LutheranLectionary.org

Series B – Sixteenth Sunday of Pentecost – Sunday, September 12, 2021 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	in the name of Jesus amen have you all seen the movie
0:33	hook you know with dustin hoffman playing hook man he was a fantastic hook
0:39	there’s something i want to remind you of if you’ve seen the movie and well in the story peter pan has grown up and
0:47	he’s become an adult and he’s forgotten who he is but hook wants his revenge he wants the ultimate battle between good
0:54	and evil finally to be fought so that he can well get vengeance on that boy who
0:59	had cut his hand off and fed it to the crocodile we all know how the story of pan works right well as he’s away as pan
1:06	is away from never never land there’s a there’s a new leader who takes over his name is rufio and rufio well he’s got a
1:15	really kind of weird rooster light mohawk pompadour kind of thing going on
1:22	is a little bit full of himself and as the story develops pan finally remembers who he is he’s got
1:28	to rescue his children they’ve been kidnapped by hook and so he remembers who he is and well
1:35	the final battle is on but here’s the thing
1:40	in the final battle between good and evil it always has to be the hero who wins the day against the villain
1:47	and well contrary to the rules laid down the explicit orders of pan that hook was his
1:56	rufio allowed himself to be tempted to well gain the glory to gain the
2:02	victory by none other than hook himself who kind of egged him on and was saying
2:08	rufio rufio oh as if he was so important
2:13	well as we all know how good fairy stories end when one is tempted to fight evil
2:21	on evil’s terms when they’re not the hero of the story they often perish and rufio perished
2:29	and i’m saying this to remind us of a few things our gospel text is an interesting one there’s quite a few
2:34	themes that we can work out in here but one of the most important themes is
2:40	this you are not special in the fight against the devil
2:46	far from it you are almost practically powerless
2:51	and it’s a good thing to think this way it’s a fantastic thing to think this way but cut because when it comes down to it
2:59	Christ is the champion he’s the one who won the victory and ongoing the demonic
3:05	is real our fight against the devil it’s pitched but Christ is our exorcist he is the one
3:11	who wins the day not you don’t be tempted by the schemes of the
3:18	devil in that regard i need to give a little bit of a preface to our text there are people nowadays who poopoo the
3:26	idea that there are demons oh come on you believe in demons are you do you believe in the boogeyman and monsters
3:32	under your bed too this is how they talk and they would dismiss the gospel text
3:38	today purely on that ground oh come on we’ve long since graduated as a human
3:44	race from the idea of a devil and satan and angels and demons and all that kind
3:50	those are all the things of fairy tales no they’re not they are the things
3:56	of our present reality scripture is clear our battle isn’t against flesh and blood
4:02	but against the powers and principalities of the air against the devil the forces of darkness themselves
4:09	so note here just because this text mentions the demonic doesn’t give you any grounds to
4:15	dismiss it you dismiss it and ignore it at your own peril or risk and i assure
4:21	you the devil is real and he means you the worst harm that you could
4:26	possibly imagine if it were not for the hand of Christ the devil would have snuffed you out
4:32	long ago me as well and it’s not a coincidence that Christ has taught us to pray daily
4:41	lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one
4:47	so with that we’re gonna go in a few different directions here so this might seem like a little scatter shot but
4:53	remember here you’re not you’re not the one you’re not the victor don’t listen to hook when he eggs you on
5:00	to come fight him toe-to-toe rufio like you’re the important one you’re not
5:07	so here’s our context right before our gospel text begins
5:14	Jesus had taken peter james and john
5:19	and ascended a mountain we’re not exactly sure which one there’s a few likely candidates but that’s neither
5:24	here nor there he ascended a mountain we call it now the mount of transfiguration and before their eyes
5:31	he was transfigured i preach on this it’s this whole thing every single year
5:38	during epiphany he was transfigured before their eyes moses and elijah showed up and they were
5:45	discussing with Jesus his exodus and of course peter james and john their knees
5:53	are knocking they’re terrified by what they see they see Christ in all of his
5:58	glory they kind of say
6:03	lord it’s good that we’re here maybe we can set up you know three
6:08	shelters one for you one for moses one for elijah and it’s at this point that the voice of
6:14	the father is heard this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased listen to him
6:20	and then whoosh everything goes calm the light turns off and there was nothing
6:26	except for Jesus and it’s in this context that’s the that’s kind of just before this we need
6:32	to recognize something here when we talk about the temptations of the devil
6:38	in the schemes of the evil one over and again the devil would have you
