Renounce & Destroy (a sermon)
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Lo! the Hosts of Evil round us scorn thy Christ, assail his ways! Cure thy children’s warring madness; bend our pride to thy control; shame our wanton, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal!
(You may be seated)
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Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
Seizing my attention, and I do not want you to miss it, is our Episcopal theology in this morning’s Collect for the Day:
O God, your blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life
lex orandi lex credendi, in that we assert it as we pray it, “Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil” is the theology of our Church. Today’s collect was written in 1662 for the revised Book of Common Prayer: what do you think? Do we believe what we are praying? Is it still apt, or are we too sophisticated and worldly to contemplate Satan, the devil?
Throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, the devil plays starring roles against God and God's people, with Satan working for control of your life - -
- - and it begins in the Beginning: נָחָשׁ “Now ha-NACHASH, the serpent, was more cunning than any other creature the Lord God created”. At Genesis 3:1 we hear that in Nachash the feared Serpent, God created evil in the Nature of things. Satan, the devil - - from the Beginning tempting us away from obedience to God, to the disobedience of sin.
And not only here on Earth, but in heaven as well: Satan plays the key role against Job in the Bible story we just finished reading, where Satan is not imagination, but a person, a very member of God’s heavenly council, One who has God’s ear, God’s attention, God’s respect. And notice that in the Job story, Satan is not destroyed, but simply proved wrong this Time about Job’s love for God. Satan is real, Job’s enemy, where Job is us.
Mark, Matthew, and Luke: in all three synoptic gospels, Jesus is led into temptation by Satan the devil, who is not merely human weakness, ego, pride, greed and selfishness: Satan is real, a person, a divine being, created a spiritual creature of the Creator, a being whose cunning goal is to steal us away from God.
The Bible is our story of us with God, and the Gospels are faithful and true as they tell us the life and ministry of Jesus. In Matthew and Luke’s gospel of the Temptation of Christ, the devil, who is Satan, claims to own the nations of the world, and Bible scholars point out that Jesus does not dispute that. What do YOU think? Does the devil own us?
John 13:2 says the devil entered Judas Iscariot before Judas' betrayal. So, “the devil made him do it”, but which in no way absolves Judas of yielding to the temptation and sin of selling Jesus out to those who hate him. Our sin is on us: the Bible does not shift guilt and shame from Judas to Satan for what Judas did at Satan’s urging. It was Judas who sinned, led into temptation and not delivered from the evil one.
Luther taught that Satan is real, a personal and powerful devil.
The Roman Catholic Church views the battle against the Devil as ongoing.
A Vatican official warned against ignoring the devil, saying, "Whoever denies Satan also denies sin and no longer understands the actions of Christ"
Pope Saint John Paul II said, “The battle against the Devil […] is still being fought today, because the Devil is […] alive and active in the world.”
Pope Francis said, “the Devil is not a myth, but a real person. One must react to the Devil, as did Jesus, who replied with the word of God”.
In Eastern Orthodoxy, Satan is an integral part of Christian cosmology. The existence of the devil is taken seriously and is not subject to question.
Although Karl Barth describes the devil as neither a person nor a merely psychological force but as nature opposing good ~
~ many Evangelical Christians believe Satan is a real, created being entirely given over to evil, and that evil is whatever opposes God or is not willed by God.
For people in the modern era, the concept of God and the notion of Satan and Sin seem to have become less relevant, many doubting the existence of any spiritual being. Today many Christian theologians interpret the devil in a cultural sense as a symbol of psychological forces.
But charismatic movements in Christianity have rejected the modern view that the devil is simply metaphorical, and regard Satan as real, a personal character. So,
1 Peter 5:8, Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.
What do YOU think? What do you believe about Satan the devil? As a so-called “mainline Christian church” whose theology is based in Scripture, Reason and Tradition, with Scripture as prime, first and foremost, but Reason giving credence to the Universe around us, what do Episcopalians believe about Satan the devil?
In our self-supposed intellectual sophistication of our scientific and electronic age and stage and phase of Christianity and world view, are we quietly shelving our sense of the spiritual, such that Satan is irrelevant to us, a nonevent who does not need to be resisted, or contemplated, much less the problem of a Sunday sermon? The answer is NO, that cannot be so, when our question in Baptism is “Do you renounce Satan?” And when we open worship, “O God, your Son came to destroy the works of the devil”.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” - - in the Lord’s Prayer, ancient Greek manuscripts and modern English translations clarify, clarify, that at Matthew 6:13 Jesus actually says, “Deliver us from the evil one.”
Again, 1 Peter 5:8, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour”.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
How, HOW does Jesus destroy the works of the devil?
With you! You! You are Jesus' weapon!
As a baptized Christian, you are a temple, a fortress of the Holy Spirit: Jesus destroys the works of the devil through Jesus' presence in your life.
This is NOT PIOUS RUBBISH or superstitious nonsense, it pointedly begins with your baptism: Do you renounce Satan?
DO YOU BELIEVE in God the Father?
DO YOU BELIEVE in God the Son?
DO YOU BELIEVE in God the Holy Spirit?
WILL YOU CONTINUE in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
WILL YOU PERSEVERE IN RESISTING EVIL and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
WILL YOU PROCLAIM by word and example the Good News of God in Jesus Christ?
WILL YOU SEEK AND SERVE Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
WILL YOU STRIVE for justice and peace among all people, AND RESPECT the dignity of every human being?
Are you renouncing Satan?
Are you destroying the works of the devil?
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Edited homiletic endeavor by the Rev Tom Weller on the Third Sunday before Advent, 7 Nov 2021 in Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida. Texts: Baptismal Examination and Covenant, Collect for Proper 27, Sequence Hymn #594, "God of grace and God of glory"
1 God of grace and God of glory,
on thy people pour thy power.
Crown thine ancient church’s story,
bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the facing of this hour,
for the facing of this hour.
scorn thy Christ, assail his ways!
From the fears that long have bound us,
free our hearts to faith and praise.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
for the living of these days,
for the living of these days.
bend our pride to thy control;
shame our wanton, selfish gladness,
rich in things and poor in soul.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal,
lest we miss thy kingdom’s goal.
to the evils we deplore.
Let the search for thy salvation
be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
serving thee whom we adore,
serving thee whom we adore.
+ art unapologetically pinched on line
TW+