Prepare for Battle

In this morning’s Gospel lesson we’ll read of Jesus cleansing a man who is possessed by an unclean spirit. Mark places this miracle first in order to reveal the true nature of the conflict in which Jesus and the Church are engaged. We’re engaged in holy war, but not the sort imagined by the Jews of the first century or the Muslims of the twenty-first, though its every bit as real. Paul says that we wrestle not “against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spirituals hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” And we need to understand what we’re doing here this morning against this backdrop. This morning we’re engaging in holy war against the spiritual armies of wickedness in the heavenly places. But we don’t fight with guns and bombs. Our weapons are much stronger that. As Paul says, “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Guns and bombs can’t defeat our enemies. The weapons we’ve been given, “weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,” are the Word of God and Prayer. Through the reading and preaching of the Word of God this day, Jesus will ride forth conquering and to conquer. Through the prayers of the people of God this day, both spoken and sung, Jesus will judge the earth. Don’t believe the hype that the real action is in Columbia and Washington. This is where the action is. The Kingdom doesn’t come through guns and bombs and neither does it come through bills and legislation. The real “Hope for America” and “Change we need” will be proclaimed and enacted here this morning in Word and Sacrament. But it’s not the hope or change that most are looking for and it puts us on a collision course with the powers of the present age. So as you stand there, poised to enter the conflict, remember the words of James, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”