“In the jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight. In the jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonight...” Do you recognize that once popular song? While it is true that most lions sleep from time to time, in our sermon text the Apostle Peter speaks of a lion that never snoozes. He says that this lion has been devouring unsuspecting prey from the beginning of time and remains on the prowl. That lion of course is the Devil and his aim is to take as many of us to hell with him as he can. Therefore if Peter had written that popular song his opening lyrics would have gone something like this. “In the jungle, the mighty jungle the lion snarls tonight.” Since the Devil is out to get us it would be good to know WHAT MAKES US LION ALERT AND NOT LION DESSERT. The Apostle Peter will show us that there are three things that keep us lion alert: humility, self-control, and grace.
Peter begins his lion taming advice in verse 6 of our text. There he says, “Humble yourselves therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” How does humbling yourself before God make you lion alert? Doesn’t it just mean that you have to give up “fun” things and do what God wants you to do? I imagine that’s what most people think and they’re right, God is telling us to give up something but look at what he is encouraging us to surrender. In the next verse Peter said, “Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you” (v.7).
To humble yourself before God means to surrender all your cares and concerns to him. That makes us lion alert because the Devil likes to use our cares and concerns to get us to second-guess and doubt God. In fact the word “anxiety” means “diversion” and is used in the story of Mary and Martha. As Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, Martha fussed about the kitchen worrying about whether or not there would be enough food to eat. Her cares and concerns so diverted her attention from the one thing needful of listening to Jesus so that she even complained to Jesus that Mary wasn’t doing anything to help her.
The Devil continues to plant diversions doesn’t he? Is it the exams you have coming up? Graduation preparations? Is it the prospect of starting a new job or the stress of losing the one you have? Satan will stop at nothing to get us to rely on ourselves instead of God so that we end up worrying and breaking the first commandment. Don’t become lion dessert but remain alert by humbling yourself under God’s mighty hand. There is no better place to take your concerns than to God. God loves you and has promised to care for you. Therefore do what the Greek verb “cast” implies. Take every care and concern and pack them one by one into a bag that you then give to God to carry, as you would a pack animal. God will take care of our problems better than we ever could so what’s the use worrying about them if we’ve handed them over to God?
That sounds so easy to do but do you know what often happens? We carefully pack our concerns into a bag and cast them to God we don’t let go of the pack. We think that if we don’t at least keep an eye on our problems they will never get solved. Therefore instead of letting God carry our problems and lead where we should go we try to lead God instead and end up treating him like a dumb pack animal. Friends, that’s not the way to remain lion alert. Let the Lord bear your burdens and let the Lord lead!
As we throw all of our cares on God it is important that we don’t become lulled into a false sense of security thinking that the danger of attack has passed. The Devil won’t give up so easily therefore we need to remain lion alert; Peter tells us how in vs. 8, 9. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”
To be “self-controlled” means to have a clear head. We remain lion alert when we remove anything that hampers good judgment. For example if our mind is cluttered with lustful thoughts we won’t be prepared to flee from temptation as Joseph did when Potiphar’s wife asked him to sleep with her. If our mind is muddled with materialism it will be hard to offer our first fruits to God. If our mind is packed with pride it will be hard to keep from putting other people down so we look good.
We also exercise self-control when we don’t leave our weaknesses exposed to the Devil’s temptations. It was Luther who said that the Devil climbs over the fence where it is the lowest. Therefore if stealing is a weakness don’t stay in a room where someone else’s money is lying around unattended. If gossiping is a weakness stop hanging out with those friends who are quick to spread the latest rumors. If you continue to let yourself be influenced by these temptations you only put yourself in the lion’s den and it will only be a matter of time before you are devoured.
We remove the clutter from our lives, which hampers good judgment, and shore up our weakness when we stand firm in the faith. We stand firm in the faith when we stand firm in God’s Word. Only then can we be sure that we stand safely outside the lion’s den. How does that one verse of Almighty Fortress go? “Though Devils all the world should fill all eager to devour us. We tremble not we fear no ill they shall not overpower us. This world’s prince may still, scowl fierce as he will. He can harm us none, he’s judged the deed is done, one little word can fell him.” Jesus proved that God’s Word could topple the Devil when He was tempted out in the wilderness. Therefore, arm yourself with the powerful weapon of God’s Word. Memorize Bible verses so that you can make quick use of it like a gunslinger when Satan makes his attacks.
While humility and self-control will prepare us against attacks by the Devil it’s only God’s grace that will bring us through these attacks. We need God’s grace because even though we know we should cast our anxieties on him we often fail to. Although we know that we should stay out of the lion’s cage time and time again we put ourselves in harm’s way. Thank God that he is a God of undeserved love and that he picks us up when we fall. Listen to the promise that Peter extends to us. “And the God of grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (10)
When you fall turn to Jesus for forgiveness because he has defeated the Devil by refusing to fall for any of his tricks and he undid the Devil’s handiwork by taking the punishment of hell we deserved. Can you imagine how disappointed the Devil must have been at Jesus’ resurrection? Here he thought he had defeated God’s Son but in reality he had been totally defeated. Since the Devil could not defeat Jesus he has gone to plan “B” - attacking us, the crown of God’s creation. Luther said that where God builds a cathedral there Satan builds a chapel. Be ready for those attacks, as the Devil doesn’t want you to believe that Jesus won forgiveness for you. He will bring up past sins and shake them in your face and asks how a just God could love anyone so filthy? The answer is that one word that can topple Satan, Jesus.
Through Christ the victory is ours. Through Christ, God will restore us to the glory God intended people to have before sin entered the world. Through Christ God has made us strong so we can carry out works that please God. Yes, how could God love us? God loves us because of Jesus. If we remain in Christ then the lion’s roar will sound more like an annoying yelp from a little dog.
It’s true that “In the jungle, the mighty jungle the lion snarls tonight...” so stay alert lest you become desert. But don’t be afraid because after all it’s God’s jungle and he will keep you safe in Christ Jesus. Therefore as you walk through the jungle, humble yourself under God’s mighty hand by casting all of your cares on him. Trust that he is in control no matter what quicksand you run into. Remain watchful standing firm in the faith, armed with the Word. And the God of grace who has called us to eternal glory will keep you safe. Amen.
