Northwoods Seelsorger: Dealing with Demons
In the Gospel lesson this morning Jesus deals directly with the demonic kingdom (Luke 4:31-44). First a demon-possessed man speaks to Jesus in the synagogue, and later Jesus delivers others brought to him while ministering in Capernaum. Within Lutheran circles I have not found many who talk much about the demonic. Perhaps there is a bit of that modernistic thinking that feels they were more relevant to the ancient world. Maybe the thinking is that the demons were more open and demonstrative as Jesus carried out his earthly mission. Then again, some of it may simply be avoidance or denial. Talking about Satan and his kingdom is unsettling. And the thought of encountering it in our own lives is frightening. Let's just leave it to the horror movies, we think...
...I believe that we need to take evil more seriously that we do. If we believe in the Scriptures as the true Word of God, we must then take what it says of the demonic at face value. Do we look for a demon under every rock? Of course not. Some Christians can become obsessed over this and start to find demons for every known sin. Still, the presence of evil is real. It can and does present itself much as it always has...
...But one thing we should always remember: Our greatest weapon against evil is the same used by Jesus - the Word of God. It is, as Paul calls it, "the sword of the Spirit." As we walked through the homes for the blessing, it was only the Word and prayer that we brought. Still, evil must have sensed that where God's Word is, they are not welcome. In a sense they heard Jesus say again: "Be silent! Come out...."May our Lord continue to prepare His Church to face these final evil days by clinging even more firmly to that strong Word of promise in Christ.
When we studied the Luke 4:31-44 pericope in Greek readings, we had this very discussion. I raised concerns that our modernists philosophy has placed evil in the realm of the individual. If there's a problem, it must be something wrong with you. We suggest that everything wrong that happens is a consequence of our own doing. It's easy to take this too far as well, saying "the Devil made me do it."
While we may have challenges acknowledging the effect of Satan and demons, the cure-all is the same for all sin. We speak God's Word. God and Satan cannot coexist. With God's Word, we command evil to flee. Is it an exorcism in the Roman Catholic sense? Probably not. We don't do special incantations or even special rites. Yet for all matters of sin, corruption, and flat-out evil, we approach not with our strength but with God's Word.
As Luther said, Satan is just as happy with you denying he exists as he is with you acknowledging his presence. In our context it seems most are in denial. Trust me, The wicked foe is real. Do not rely on yourselves to overcome him but rely on cross of Christ and His Word.
