New Thoughts (1/8/07-1/11/07)
The most immediate reaction I have to this verse is to ask how literally it should be taken. There are those who see it as sufficiently literal as to be a necessary ingredient in dealing with the demonic. It becomes almost an incantation for them to include these as part of their instructions. But, did Jesus intend any such thing by this teaching? I rather doubt it. I cannot think of any case where I find Jesus intentionally delivering such a ritualistic approach to God. If anything, His purpose seems to have been to cut through the ritual and return to the real. The closest I can think of to a ritual in the teaching of Jesus would be His final instruction to go forward, make disciples among all nations, and baptize them ‘in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.’ Yet, even in this case, I suspect that we have made more of a ritual out of this than was intended. We get caught up in the wording and miss the point. It is an authority in which we baptize, not some liturgical rite that must be followed with precision.
Likewise, we make the model prayer by which Jesus taught His disciples to be more than just a model. It is something we memorize. We are given ample opportunity to display the fact that we have memorized the words. We can speak them without giving them so much as a thought, and therein lies our failure. For, we often do speak them without thought. Jesus wasn’t giving us some fine poetry to memorize. He was giving us an example of what our prayers ought to be like. For all that we see of the activity of the Apostles after His resurrection, there is no record that I have seen of their having taken this prayer as rite. We don’t read in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter, addressing the crowd, recited the Lord’s Prayer. We don’t find Paul instructing the Church to repeat the words after him. They understood that the prayer was a model, not an incantation.
We must remember that Jesus teaches, as most rabbis in His day taught, by parable. These are not matters to be taken literal descriptions of the matter, but as illustrations making His point clear. When He speaks of the unclean spirits going through arid lands seeking for rest, I would note that there is nothing there to suggest that they took that course by His express command. After all, why would the God whom these demons oppose and rebel against be commanded by Him to go get some rest? What sort of general is it who, having routed his enemy, would then command the opposition to go somewhere and regroup so that they can have at it again?
It seems more likely that what Jesus is describing is the natural response of the evicted demon. He has been working to torment this soul, and work is not his natural desire. Far better to laze about. If we are to believe the typical pictures of hell’s organization, he has been laboring under threat of the terrors that will be his own if he does not do so. In that light, the eviction notice which Jesus has served to that demon may at first glance look like tickets for vacation. A higher Authority has commanded him to cease his labors, and he will turn this to his advantage to shirk the duties his boss placed upon him.
But, he finds no rest in the desert. As I looked at what the desert might represent here, I found that many times what the Bible refers to as desert is not a desert as we might think of it. We’re not always looking at the drifting sands of the Sahara in the Biblical desert. Quite often, we’re being shown nothing worse than pastures, uncultivated lands suitable only for grazing. It is not lifelessness that is in sight, only an unsuitability for agricultural use. Here, however, Jesus chooses His words to make clear that He really is referring to dry places, waterless lands. These are places of desolation. The man who goes to such a place goes to a place of isolation.
That unclean spirit had gone looking for a place to stop working, to take a break from its labors. This place of isolation, though, is no place for a break. It is in those places of isolation, when we think ourselves alone and unseen, that we are most in danger of temptation. The desert is, for us, a model of that very solitude. Jesus faced trial by solitude and temptation in just such a setting, alone but for God. When a man isolates himself, when he goes to the place of solitude, he places himself in the place of greatest risk. Is it any wonder that the Bible teaches us to avail ourselves of the congregation? Is it any wonder we are called to confess one to another? These are the ways in which we avoid the dangers of solitude. By recalling ourselves to the knowledge that we are never truly alone, we gain power over temptation. Therein lay the strength that Joseph found to resist the offer of Potiphar’s wife. How could I? My God is ever with me.
We, in whom the Holy Spirit has taken up residence, have even more reason to make such a stand! Sadly, we often choose to convince ourselves of our solitude instead. We gladly walk off into the desert and there discover that our enemy’s soldiers are never at rest. The spirit went off to the dry places for a break, but he found any number of God’s people wandering about alone. What an aggravation! He was looking to slack off, and instead he finds more work than he had originally! There’s no rest for the devil’s workers when Christians allow themselves to be isolated. Is it any wonder the spirit decides to go back home?
