1 Peter 5:6-11; Weekday Lenten Service Four; March 30, 2011;

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Creston, Iowa;

Satan, hear this proclamation:
I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation,
I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I’ve traveled,
All your might has come unraveled,
And, against your tyranny,
God, my Lord, unites with me! (LSB 594:3)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. ” (1 Peter 5:6–11, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Not so long ago I was visiting the zoo. I remember standing behind a large sheet of glass staring at a huge lion staring back at me. I couldn’t help but think the lion had in his mind something different than what I was thinking. In fact, I think he may have been drooling. We humans don’t think of ourselves as food. But there are many animals that would see us as an easy meal. Last year sometime there was a popular video on YouTube about a Japanese man who foolishly got out of his car at one of those drive thru zoos. He wanted a closer photo. The lions wanted a meal. His family watched helplessly from the car as the man was devoured.

This is the picture of Satan that St. Peter paints for us in the reading for this evening: Satan as a powerful, dangerous, hungry, prowling lion looking for something easy to eat. The man at the zoo would have been safe had he stayed in his car. I was safe as long as the glass was strong enough. But lions are dangerous. They will kill and eat should the opportunity arise. And that is Satan. He is looking to kill. That’s all that’s left of his nature. This is what Jesus says about him:

“…[the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ” (John 8:44b, ESV)

Satan is a powerful, dangerous, hungry, prowling enemy. Be sure that he is your enemy. His only desire is your death. And we’re not talking about only your physical death here. We Christians have nothing to fear in that. He wants your eternal death. He would have nothing more than to drag you to hell. That’s what Jesus is saying. Satan is a powerful, dangerous, hungry, prowling enemy, bent on your eternal separation from God. He will do whatever he can to accomplish that. Luther carried this picture in his mind. In comments on Holy Baptism he wrote:

…it is no joke to take sides against the devil and not only to drive him away from the little child, but to burden the child with such a mighty and lifelong enemy.^[1]

Saint Peter says the same thing. Satan is not to be trifled with. You are powerless to defeat him. Be sober-minded; be watchful. “Don’t get out of the car!” “Stay behind the glass!”

Satan is the accuser. That’s actually what his name means, that’s what he does. He takes the opportunity to plant doubt in your mind. When things don’t go well for you, when you are suffering, when you are lonely, when you are stressed by the trouble of the world, Satan is prowling around waiting for his chance to accuse. “God must be angry with you! Where is He in all of this? How can you love a God who would let you go through this? You don’t deserve this kind of treatment. You’ve been faithful to God. Why isn’t he faithful to you?” He knows what to say. He knows what your weakness is. He’s got the wisdom of thousands of thousands of years on his side. When the cares of the world go haywire you can’t help but listen. And you listen and fall into doubt and sin again. And Satan growls and digs his teeth in deeper. “I’ve got you now, you worthless Christian. You can’t even trust God for your simple little troubles. If you can’t trust him you are lost. If you can’t trust him you are mine!”

Satan, hear this proclamation:
I am baptized into Christ!
Drop your ugly accusation,
I am not so soon enticed.
Now that to the font I’ve traveled,
All your might has come unraveled,
And, against your tyranny,
God, my Lord, unites with me! (LSB 594:3)

Listen to Luther on Baptism again.

For the ship of Baptism never breaks, because (as we have said) it is God’s ordinance and not our work [1 Peter 3:20–22]. But it does happen, indeed, that we slip and fall out of the ship. Yet if anyone falls out, let him see to it that he swims up and clings to the ship until he comes into it again and lives in it, as he had done before.

⁸³ In this way one sees what a great, excellent thing Baptism is. It delivers us from the devil’s jaws and makes us God’s own. It suppresses and takes away sin and then daily strengthens the new man. It is working and always continues working until we pass from this estate of misery to eternal glory.^[2]

The image is this. You are stuck in Satan’s hungry jaws, his prey and prize. But God rescues you in Holy Baptism. Through word and water, through his powerful promises made sure for you in the forgiveness of your sins won by Jesus on the cross, he slaps Satan across the muzzle and makes him release you. “You can’t have this one.” He says. This one is mine. Saint Peter says it here:

Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 3:21,ESV)

Your sin is forgiven. The troubles you have in life have nothing to do with your eternal destiny. Through faith in Jesus Christ, through the promises of Holy Baptism, you are forgiven. Your sin does not enter into your relationship with God. The punishment for all your sin has already been paid. Jesus, your Savior, died for you and your sin on the cross. He suffered God’s judgment and your punishment there. Listen to the Saints of old:

He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up. ” (Isaiah 50:8–9, ESV)

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ” (2 Corinthians 4:8–10, ESV)

Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. ” (Romans 8:33–39, ESV)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6, ESV)

The promise is this. Satan, the accuser, is a powerful, dangerous, hungry, prowling enemy. But he has no power over you that you don’t give him. He is defeated. He is hell bound. His only power is hell. He tries to convince you that hell is yours. But it isn’t. “I am baptized into Christ.” Heaven is promised to you. God’s promises to you don’t depend on you overcoming your weakness, your temptation or your sin. Jesus Christ has done that for you. His life, death and resurrection are yours through faith in God’s water soaked promises to you. That means your suffering and trouble here on earth are not for you to overcome or defeat. They are yours to give to Jesus. They are yours to see his suffering on the cross for you. And… they are yours to see that you are not alone in your troubles. Your suffering helps you to see suffering in others and point them to Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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^[1] Luther, M. (1999). Vol. 53: Luther's works, vol. 53 : Liturgy and Hymns (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's Works (102). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

^[2] Concordia : The Lutheran Confessions. 2005 (Edited by Paul Timothy McCain) (431). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.