What Can Be Done About All the Evil in Our World?

17th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/15/24 Mark 9:14-27 What Can Be Done About All the Evil in Our World? I. Nothing on your own II. Everything through Jesus III. Pray Throwing my hands into the air and shaking my head is one reaction. But more often, I just bow my head slightly for a few moments, close my eyes, and shake my head in disbelief. That’s what I often do when I hear a report about another heinous act taking place in our country or our world. Another horrendous incident perpetrated by a person or group of people who are thoroughly evil. What happened was simply beyond my comprehension. I can’t imagine myself coming anywhere close to doing such a thing. How could someone go that far down the path of evil? What made them even think about doing such a thing? How could this have happened? I don’t have any answers. So, I bow my head slightly for a few moments, close my eyes, and shake my head in disbelief. What’s your reaction to unthinkable evil? I’m guessing much the same. Perhaps you’re silent for a moment, but then the verbal deluge of disbelief comes pouring out. You’re not only incredulous, you’re angry, and rightly so. You not only ask, “How could this happen?” but, “What can be done to make sure it won’t happen again?” Or, “Who’s going to do something about this?” And society will join you in that reaction…for a while. Then things will calm down a bit, you’ll return to the busyness of your life, other things will demand your attention, and that last evil event will shuttle to the back of your mind. Until something evil happens again. Then you’ll start the process all over again, only this time it will be with a bit more pessimism. As one evil event after another occurs, you slowly begin to realize that there isn’t much you or anyone else can do about it. But you won’t allow yourself to become hopeless, especially as a Christian. And so, the question you’ve asked before will be asked again, “What can be done about all the evil in our world?” And I’m glad you’re asking it, because there’s an answer to it here in this morning’s text from Mark 9. What can be done about all the evil in our world? Pay attention as the Lord answers it for us in several ways. I. “You get an ‘A’ for effort!” That statement can be taken one of two ways. You can take it as a compliment that you did as well as you could in a no-win situation. Or you can take it as a somber recognition that you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do. I’ll give nine of the twelve disciples an “A” for effort over their actions in the event Mark describes for us here. To better understand this situation, you need to know the background. You probably wonder why only nine of the disciples are involved here, and not all twelve. That’s because Jesus was with Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. Imagine living in the glow of that heaven-like event! This trio of disciples had just experienced what we won’t until we reach heaven—seeing Jesus in all his glory. So, what were the other nine disciples doing? It’s clear from this text that they were spending their time somewhere close to where Jesus and the other three were, waiting for them to return. And, as they waited, they were approached by a man whose son was demon-possessed. His description of the boy’s life is hard for us to imagine. How awful! This event occurred late in the earthly ministry of Jesus. No doubt this father had heard accounts of Jesus casting out demons. In fact, he may have even heard about how Jesus had sent his disciples out on a limited mission journey, and they had performed the exorcisms of demons as well. So, with high hopes, this man brought his son to these nine disciples for help. But they could do nothing. They tried but failed. Here was evil right in front of them in a horrifying way, and yet they were unable to drive the demon out of him, even though they had done so previously. Bottom line: they failed to be able to do anything about all the evil in their world. And they took abuse for it. Our text tells us that the teachers of the law argued with them. No doubt they accused the disciples of being phonies. They claimed to have had the power to drive out demons before. Where was it now? No doubt their accusations included Jesus. Can you hear them? But the disciples had no answer. No recourse. Nothing. Just an “A” for effort. What can be done about all the evil in our world? Nothing…on our own. And we need to realize that. I can take all sorts of precautions. I can participate in civic efforts to do something to prevent evil from happening. In fact, we should. We should do whatever we can to protect ourselves, our children, and our neighbors from evil. We should support and enforce laws that prohibit evil. But none of these things will eradicate it. Because Jesus made it clear that evil comes from the sinful human heart. I can support laws that curb evil, but my efforts won’t get rid of evil. Evil is in the heart, and I can’t change an evil heart. I can threaten it in the hopes of curbing evil, but I can’t change it. II. Only Jesus can. And he did, here in Mark 9. In doing so, he extended his winning streak over Satan. What do I mean by that? Well, we have quite a few accounts of Jesus facing demon possession and even one of Jesus facing Satan himself. These events were all part of God’s assault on the evil in our world, evil which has existed ever since the fall into sin. And in every battle, every attack, every skirmish, Jesus emerged as the Victor. His record was unblemished. His winning streak would continue right up and through Easter when he rose from the dead, descended into hell, and proclaimed his eternal victory over evil. And we see a segment of that victory streak on display here. Jesus declares, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And then we read this, “The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He’s dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.” Another victory notch in our Savior’s work of salvation belt. Notice that he simply spoke a sentence, and the evil spirit was forced to leave. He was no match for the word of the Son of God. Although he tried. There was an eerie, hellish shriek. The demon shook the boy once again in an effort to remain in possession of him, but his efforts were futile. He was no match for Jesus. The people in the crowd thought he was dead. But as a fitting end of the account, Jesus “took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet.” What can be done about all the evil in our world? On our own, nothing. But through Jesus, everything. III. But there are times when it appears Jesus is simply allowing evil to take control. Or he’s too busy to take notice. What then? What can we do about all the evil in our world? First, take your cue from the father in this text. Jesus told him, “‘Everything is possible for one who believes.’ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” The father responded with a prayer for the Lord to help him overcome his doubts, his unbelief. What an amazing prayer! Not because it’s so lofty and heaven-worthy, but because it’s so human, so real, so relatable. I, too have faith, and I , too, have my doubts, especially when I see all the evil in our world. I shudder. I’m afraid. My confidence wilts. And so the Lord calls on me to follow this father’s example and pray to him. Jesus never promised to eradicate evil while this world still stands. But he will when the Last Day arrives. And until then he promises to control it for our good and the good of his church—his believers. Meanwhile, he calls on us to pray to him with confidence. In the verses immediately following our text, that’s exactly what he tells his disciples. When they wonder why they were unable to cast out the demon, Jesus responded, “This kind can only come out by prayer” (9:29). With this explanation, Jesus exposes the folly of the disciples. They assumed they inherently had the power to cast out demons because of their previous power to do so. Jesus points out they the power comes from him and him alone. To tap into that power, they need to pray. And so do we. What can be done about all the evil in our world? Pray. Pray to Jesus. Pray for him to empower you and pray for his will to be done. And then trust him. Trust him. Remember…he’s on an eternal winning streak in his battles with Satan. It only appears that Satan is winning now. And our fears that this might be true reveal our lack of trust. You and I can do nothing on our own about the evil in our world. But Jesus can. He did. He still does. Satan is defeated. It happened at the resurrection of Jesus. No longer could sin, death, and hell claim us eternally. It might seem like Satan has a death-grip on our world. But that simply isn’t true. Jesus has one on him. Evil is trying to overcome Christ, but it can’t. It never will. Jesus wins. And we win with him. Thus St. Peter urges us, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). That’s what can be done about all the evil in our world! Pray for the Lord Jesus to bless your struggle against the evil in your life, in God’s church, and in our world. Amen.

