Matthew 12:43-45
Chapel Worship – November 16, 2017
Martin Lohrmann – Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque
[Jesus said,] ‘When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but it finds none. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation’ [NRSV]
+ Imagine that you are an evil spirit who’s just been kicked out of your favorite place. You called that soul home for a long and happy time. You loved it there, because you felt confident and in charge. You had your favorite haunts, games you loved to play, and the joy that came with meaningful work. You kept it simple, following the basic rule that people will stick with the devil they know, because they’d rather live with the hobgoblin of consistency than deal with their problems and face their demons. But you overreached, got yourself kicked out, and now you are a flea without a dog, a parasite without a host. You wander the dry and empty places, because you yourself feel dry and empty. What is a sad and lonely evil spirit to do?
It turns out that evil spirits are not very creative. They’re not interested in making much meaningful change. They’d rather just go back to what they know, do what has worked in the past, and—if that doesn’t work—just do it louder and more persistently until they get their way. It’s a pretty good strategy. It works. Demons wear down our defenses, because we—being just as uncreative as them—would rather live with the demon we know than face the uncertainty that comes with real freedom, life and creativity.
Naming some of these real-life demons can show us how this works. For instance, one powerful contemporary demon is prejudice. Its power comes from how it’s easier to stereotype entire groups of people than it is to bother getting to know each other as complex human beings. So the demon of prejudice thrives and survives. Another demon is self-righteousness. Self-righteousness might get the boot for a while, because it’s kind of self-righteous not to be too into self-righteousness. But it comes back stronger than ever because we make peace with it in order to avoid the serious trials that can come with honest self-reflection.
This kind of avoidance introduces yet another demon we know very well: resignation. While this demon seems safe, it’s among the most harmful of all, because it convinces us that we don't deserve goodness. We become resigned and reconciled to hurt, pain, sin, injustice, and ugliness in ourselves and on earth; and so the demons make a cozy house in our souls.
Resignation has a friend named striving, which wants to convince us that the key to overcoming resignation lies in ourselves, as if fighting our demons is a battle we can win. But Jesus’ words in Matthew 12 make no such promise. On the contrary, it seems that evil spirits are pretty good at making their way back home. But while the demons might tempt us to get us stuck in endless pointless cycles of striving and resignation, Jesus tells us that living free does not come this way. Instead, Jesus invites us to be free of evil spirits by filling the home of our soul with a different spirit entirely: the Holy Spirit.
Earlier, I invited you to imagine that you are an evil spirit, which was a pretty strange thing to ask. But now let’s imagine something better. Imagine what it’s like to watch the Holy Spirit move. The Holy Spirit wants to dwell with us not like a parasite looking for a host but like friend eager to welcome us and help us out. The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to control or manipulate us but wants us to have a freedom and life that is good for us. The Spirit doesn’t wear us down with demands and threats but lifts us up by letting us know every day that our lives matter and this creation matters. The Holy Spirit teaches us to see beauty everywhere, even and especially in the least likely people and places.
This is our salvation. It comes when the Spirit of life makes a home in us. The Spirit's blessings become ours in baptism, prayer, in confession and absolution, bread and wine, in welcoming communities, in honest words and caring deeds, in love of God and service to neighbors. It comes in a blessed rest at the last, so that in our living and our dying we are the Lord’s.
But before that final day, we still have our daily struggles. What's going on in them? Imagine now that you belong to branch of the Christian faith that has just observed a 500th anniversary, even as it cautiously steps into an uncertain future. Will we as a church wander the dry and empty places of the world, ready to use whatever means necessary to hang around just a little longer? I hope not. That’s not any church or spirit of Reformation that deserves to be cared about. But consider this: at a time when the future of the Reformation was very much in doubt, when he returned to Wittenberg from exile at Wartburg Castle in 1522, Martin Luther wondered what might come next for the movement. He said, ‘Listen: I did nothing, the Word did everything. While I was hanging out with my friends, the Holy Spirit and God’s Word started a Reformation’ [paraphrase, LW 51:77].
What might this mean for us? Some people like to say that the Reformation church must always be reforming. Not me. I don't say that. To me, a church that always has to reform itself is like the poor soul that’s constantly fighting to cast out not only one demon but all the other ones that are along for the ride. I don't have the strength or energy for that. But salvation is not our fight; the church is not our fight: instead, we receive life, goodness and freedom when the life of Christ abides in us through the Holy Spirit.