6:44	seek after the paranormal well
6:49	the signs and the wonders the power and the glory the healings and
6:55	the miracles and don’t fall for the trick don’t fall for it the mount of transfiguration was quite
7:02	the event quite the experience and peter later in his second and last
7:08	epistle in scripture he writes about the mount of transfiguration
7:14	and he points us to something even more sure than that
7:19	spiritual and miraculous experience here’s what peter says we do not follow cleverly devise myths
7:27	when we made known to you the power and the coming of our lord Jesus Christ
7:33	but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he had received honor and glory from god the father and the voice was
7:40	born to him by the majestic glory this is my beloved son with whom i am well
7:45	pleased we ourselves we heard this very voice born from heaven
7:52	for we were with him on the holy mountain so he’s recalling in his mind bringing
7:58	it back to his recollection the experience that he had there on the mount of transfiguration he
8:04	heard the voice of the father but here’s what he says but we have the prophetic word
8:11	more fully confirmed the prophetic word the what yeah you know
8:17	the bible huh don’t you want us to chase after signs
8:22	wonders don’t you want us to go and slay and conquer demons and decree and declare and take back ground from the
8:30	devil no no no no put it all away
8:36	that’s all a ruse that’s the voice of hook roofio
8:41	roofio ah roof yeah that that’s that’s hook tempting you into a fight on ground that
8:49	he’s chosen stay away from it peter says listen we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed
8:56	than even the voice i heard on the mount of transfiguration to which you would do well do very well
9:04	to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns
9:11	and the morning star rises in your hearts knowing first of all no prophecy of scripture comes from someone’s own
9:18	interpretation for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man
9:23	but men spoke from god as they were carried along by the holy spirit
9:30	so note this isn’t in our text but it forms the context and since we’re talking about the supernatural the
9:37	demonic the paranormal i would remind you
9:42	in the immediate context amount of transfiguration takes place and peter
9:48	thinking and meditating on the event says listen the bible we have is more sure than that
9:53	the voice of god is in the scriptures stop chasing the voice of god and the wind and the
10:00	trees and the rocks and the bees you’re not going to hear god’s voice there it’s in the prophetic word
10:08	so coming down then from the mount of transfiguration and that was quite the event
10:14	when they came down the disciples they saw a great crowd around them and the
10:19	scribes arguing with them it’s almost as if the devil thinks all right Jesus is up there
10:26	shining his little light so i’m going to create well the the greatest of disturbances and while Jesus is away
10:33	with peter james and john having his little conversation with moses and elijah i’m
10:39	going to stir up so much controversy and i’m going to make him look like a complete buffoon and idiot while he’s
10:46	not looking it’s kind of like that so me all the crowd when they saw Jesus they
10:51	were greatly amazed and they ran up to him and they greeted him and he asked them
10:56	what are you arguing about with them so some from the crowd answered teacher
11:02	i brought my son to you for he has a spirit that makes him mute
11:08	his father knows what he’s talking about in this particular case this is a demonic spirit that has robbed
11:15	his son of his ability to speak and the nightmare that this man and his
11:21	son have gone through we barely get a glimpse of it and just what few details we have they’re
11:27	harrowing it’s scary and that’s the point
11:32	and whenever the demon seizes him it throws him down
11:38	and he foams and he grinds his teeth and he becomes rigid now before you sit there and say well
11:44	this just sounds like he’s having an epileptic seizure this is more than that
11:51	far more than that so i asked your disciples to cast it out
11:58	and they were not able now i said this is kind of like it’s the
12:06	scenarios kind of set it up along these lines the devil’s taking advantage of the fact that Jesus is having his
12:11	conversation about his exodus with moses and elijah and not only does he send a demon
12:18	all right you know to you know to the field of battle it
12:23	really appears like he sends one of his strongest
12:29	ones one of the most difficult to get rid of and here’s the thing
12:35	Jesus had already given his disciples who would become the apostles he had
12:41	given them authority to cast out demons and so while Jesus is up on the mountain
12:47	this fellow wants help his son has been possessed by a demons
12:53	robbed him of his speech and many times it’s tried to take his life and it even throws him to the ground this isn’t a
13:01	mere falling that’s being described here this is the stuff that you’ve seen in hollywood movies at least they try to
13:08	emulate what it is that we see here and there are the disciples the remaining nine
