss that. The groaning is real, the burden is real. But God loves you and cares for you, and he will help you through it. As great as the pain may be, so much greater by far is the joy in store for you in Christ. This gives us real hope and real courage to endure.

“So we do not lose heart.” “We are always of good courage.” Yes, friends, we are of good courage, for Christ our Savior will take us all–you, me, my brother Jim–he will take us from this earthly tent to our heavenly, eternal home.

Liturgist:  Rev. Kyle Castens, Farmington Circuit Visitor

Preacher:  Rev. Warren Woerth, Pastor, Good-Shepherd-Arnold

Presiding Minister:  Rev. Brian Thieme, Third Vice-President, Missouri District

Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS)     De Soto, Missouri

Installation of Pastor Charles Henrickson

Second Sunday after Pentecost     June 6, 2021

VESPERS (pages 229 ff.)

Hymn 645:  Built on the Rock

Opening Versicles, with Common Ascription of Praise (p. 229)

Psalm 84 (spoken responsively by half-verse; Gloria Patri in unison)

Hymn 648:  Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

Readings:  Acts 20:28-32; 1 Peter 5:2-4; Luke 24:44-49a

(P:  O Lord, have mercy on us. / C:  Thanks be to God.)

Common Responsory (p. 231)

Sermon

Canticle:  Magnificat (pp. 231-32) / Offering

RITE OF INSTALLATION

Invocation/ Address to Congregation/ Collect

Selections of Holy Scripture on the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Institution of the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Responsibilities of the Office of the Holy Ministry

The Strength and Promise in the Office of the Holy Ministry

Address to Pastor-elect and Responses

Address to Congregation and Responses

Installation, Prayer, and Blessing

Hymn 681:  Send, O Lord, Your Holy Spirit

Kyrie/ Lord’s Prayer/ Collects (p. 233)

Benedicamus/ Benediction (p. 234) Hymn 682:  God of the Prophets, Bless the Prophets’ Sons

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2021

“Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House” (Mark 3:20-35)

When you were baptized, what did you get? Yeah, you got wet, sure. You had water poured on your head. But I mean, when you were baptized, what did you get, in the sense of what did you acquire? I’ll tell you what you acquired: You got an enemy for life. Did you know that? That when you were baptized, you gained a strong and powerful enemy who’s out to get you! You did! And his name is Satan, the devil. He is the “old evil foe” who “now means deadly woe.” He is your arch-enemy. He wants to destroy your faith, destroy you, and take you down to hell with him. And he is very strong.

Satan. The devil. We minimize his threat at our peril. But the Bible certainly does not. And Jesus does not dismiss the reality of Satan and the damage that he does to people. Jesus compares Satan to a “strong man” who has a bunch of goods stored in his house that he doesn’t want to let go of. Satan is strong; he’s hard to overcome. But the good news is that there is someone stronger, someone able to overcome the strong man. And his name is Jesus. For Jesus came “Binding the Strong Man, Plundering His House.”

As I say, we minimize the devil’s threat at our own peril. But that does happen, especially in our culture. In our supposedly enlightened age, people tend to think of the devil as an antiquated old wives’ tale with no basis in reality. Belief in the existence of Satan is seen as a silly, outmoded superstition, held by those of a gullible mind. The idea of the devil is used for comic effect. “Satan?” became a punch line in the “Church Lady” skits. People laugh at anyone who believes that the demonic realm is real. But all that does is to play into one of Satan’s best strategies: To dismiss his existence is to let down our guard.

In his book, “The Screwtape Letters,” author C. S. Lewis imaginatively relates a series of letters from a senior devil, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior devil named Wormwood. Screwtape gives Wormwood advice on how best to deceive and lead astray the human that has been assigned to him as his “patient.” Uncle Screwtape writes to Wormwood and says: “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 . . . he therefore cannot believe in you.”

But denying the devil’s existence does not agree with the biblical perspective. The Bible throughout, from Genesis to Revelation, presents Satan as a real being–a fallen angel, bent on evil. The Bible teaches that Satan’s power, while limited, poses a real danger to human beings. The devil is out to tempt, accuse, and deceive people. He is the enemy of our souls. He will assail us, attack us, and assault our minds and our bodies. Satan hates God, and therefore he hates God’s people.

Martin Luther took the devil seriously. He took it seriously when a little child was baptized, knowing what was in store for that new Christian for the rest of his or her life. Luther writes: “Remember, therefore, that it is no joke to take sides against the devil and not only to drive him away from this little child, but to burden the child with such a mighty and lifelong enemy.”