Notice the words Jesus puts in this spirit’s thinking: “I will return to my house.” In that simple statement lies the whole point of the message. That house may be ever so clean and orderly, but it remains the unclean spirit’s house. There has been no real change of ownership. Look at the end of this message, as Matthew records it: “So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” How many were touched by Jesus, gladly received the healing and the liberation that He brought, and yet walked away unchanged? Think of those ten lepers who were healed. How many came back with so much as a word of thanks? How many turned from their wicked ways to pursue the God who had healed them?
How many go chasing after crusades and revivals and healing ministries today, and yet never really look to God Himself? They go and get swept clean, but then return to doing exactly what they used to. They have the blessed gift of God given to them, but it has zero impact. He still finds no real home in their hearts. It’s just been a momentary thrill of relief, and they’ll soon be needing another fix. “So shall it be with this wicked generation.” Seeking, they shall not find, for they have not been seeking God, but only escape. The last state of such a people will surely be worse than the first.
The problem is not that somebody failed to use the proper words in chasing this foul spirit out. The problem is not that we forgot to include a proper request for new furnishings, filled out in triplicate. This is God we’re dealing with, not a lawyer. For that matter, the success or failure of efforts to dispose of that spirit is not really predicated on us, on our using the right words or making the right gestures or any such thing. The success that came in chasing out the spirit in the first place came solely because of the power and authority of God. Whatever part we may have played, whatever words we may have used, it is the fact that our actions were taken in His name – in other words, on His authority – that made it effective.
I cannot make this point too strongly, I think. It is not about where we sent the demon, and it’s not about what we requested in its place. Quite simply, it’s not about us. It’s about God. The issue is not our words, it’s the heart. Look at what that spirit finds on his return. The house is clean. It’s neat and orderly. It’s all nicely furnished, pleasantly decorated. There’s nothing hinting of sin, or of an open door in that. The problem is that it’s taken a holiday. The heart is loitering, taking a break. As the Living Bible puts it: the heart is clean, but it’s empty. It’s not empty because we forgot to include the keywords ‘fill him’ in our prayer. It’s empty because the one we have delivered hasn’t been changed in himself.
Of course, in itself, that change is as dependent upon the power of God for existence as we are. Yet, the responsibility remains with the man. What will he do when he is given the chance? So long as that demon was in residence, there was no chance for the man to turn to God. Until we are freed of his influence, we cannot choose to choose God. It is only when God has so worked upon us that we can see His goodness, that we can choose goodness. That is what has happened in this case. The man has been freed from his prison, and now a good God waits to see what he will choose. It turns out, he chooses pretty much the same as his tormentor chose. He chooses to seek out rest. The demon went off looking for a place to take a break. The man dispossessed of that demon found himself already in such a place, and chose to just kick back and relax. He gave no thought to the significance of what had transpired. He gave no thought to the God who had brought this thing to pass. So, that demon seeking rest recognizes that the place where he need do the least work is right back where he was. It will take no great effort to drag this man back down, and just to make sure he doesn’t have to work any harder than necessary, he invites a few friends over for the party.
In looking at this verse, I must say that I have always assumed that the bringing of seven more wicked spirits was a matter of overcoming a greater obstacle. Looking more deeply, though, I am no longer convinced that this was the point. It might be, but it seems that the ‘house’ has done nothing to make things difficult at all. It has been made inviting, not invulnerable. After all, how hard must a man struggle to enter his own house, from which he came?
As always, the point of this passage needs to be brought home to the personal level. This is the thing: As often as we may have sought out forgiveness with earnestness, we are assured we have received that forgiveness. It is, after all, God’s promise. We were earnest in that moment of crying out. We had every good intention of repenting, of putting our all into making a change. But, something happened when we knew we were forgiven. We went on vacation. Rather than put all our energy and all God’s strength to work making the change, we opted to bask in the warmth of forgiveness. We became clean but vacant houses. We as much as hung out the ‘For Rent’ sign, an open invitation for whatever spirit would to come defile us once more. It won’t be long before there’s a house warming party.
