"BECAUSE WE ARE THE LORD'S"
Romans 14:8
I recently finished reading a tremendous book that I would highly recommend
to all of you. It is entitled, "Grace Upon Grace", and it deals with the
matter of Christian spirituality, especially in today's world. It is a
great devotional book with many insights about what it means to be a
follower of Jesus Christ.
Among the points which the author makes is that Christians, whether they
realize it or not, are constantly surrounded by spiritual forces. Outside
of our sight and senses is the realm of the spiritual-the realm in which
both God's angels and Satan's demons dwell. And they are constantly engaged
in a battle over each one of us-God's angels, for our protection, and the
devil's demons, for our destruction.
As was mentioned, we are often unaware that this unworldly battle is going
on. And that is because, as the author of this book points out, we have
often misidentified the real enemy. This is what he says:
"The danger that we all face is that we all too easily mistake our enemies.
We imagine that the people who do evil in the Church and in the world are
our enemies. But that is not so! Spiritually speaking, we have no human
enemies. St. Paul stresses that fact. Our struggle is not against human
flesh and blood. No political, social, ethnic, or religious group is our
enemy. Our struggle is against Satan and his cosmic cronies who pretend
that they were the masters of the universe. They are our only spiritual
enemies, even though they may use misguided human beings to attack us, and
even though they may trick us into attacking our brothers and sisters in
Christ. Satan bamboozles us by getting us to consider people as our
enemies. That's his stock ruse! It's sad how often we fall for it, even in
the Church."
Joseph, in our Old Testament reading, didn't fall for Satan's tricks. No
doubt the devil wanted Joseph to go on a rampage and seek vengeance upon his
brothers who had sold him away into slavery. Even those brothers of his
realized that this would be the natural response; for they fabricated this
story that their father, on his deathbed, had pleaded for mercy from Joseph
on their behalf.
But the boys had nothing to worry about. Joseph assured them that they had
nothing to fear. He was not in the place of God; it was not his place to
settle the score. No, that was entirely up to God. And, in the actions of
Joseph, we witness an example of the very heart of God as he forgave his
brothers who had sinned against him-a forgiveness that he was glad to bestow
with or without his father's appeal.
And listen to what Joseph says to them: "'As for you, you meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people
should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for
you and your little ones.' Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them."
Once again, Joseph knew that his brothers weren't the problem. They were
capable only of making his earthly life miserable. You might say that they
were his 'cross to bear.' But, had he allowed a sense of hatred to well up
inside of himself, if he would have refused to forgive them of their sins-in
other words, if he would have been impenitent by not showing them love and
mercy, then the real enemy, the devil, would have won out. And Joseph would
have perished in proud unbelief.
And that, dearly beloved, is the aim of all those spiritual forces working
against us. They want to misdirect our thoughts to focus upon and be
consumed with the sins of other people, instead of focusing on our own guilt
and transgressions. The devil tempts us to think that our world is no
bigger than our own thoughts, desires, and feelings so that, in the process,
we miss the big picture; namely, what God's will is for our lives.
By the leading of God's Spirit, Joseph was able to recognize that what his
brothers meant for evil, God ultimately meant for Joseph's good-and not just
for Joseph, but for all of the people of Egypt and even Joseph's own family
who benefited from his leadership during those seven years of severe famine.
God worked through these circumstances to bring about His gracious plan.
That is the big picture, the real picture, of which each and every one of us
is a part. In the words of the apostle Paul in our Epistle reading, "For
none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. If we live, we
live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we
live or whether we die, we are the Lord's," (Rom. 14:7,8).
Is that what you remember? Is that what you recall when someone has dared
to sin against you? Does that assurance that you belong to the Lord bring
you peace in the midst of tribulations? Or, do you throw your hands up in
despair, imaging all is lost? Do you seek revenge against those who have
wronged you, trade insult for insult, and cross that offending person off of
your list for good?
If so, then Satan has won the battle. For, he has tricked you into
believing that it's the other person who is the problem; that, it is the
other person who is the enemy; and, that you are entirely justified in
feeling the way that you do.
But, as God tells us in His word, "We do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly places," (Eph. 6:12). You are not simply flesh and blood.
You are spiritual beings with spiritual enemies; and they are out to destroy
the gift of faith that God has bestowed upon you-the faith which recognizes
that Jesus came into this world to rescue us from the devil. but, more than
that, to save us from our sins.
And so, the devil tries to shift our focus from our own sin to the sins of
others. And that's when we proudly mutter under our breath as Peter did,
"Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" You
can almost hear the exasperated self-righteousness in his words. So,
Christ must lead Peter to see the big picture-the one in which the disciple
was behaving like that wicked servant who was forgiven an insurmountable
debt, but then refused to forgive his fellow servant of the paltry sum that
he had incurred. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us."
We must pause to consider that, when others happen to sin against us, it may
very well be a case wherein the evil things that others might have meant are
actually occasions in which God is planning to bring about His own good.
Namely, that God is using these occasions to nurture our patience, humility,
and most of all, His own love within us. He leads us to see that there is a
log in our own eyes that must be dealt with before we are consumed with the
splinter in someone else's eye. He teaches us a lesson in which we say to
ourselves in regard to other's mistakes, "There but for the grace of God go
I." And, most of all, each transgression committed against us is an
opportunity to share the wealth of God's mercy and forgiveness-the same
mercy and forgiveness that each one of us has experienced first-hand more
times than we can possibly count.
The spiritual forces of evil want to rob you of those blessed opportunities
for growth and destroy the faith that God has given to you. They are the
enemies-not other people; and especially not your own brothers and sisters
in the faith.
But, thanks be to God, they are no match for our victorious Lord, Who by His
resurrection and descent into hell, proclaimed triumph over both Satan and
our sin. His presence fills all things-even those realms which are unseen
to our human eyes. And we are confident, therefore, that if God is for us,
then there is nothing that can be against us. Nothing can separate us from
His love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore, we are comforted to see God's hand behind in every circumstance
and are glad to say at all times and in all places, "Thy will be done!" For
we belong to the Lord!
Pastor William Kilps
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Two Rivers, WI
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