Dear Christian, when you were baptized, you took on an enemy for life. The sign of the cross that was placed on you on your forehead and your heart? That was like a target being painted on you, and the devil is aiming for it. He wants to dispirit you and demoralize you. He wants to cause you to doubt and to pull you away from Christ your Savior. So you and I need to be deadly serious about the devil, because he is seriously deadly toward us.

The existence and power of Satan, the enemy of our souls, is real. In the Bible, we find demons assailing and assaulting people in their souls and their bodies. Repeatedly in the four gospels, we see Jesus confronting and casting out demons. Those unclean spirits were doing real harm to people: attacking them in their minds, causing them to do self-harm to their bodies. Satan and his demons were out in full force during Jesus’ ministry. When Jesus saw this happening to the people who were being demonized, he had compassion on them. Jesus got angry with the devil, he cast out the demons, and he healed the people in both body and soul.

In the gospels, there seems to be an increased occurrence of demonic activity–a spike of it, in very dramatic form–at the time of Jesus’ ministry. This makes sense, since the one who came to destroy the devil and his works was coming on the scene. Jesus obviously was able to discern when the various afflictions he encountered were due to demonic activity. You and I, however, are not able to know that for certain. It may be, also in our day, that various phenomena–self-mutilation, criminal insanity, drug-fueled bizarre behavior–these spectacularly bad things could have a link to demonic activity. But we can’t be sure.

In any case, it’s not just in the spectacular stuff that Satan does his work. There are a lot of normal-looking, normal-acting, respectable people who are equally in the thrall of Satan and under his sway. Remember, the main thing that Satan cares about is keeping you away from Jesus and destroying your faith. And he can do that quite well in quieter ways.

How might the devil work on you? The devil can allure you with temptations, or he can crush you with disappointments. Either way, he wins. If you are drawn off into living for pleasure, living for self, so that you become satisfied with your life in this world–then you will no longer feel your need for God, and you will lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins. On the other hand, if you are so crushed with disappointment that you despair of God’s goodness and lose all hope, you may likewise lose your faith in Christ. Satan wins again. When doubt assails you, when bitterness begins to take root in your heart, realize that the devil is trying to undermine your faith. Take that very seriously.

And realize that you are not strong enough in yourself to overcome the devil’s schemes. There’s a reason Jesus calls Satan a “strong man.” He is a formidable foe. Luther was right when he wrote: “Deep guile and great might are his dread arms in fight; on earth is not his equal.” “With might of ours can naught be done, soon were our loss effected.” “But,” the hymn goes on, “But for us fights the valiant one.” “Ask ye, Who is this? Jesus Christ it is.” Yes, Jesus Christ is our divine champion, the one stronger than the strong man Satan. Satan is strong. Jesus is stronger. “He holds the field forever.”

In our text from Mark 3, Jesus says, “No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Binding the strong man, plundering his house. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ came to bind the strong man, enter his house, and plunder his goods. This, Jesus has done. We were captives of the devil, prisoners in his house of sin and death, unable to free ourselves. But Jesus came down from heaven, God’s own Son in the flesh. He came to seek and to save us and to pull us out of Satan’s grasp. When Jesus cast out of demons, he showed his compassion for people and his authority over Satan. Jesus was binding the strong man, entering his house, and plundering his goods.

But the strange thing is, Jesus would demonstrate his superior strength by way of weakness. He allowed himself to be bound and nailed to a cross. But this was God’s plan to beat the devil at his own game. The devil would strike Jesus in the heel, but in so doing, Christ would deal a death blow to Satan’s head. By taking on himself the curse laid on sinners–death under God’s judgment–Jesus would take away that card from the devil’s hand. The devil can’t play the sin card against us anymore. No more accusation, no condemnation. All our sins have been forgiven by the blood of Christ. The devil’s taunts and threats go nowhere. The serpent has been defanged. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” the devil’s reign was ended. Then Christ descended into hell to proclaim his victory even there.

And so now our ascended, exalted Lord comes to us in our fears and says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Do you see? Jesus has bound the strong man, entered his house, and plundered his goods. Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hell. He has stripped Satan bare. And this is good news for us. It means that no matter how much the devil tries, he cannot overpower us. Jesus wins. He holds the field forever.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what did you get when you were baptized? You got wet, sure. And you acquired a lifelong enemy, a strong one. But Satan is a defeated foe. He has been bound, and his house has been plundered. What did you get when you were baptized? You got Jesus fighting on your side. And with Jesus, you get all of his goods: forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. Satan may be strong. But Jesus is stronger. And it’s not even close.