Father, let me take this to heart today. I know I have been in this position, though You have not forsaken me, even so. I know I am Yours, and I know I have been unfaithful in pursuing You. I have been lax in pursuing Your ways. I have, like the man in this parable, been too willing to just soak in the sun of forgiveness, and forget about things. Help me, Lord, to rise up as a warrior of God, to take up arms and guard this house that You have fought to free. When a man, fully armed, stands guard, his house is at peace. So You said. Oh, my God, but apart from You I cannot stand. So, I cry out this morning, Lord: Cause me to stand. You have equipped me for the task, now strengthen me. I stand in Your strength, my God. Let me walk through this day in the knowledge of Your strength. Let this be a day when I am not on a spiritual vacation, but am actively committed to Your ways.
God, I have to confess that even as I’m praying this, I feel as though it’s a futile thing, as though it were a certainty that I will just go through a day like all the others. Knowing this, I cry out all the more. Change it, God. I cannot. Bring victory, my God, for I cannot. If there is a miracle that I need from You, it is the miracle of steadfast repentance. Oh, God! Send Your rain, and make this ground fruitful.
There is this passage from Hebrews that came up as commentary upon this parable which deserves some attention. “Ground that drinks in the frequent rains, produces useful vegetation, and so it is tilled, for it is a blessing from God. If it only produces thorns and weeds, though, it is worthless and near to being cursed. In the end, it is just burned” (Heb 6:7-8). Isn’t that exactly what we deal with, though? Oh, but we have frequent rains! God is forever showering us with forgiveness and grace. But, what is the condition of our ground?
Last week in church, we heard to call to break up our fallow ground (Jer 4:3). Looking that up, I see there is another reference in Hosea 10:12, which is even more apropos to the current subject. Hosea continues by saying, “For it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” Why this need to break up the ground? Quite simply, it is because ground that has been baked by the sun develops a crustiness, a thick skin that sheds water rather than absorbing it. When I lived in Texas, I could see the effect of this quite plainly. When it rained there, it was not long before many places would become flooded to the point of impassible. Why? Because the ground could not absorb the rain, so all that water simply ran off to the lowest points. It rained and rained, but the ground took no benefit from the rain.
Ground such as that must be broken up, plowed, turned over and softened before ever it will absorb the least drop of that rain. So it is with our hardened hearts. While we have been plowing wickedness, our heart has lain untended. A skin has built up on it that deflects the rain of God’s righteousness. All the deliverance ministries in the world are not going to do any good at all, beyond a very momentary relief of our symptoms, if we don’t get busy about breaking up that crust on our heart. If we fail to get actively involved with preparing our hearts, breaking up that crust, creating an environment that can drink in the rain God sends, then it will simply flow past us to water someplace better prepared.
“Do not sow among thorns,” Jeremiah writes (Jer 4:3). You and I, children of the Living God, have the seed of His salvation. How are we sowing? This is not about witnessing to the lost. This is about what we are doing in our own lives! “Don’t sow among thorns, circumcise yourselves to the Lord! Remove the foreskins of your heart, for it is time to seek the LORD until He comes to rain righteousness on you” (Jer 4:4, Hos 10:12). There is no time for a vacation. The fields lie waiting. My field needs tending to. My house, cleaned by a loving God, needs defending.
God help me to stand. I am in mind of that Irish prayer of the warrior, this morning. “I bind upon myself today, the power of God to hold and lead; His eyes to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; The wisdom of my God to teach, His hand to guide, His shield to ward; The Word of God to give me speech, His heavenly host to be my guard.” Oh, Mighty Triune God, be my protection. Encircle me, for you are around my life and my home. Encircle me, O sacred Three. Yes, Lord, be my vision, my hearing, my strength for the fight this day!
