Third Sunday in Lent – Walking in Light

Ephesians 5:1-14       St Luke 11:14-26

At one time you were darkness, now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light.

Our walk through Lent, and especially in the first three weeks, are a confrontation and deliverance from evil.  First, Jesus himself was tempted in the wilderness by Satan.  Then, last week, a mother was pleading with Jesus for relief for her daughter who is grievously vexed by a demon.  And this morning, Jesus is casting out a demon and then warning us to be wary of 7 spirits more evil than the unclean spirit cast out of a person [St Luke 11:14-26].

Let’s look this morning at this presence of evil in our lives but even more importantly, to finish by looking at the beauty of a soul delivered from evil and walking in Christ.

So first, the presence of evil.

This past week, in the daily Old Testament readings, the focus has been the plagues in Egypt.  Pharaoh does not want God’s people to take a day off and go out for a moment to worship in the wilderness, or he will lose his grip on them.  He is satanic in his actions – a demonstration of the opposite of what God is intending to bring to his people.  Satan brings hard labour and a forgetting of our true humanity and purpose in life; God brings us rest and the enjoyment of a garden, of paradise.

Pharaoh's pattern of relenting to let the people go and then hardening of his heart is frustrating to read.  How can he be so obstinate, so blind?  He has one way of thinking – how will he maintain his position of power and the wealth that comes from his tyranny over the lives of others.

But in one sense Pharaoh is a figure of many people both inside and outside of the church - when life presses us, we look up to God and cry out for mercy (Pharaoh did promise many times to let the people go), but when all is going smoothly again (when the "plague" is over) we stop looking up and seeking God’s guidance… until the next crisis.  Jesus warns us in the Gospel today how to avoid this unhealthy pattern.

In the Gospel, Jesus casts out a demon from a man who was mute, and he was able to speak.  The people of Israel, under Pharaoh’s bondage, had no voice, until Moses and Aaron were sent to speak for them.  The true desires and wishes of humanity were silenced by satan, and kept hidden, until the Son of God came to release them.

Our true desires are not the mad and frenetic activity of a consumerist culture, or the mad striving for power, or pleasure seeking.  But behind every disordered desire are longings, hidden, unspoken: the desire to love and to be loved, to be known and to know – for deep connection with another; the desire to no longer be afraid, and to be healed of deep wounds; the desire to see and to enjoy beauty, and to have our gifts expressed so we can be fruitful in our lives; the desire to be reconciled with loved ones, the desire to have intimate communication / conversation with God and to know and experience His love.

This desire, this voice is muted by satan.  But God longs to hear our voice.  Listen to the voice of the Beloved, of Jesus, in the Song of Solomon.  These are his last words in that poem:  O you who dwell in the gardens, my companions are listening for your voice; let me hear it! [8:13]

By faith and by baptism, Jesus has lifted us out of the bondage of the devil, out from slavery to sin that would hold us in prison and stifle our true voice.  Jesus says,

When a strong man [that is, satan], fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he [that is, Jesus] attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 

Jesus is the stronger one and he's saying we are His spoil!

So we are no longer submitting in silence to bondage, to a dark vision of the world, but we are opening our lips in praise of our Maker.  We are here today to open our lips, that our mouths will show forth God’s praise.

But Jesus warns us very clearly in the Gospel today that baptism and faith – which transfers us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light – is not the end of our journey of faith, but really just a start.  Through faith and baptism, the unclean spirit is driven out of us – that is the spirit of pride – which opposes faith and trust in God.

But as people of faith, we need to be watchful that seven other demons worse than the first don't come to dwell in us.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

When the people of Israel were brought out of Egypt, it was not the end of slavery, they were still subject to temptation and many of them fell in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land.  They needed to distinguish between light and darkness, so they were given the Law to reveal virtue, and they were given a pillar of light to follow in that darkness.

For us, these other demons that return to the house that is swept and put in order are not more powerful than the first, but the degradation they bring is worse.  Paul in today’s reading describes some of those evils – sexual immorality, and covetousness – which is idolatry.  But the disordered passions are many – they are listed in every letter of the apostles in the New Testament and Jesus speaks of the thoughts coming out of the heart that defile or denigrate us if we follow them. [St Matt 15:17-19]  They are brought in to our lives by the return of pride, Jesus says, it goes (that is, the unclean spirit that was cast out) goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself.  If we stop looking up when things are going well, that is a kind of pride, an unclean spirit that leads to us being overtaken by others.  How do we prevent all those other evil spirits entering?

The Christian life is one of watchfulness.  This includes a continual watching of ourselves, self-reflection, which leads to repentance, as we see ourselves fall for sin after our baptism, and continual faith in Jesus’ self-offering in our place.

The outward manifestation of any kind of sin itself in us, can be redemptive, if we are observing ourselves, if we recognize that it reveals, in that moment, our more hidden pride, that we were already walking away from God inwardly.  It is a sign that we need to draw closer again – humble ourselves, to stay closer to Christ.  The Christian Way is an ever-deepening humility, an ever-deepening repentance, an ever-deepening trust in the mercy, and growing gratitude that we are sheltered under that mercy.  We look then at all others around us who are falling, with the eyes of mercy, not of condemnation.

So this is about the presence of evil.  What about beauty in the soul?

We watch not only to see what is amiss, but also to see what is being restored.  This watchfulness also leads to thanksgiving, as we see the image and likeness of God in our souls being restored.  St Paul says in Corinthians, “We, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” [2 Cor 3:18]  We see grace manifested in us and the experience of freedom from condemnation – true reconciliation with God, being at peace when we rise up in our beds to a new day, and when we go to sleep on our beds for rest.

And that Christian watchfulness is not just of ourselves, but is also being watchful to see how God is active in the world and in others around us.  As we see it, and see God unveiled in our midst, we don’t need to pretend to be thankful, as if this is something we’re supposed to be – a fake smile.  But true thankfulness arises in our hearts from our watchfulness, our careful observations.

And as we do this, a continual lifetime of turning to Jesus and staying close, we see the appearance of virtues in the soul, the fruit of the Spirit.  These fruit come of themselves, they are not forced.  They grow out of our union with Christ.  I am the vine you are the branches, says Jesus. [St John 15:1-8]  And those branches will bear blossoms, a pleasing fragrance, and abundant fruit when united closely with the Vine.  Paul commends to us this morning to become like Christ, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. [Eph 5:2]

They remind me of words from the Song of Solomon [4:10-15].  These are understood by the Church to be the words of Jesus about the Christian believer:

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon….

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates,
with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense;
myrrh and aloes, with all the choice spices:
a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters.

This is the promised result of grace in our souls as we are watchful and stay close to Jesus.  We walk, not just following an external pillar of light through the darkness, as did the Israelites.  We have the external light of God's written Word.  But we also follow that Light in our souls, the Holy Spirit indwelling us.  And we no longer follow that which is darkness in us.  Over time we acquire virtue and put away vice.  Our souls become a pillar of light to guide others.  And our souls become a garden, for the indwelling of Christ, and we are a pleasing fragrance and we and others taste of the fruit that grows.

Before coming for Holy Communion, we are to put watchfulness into practice.  We now examine ourselves and are completely honest with God about our failings and then, with faith, hope and love, we will come forward to be delivered from evil and more deeply united to Jesus and so become a more fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Amen +