13:14	of the 12 they get to work oh it’s a demon and so what do they do
13:20	i command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out
13:26	and nothing happens you can almost see the demon going
13:34	good luck on that one all right i ain’t leaving i’m not going anywhere
13:40	and of course the scribes seeing the failure of the disciples they’re johnny
13:45	on the spot calling Jesus whole ministry into question because remember when Jesus comes down from the mountain the
13:52	scribes were arguing with the disciples what you guys aren’t able to cast us out
13:57	this guy this demon out oh maybe Jesus isn’t the messiah this the whole thing
14:04	has just turned into utter pandemonium it’s out of control Jesus walks into the
14:10	middle of complete and utter discord in disarray caused by whom
14:18	the devil and a very very powerful demon
14:24	what happens next Jesus gives if you would a sigh of exasperation
14:31	one that is talking to well the faithlessness of all of humanity so he answered them oh
14:38	faithless generation how long am i going to be with you how long am i going to bear with you
14:45	in other words you guys have really messed everything up
14:50	it’s a way of basically saying all of this is the consequence of your sin i hope that you believe that that fruit
14:57	was worth the bite that you took because really it’s not how long am i going to be with you i’ve got to clean up all of your messes and
15:04	he’s not lamenting having to do that he’s lamenting the entire situation that created the scenario in the first place
15:11	so he said bring the boy to me so they brought the boy to Jesus
15:16	and when the spirit saw him immediately it convulsed the boy
15:22	and he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the mouth
15:29	let those words sink in a little bit here because the scene is terrifying
15:35	all right if this were to happen here at kong’s winger i assure you everybody
15:40	would be focusing in on the person manifesting the demon
15:45	why because well that’s what’s going on here this thing like the movie the exorcist he’s on the ground rolling
15:51	around foaming at the mouth do you think that this is a quiet scene no
15:57	the kid’s probably making all kinds of ghastly sounds and
16:03	just looking at him with all the foam coming out of his mouth and you know what Jesus does
16:09	he ignores the boy yeah i know it’s weird isn’t it
16:17	but here’s the thing Jesus is going to cast this demon out
16:24	and at this point there’s two victims here
16:29	two victims of this attack the father and the boy and these demonic attacks have rocked
16:37	this man’s faith his faith is smoldering
16:44	barely there at all and here’s the important thing Christ when he sees a smoldering
16:52	wick a faith that has been brought almost to the edge where it’s going to go out
16:58	Jesus doesn’t lick his finger and go and snuff it out
17:03	no that’s not what Jesus is like at all and we all know this
17:10	how many of us can say in our darkest times the Christ rather than cast us away
17:19	kick us in the teeth instead brought us in from the storm
17:24	took that smoldering wick put his hands over it and went
17:31	and blew into it to start to fan back into flame that
17:36	smoldering faith that’s what he does here so he looks at the father
17:43	while this child is doing the exorcist thing
17:48	and he looks at him and says how long has this been happening to him and you can almost see the pause
17:55	you see the the father going wait what
18:00	um oh well um it’s it’s from childhood
18:06	it’s often cast him into the fire and into water in order to destroy him
18:12	this father has been a diligent vigilant there that’s what
18:17	i’m looking for vigilant father this demon has it out for his kid and he
18:23	has vigilantly stood guard kept an eye on him
18:30	kept him safe and on multiple occasions this demon tried to kill his own son
18:37	the reason his son is alive is because of his loving care even though this
18:43	demonic entity is well beyond his ability to do anything with
18:49	he is still foughted and kept his son from dying and Jesus knows this
18:57	and then come these words but if you can do anything
19:03	if you can do anything Jesus you know what he needs have compassion on us please have mercy
19:11	and help us
19:18	kyrie eleison lord have mercy
19:23	when one comes to Jesus in need and cries out to him for help
19:29	and begs that the lord have compassion does Jesus say oh come on this is all
19:34	your own fault you shouldn’t have let him you shouldn’t have let him play with ouija boards and tarot cards everybody knows that that’s
19:41	how you open up the door to the demonic and to the occult this is all your own doing
19:48	no that’s how the pharisees act Jesus has
19:53	full compassion on him Jesus stops and says well if you can
20:00	and then listen to what he says all things are possible for the one who believes believes what
20:07	believes that Jesus is the Christ the son of god that Jesus is the seed of
20:15	the woman promised to our human race all the way back in the garden of eden the
20:20	seed of the woman who would come and deliver us by crushing the head of the
20:25	servant everyone who believes all things are possible for
20:31	the one who believes and trusts in our champion
