Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Mark 9. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Jesus tried to tell His disciples. Evil was close at hand, and even He, the Son of God and Savior of the world would be afflicted by it, killed. He warns them, and also calls them to repent of their own evil, the conversation they were having about being the greatest.
- What should we make of these things? We consider ourselves to be fairly well protected against evil, and do not tend to view ourselves as especially evil people. In fact, we prefer to focus upon the “good” motives and intentions that we have. We tend to assume the same of others.
- I suppose Jeremiah did the same – until the Lord revealed the reality to him. Jesus, on the other hand, was never naïve about the nature and prevalence of evil. His disciples, however, were naïve. And we are as well.
- But just as Jesus tries to help His disciples see the reality, and to “BEWARE OF EVIL,” so it is certain that God wills the same for us, and much of His Word deals with these warnings.
- And just as Jesus’ disciples needed confrontation for the evil involved in their “arguing,” so also we need to be confronted with the reality of the sin’s infection of our nature. For just like other people:
I. Our Sinful Nature Is Violent
A. There Are Times When We Plot Against Others, Even Those Who Are Servants Of God
OT: “It was against me they devised schemes.”
B. Such Plotting Can Create Disorder, Vile Practices, And Even Murder
Text: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.”
OT: “It was against me they devised schemes, saying, ‘Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.’”
Epistle: “For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
C. This Evil Ultimately Requires God’s Judgment And Discipline, And Perhaps Even Justice
OT: “But, O Lord of hosts, Who judges righteously, Who tests the heart and the mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You have I committed my cause.”
Epistle: “Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself and enemy of God. . . . God opposes the proud.”
Statement: Look, evil is what it is, and we have all had our experiences with it! We have all felt times of jealousy, envy, and worldliness – wanting to fit in and be just like everyone else! As much as we might like to think that we can balance and control these inner desires, and not capitulate to grave evil, it simply cannot be so. Indeed, these feelings are precisely what Holy Scripture warns us against – belief in compromise.
Application: I wish it were not so. I wish that the desire to succeed, to climb the ladder, to end up “the greatest” or at least very near the top, was not evil. I wish that my disagreements with the Word of God could just be that, a matter of opinion. But it is not. Disagreement with God? That has to be a great and grotesque evil in itself. So we are warned to “BEWARE OF EVIL,” and rather to humble ourselves before the Lord!
Transition: This is great wisdom, and this is what God wishes and wills for each of us, what He seeks to give us through His Word. For:
II. We Are Called To Wisdom And Good Conduct
Epistle: “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. . . . The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
A. We Begin By Deep Repentance, And Appropriating God’s Gracious Love And Salvation By Faith
Epistle: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you doubled-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
B. Also, To Then Humble Ourselves In Service To All, Especially The Little And Vulnerable
Text: “’If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.’ And He took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ‘Whoever receives one such child in My Name receives Me, and who ever receives Me receives not Me but Him Who sent Me.’”
Statement: It is much more satisfying to our sinful nature to have others serve us. In fact, this is much of what the desire to be wealthy is about – to have the means and therefore the power to compel others to serve us. But this is the way of the world, the way of jealousy and selfish ambition. It is opposed to God and His will for us, and it brings about “disorder and every vile practice.” So God warns us to “BEWARE OF EVIL” and to humble ourselves, and to humbly serve others around us.
Application: God understands the lure of vacations, of a life of ease, of doing whatever pleases us, or whatever our hearts desire. He understands that wealth is the key that opens this door for us. He also sees these desires as evil, as evil as “adultery.” This is exactly what our heart’s evil desire is, and also our desire to compromise, and to pamper such desires at least a little bit. Be warned, “BEWARE OF EVIL.”
For those of us who have “made it,” who are retired or closing in on retirement, because we have our “nest egg” and can afford to do as we please, the temptation is grave and perilous! Do not capitulate to this evil! For those of you who are younger, but who may be tempted to indulge these thoughts as motivation for working hard and storing up treasures for yourselves here on earth – BEWARE! For all of us the message is clear: “submit yourselves therefore to God, and resist the devil. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
Conclusion: Evil is all around us, and it is insidiously present in our own hearts, minds, and thinking. Evil is evil – and can be violent, destructive, and it is always self-destructive to the one engaging in it. So let us “BEWARE.”
God’s grace and mercy are always near at hand, and He still “yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us.” He loves us and wants only the best for us, which is for us to become great in the kingdom of God by humbly loving and living for others. God grant such richness and blessedness to each of us, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.