There Is a Cause to Rejoice: Don t Be Distracted Luke 10:17-20 by Rev. Michael G. Lilienthal I d like us all to reflect on ourselves. What is our motivation for being here? I m guessing that most of you are a little sick to your stomachs when you look at the news, when you hear about what s going on. Are you tired of hearing about the presidential race? Are you eager to vote and get it done with? Are you stressed about who will gain the Oval Office? Are you jaded and just done with the whole affair? What about our culture? There s a lot of bad news, isn t there? The gay-rights movement gaining speed, the rising problem of abortion, shootings of civilians and police officers, tensions in the Middle East. There s so much evil in the world, what do we do with it all? What if I told you that you have power to vanquish evil? Now, Jesus said the words of our text only to the seventy-two he had sent out, and the guarantee that serpents and scorpions would not hurt them does not apply to us. However, it is true that we have power: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith (1 John 5:4). We see that we have victory secured, and therefore we have a cause to rejoice. But beware, because it is easy to become distracted. I. We Are in an Angelic War There are two sides waging war in a spiritual realm. Angelic warriors fight on both sides. In the book of Revelation, we hear of this war: Now war arose in heaven,
Luke 10:17-23 2 Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven (Rev. 12:7-8). Now, realize, you are combatants in this fight. It s one thing to watch from a distance; but an entirely different thing to be on the front lines. In the early days of the American Civil War, women, children, elderly men, and others who were not in the army frequently would make trips from towns and villages, packing picnics and dressing in fancy clothes to go sit on the hills that overlooked a nearby battle and watch. They were relatively safe from their vantage, and could have a pleasant afternoon watching the bloodshed. We don t have such luxury. In fact, the ironic thing seems to be that while Jesus sent seventy-two disciples to go and fight, he himself was a spectator: he said to them, I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Of course it s more complicated than that (and also far simpler), but the important thing to realize is that our Savior sends his followers, his disciples, into war. We call ourselves here, on this side of heaven, the church militant. You know that song, Onward, Christian Soldiers? We teach that to our children, not because kids like to play war games and it s a way to keep them engaged, but because we must prepare those children to fight. We must prepare them to suffer. Christians must be realists, and as realists, we know that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Tim. 3:12-13). Therefore it s important to train our children as Christian soldiers, and part of that is by ourselves being examples of good soldiers.
3 There Is a Cause to Rejoice: Don t Be Distracted The seventy-two saw the importance of their fight in this war. And they rejoiced to fight. When they came back to Jesus they returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name! They saw a true cause to rejoice in the victory that Jesus gave them. Notice, they recognized where this victory came from: it was not their own power, it was not their own ability; it was from Jesus, for the demons submit in his name. This is the first thing from which we must never be distracted: the power we have is from Jesus himself, and in his name. Are you worried about sending your children to war? Certainly that would cause anyone to worry, but they don t go themselves. They don t go unarmed. They aren t headed out their with their wooden swords and Nerf guns; but they have the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17), they are baptized in the name of Christ Jesus, and his power shines through them. So don t be distracted: the world seems scary. The power of the evil one mounts ever higher, and we can grow more and more despairing. Have you ever looked at the situation of the world, shaken your head, and said, It s just sad. It s too bad? Don t be distracted! Don t be defeated! Don t give an inch! The enemy is pressing hard, he seeks to conquer the world, to pull it into his territory. Like the Polish on September 1 st, 1939, we may see the indestructible tanks, see our own feeble medieval weapons, and despair. What can we do? Maybe the best answer is to flee? Maybe run to Canada, or to Africa where Christianity seems to be flourishing.
Luke 10:17-23 4 Before you make a move, remember, you are a soldier. Soldiers have orders; they are deployed. You have been deployed here, where you are. Your battlefield is in the home, it is at your job, it is at the diner where you eat breakfast. Your orders are to fight here, and you are not left with ineffective spears and muskets against steel tanks. This is a spiritual war, and you have the sword of the Spirit. Remember what that is? The Word of God. Jesus spoke about those seventy-two: Look, I have given you the authority to trample over serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you at all. Maybe those specific words don t apply to us, but here are some that do: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand (John 10:27-28). And so do these: For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone (Ps. 91:11-12). You are soldiers. Soldiers have orders. Soldiers are deployed. Soldiers also have brothers-in-arms. Your fellow Christians are your band of brothers, and among your number as well are the angels of the Lord. St. Michael, the great commander of the heavenly host, leads countless legions of cherubim, seraphim, and others. St. Michael, the one who fought the great dragon and defeated him, threw him down, he fights at your side, as do your own guardian angels. The invisible things that happen in our warfare are the angels that soar around us, deflect the darts and fires of the evil angels, and attack the powers of darkness.
5 There Is a Cause to Rejoice: Don t Be Distracted I want to call you attention to one other thing about this warfare: Jesus told the seventy-two when they returned rejoicing, I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven. It s almost as though they interrupted him as he was watching that spectacle. This fall of Satan was not something that happened thousands of years ago. This was a fall that Jesus was right then at that moment watching. When Jesus reports seeing Satan falling like lightning from heaven, he is summing up the effects of the mission of the seventy(-two). In their preaching and their healing, in their activity of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel comes the victory over Satan and his angelic armies. 1 You see, Satan is defeated by the work of people, when they do the work of God and make no mistake, the work of God is the speaking of his Gospel. This Gospel is called a light, it is called a sword, it is called water, and in all this, we see how it shines into the darkness and annihilates the power of evil, we see how it strikes the devil on the head and cleaves him in two, we see how it drowns all the demonic forces like the Red Sea destroying Pharaoh s armies. You have the same Word that those seventy-two did, calling the world to repentance and promising the grace of Christ. Therefore, just as at their time, Jesus still watches Satan s mighty fall, as his ministry continues in the preaching and sacraments of the church. As Jesus did in his exorcisms, the church will free people from Satan s bondage and transfer them into God s kingdom. 2 1 Arthur A. Just, Luke 9:51-24:53, 443-444. 2 Ibid., 439.
