Sermon at Trinity by Pastor Pankow. 6.16.24
How to think about Satan?
When you think back to a first date or the first time you met that special someone, you might tend to overthink the situation too much. Worry about what they thought, what you said, when you’re going to meet next . . . It can also happen with people we don’t like. All you can think about is how evil they are and how you want to get revenge on them. What’s the best thing you can do? Maybe not think about them at all. Try to ignore them and stay away from them.
Transfer that to the spiritual realm. There’s a Psalm that goes, “On my bed, I remember you. On you, I muse through the night.” It is the Psalmist romantically describing their thoughts on God. It is good to think about God constantly. Then we switch our minds to the other side, that of Satan and the demons. What should we think about them? In our reading from Revelation for today, John predicted that when the thousand years were ended that Satan’s chain would be unleashed. It would appear that the 1,000 years is symbolic of the New Testament times. As the Gospel and the Word of God is tossed aside, the demonic world has more power and influence over people. So what should we do? Should we talk about it more or should we just ignore it?
Some people embrace the demonic and the dark. They get 666 tattoos and put demonic symbols on themselves. I remember growing up how Iron Maiden had an album titled “The Number of the Beast.” Ronnie James Dio liked to use a lot of Satanic imagery in his songs and music. It was thought of as rebellious and kind of cool to listen to their music, very prominent back in the 1980’s. I know of one young man who bought a Satanic Bible but then threw it out when he felt some strange things happening in his room. Movies like Rosemary’s Baby and the Exorcist were pretty popular as well. Richard Ramirez was a serial killer who claimed to be a Satanist and used Satanic symbols as well. There was almost an obsession with Satan.
We know that’s obviously wrong, but how do we think of Satan and the demonic world as Christians? We can be overly obsessed with Satan in a sense, associating everything with Satan. There was a movie called Waterboy that came out years ago where Bobby Bouchet’s mother associated people with the devil constantly. She wasn’t the only one. Back in the middle ages, Martin Luther once wrote, “The devil is able to steal an infant and put himself in its place, to be rocked and nursed. . . I myself have seen such a changeling.” (58:292-293) Strange stuff.
When it came to Jesus’ chasing out of demons in the Gospels, the Pharisees decided that even that was demonic! If chasing out demons is demonic, then everything is demonic. But we know that isn’t true either. There is good in this world. There are angels and saints living among us. God is here too, working through His saints, speaking His Word, and giving His sacraments. The devil has no authority over these.
Demons are real, so we shouldn’t just ignore that fact. Ignorance is not bliss. If God didn’t want us to think about Satan at all, then He probably wouldn’t even mention Satan in the Bible. But there are plenty of mentions of Satan in the Bible, and we saw a few in today’s readings. Peter is clear in 1 Peter 5:8 that we are to, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” He wants us to be aware of what Satan is doing behind the scenes and be “alert” about it. If I’m alert to it, I’m on guard, kind of like when you hear the dog bark at something in the backyard. You sit up and think, “What’s he barking at?” You look out the window and shine a light.
As we read through the Old Testament lesson of the Fall into sin, people tend to make fun of such a story and consider it as folklore and make believe, symbolic at best. The thought that an actual demon would actually inhabit a snake and talk through a snake to tempt someone to eat a piece of fruit is thought of as childish and foolish. Yet God’s Word speaks of it as a fact. You can read the story and ask all kinds of questions. “Didn’t Adam and Eve know that snakes couldn’t talk?” “Or did all animals have the capability of speech?” It all deflects from the main danger that Satan was speaking through the snake, using his lies to deceive Eve into sinning. And if Satan could speak through a snake, then who is to say that Satan couldn’t speak through PEOPLE as well? After all, Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me SATAN,” when Peter tried to keep him from going to the cross. Satan crept his way into Peter’s thinking and words with his false expectations of what Jesus should be and do.
