The Third Sunday in Lent

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT

Guest Preacher, The Rev. Marq Toombs, Associate Pastor at Rockwall Presbyterian Church

As we make our way through the wasteland on our Lenten journey, let’s remember to keep our eyes peeled and our heads on a swivel. Many dangers, toils, and snares are at hand. Although God our Savior is our defense, enemies abound and they are strong.  

As we have heard in the scripture readings and prayers, our enemies come in many shapes and sizes. Our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. These are the strong men with which we must contend on our journey.

The world is full of political and cultural strongmen like Pharaoh that wreak havoc on our life. They take advantage of us and try to enslave us. They threaten us and test our faith, hope, and love in the Lord. 

But that is not all. The flesh is also a strong man that is at work among us. Each and every one of us is at war with the principalities and powers of spiritual darkness. We are called to fight against the dynamics of sin in our own members. This strong man manifests itself objectively and subjectively, outwardly and inwardly, in our own actions and attitudes, in our body and soul -- in our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

The flesh manifests itself in our approaches to the gifts of God. Take our approaches to the gifts of money, sex, and power. 

When our love for God and one another gets twisted and disordered, our love for things like money, sex, and power gets disordered as well. 

The flesh distorts our perception of God’s gifts. We end up treating them as the ultimate and central issues of life. 

When we misuse and abuse them, the gifts from God become god-like to us. Chrysostom warned us about insatiable appetites. Augustine warned us about disordered affections. That is why a covetous woman may be called an idolater, or a desirous and lustful man may be called an adulterer. 

One way to re-order -- to rightly order -- our disordered appetites and affections are to acknowledge our sin and confess it. Or, as Calvin so graphically put it, “to drag it out of darkness into the light”. This is why confession is so vital. Not to scandalize or shame you, but to save you from yourself. 

Confession is a chance to tell the Father where it hurts, to ask the Son for healing, and to let the Spirit help. 

As Pope Francis tweeted this week: “The center of confession is Jesus, who waits for us, who listens to us and forgives us.” 

Another way to rightly order our loves is to cultivate and practice gratitude -- to give thanks for everything the Lord gives you, no matter how much or how little. 

Do this and you will see contentment displace covetousness along with its cravings and complaints. 

A third enemy we face is the Devil. He is a strong man that stirs up trouble all over the world. 

Here, in the secularized, post-Christian, 21st century America, people are too sophisticated (and embarrassed!) to talk about the Devil. It’s far more acceptable to psychologize our troubles and diagnose them clinically. But, as we heard in the Gospel reading, the Devil is a real strong man that poses real threats. 

His end-goal is to steal, and kill, and destroy. He takes things that do not belong to him; he captures people that belong to God. He tempts us and tricks us to doubt the Lord, deny his will, and disobey his law. This leads to darkness, despair, and even death. 

Against all these enemies we ask God to stretch forth his hand and be our defense. 

“God is good, but will he listen?” (U2)

Yes! and so he does what we ask. 

Just as our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil, so our friends are the Church, the Word, and the triune God. 

The Church is a friend -- an outpost of heaven -- a community of redeemed bodies and souls -- set apart by the Spirit and word of God in baptism; set free from the world, and sent on an exodus towards the new heavens and earth. 

Lent reminds us that we are really and truly on a journey through the wasteland -- not alone but together. And not only together with each other, but together with God.  

The Church is marked by the signs and seals of God’s grace and truth. Marked by the story of God’s saving love. This is why we recount the story of the gospel when we catechize our children and adults: 

“We were slaves -- but the Lord set us free with a mighty hand.” 

The Church is a strong friend -- a loving Mother who gave us birth and nurses us with the doctrine and discipline of the Lord. Without her we would be lost and perish in the wasteland. 

Another friend is the Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures. The word of God is a living and active guide and guardian for us. 

It is more than etchings in stone and ink on paper. It is life-giving energy planted in and written on our hearts. And not only ours, but the hearts of our children and grandchildren for a thousand generations. This is the gracious and loving work of God.

It is intended to shape and sustain us in the wasteland of this life -- for the blessedness of the life to come. 

Since we live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, we must eat and drink the word of God as if our lives depend upon it -- because they do. 

If we do not know God’s word, we cannot do what it says. If we do not do what it says, we do not truly know it. But if we do what we know, the Lord will bless us now and always. As our Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.” 

So how can we do this? 

As the scripture says, we must go with the FLOW. Go with the FLOW. 

Fear. Love. Obey. Worship. 

Fear the Lord. Love the Lord. Obey the Lord. Worship the Lord. 

The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. So we must go with the FLOW from a new heart with a new spirit. 

This will keep you centered on the Lord and Giver of Life and it will keep you from treating the Word of God as an end in itself. It will help you treat the Word of God as a means to an end that is true, personal and existential, knowledge of God. 

That brings us to the third friend that defends us against our enemies -- it is none other than the Triune God. 

Taking one thing with another, God is the true and better strong man who helps us overcome the Pharaohs of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the principalities and powers of the evil one. 

Our Savior is God. And God is love. 

God loves us so much that he draws near and enters into the muck and mire of our life-experience and story in order to save us. 

God demonstrated his love for us in this way: not when our life was intact, cleaned and sober, and well-ordered. No! God’s love was activated and embodied for us while we were still broken and confused, disordered and failing, while we were still God’s enemies -- while we were still dead in our sins. 

The Father demonstrated his own love for us by sending his only-begotten Son into the world to save the world -- to lay down his life for you. Jesus demonstrated his own love for us by giving himself up for us -- by sacrificing himself for us, in our place, for our sake. The Spirit demonstrated his own love for us by dwelling among us and inhabiting our hearts.  

What changes us? What changes everything? Love. God’s love. The Father’s eternal love embodied in Jesus and expressed by the Spirit.

In love, the Father delivered us from the world. In love, the Spirit purifies us from the flesh. In love, Jesus ransomed us from the power of the devil. 

Like a man in black going around and taking names, Jesus came and fought his way into the strong man’s house.

He spoiled the strong man’s house by allowing himself to be spoiled. 

He descended into the miseries of sin and death -- into the darkness of the lowest realms of the world. 

He went all the way to hell and back to defeat the strong man and crush the serpent’s head.

Jesus came into the world to take the devil captive and set the captives free.

He ascended into the mercies and majesty of righteousness and life -- into the light of the highest realms of heaven. 

In love, the Father delivered us with an outstretched arm. Jesus delivered us with outstretched hands. The Spirit delivered us with an outstretched finger. 

So let everyone in heaven and on the earth and under the earth know the power of the truth of the love of God: the weakness of God is stronger than the devil’s strength.

This is the power of love.

Wake up, O sleepers! Rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. 

Now, go forth! 

Love God and do what you want, 

Believing this: The Father loves you. Jesus is on your side. The Spirit is for you. God is relentless in his pursuit of you. 

“May we offer up praise and glory to the God of lovingkindness, by the grace and lovingkindness of the only begotten Son, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, strength, honor now and forever and forever. Amen.” (Chrysostom)