Luke 10:17-23 6 Don t be afraid. Don t shrink from the fight. You have the most powerful weapon. In fact, you already have the victory Satan s ultimate fall, and your ultimate victory came about when Jesus struck the killing blow, crushing his head by his own death on the cross. But keep in mind just what kind of victory you have, because our adversary Satan is still working quite sneakily and evilly. He will seek to cause even the warfare you fight on Christ s behalf to be your downfall and the downfall of others, by transferring the emphasis, distracting you from what really matters. Remember that passage from the Psalms I quoted: he will command his angels concerning you? It is an excellent and comforting passage of God s Word regarding his invisible servants who care for us. But it is unfortunately more famous for being abused. It was misquoted by that great adversary Satan, specifically in order to distract our King and General, Jesus Christ, from the central aim of his campaign. See how Satan used it there: Then the devil took [Jesus] to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, and He will command his angels concerning you, On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. (Matt. 4:5-6). He used it to coax Jesus focus towards temporal good, worldly health and prosperity, rather than toward his ultimate goal, his true good, the eternal health and prosperity: the purpose of the Son of God was not to be immortal and unharmed, but rather to die.
7 There Is a Cause to Rejoice: Don t Be Distracted But Satan will use our very mission, our very fight, and twist it just as he tried with our Lord, to shift our focus onto worldly might and away from our eternal reward. II. We Have an Eternal Reward This is why Jesus tells the seventy-two, Nevertheless, do not rejoice for this reason, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Two things: #1 the spirits do submit to these disciples. That blessing exists, and it was giving them cause to rejoice. Jesus does not say that it is unimportant; rather he says that something else is of greater importance. And that s #2 these disciples were to fix their eyes on the greater thing. Jesus said something similar in his famous Sermon on the Mount: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt. 6:33). The power over the kingdom of darkness, the authority to trample over these serpents and scorpions, this is nothing but the result and servant of that eternal blessing and reward. That is, because our names are written in heaven, we have the power to defeat Satan. And likewise, our power to defeat Satan is for the service of that kingdom of heaven. It s easy to allow the ancillary blessings of our life with Christ to become the focus. We easily start to think that, as Christians, we are promised the bare necessities of life, such as food, clothing, and shelter. Did Lazarus have such things? These things are not promised. If you have them, give thanks! You have them from your Father in heaven to feed you and care for you and support your earthly life. If you don t have them, still, give thanks! Your names are written in heaven!
Luke 10:17-23 8 It s easy to think, too, that our spiritual warfare is in the realm of our earthly nation. Especially in a presidential election year, Christians have difficulty separating the kingdom of God with their choice candidate. I m not asking whether you support Trump, Clinton, Johnson, or anyone else, but haven t you thought that the spiritual state of our nation would go down the tubes if someone other than your candidate were elected? Or if you hear about someone, a friend even, voting for an opposing candidate, don t you immediately begin to think that they may be a lesser Christian? Yes, we are to be concerned for good government, and Paul told Timothy, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (1 Tim. 2:1-2). By no means is it promised that such a quiet and godly life will be ours. Were the first Christians who were fed to the lions in the Roman empire given a peaceable and quiet life? Were they allowed dignity? Instead, if we have such things, give thanks! They are given to us by God, all for the purpose of sharing the Gospel. If we do not have such things, still give thanks! Our names are still written in heaven. Paul said in a general way, And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Col. 3:17). The point in all this is that, as soldiers in God s army, the church militant, we are deployed to different positions. In those positions we have varied tools and weapons, and varied roles. Your weapons may be your homes, your food, your income, your vehicles, your toys. Your roles may be spouse, parent, child, employer,
9 There Is a Cause to Rejoice: Don t Be Distracted employee, etc. In this war, God intends that we use these weapons and roles to fight Satan s kingdom, and spread God s kingdom. But again, the one weapon that all soldiers of God s army have in common is the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. All those other weapons are in service to that one. Therefore don t be distracted. Jesus still watches Satan fall from heaven like lightning. He falls because he is dead. He cannot harm you any longer. He may seek to distract you, but when he does, tell that serpent, My Savior died for me, and my name is written in heaven. Jesus sends his angels to assist us in this fight. Have you ever wondered why God doesn t let people see angels all that often? I suspect that they are our invisible brothers-in-arms to remind us that our victory is also invisible. Satan would like to distract us even in regard to angels, causing us to think of them as pretty women in robes with dove-like wings who sit at the feet of our children s beds and swoop in when they fall to keep them safe. Don t be distracted. Don t leave those mighty spirit beings there. Instead, see what they point to: they point to the fact that Satan is defeated, and with Satan, all your sins were likewise defeated; even death was defeated, and now those angels will come to us at our deaths to bear us into heaven, because our names are written there, and they are in service to our Father who wrote our names there, and wants us to come home. Amen.