"When the Monsters Come"
#91-52Presented on The Lutheran Hour on August 25, 2024
By Rev. Dr. Dale A. Meyer, Guest Speaker
Copyright 2024 Lutheran Hour Ministries
Reflections
Text: Job 40:15-41:34
Grant us, Lord, the Spirit, to think and do always such things as are pleasing in Your sight, that we who without You cannot do anything that is good may by You be enabled to live according to Your will. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
Diane and I live across the street from the Collinsville American Legion. The Legion Hall is a pleasant looking building, and its front yard is a small park with plenty of trees and picnic tables. About six weeks ago, the Legion dedicated a new addition to these grounds, a 155-millimeter Howitzer. This old cannon was dedicated as a memorial to all the people who have served in the Armed Forces. During the service, which included a color guard, a spokesman from the Army, and a speech from our Congressman John Shimkus, it dawned on me that the cannon is pointing directly at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Fletcher.
I had to smile. The Fletchers are nice people. He is a legendary basketball coach in southern Illinois, so I amused myself wondering what it's like for the Fletchers to step out their front door and see this old Howitzer pointing directly at them. Okay, I was amusing myself, but the image of a cannon pointing at a house suggests something that is very serious.
There are forces you cannot see, spiritual forces lurking behind almost everything you encounter and wanting to rob you of an eternal salvation. This hidden threat was on the mind of someone who emailed our office. "It seems," the writer began, "that there is an increase of evil in the world. Things are happening today that may well have been going on from the events after Adam and Eve disobeyed God. However, it seems to be getting worse. Is there more evil today than in the past? I don't know." The Bible does tell us in 1 Timothy 4:1 that evil will increase as the world nears its end. I do know that there's more than enough evil for you and for me to contend with. Our email writer continued: "Would you please address the spiritual warfare that is increasing, especially within the body of Christ? I know that as children of the King, that spiritual warfare is Satan's way to undermine us."
Let's talk about that. Now first, there are a lot of churchy words there: spiritual warfare, body of Christ, children of the King, and Satan. The writer is saying the Christians seem to be committing more evil acts than before. Again, I don't know if there's been an increase of evil, but I know for sure that Christians are capable of doing evil.
Once or twice every year, I am invited to speak in a prison. Every time when I have finished speaking, inmates line up to tell me that they are Christian. I assume some of them got religion in jail, but I know that many of them were Christians when they committed their crimes. And outside the walls of the prison, closer to your life, you yourself could probably draw up a pretty long list of Christians whom you know who have done wrong. Christians are often not respectful when they should be. Christians cheat on their spouses and have impure thoughts. Christians believe homosexuality is okay. Christians cheat others. Christians run others down. Christians abort babies. Christians do all sorts of things that make the devil smile and make God sad. Do the sins of Christians mean that the church's message about Jesus Christ is a waste, that it isn't worth believing? No, not at all. It does, however, show that we Christians easily do the wrong thing.
We often give in to evil. Do you know why? We often overestimate ourselves. Because we do religious things, because we believe in Jesus, because we pray, because we go to church, because we do this, that, and the other religious thing, we easily think that we are equal to the battle. That's foolishness on our part. The barrel on that Howitzer across the street is sealed shut, but when that cannon was being used in a war, only a fool would have thought he could look down the barrel in combat and come out alive. To assume that you can overcome evil and win the war on your own is as foolish as looking into a live Howitzer. This is a lesson that God taught Job. Job did all the right religious things, and then some. I hasten to add that Job was most sincere. He was no hypocrite. But when Job lost his family, his health, and his possessions, Job put all his confidence in the good life he led, and he let God know that he deserved better. Somewhat defiantly, Job ended his complaint against God, "Look, here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. Let the prosecutor write his complaint on a scroll." (Job 31:35)
As I said, Job was sincerely religious, no hypocrite. However, Job forgot how totally dependent even the most religious of us are upon the help of God. He forgot, and so God responded. God didn't punish Job, but instead reminded him that all people, including the most religious, are still dependent upon God for all the help and kindness He gives. First, God said this to Job," Look at the behemoth," that Hebrew word means "beast" or "animal," and some scholars think it might be a reference to the hippopotamus or the elephant. "Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you, and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins. What power in the muscles of his belly. His tail sways like a cedar. The sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze. His limbs are like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. When the river rages, he is not alarmed. He is secure though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. Can anyone capture him by the eyes or trap him and pierce his nose?" (Job 40:15-19). "Look at this monster," God said. "Can you control him? No, you can't, but I, God can."