20:36	Jesus in fact this is where our old testament text really fits in perfectly
20:43	consider that isaiah chapter 50 verses 4 to 10 it’s a prophecy about Jesus it’s all
20:50	about him and listen to what isaiah extols and exemplifies and holds before
20:56	our eyes in the prophecy regarding Christ yahweh elohim has given me the tongue of
21:03	those who are taught these might as well be read letters because Jesus is the one speaking these
21:10	words they are describing him so that i may know how to sustain with a
21:15	word him who is weary oh man
21:21	that is so good it actually causes me to have a little bit of a
21:27	well spring in my step Jesus is the one
21:32	who’s given a tongue like those who are taught so that he may know how to sustain with the word
21:38	the one who is weary you me weary with sin
21:45	weary with suffering weary with the schemes and attacks of the devil weary
21:51	with the attacks of the demonic weary ah but this one Jesus
21:57	our champion the one who conquers the devil for us he can sustain us
22:04	with a word and he does what is the word that Jesus sustains us
22:09	weary sinners with oh you heard it earlier today the word is this
22:16	forgiven so that i can sustain with a word
22:23	him who is weary and indeed he does are you weary and
22:29	heavy laden bruised and battered in your battles against the devil
22:36	have the flaming darts of the evil one well struck home and
22:43	wounded you are you tired of the battle Christ will sustain you with a word he
22:49	is your champion morning by morning he awakens
22:54	he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught yahweh elohim has opened my ear and i
23:02	was not rebellious and i turned not backwards only Jesus can speak this way i gave my back to those who strike
23:10	and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard i hid not my face from disgrace
23:16	and from spitting and here oh this is a prophecy
23:22	of the beginnings of Jesus’s suffering that horrible first good friday
23:29	where he was beaten with rod scourged with a whip
23:34	punched in the face had his beard pulled out
23:40	he didn’t hide from the disgrace he bore up under it because even then he was bleeding
23:47	suffering and dying for your sins and for mine
23:52	and then he says this but yahweh helps me therefore i have not been disgraced therefore i have set my face like a
23:59	flint i know that i shall not be put to shame and indeed Jesus was not put to
24:06	shame god the father vindicated him by raising him bodily from the grave
24:12	and that’s the point Jesus by dying and rising again has
24:19	conquered the devil remember pan and hook
24:25	well they had their duel to the death and all of that is just the archetypes and the stories that we tell each other
24:31	but in the real world there was an ultimate battle between good and evil
24:36	and that ultimate battle we had a champion who came forward
24:42	and he conquered our adversary and set us free
24:48	by bleeding dying spit on
24:54	having his beard torn out scourged and nailed to a cross
24:59	he willingly laid down his life and bore your sin and mine in his own body
25:05	so that we could be forgiven and that the power of the devil would be
25:10	snapped in half and broken forever and indeed it
25:16	was he who vindicates me is near so Jesus says who will contend with me
25:23	let us stand together who’s my adversary let him come near to me
25:29	[Laughter] Jesus having conquered the devil basically beats his chest and says come
25:35	on are there any of you demons left you want to take me on it’s not going to go good for you that’s the point
25:42	behold all of them will wear out like a garment the moth will eat them up who among you fears yahweh
25:49	and obeys the voice of his servant let him who walks in darkness
25:55	and has no light trust in the name of yahweh and rely on his god
26:04	Jesus is your champion and in this world where we are buffered and battered
26:10	buffered nothing buffeted that yeah that’s the word i’m looking buffered that’s the thing that happens to my computer where we are
26:17	buffeted and battered by the devil sometimes sneakily
26:22	sometimes overtly sometimes in ways that are very clearly
26:28	supernatural and paranormal it’s all true Christ though he is our victor he is the
26:36	one who we are to rely on he is our exorcist he is our life and our light
26:42	and our salvation and our very forgiveness so note then here
26:48	Jesus says all things are possible for the one
26:55	who believes who trusts in their champion Jesus
27:02	upon hearing these words the father who had suffered so much in his vigilant battles against the
27:09	demonic which only proved to be a losing battle
27:14	he cries out after asking Jesus to have compassion and mercy in him he says i believe
27:21	please help my unbelief and that’s the thing
27:27	Jesus says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed that’s pretty small if you think about it it’s kind of a microscopic mustard thingy kind of tiny
27:34	tiny tiny doesn’t say you need avocado seed faith just need mustard seed faith here he recognizes he does believe but
27:41	he has so much unbelief having been buffeted by the attacks of
27:46	the devil but that’s a great prayer in fact