My son Logan was recently trying to speak with an unbelieving co-worker about the value of humanity in the eyes of God. Logan made a reference to how God says that we are “worth more than sparrows.” Unbelievably, the man went on a tirade about how humanity is no better than animals. He said, “Now you’ve taken it too far!” Was it an actual Satanic rage from inside the man? Is Satan in more people than we think? 1 John 5:19 goes so far as to say that, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
Satan has his tactics, so you can hear him speak in an indirect way through language that reflects his words. In the Garden of Eden he uses lies and deception. He makes false promises. He gets us to question God’s Word. He wants us to question God’s motives. These things can all be demonic in a sense, and we shouldn’t listen to him at all. But there’s something else that could be mentioned as well. It’s the fact that Satan is aggressive. Adam and Eve were just minding their own business. They were living in Paradise, enjoying what God had made and given them. But Satan hated that. He wanted humanity to be miserable. He wanted us to hate God too. So HE decided to come into THIS world and wreck it all. He was intentionally malicious about it.
I say this because we have become far too passive in the way that we live our lives. They sometimes say that the best defense is a good offense. But we aren’t living this way. We think of this world as kind of a neutral ground and children as neutral, who naturally will make good decisions if left to themselves. Or we assume that if we just send our kids to Trinity to take religion classes that they’ll be fine. Or we like the idea of them maybe getting married and getting a good job. As long as they aren’t doing anything too bad, we’re happy with that. But if you don’t take the time to pray or to listen to the Word of God regularly, to talk about what is right and wrong or good and evil in your own house, you aren’t being aggressive enough. If you aren’t taking the time to warn your children about the dangers in this world, you’re leaving a possible door open for Satan to walk through.
Look at what is happening in our world. Can you honestly think that the devil isn’t working overtime? Look into the public school system and you see this evil gender and sexuality being pushed on the children at such a young age. How can you be lazy with your own Christian growth of you and your children in such a time as this? Do you monitor what is going into their eyes and ears in the privacy of their rooms and their shows that they watch? Do you think that just because you belong to a church with your spouse and your children that Satan isn’t looking for ways to divide you and conquer you? Lord, have mercy on us! You can’t just coast with your faith and assume everything will be fine . . . mind my own business . . . watch my Netflix . . . go on my vacations up north . . . pay the bills . . . I’ll be fine. The demons are looking for weaknesses, ways to get after you. Is it greed? Lust? Anger? Laziness? Is it despair? False doctrine? How can you know? Through the truth of the Word of God. Through Bible study. Through Christian friends, that are willing to call you out. Through a spouse. Through parents and children.
Think about how Satan worked in the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who knew the Word well even! Jesus tried to call them out, urging them to repent. But they were hungry for power. They were proud. They started getting jealous and angry. They outrageously claimed that he was driving out demons by Satan himself. This is how Satan likes to work. When attacked, he boldly makes audacious claims that are patently false. It reminds me of when Roe vs. Wade was overturned, so that states could decide on their own whether abortion would be legal or not in America. Finally, abortions could be limited or even outlawed on a state level. What was said in response? All kinds of proclamations about how evil it was to overturn this law, an attack on women’s rights. Women wanted the right to keep murdering their babies, and they were all the more bold and angry about it. It used to be said that abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. Now it’s more abortion on demand, what I want and when I want it. That’s demonic.
It’s typical of Satan and the demonic world. They like to use power. They like to try and intimidate and sound confidently bold in what they say. Listen to the snake in the Garden, so confidently making assertive lies. “You won’t die. God knows that when you eat of it you’ll be like Him.” Listen to Satan as he talks to Jesus and promises Him that he can give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, as if they were his to give. The book of Daniel and Revelation show how Satan likes to use governments to do his bidding, powerfully enforcing the law against God’s people. He’s a big talker.