God asks Job another question, "Can you pull in the Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?" Scholars conjecture that the word Leviathan might refer to a crocodile. Whatever it is, it is one fearsome monster. "Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash?" (Job 41:1-5)
If you ever watch the animal channel on TV, you sometimes see trained men wrestling with crocodiles. They know what they're doing, and still it isn't easy. God told Job that there are times when you and I are outmatched. And Christian, when the devil and his evil angels tempt you to sin, to do what the commandments say you should not do, please don't think that you by yourself are equal to the task. Many Christians through the centuries have thought that they were so religious that they could handle almost anything that came their way, and they didn't. The devil is the greatest monster of all. Don't think that you can defeat him and resist evil on your own. You can't. You can't. You can't. You can't. Have you then lost the battle? No. When the monsters come, there's a victory awaiting you.
Martin Luther, the 16th- century reformer wrote, "Though devils all the world should fill, all eager to devour us, we tremble not. We fear no ill; they shall not overpower us. This world's prince"—that's the devil—"may still scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none. He's judged, the deed is done. One little word can fell him." What is that word that can ward off the monstrous attacks of Satan and all the evil angels and keep you from yielding to sin? It's the powerful word from God that gives life, not death. That powerful word is centered in Jesus Christ.
It was a life-and-death struggle when Jesus Christ hung on the cross. When He died on that good Friday so long ago, it appeared that the forces of evil had won. Death, you see is a product of sin. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). If Jesus could not conquer death, then sin and Satan would have proved themselves to be an unstoppable force and could easily mow you down and ruin your destiny after death. So Good Friday night it seemed that the monster of evil had won. And so it seemed on the next day, Saturday, another sad day for the disciples because the monster still seemed to have won. And so it seemed on Sunday when they awoke. But that day they found out that it was just the opposite. Jesus had actually inflicted a fatal blow on Satan and his evil angels.
God raised His Son Jesus from the dead. He did that because Jesus had in fact paid the price for the sins of all people of all time. Today, that reaches down to you. God raised Jesus because His Son had paid the penalty for your sins. When you begin to understand that, you see that the cross was not just a life-and-death struggle for Jesus, Jesus was waging a life-and-death struggle for you. What makes Christians unique among all the religious and spiritual people of the world is that we are staking our life now and our eternal destiny upon Jesus Christ and Him alone. "I am not ashamed of the Good News," says Romans 1:16. "It is God's power to save everyone who believes." That's the little word Luther talked about. It's so powerful that it can work faith in your heart. Please don't resist it.
Remember, you are not up to the battle without the word of Jesus Christ. If I would offer you a million dollars and you didn't take it, you'd be a fool and never have the benefit of that money. The powerful Word of God is offering you an eternal victory over the monstrous forces of evil. Receive it through faith and the riches of the victory will be yours. Now, does that mean that you, the believer in Christ are home free? Because we believe, can we do whatever we please? That's a misunderstanding of salvation by grace through faith that goes all the way back to the time of Saint Paul. He addressed that misunderstanding this way. "Should we continue to sin so that God's kindness will increase? That's unthinkable. As far as sin is concerned, we have died, so how can we still live under sins' influence?" (Romans 6:1-2)
This faith means that you should put forth your very best effort each day not to sin. You are engaged in spiritual warfare. When Jesus Christ returns on Judgment Day as Judge of all people, living and dead, the devil and his monstrous hordes will forever be stopped from attacking God's people. However, in the meantime—and when you are serious about not giving into evil in your life—the times can be mean. In the meantime, put your focus on the Word of God. Read it. Commit some Bible passages to memory. Whenever you are tempted to go against the Commandments in thought, word, or deed, then put your focus on the Word of God. That's what my email correspondent is doing. "I am reading and studying Scripture, trying to keep in a prayerful state of mind and trying to be very aware of what Jesus did at Calvary. Yet with all this, I seem to be overwhelmed with this feeling that Satan is just chasing me around and around." About that last thing, about your uncertainty, about that feeling of being overwhelmed, let me say it again. Whenever you feel you are losing the spiritual battle, then put your focus on the Word of God. That's the word that promises "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us," (Romans 8:37).
When the Howitzer across the street from our home was dedicated, Congressman Shimkus gave a fine speech that he concluded with a verse from the Bible. He cited Isaiah 2:4, which promises, "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." A day of peace is coming. Jesus Christ will return on Judgment Day, and the monstrous hordes of evil will bother you no longer.
The congressman went on to say that it's good that we don't melt down the cannon and turn it into an agricultural implement quite yet. For we are still in a time when we have national enemies, and the greatest vigilance is needed. That lesson easily transfers to spiritual warfare. You can never be too vigilant against the attacks of Satan. But in Jesus Christ you can always, you can always be confident that the victory is yours. "One little word can fell him." Amen.
Reflections for August 25, 2024
Title: Time is a gift
Mark Eischer: Joining us now, here's Lutheran Hour Speaker, Dr. Michael Zeigler.
