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A Perfect Time To Start!

Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen

So when is the last time you encountered the devil? Doesn’t the devil only exists in movies and in books? Isn’t the devil is a fictional character created by Hollywood that has horns, carries a pitchfork, and for some reason likes to wear red tights. The devil isn’t real, is he? Well, the devil that has horns, a pitchfork and red tights may be a fictional character that Hollywood has used for decades to scare us, but Satan is very real. Satan is mentioned more than 50 times in scripture. In the scriptures we even hear Satan speak four times. We hear him speak to Eve in the creation story. Satan speaks directly to God in the story of Job, and he speaks directly to Jesus in this temptation story we read today and we hear Satan speak in the book of Ezekiel where Satan is known as the King of Tyre. Satan my not have a pitchfork or horns and he may not wear read tights, but Satan is alive and well in this world and he tempts, or tests, us daily into believing we do not need God or God’s ways. Satan is evil incarnate.

In this Season of Lent we are challenged to seriously consider the real presence of evil in our world. If you want to see Satan, you do not have to go far to find him. Look around you and open your eyes to the suffering that exists in this world. Suffering that exists because many have been convinced that oppression is necessary so that some can have great wealth. Economic disparity has caused many to be oppressed. If you want to see Satan take a look at the poverty that exists right here in Johnson county. Satan is the one who deceives us into believing it is their fault they are poor and not our responsibility to help them. If you want to see Satan, look at the violence in the is world, for Satan is the one who deceives us into believing that real justice comes not by loving our enemy, but by reacting to them violently. If you want to see Satan, flip on the internet and open a porn site and see how he attempts to deceive so many into believing that human beings, specifically woman and innocent children are nothing more than objects to be used for our personal desires. If you want to hear Satan, listen to the words of hatred that are spoken against people of color, people of differing sexual orientations, people of different nationalities and the list goes on. Such hatred and bigotry is not only on the dangerous streets of the inner city, but they are right here on the streets of Lenexa. Such hatred is spoken on the floors of our government chambers, on our TV sets, in our classrooms and many times even in the church. Brothers and sister, Satan is alive and well and today we hear the story of how Jesus, our brother and our Savior, taught us to say, “No!” to Satan. Today, Jesus teaches us that the only response to Satan should be “Get away from me Satan!”

In our daily lives, we encounter Satan and all his temptations, just as Jesus did in the wilderness. Satan is the great tempter that seeks to undermine all Jesus has taught us and the mission Jesus has commanded us to partake in. Our Lenten journey begins this day by challenging us to be strong enough in our faith to say no to Satan, because we know God has said yes to us. But to be strong in our faith, we must know God and his promises to us. To be strong in our faith, and have the ability to say no to Satan, we must be certain of our relationship with Christ and how can we be certain of any relationship unless we come to truly know the one we are in relationship with?

With each temptation that Satan offered Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus was able to respond as he did because he knew God and God’s word. "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written,'One does not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (4:3-4). It is God’s word that strengthens Jesus.

Then from the pinnacle of the Temple Satan says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down…’ To which Jesus responds, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test…” Once again it is God’s word and promise that strengthens Jesus. And finally from the top of a mountain, the same kind of place from which God gave his word to his people, Satan tempts Jesus by offering him dominion over all the world if only Jesus will worship him, to which Jesus responds "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

Jesus is able to resist Satan and all his evil, not by his own strength, but by the powerful word of God. Jesus knows God, and God’s word, and you and I are called to know it, as well. As we come to know God’s word, not just in our heads but in our hearts, the answer to Satan becomes clear, “No Satan, go away!”

You have heard me say before that research shows many of us stopped studying God’s word as soon as we were confirmed. After all, we knew then all we needed to know, but the truth is, Confirmation was only intended to invite you into a personal relationship with God and into a relationship that constantly seeks to know God better.

On Ash Wednesday I said that Lent was a season in which we are called to once again begin the practices of practicing our faith and one of those practices we need to include in our daily workouts is reading and learning God’s word. We can do this through individual reading of scripture, through group bible studies, through reading and asking that infamous Lutheran question, What does this mean?

Brothers and sisters you may not have opened your bible in a long tome, but Lent is a great time to begin the practice of studying God’s word. Yes, it can be a scary thing to do. Yes, there will be many things that you will not understand, but if we don’t begin practicing how can we ever expect to know what to do.

You know, this weekend the regular college basketball season comes to a close and next Sunday 65 teams will be selected to participate in the national basketball tournament. Every one of those teams has been practicing and honing their skills not just this season, but for years and it is that same dedication and determination we are challenged to have when it comes to practicing God’s word.

Why is it, we are so willing to practice our sports and our hobbies, yet, we think we need not practice our faith? For those teams that want to have the strength and ability to win the tournament they need to practice. If those teams want to be able to endure the 40 minutes of a game, they need to practice. And if we want to have the strength and the ability to say no to Satan, we need God’s word and we need to practice it now. Brothers and sisters, join me this Lenten season in practicing and studying God’s word. Open your bible, get a group together to talk about God’s word, or join a bible study, but begin to study God’s word now. Come to know the love of God and the power of his word. Amen

Tags: Sermons