To this end, the Lord invites us to pray for the Holy Spirit: that the Holy Spirit make a home in you, in us, in this world. What happens next? I don’t know, but—with the Holy Spirit of the living God dwelling in the house of our souls—we can well imagine. Amen
Chapel Worship – November 16, 2017
Martin Lohrmann – Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque
[Jesus said,] ‘When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting-place, but it finds none. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation’ [NRSV]
+ Imagine that you are an evil spirit who’s just been kicked out of your favorite place. You called that soul home for a long and happy time. You loved it there, because you felt confident and in charge. You had your favorite haunts, games you loved to play, and the joy that came with meaningful work. You kept it simple, following the basic rule that people will stick with the devil they know, because they’d rather live with the hobgoblin of consistency than deal with their problems and face their demons. But you overreached, got yourself kicked out, and now you are a flea without a dog, a parasite without a host. You wander the dry and empty places, because you yourself feel dry and empty. What is a sad and lonely evil spirit to do?
It turns out that evil spirits are not very creative. They’re not interested in making much meaningful change. They’d rather just go back to what they know, do what has worked in the past, and—if that doesn’t work—just do it louder and more persistently until they get their way. It’s a pretty good strategy. It works. Demons wear down our defenses, because we—being just as uncreative as them—would rather live with the demon we know than face the uncertainty that comes with real freedom, life and creativity.
Naming some of these real-life demons can show us how this works. For instance, one powerful contemporary demon is prejudice. Its power comes from how it’s easier to stereotype entire groups of people than it is to bother getting to know each other as complex human beings. So the demon of prejudice thrives and survives. Another demon is self-righteousness. Self-righteousness might get the boot for a while, because it’s kind of self-righteous not to be too into self-righteousness. But it comes back stronger than ever because we make peace with it in order to avoid the serious trials that can come with honest self-reflection.
This kind of avoidance introduces yet another demon we know very well: resignation. While this demon seems safe, it’s among the most harmful of all, because it convinces us that we don't deserve goodness. We become resigned and reconciled to hurt, pain, sin, injustice, and ugliness in ourselves and on earth; and so the demons make a cozy house in our souls.
Resignation has a friend named striving, which wants to convince us that the key to overcoming resignation lies in ourselves, as if fighting our demons is a battle we can win. But Jesus’ words in Matthew 12 make no such promise. On the contrary, it seems that evil spirits are pretty good at making their way back home. But while the demons might tempt us to get us stuck in endless pointless cycles of striving and resignation, Jesus tells us that living free does not come this way. Instead, Jesus invites us to be free of evil spirits by filling the home of our soul with a different spirit entirely: the Holy Spirit.
Earlier, I invited you to imagine that you are an evil spirit, which was a pretty strange thing to ask. But now let’s imagine something better. Imagine what it’s like to watch the Holy Spirit move. The Holy Spirit wants to dwell with us not like a parasite looking for a host but like friend eager to welcome us and help us out. The Holy Spirit doesn’t want to control or manipulate us but wants us to have a freedom and life that is good for us. The Spirit doesn’t wear us down with demands and threats but lifts us up by letting us know every day that our lives matter and this creation matters. The Holy Spirit teaches us to see beauty everywhere, even and especially in the least likely people and places.
This is our salvation. It comes when the Spirit of life makes a home in us. The Spirit's blessings become ours in baptism, prayer, in confession and absolution, bread and wine, in welcoming communities, in honest words and caring deeds, in love of God and service to neighbors. It comes in a blessed rest at the last, so that in our living and our dying we are the Lord’s.
But before that final day, we still have our daily struggles. What's going on in them? Imagine now that you belong to branch of the Christian faith that has just observed a 500th anniversary, even as it cautiously steps into an uncertain future. Will we as a church wander the dry and empty places of the world, ready to use whatever means necessary to hang around just a little longer? I hope not. That’s not any church or spirit of Reformation that deserves to be cared about. But consider this: at a time when the future of the Reformation was very much in doubt, when he returned to Wittenberg from exile at Wartburg Castle in 1522, Martin Luther wondered what might come next for the movement. He said, ‘Listen: I did nothing, the Word did everything. While I was hanging out with my friends, the Holy Spirit and God’s Word started a Reformation’ [paraphrase, LW 51:77].
What might this mean for us? Some people like to say that the Reformation church must always be reforming. Not me. I don't say that. To me, a church that always has to reform itself is like the poor soul that’s constantly fighting to cast out not only one demon but all the other ones that are along for the ride. I don't have the strength or energy for that. But salvation is not our fight; the church is not our fight: instead, we receive life, goodness and freedom when the life of Christ abides in us through the Holy Spirit.
To this end, the Lord invites us to pray for the Holy Spirit: that the Holy Spirit make a home in you, in us, in this world. What happens next? I don’t know, but—with the Holy Spirit of the living God dwelling in the house of our souls—we can well imagine. Amen