Mike Zeigler: I'm here again with Dr. Jason Broge. Welcome back, Jason!
Jason Broge: Thank you.
Mike Zeigler: So the sermon that we heard from Dr. Meyer was titled "When The Monsters Come." And on that theme, I have a monster riddle for you, Jason. So let's see if you can guess it. It goes like this. "This thing, all things devours—birds, beasts, trees, flowers. Gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal. Slays kings, ruins towns, and beats high mountains down." You know where that's from?
Jason Broge: I want to say the answer is "time."
Mike Zeigler: You're right. The answer is "time." Correct.
Jason Broge: I think I've heard it before...
Mike Zeigler: You have heard it before. Okay.
Jason Broge: Is it Lord of the Rings?
Mike Zeigler: It's from The Hobbit.
Jason Broge: Yes, yes, yes. Of course.
Mike Zeigler: Good job! I knew you'd get it. It's the riddle that Sméagol, this monster, fearful monster creature in the dark, asks Bilbo.
Jason Broge: Riddles in the dark.
Mike Zeigler: And it's interesting that that's his metaphor for time, this monster that eats everything. So we'll talk more about how we view time, but good job. I had full confidence that you'd get it.
Jason Broge: You had me nervous. You said you were going to tell me a riddle. You warned me that beforehand. I was like, well, tell me the riddle. And you're like, "Nope, I'm going to put you on the spot."
Mike Zeigler: So this month we have been talking about how Christians view time, not as, we don't see it through the eyes of a frightened monster in the dark, or as a monster. Instead, we view time through the lens of the Christian calendar, following a church year. So, Jason, what are some important things for us to know, to remember about the church's annual calendar?
Jason Broge: The year, as we talked about in the very first week, I think you did that great job of saying that if you want to have a simple way of remembering those three words: promises, fulfillment, and growth. And so the whole year is set around the promises of God as they are fulfilled in Christ. And that season of growth, and each season in the church year kind of focuses in a little more on one of those than some of the others, but they're all linked and they're all weaved through the year.
Mike Zeigler: And if you go to a church that follows a more liturgical, traditional style, there's often colors associated with these seasons. So you'll have blue and purple, kind of these seasons where it feels like the light is getting darker, and the sun is setting and all hope is kind of being lost. But then you have this bright flash of white, and the seasons of Christmas and Easter are white. And then you have this season of green, the Pentecost season when the Holy Spirit is coming. Now the church is growing and everything's just growing. So it brings us through these cycles—
Jason Broge: And we'll throw (in) some random red for—
Mike Zeigler: There, we'll throw some red in there, too.
Jason Broge: Times of high celebration. Yeah.
Mike Zeigler: How does the Christian story, the Christian calendar, frame our life? How does it reveal and conceal, create and exclude certain possibilities, values, and the like?
Jason Broge: The way you tell the story matters and shapes things. And the way we tell the story of our lives, the way we tell the stories of the events of our lives, the way we tell the stories of the Bible, the way we tell the story of our nation, whatever it is—shapes us. And it creates, as you said, opens and closes doors. It creates possibilities. It limits possibilities. And so what we're dealing with here is the way you frame, to use the word you use, the way you frame the story gives you options for how you're going to understand and interpret the events of that story.
Mike Zeigler: For example, we often frame time as money. Time is money. And so you hear that in our language. We say things like "You're wasting my time," or "This isn't worth my time," or "This gadget's going to save you hours," or "You need to do a better job at budgeting your time." So time is money. It's a common way of understanding time. But in this case, time becomes a limited resource, a scarce resource, that we try to use to get things done that we want to get done. But the church calendar, it frames time differently. We've talked about it, it frames it as a gift. Time is a gift. So how does that help us see things differently? Imagine time differently?
Jason Broge: Well, I used the phrase a couple of weeks ago, every moment holy, that the church calendar makes every moment holy. Time suddenly becomes less scarce, especially when you realize you have eternity in front of you. But each one of those moments that you have is, as you just put it, a gift. It's important. It is imbued with more value, but you have less fear around that moment.
Mike Zeigler: That's a new frame. Instead of time is money, as a limited resource you have to use to get things done, time then becomes this spacious home, this mansion that your Father in heaven has given. And you can dwell in a room to rest. You can retreat in a moment. You can stay in a time. It's less about using time and more about dwelling in time. Then that shifts the frame as we've said.
Jason Broge: Absolutely.
Mike Zeigler: So thank you, Jason, for joining us as we've thought about how do Christians order and number their days? How do we fill these holidays and these seasons with new meaning centered in Jesus Christ, and the promises He fulfills in the Spirit He's given us to grow, and the hope of promises still to come.
Music Selections for this program:
"A Mighty Fortress" arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
"Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
"Lord, Help Us Ever to Retain" From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.
