Tuesday, March 11, 2014

"The Devil Made Me Do It!" (Reflections on Lent One)


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!”


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.

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