"From Satan to God’s Grace," the senior sermon of Bill Kindel from the Diocese of Colorado, given in Christ Chapel on February 27, 2007

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14, BCP

When the preaching schedule for this term was sent out, three of us Seniors had been omitted. At first, I thought that might mean that I (and therefore you) had been let off the hook. No such luck.

I consulted with the High Priestess of Chapel Gnosis two days later, and I selected this service from the dates she gave me. Note to self: “When offered a choice of preaching dates, check the readings first.”

Before I dive into the aforementioned readings, I would like to thank the Lutheran Seminary Program for the grace-filled welcome I have received as today’s preacher. It is one more of the many ways in which LSPS students, faculty, and staff have enriched this community. You are truly a gift; you bless us by your presence, and you challenge us to be our best.

At the risk of committing a really ugly segue, I’ll start in the Book of Job:

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. Job 1:6

Satan, the Accuser, is only mentioned by name in three places in Hebrew Scripture. The references in Zechariah and 1 Chronicles are only a verse or two each; references elsewhere are metaphoric. Here in Job, though, we have direct dialog between God and Satan, which was also the case in this past Sunday’s Gospel account of Jesus’ temptation by Satan during His forty days in the wilderness.

I don’t know about you, but I spend very little time during the course of the year considering Satan. I will admit that there are times when the tensions in my own Church and Communion make me wonder, though. Today’s readings have compelled me to engage in a bit of Satanology.

Haśātān (the Satan) in Hebrew doesn’t have an exact equivalent in English. It falls somewhere along the span from “the Adversary” through “the Accuser” to “the Slanderer,” depending upon context. I’ll split the difference and use “the Accuser” here.

This same verse mentions “heavenly beings” (plural), of whom Satan was but one. In biblical times, Jewish thought included a whole hierarchy of beings, with the One God (Yahweh) at the top, other gods second, angels and the like (including Satan) third, humankind fourth, and other beings lower still. Each level had power over those below it, so God prevented Satan from harming Job, even as Satan was still empowered to “touch” or “smite” all of Job’s possessions.

Where Hebrew Scripture contains only a handful of references to Satan, the Apocrypha and the New Testament each contain quite a few. The name Satan is not the only one used: the archdemon in Tobit is called Asmodeus, while other writings refer to Mast ēma (meaning hatred, hostility, or enmity), or B ēlial (the Worthless One). Jesus is accused of being in league with Beelzebul (Baal the Prince) in the Gospels.

From our Gospel reading:

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. Luke 21:1-4

One could argue that being possessed by Satan relieves Judas Iscariot of responsibility for his actions. In a world that understood odd behavior as the result of possession by unseen powers, this is a perfectly reasonable explanation for Judas’ sudden willingness to betray his Teacher. The Gospels of Luke and John both attribute Judas’ actions to Satan; Matthew and Mark do not.

At any rate, it seems premature to spend much time with Judas during the first week of Lent. Instead, let us focus upon our own struggles in our Lenten self‑examinations and corrections as we prepare for the Passion and Resurrection.

Who or what is your demon? We all have them, whether we view them as evil beings, or as forces from outside us, or as ailments from within us. This generation has been raised to believe that we should be in full control of our lives.

When we fall short, and we all do, we may be all too quick play the “blame game” in order to avoid responsibility. Alternately, we may attempt to trivialize our own flaws by pointing to others, whose failings are more obvious. For example:

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Luke 18:10-11

In either case, the season of Lent is the Church’s gift to us to help us “work the steps” of our recovery from sin. I am intentionally using the language of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and allied programs, which have been instrumental in reclaiming the lives of so many people.

My field parish in San Marcos observes “Recovery Sunday” each year in conjunction with the Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church, which has an active presence in the Diocese of West Texas. That event occurred this past Sunday, so the guest speaker was able to make a direct connection between the Gospel event of Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness and her personal temptations from alcohol.

Whether working from within or from without, The Accuser is unrelenting. We struggle, we squirm, we deny, we bargain, but we just can’t shake it. In the end, we must come to accept that we are unable through sheer strength of will to keep it at bay. In 12‑step speak, we “admit that we are powerless …”

That is the turning point, the first step. It requires a humility that does not come easily to us. It also must come from within – one cannot be coerced into it by others with any expectation of success.

If we can’t control the Accuser in our lives, then who can? St. Paul asks this question with regard to his own life.

For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:22-24

The Twelve Steps speak of “a Power greater than ourselves” and of “God, as we understand him.” As Christians, we and St. Paul can be more specific. The point is that though we may be powerless, God is not. In the hierarchy that I listed earlier, God, Yahweh, was at the top; Satan, the Accuser, was on the third level.

We like things to come in threes, starting with the Trinity. The third step is also a major turning point, in which we make a decision to turn to God for help. A popular paraphrase of the first three steps is, “I can’t; God can; think I’ll let him.”

I won’t take you through the remaining steps, except to note that steps four and five call for intense self-examination and sincere confession, both of which are excellent disciplines during Lent and in daily life. The Twelve Steps have their basis in the Reconciliation of the Penitent, which is particularly apt during Lent.

Again, I’ll ask, “Who or what is your demon?” Or, better yet, “Who is your Accuser?” You know, that little voice that tears you down little by little with, “You’re too fat! You’re too thin! You’re lazy! You drink too much! You’re a wimp!” and so on. Perhaps you hear the siren call of the Tempter instead, “Go ahead, have another one – no-one will know…”

Either way, St. Paul was right, and so was Bill W. We are powerless. Thanks be to God for the One who is not, our Saviour, the Risen Christ.

As Lent begins each year, many of us undertake the self-denial part of Lenten discipline without considering what me might “take up” to bring us into a closer relationship with God. Personally, I’ve never had much luck with New Year’s Resolutions, but the intentionality of Lent has made it easier to add some good habits to my daily life.

We are almost a week into Lent, but it’s not too late to consider one or more additions to our personal rules of life. We could do far worse than to engage in the Twelve Steps, even if our only “addiction” is our sinful nature.

Alas, there is another way in which the Accuser works on us as we attempt to get our lives back into order. We are tempted to believe that the doing of our Lenten disciplines will let us earn our way back into God’s favor. Don’t look now, but thinking that we’re in control is the same mistake we made in the first place. Go back to Step 1!

Indeed, we must frequently stop and listen for God’s “still, small voice.” While we are listing our many shortcomings, we should also acknowledge the many gifts that we have received and who the ultimate Giver was. We must allow ourselves to feel God’s love for us, and know in our hearts – especially as we look at our own failings – that God’s love is unconditional.

As we come to certainty of God’s love within us, our only true recourse is to respond in kind: loving God, loving our neighbor – all of our neighbors, and also loving ourselves. The Accuser cannot stand against God’s love.

Grace is far more than a five letter word. It’s far more than being nice to people or demonstrating an ability to appear at peace amid the challenges of daily life and attacks of the Accuser. Grace is that unmerited gift of God’s love that frees us to love in return.

This is something that Martin Luther had right, and it’s fairly central to the Lutheran identity. Our salvation comes by God’s Grace though our faith – not by our own works. That does not relieve any of us of the responsibility to discern and to act according to God’s will, but it does provide the underlying guarantee of God’s love for us.

And so, I end where I began, by thanking LSPS again. At times when we may each be distracted by our own Accusers, your presence and gentle witness remind us that, “It’s all about God’s Grace.” To that, I say Amen.