What do you
see when you look at this painting?
It is a
coniferous forest – spruce and fir trees – in dusky light, at the eve of a snow
storm.
It is a
Canadian forest in the depth of winter.
It is not the most hospitable place: dark, cold, a boot swallowing snow
scape, no sure paths, acres of space to be alone with the potential to get
lost.
This could be
interpreted as our experienced version of the desert. Jesus goes off into the
wilderness.
My first parish, as you know, was in the wilderness of
Northern NB, amidst hills, valleys, and coniferous trees – a land of snow,
furious winds, bears, coyotes, and black flies all summer long. It was my place
of wilderness training after the high of ordination; trying to figure out what
pastors actually do from day to day.
Jesus went to the wilderness to seek God’s
direction after baptism – he went to set himself on the path for ministry and
to fulfill his call. Jesus had just had a spiritual victory, if you will, a
mountain top experience – having heard God say, “You are my beloved Son.” He enters the wilderness, high with emotion…
and it is in this state that Satan tempts him, with the promise of one great
experience after another; tempted by experiences of power, glory, and material
wealth. Although one goes to the wilderness to listen for God’s voice; in this
wilderness Satan waits with an arsenal of demons.
Power, glory,
and material wealth… all of this crosses
the mind of a new pastor in a new parish; and how the pastor interacts with such
temptation affects his or her relationship with church council, the
congregation, and the community.
I was reminded
this week of those early days, by a post on FaceBook from a woman who lives in
northern NB. The post was an article
about a man who recently left a church in Plaster Rock. The church has been there for 20+ years. In
my time there it was called the Apostolic Pentecostal Church. They built a new building and invited the
community to come and see; which I did.
The church plant was huge and they had a large membership (making some
of the other local churches and pastors jealous). The pastor’s office -the inner sanctum- was
decked out in solid oak fixtures; people were separated – male and female- upon
arrival, introduced to a number of members and taken on a tour, phone calls
were made in following weeks to anyone who visited during the open house; the
church had a school and sent young adults to a private college in the States;
paychecks were brought by members to the church with the church taking their
cut and giving back what they deemed people could live on; the church found
houses for members brought into the community – holding their mortgages; they
found every member a job, threatening local businesses of boycotting their
establishments if they didn’t give jobs to their people upon request; it was a
church whose members shared what they had, provided for everyone, made people
feel included; they prayed together, worshiped for hours, lived a noticeably
different life – reminiscent of Christian communities Paul talked about in his
letters … but, then, the demons showed their faces. The pastor made all the decisions, pronounced
the community ethic, took more – so as to have fancy cars, trips, and
winabegos; baptisms were done in Jesus’ name alone, interpretation of scripture
became self-serving. Power, glory, and
material wealth thrived.
When people
felt pressure – when a person wanted to leave…
They lost
everything – family, friends, house, car, other possessions, and they were
excommunicated. That’s what the article
was about – the cult – it seemed okay at the time of joining – it sounded good-
, but, people had no freedom. They were
not welcome to think and believe for themselves. Leaving meant stepping out
into a new wilderness, alone.
What do you
see when you look at this painting?
Between the
trees are grotesque and evil demon-like faces.
This painting
scared me when I was young. It hung
above the living room couch, and if ever alone in the house, I avoided the
living room once nighttime fell. I always saw the faces more prominently than
the trees. The painting was painted by the Southern ON artist named Jack
Bechtel and was won in a raffle by my father. My dad also saw the faces, and
knowing Jack, went to his studio to ask about them. Jack was adamant that the painting was trees,
only trees – no faces! Not so long
afterward, Jack died of cancer. Did he paint out those demons sub-consciously?
Living close
to the Apostolic community and interacting with people in Plaster Rock who were
members of this church, had me reflect on the presence of Satan in our lives. I
was reminded this week that I haven’t talked about Satan and demons for a long
time. It isn’t really a topic we face front-on in the church today and it sits
in opposition to technology, science, and the critical mind. We talk of a philosophical understanding of
evil: exemplified in poor choices, awful feelings, and unloving deeds; but,
Satan as an entity, as concrete, not so much.
I once read that, ‘the
devils greatest achievement is that we do not really believe he exists.” In an early sermon, I wrote, “Satan is a master of disguise, a wolf in
sheep’s clothing, hiding and achieving success through many normal means,
including through Christian organizations because we either don’t believe or
are afraid to look. We do not want to find the devil working through us, as we
may be chasing our own visions and goals on the way to following God. Sometimes we like being selfish, having
power, and a little glory.”
Satan came to
Jesus when he was waiting on God.
Filled with
the spirit, Jesus’ heart desired to be open to hear God speak – Jesus was
humble and vulnerable on this part of his journey. An open heart meant an open
opportunity for Satan. What if Jesus the
charismatic leader listened to the wrong voice?
We need to be aware at all times and in all places that Satan is very
much alive and excited at the possibilities of working through us; using us
without our knowledge while we think we are getting on with doing the Lord’s
work.
Satan is no
fool.
Satan focuses
not on Jesus’ weaknesses, but, rather, Jesus’ strengths. Generally, we think that it is weakness that
is a human beings downfall… Satan understands this, so instead uses our
strengths; the things through which we have the potential to seek and/or gain
power, glory, and material wealth.
Satan is
persistent.
Three times
the Devil comes to Jesus in the wilderness, with a different tact each
time. And when Jesus resists the
temptation, we find out this is not the end: when the devil had finished every test, he departed from Jesus until an
opportune time.
Satan is not
stupid.
Satan uses
something good and simply twists it just a little for his own purposes. Notice in Luke, the Devil quotes scripture –
probably better than some of us can. The
scripture is used to deceive, taken out of context and used in a self-serving
way. The church in Plaster Rock started
in solid doctrine, no wishy-washy sitting on the fence beliefs, a community
that welcomed and looked after each other… until it twisted into power, glory,
and material wealth.
On Wednesday
night we began Lent, remembering that we are
dust and to dust we shall return. Over the next five weeks we will partake
in Jesus’ ministry and be called to look closely at our hearts and the path we
have chosen to travel and live. We
travel with Jesus – daring to enter the Canadian winter spruce forest – to the
wilderness, to listen for God’s voice; we go mindful that Satan is lurking
along the path. Satan wants to get a grasp on us; to have us turn away from
what God is doing in the world. We will
be tempted to power, glory, and material wealth; while God calls for the Lenten
practices of carrying less baggage, being courteous – giving alms, and praying.
Remember that on this journey Satan will not likely appear with horns and a red
suit, but, disguised – quoting scripture and looking like the Good News.
Almighty and
merciful God, we believe that through Jesus’ name you have given us power over
Satan and demons. Encourage us to look
for evil and rid our lives of evil and its destructive forces. May your angels protect us and the evil one
have no power over us. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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