But then see how simply Jesus fights back against Satan. He lets him rage and accuse Jesus of all sorts of things. And what does Jesus do in defense? He says NOTHING. He lets the accusations fly. Pilate threatens death. Jesus doesn’t fear at all. He lets death come to him, with all of God’s wrath and anger. Then, as He is dying, He starts speaking. Words of forgiveness. Words of grace. Words of confidence. “It is finished.” Paid in full. “Into your hands I commit my Spirit.” Satan, you’ve done your best. You shot your shot. You had me put to death. And look at this. I won. I paid for their salvation. And what do the angels have to say? “He is not here. He is risen. Just as He said.” And what does Jesus promise? “Whoever believes in me and is baptized will be saved. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you life.” Words of promise. Words of hope. We had a song we sang at Seminary years ago, it had a great refrain. “Our Samson smashed the gates of hell, and we are free at last, at last.” How did He do it? Through weakness and death.
What is our strength against the devil? It’s a similar thing, right? When Satan embarrasses us, humiliates us, knocks us down. . . we fall on our knees, and we beg for God’s mercy. We admit our sin and confess our weakness, and we cling to Christ crucified. We take His Supper, this bread and wine, His body and blood, for the forgiveness of sins. And through these seemingly weak things, we find strength. We find life and hope, and the devil loses, when we cling to Christ. Remember how Paul was crying out for help with his thorn in the flesh. What was God’s answer? My grace is sufficient for you. So what did Paul conclude? “I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Co 12:10)
Think about how foolish it is for people to embrace the 666, the pentagrams, the symbols of the devil. They want to look powerful and intimidating. They want to think of themselves as free from religion, free to sin and do what they want. He may look powerful and cool for now, but in the end? He loses. And he’s already lost. I think of the Israelites who kept on worshiping false gods in Canaan and the surrounding countryside. The Israelites would come and conquer their land and their gods. And the Israelites would be so foolish as to start worship those very gods that were conquered. People still do it today. Why would you follow the loser and put him on your skin and your shirts and your life? It’s not cool. It’s dangerous. It’s weak. It’s foolish. It’s hellish. It’s like in the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard sounds all bold and powerful, but when they get to the final room and Toto pulls back the curtain? They find a normal guy who’s only using projectors and microphones to try and be someone he isn’t. Satan is a fallen angel. He is powerful and cunning, much more powerful than we are by nature. But in comparison to Jesus? When Jesus pulls back the curtain, he reveals Satan as nothing but a defeated weakling in the end. When we have the Holy Spirit and God’s angels on our side, He’s nothing in comparison to them.
So what does Luther say to do in light of the devils that fill the whole world? Just speak one little word. One little word can fell him. Did you ever wonder, what is that word? Is it Jesus? That sounds good. I like that. But then again, the seven sons of Sceva used Jesus’ name and it didn’t work too hot for them. Why? Because His name isn’t just a magic formula. There’s a reputation behind that name that takes faith to believe in the midst of Satan’s lies. And Jesus’ name isn’t exactly a “little word” either. Another man came up with another idea for the little word. (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-one-little-word-will-fell-satan) Liar. All of his accusations against God, against you . . . by God’s grace, they are just lies. Next time Satan says, “Why would God accept you in heaven? You’re a hypocrite. You’re a loser. God hates you.” Just say to him, “Liar.” When he accuses God of being unloving and uncaring because you were diagnosed with cancer or your loved one died . . . “Liar.” We know what the devil speaks with his accusations, they are lies. It’s just a little word, but it’s powerful. It means that God is the truth, not Satan. I like that. Either way, the point Luther is making is that it doesn’t take much to chase the devil away, not with the power and promises of God’s Word. James says, “Resist him, and he will flee from you.” What kind of a warrior runs AWAY from battle? The one who knows he’s beat. That’s Satan.
So how do we think about Satan as Christians? Don’t forget that he and the demons are real, and they are dangerous. Remember that Satan is prowling around and that he’s hungry for your soul. But don’t be afraid of him. Don’t embrace him. Don’t listen to him. Confront him. Speak back at him. Be bold in Christ. You are His baptized child. You have His angels to protect you. Call him a liar, and call on the Lord. And in the end, you will be saved. Amen.
