I still chuckle when I think of those
words spoken by the 1970's TV comic Flip Wilson dressed in full
drag as his alter ego, Geraldine Jones. Geraldine, a whacky,
hedonistic chick, ducked responsibility for just about every naughty
act by claiming, “The devil made me do it!”
.jpg)
In the lessons of the Revised Common
Lectionary for the First Sunday in Lent, the devil takes center
stage, tempting Adam and Eve as well as Jesus himself. So let me ask
you: Do you believe in the devil? I mean, seriously, what's
your take on the ol' boy? I often joke that a Satanist must have
designed the building here at Faith Lutheran since just about
everything about it inhibits Christian worship. It sits backwards on
the block, facing a one-way street, it's breathtakingly ugly from the
exterior, it makes no architectural sense, has no good storage space,
and is mercilessly evil to the elderly and physically disabled. But
heck..! It's paid for and it has a parking lot, so I guess I'll just
count my blessings.
But I digress.
Judging from his
writings, Martin Luther was a believer in supernatural demonic
forces. There's a story that he did battle with the devil during the
ten months of his safe-keeping in the Wartburg fortress following the
Diet of Worms. Supposedly, Satan appeared to Luther in an attempt to
prevent the great reformer from translating the Bible into the
vernacular. Luther chased off the Evil One by hurling a pot of ink at
him. This story is almost certainly made up, but it's perfectly in
line with Luther's beliefs.
So
what does the Bible say? Well, to tell you the truth, the devil
doesn't actually appear in this Sunday's Hebrew scripture lesson
(Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7). Really, you ask? Really. Because if you
read the lesson, there is no reference in the Hebrew to a satan—a
spirit of obstruction. The serpent in the story is just that: your
basic, crafty, talking serpent. The story is really about temptation.
The woman is told that if she disobeys God's command, “You will not
die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened,
and you will be like God knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 24b-5)
Basically, she's
being promised that she can do whatever she wants with no
consequences.
In my book, this is
original sin. Somehow, all the unnecessary pain and suffering in this
world comes from our believing that our own wants are the ultimate
good, putting ourselves in place of God, and believing nothing bad
will happen (or not caring if it does!). Such is the great evil of
this world which none of us can quite escape. It pervades our
culture, and we all battle with it daily.
Now a
little bit about Satan. Actually, you can learn quite a lot
about Satan from Elaine Pagel's excellent book The Origin
of Satan (Vintage Books, 1995).
Check it out.
The
Hebrew word “satan” actually means an adversary or an inhibitor.
“Devil” comes from the Latin diabolos,
which refers to someone who throws something across a path, blocking
the way. We first see a “satan” in the Bible in Numbers 22 when
an inhibiting angel of God stands between the prophet Balaam and the
Moabite King Balak (I recommend you read this story if you don't know
it. It's pretty funny, and I dare you to read it without thinking
about Eddie Murphy in Shrek!).
There's also a “satan” in the book of Job, but this guy is
clearly subservient to God even though he takes an adversarial role.
The idea of the
“fallen angel” comes from Isaiah 14:12-14 which refers to a
Canaanite god whom the God of Israel casts down out of heaven.
There's also a jealous angel appearing in some of the Jewish writings
of the inter-testamental period. These satans were originally part of
God's creation, but they rebelled against God out of jealousy.
The story of the
devil in the gospel lesson (Matthew 4:1-11) can have lots of
interpretations. First, I just like the idea that Jesus has not only
washed in our dirty bath water in his baptism, but is heir like the
rest of us to all the pitfalls of being a human being on this broken
planet. Just when the senior prophet on the scene, John the Baptist,
has complimented him and God himself has declared him a beloved
son—just when Jesus is the Golden Boy and has the world by the
shorts—that's the moment when he is driven out into
temptation. That's the same with the rest of us. Look at King David.
Or Bill Clinton. It happens.
But you can look at
the story another way, too. Jesus avoids the adulation of the
crowds and retreats into a fast in the desert. It's only when he is
famished and his needle is on empty that Satan shows up to mess with
his head. That happens to us too. When we've gotten to what we think
is the end of our rope, we risk doing, saying, or thinking things we
wish to God we didn't do, say, or think.
In the story the
devil starts by tempting Jesus with material goods. Jesus replies
that material stuff is pointless without ultimate meaning in God's
Word. So what does Satan do next? He suggests that Jesus hurl himself
from the roof of the temple to see if the angels will catch him. To
me, that's just Original Sin saying, “Go and do any reckless thing
you want to do. There are no consequences. Screw the poor slob you
land on, or the traumatized child who sees your brains splattered all
over the temple courtyard, or the family and friends who grieve for
you. None of that matters. It's all about you. Make God prove that He
loves you!” To which Jesus replies that it's a pretty dumb idea to
test God. When we think our behavior will influence God, we're kidding
ourselves. That's not religion. That's superstition.
Finally, the devil
suggests that if Jesus will worship him, he will give Jesus power
over the whole world. You don't even have to read the fine print to
know that that's a load of crap. As if we ever really control
anything in this world! And trying to be in charge and to have
control is an addiction worse than crack. Jesus calls the devil out
for the liar that he is.
Maybe that's what
the holy season of Lent is meant for—chasing off the devil of our
own temptation, fear of privation, stupid behavior, and illusion that
we can be in control. The Christian Church gives us the gift of this
forty-day journey of fasting, giving, praying, and worshiping so that
we can recognize the Inhibitor in ourselves, chase his lying butt
off, and get to work on being the people God created us to be.
May God bless you
in this holy time. Thanks again for stopping by. Please feel free to
leave me a comment and let me know what you like or don't like about
this blog.
P.S. - Remember, we're only a few
years shy of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant
Reformation. Let's keep the devil on the run by announcing the unity
of the Christian faith. If you're a Lutheran or a Roman Catholic,
join me in asking Pope Francis to invite Lutherans back to the table
of Holy Communion. We don't have to see eye-to-eye on everything to
enjoy a meal together. Just click here.
PPS - Just for giggles, if you're not familiar with the late Flip Wilson, click on Flip and watch the comic perform as Geraldine.
No comments:
Post a Comment