27:52	the things that this father prays we too can also pray to Jesus
27:58	have compassion on us and help us help my unbelief
28:04	i do believe lord and how does Jesus respond to prayers of this type humble prayers
28:12	true calls out for mercy and compassion he is our champion and our savior
28:18	he comes to our aid he vindicates us he defeats the devil for us so here’s what
28:23	happens Jesus saw that the crowd came then running together so he rebuked the unclean spirit saying to you mute and
28:30	deaf spirit i command you to come out of him and never to enter him again
28:36	and when Jesus gives the order the devils have
28:41	no options they must obey the voice of their god
28:47	so after crying out and confusing him terribly
28:53	the demon came out the boy was like a corpse
28:59	so that most of them said he’s dead he’s dead
29:05	but Jesus took him by the hand another act of compassion mercy kindness
29:14	our god has gotten into the muck he’s gotten into the mire he’s come down to our level he reaches out his hand
29:22	and he lifts the boy up and he arose there you can see everyone going
29:28	wow it doesn’t say what happens next with the father or the boy
29:34	but you it’s not hard to imagine the relief the joy
29:40	the peace that night that father and that boy
29:46	were able to get a true night’s sleep something they hadn’t been able to get
29:53	in years all because of Jesus and now resting in him
29:59	they are with him now in the heavenly kingdom because Christ defeated the devil for them completely and having
30:06	believed and trusted in Christ they now are with him
30:11	for his throne worshiping him waiting for the resurrection like the
30:17	rest of us well we right here we’ll wait with them after we die
30:23	but then comes the thorny issue man the devil really made a mess of things and those disciples weren’t able
30:30	to stop that demon why not remember what Jesus said all things are
30:35	possible for the one who believes believes what trusts in their champion Jesus
30:42	so the disciples came to him privately why could we not cast it out and by the
30:47	way this is a great thing that they weren’t able to cast it out you say
30:53	how do you figure that was terrible it was a big defeat for them their defeat is our victory
31:00	because we go toe-to-toe with the devil and we do not have the apostolic authority to be exorcists the way they
31:05	were we just don’t so when the devil shows up and starts harassing us in ways that are terrifying
31:12	or there’s legitimate well demonic possession and oppression and things like this going on what are
31:19	we going to do what do we get we don’t have the same authority the apostles had Jesus gave
31:24	them the authority to cast out demons so what are we supposed to do we’re we’re helpless we don’t have no no no no we’re
31:32	not helpless all things are possible
31:37	for the one who believes the one who believes in their champion Jesus who conquered hook
31:43	the devil you get the idea right he said this kind cannot be driven out
31:49	by anything but prayer
31:55	okay let’s think about this for a second so you’re saying Jesus
32:01	that there are demons that are so powerful
32:07	so strong that even when one of your disciples or
32:12	apostles commands them to come out of a person they’ll laugh and say nope not coming
32:18	out but all we have to do is get on our knees
32:26	and pray to you the way that father prayed to you
32:32	have compassion on us Jesus help us
32:40	and you’ll answer and you’ll cast out that demon the same way you cast out that demon that day on
32:47	the after the mount of ma transfiguration right you see it
32:54	Jesus said in the great commission i will never leave you or forsake you i
33:00	am with you always even until the end of the age
33:05	Jesus isn’t there Jesus is here
33:11	he’s with you now he’s with us now we’ve gathered in his name
33:17	he will never leave us or forsake us so don’t worry what did Jesus say oh
33:22	faithless generation faithless how long am i to bear with you bring him to me well Jesus is still
33:29	bearing with our faithless generations bearing with our generations the generations that came before us and the
33:35	ones that will come after us until he returns he’s still bearing with us because he bore our sin on the on the
33:41	cross and he defeated the power of the devil he is still our exorcist he is our
33:49	champion when you consider the implications of it this is the most amazing and refreshing
33:55	and comforting thing ever don’t listen to the devil when he tempts you to fight him on his terms it’s a
34:03	trap it won’t end well for you rufio
34:08	no when the devil is trying to pick a fight with you
34:14	and harassing you horribly and manifesting and well doing all the things that the devil does
34:22	get down on your knees and pray
34:28	and ask your exorcist the one who conquered the devil the one
34:34	who set you free from bondage to sin death and the devil who transferred you from the dominion of darkness
34:40	into the kingdom of his light get down on your knees and say lord have compassion
34:49	have mercy deliver us from the evil one
34:55	what do you think Jesus will do all things are possible for the one
35:01	who believes in the name of Jesus amen

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