Sermon: Wednesday of Oculi (Lent 3) – 2022

23 March 2022

Text: Luke 11:14-28 (Ex 8:16-24, Eph 5:1-9)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Our Lord encounters a “demon that was mute.”  It might be better to express this in English by saying that He encountered a man who was made mute by a demon.  And this was one of those really extraordinary manifestations of the devil in which a person is taken over in the body, or possessed, by a demon.  Though this certainly does happen even today, it is rare.  The devil is typically more sneaky, and acts in ways that are harder to detect his works and his ways.

For example, a demon may tempt us to be voluntarily mute when we should speak, or to voluntarily speak when we should be silent.  In this case, Satan doesn’t take away our ability to speak, nor does he force us, by possessing our bodies, to act apart from our will.  Rather, simply by the devil deceiving us, we sometimes remain silent when we should speak, and we sometimes speak when we should remain silent.

And this tactic of the devil is quite common today, dear friends.  For we are called to confess Christ.  Jesus says, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus also says: “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”  But confessing Christ today carries risks.

If you believe and confess the words of Jesus, say, regarding human sexuality and marriage, you might find yourself being ridiculed, losing friends, being punished at work, passed over for promotions, or even interrogated by the police and threatened with fines or jail time.  And so, we are sometimes silent when God calls us to speak.  The demonic world, by imposing fear and intimidation upon us, gags the church and her proclamation of Christ Jesus. 

And make no mistake, dear friends.  Any time you feel the need to be silent about what you believe, Satan is putting the heat on you.  As the old saying goes, “The flak gets heavy when you’re over the target.”  The military metaphor is apt, for we are at war against the devil.  To put it in the words of one of America’s greatest cavalry generals, “Ride to the sound of the guns.”  Of course, this is all very easy to say when our jobs are not being threatened, and when there is no danger of being arrested and put in a cell.  But, dear friends, the time to think about these things is now.  We need to consider what is important, and we must confess Christ.  As Dr. Luther said at his trial: “Here I stand.  I can do no other.  God help me.”

Satan will also tempt us to say things when we should not speak.  Remember, the devil is the “father of lies.”  We see this happening when people saw Jesus cast out this demon that rendered its victim mute.  For when “the mute man spoke,” the “people marveled.”  But some also were motivated to speak untruths about Jesus, false confessions about who He is and what He is doing in our fallen world: “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.”  Others felt motivated to speak, not confessing Jesus as the Christ, but rather to express doubt by “seeking from Him a sign from heaven.”

Jesus points out their lies by a simple appeal to logic, a statement of wisdom found in the Word of God itself: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.”  So, concludes our Lord, “If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?”  He also points out: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?”  These are rhetorical questions that have no answers other than to repent and confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

Jesus points out that He is the enemy of Beelzebul, and that He casts out demons “by the finger of God.”  For Jesus is the Word who was in the beginning with God, and who was God.  All things were made by Him.  When Jesus speaks, reality happens.  When Jesus remains silent, nothing happens.  When Jesus points with the finger of God, God’s will is done.  In the Old Testament lesson, it was God’s wrath that was done upon Pharaoh and his house, but in this instance, it was His mercy being performed upon a man who was held captive by the devil.

The finger of God creates and upholds the universe.  The finger of God casts out demons and gives the mute the ability and reason to speak.  The finger of God silences our Lord’s critics by pointing to both reason and the Word of God.  The finger of God points to us, convicting us of sin, but also pointing out to Beelzebul just who our Lord’s chosen baptized and redeemed people are.  The finger of God is attached to the hand that was nailed to the cross, bringing forth the sacrifice that saves us from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.  The finger of God points to the bread and the wine on our altar, as the Lord Himself says; “This is My body” and “This cup is the New Testament in My blood.”  The finger of God points to you, dear brother, dear sister, and Jesus prays: “Dear Father, this Christian for whom I died acknowledges Me before men, for this person has spoken concerning the devil at his baptism when asked, ‘Do you renounce the devil’ and ‘all his works’ and ‘all his ways?’  And indeed, Father, this redeemed saint to whom I point with the finger of God, verbally renounced the devil three times, the devil himself, his works, and his ways.”

Dear brothers and sisters, we are confessors of Jesus.  We speak, and He points to us as those given forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Jesus points to us and confesses to our heavenly Father that we did not accuse Jesus of evil, nor did we acknowledge the devil’s lies.  But rather by faith, we renounce Satan and we acknowledge Jesus.  It is by the finger of God that Jesus casts away the demons that would possess us, tempt us, and lure us away from Him who died for us.

Because of our Lord pointing the finger of God to us, claiming us as His own beloved and redeemed sinners-become-saints by His grace and mercy, we are called, and freed, to renounce the devil and his darkness, and to “walk as children of light” and to do so “in love.”  For “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”   The “kingdom of God has come upon us,” thanks be to God!

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.