“And though this world, with devils filled...”

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 4: 1-11

Dr. Matthew Brown

February 13, 2005

For forty-five years the sweet four year old face, framed with auburn hair and topped with a playful straw hat has beckoned buyers to indulge their appetites for... processed sugar. Little Debbie. Just the mention of the name means I have already lost the attention of some of you to dreams of oatmeal cream pies.

This week Donna had to make a late night run to Harris Teeter after remembering that a certain fourth grade class was in need of copious amounts of glucose for a Valentine’s Party.

Little Debbie Devil Square Cakes. In this age of Atkin’s mania when so much of food marketing is focused on language like: Low Carb; Fat Free; Zero Trans-fat (Is that like fat that moves?); Low Sodium; free range; and organic, you’ve got to respect the marketers who make no attempt to hide the fact that their food products may not be the healthiest of fare. Devil’s food cakes; Mr. Salty pretzels; Death by Chocolate; Jawbreakers; Decadent Fudge; and the new caffeine rich Full Throttle by Coke.

At least they are more forthcoming than the voiceover for those old cereal commercials who would gush: “... a wonderful part of this complete breakfast.” And sitting there beside the bowl of Fruit Loops would be a complete breakfast, which I guess made the Fruit Loops dessert.

Little Debbie Devil Square Cakes. The seduction is certainly not subtle; no false promises here allowing you to fool yourself into thinking you are making the healthy choice. Of course, you know that given the chance, we’ll justify our edibles with the defense that our Cheetos have fewer fat grams than their Pork Rinds. As in all areas of our lives, we’ll expend great effort painting a thin layer of innocence on top of the pile of our iniquities. And so, three cheers for Mr. Salty and those who refuse to make virtues out of our vices.

Whether it’s indulging food fetishes, giving in to greed, confusing lust for love, waging war, or acting in revenge, it seems that the first rule of succumbing to life’s temptations is to absolve oneself or blame someone else. Individuals make excuses. Governments and nations engage in plausible deniability.

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

Continuing with the theme of baked goods, you may need to think twice before you pull out the cookie dough and make a basket of goodies when the new neighbor moves in. I read this week about a 49 year old woman in Colorado who recently sued two teenage girls for $900 after they delivered home baked cookies to her one evening. She claimed that the knock on the door shook her to the point of having to go to the hospital with stomach pains. When the court surprisingly decided in her favor, she said, “The victory wasn’t sweet. I’m not gloating about it. I just hope the girls learned a lesson.”

O, they learned a lesson, and I’ll wager that it wasn’t “Love thy neighbor.”

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

We certainly qualify as the most curious of beasts. Did you see the news report this week with the little boy who enacted a scene right out of A Christmas Story? Without so much as a “triple-dog dare” he escaped his winter boredom by seeing if his tongue would stick to a frozen pole. Well, it did, and just like the movie, the police had to come and free him.

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

A Florida student was quoted saying, “ten minutes cheating is better than two hours studying.” If it’s not the biology test, it’s the tax form, the expense account, the resume, the spouse, the steroids,

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

The news this week introduced us to a sexually abused fourteen year old girl who had been locked in her room by her parents for over a year.

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

This week, yet another nation joined the nuclear weapon club perpetuating the myth that the development of nuclear weapons would create a more secure world.

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do?

Centuries ago Martin Luther penned the lyric: “And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us.” Though the classic tune could not be labeled contemporary, the message certainly is.

Whether it’s a woman angered by cookie toting neighbors or a nation obsessed with security or a person taking shortcuts on tests, taxes, or family relationships, when we think, when we speak, when we act, we most often do so in the interest of one instead of the interest of all, and that one, more often than not, is the face we can’t escape when looking through the rear view mirror of life.

This past Wednesday marked our entry into yet another season of Lent, that forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, when we are challenged to prayerfully reflect on our lives, confronting those times when and places where the movement of our feet and hearts have been out of step with the faith we have embraced with our lips; those times when the walk has not matched the talk. This forty day journey offers an homage to the forty year wanderings of Israel in the wilderness and the forty day fast of Jesus in the desert.

In their wilderness, the people of Israel complained of their hunger and questioned the power of their God. In his wilderness, Jesus ignored his great hunger and sought his sustenance in the word of God. In their wilderness the people of Israel were constantly rebelling and whining and putting God to the test. In his wilderness, Jesus refused to put God to the test. In their wilderness, the people of Israel were easily seduced by the false hopes of other powers. In his wilderness, Jesus remained steadfast, obedient to the One power that mattered.

As we look at these stories and reflect on our lives and the world in which we live, we are confronted with the harshest of truths and the greatest of hopes. Upon close honest examination, our lives have strongly resembled the wanderings of those irascible, complaining, perfidious wilderness travelers of long ago. And yet, where we are faithless, Christ is faithful. Where we have been seduced or defeated by the evils of this world, Christ has resisted and ultimately defeated those same powers on our behalf.

Yes, Martin Luther said it well: “And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for Christ has willed his truth to triumph through us.”

The use of the word “evil” has recently been the subject of great debate in the psychiatric community according to an article in the Observer this week. Is it possible to diagnose someone as evil? Or is evil more insidious and universal?

Psychologists were amazed in the 1960’s when participants in an experiment delivered what they thought were punishing electric jolts to a fellow citizen, merely because they were encouraged to do so by an authority figure as part of a learning experiment.

Images from Auschwitz, the brutality of suicide bombers, the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, nations from Africa to Eastern Europe devastated by ethnic cleansing. And let us not forget the Trail of Native American tears in our own land. So often through history we see normally peaceable citizens swept up by emotion or mob mentality to act in ways that are thoughtlessly callous and often brutal. Dr. Robert Simon of Georgetown Medical School writes that “Evil is endemic, it is constant, it is a potential in all of us. Just about everyone has committed evil acts.” It may not be the stuff of international headlines, but our life paths have their share of the wreckage of poor decisions, broken promises, verbal assaults, emotional manipulation, fractured friendships, hoarded possessions.

There is a line from a classic prayer of confession that speaks volumes about our human condition. “our sins are too heavy to carry, too real to hide, and too deep to undo. Forgive what our lips tremble to name...” And yet, our condition is transformed from hopeless to hopeful through the power of Christ who accomplished for us that which we could not accomplish for ourselves. In Hebrews, it is written, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Where we are faithless, Christ is faithful.

What are the forces that drive the urges that prompt the choices for what we will say or do? When we look at the rear view mirror of our lives, inevitably there are many points where we shake our heads with confusion and guilt and sorrow. We have not escaped the insidious power of evil. But thanks be to the One who by his prevailing grace, has snatched victory from the jaws of our defeat.

“And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for Christ has willed his truth to triumph through us.” Amen.

Resources:

Newsweek

The Charlotte Observer