What’s in a Name?

16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/8/24 Acts 3:1-10 What’s in a Name? I. When it’s “Jesus” -- healing II. When it’s “Jesus” -- salvation “What’s in a name?” Many of you recognize this famous question. It was asked by Juliet in her soliloquy in Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet.” Love between these two young people was forbidden simply because of their family names. Juliet would go on to opine that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. In other words, the name doesn’t matter. Do you agree? Names don’t matter? Big corporations apparently don’t agree. The name of their corporation matters more than anything else. It’s called “branding” in the world of marketing and your brand name means millions and millions of dollars to your company annually. Advertising aims at name recognition. Every time you see and hear the company’s name or logo, that corporation wants you to draw you into their market. And it was a name that Peter invoked in performing the miracle before us here in Acts 3. These were his words, “At the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And with that name, a man who had never walked a step during his 40 plus years of life did just that and more. He not only walked, he jumped. I imagine he jumped as high as possible. Jesus. The majority of the people in our world care nothing about that name. They might know it, but only as any other name of a person who is recognized in world history. And we cringe when millions of others use it to curse or swear. And why? Because of what that name means. Has that name ever meant as much to you as it did for this man on this miraculous day in his life? I’m guessing there are times in your life as there are in mine when we would say it doesn’t seem to mean much. We wish it would say more. We wish it would do more for us and our world. We’d love the opportunity to do as Peter did—just drop the name of Jesus on some problem and—Shazam!—immediate results. Immediate solution. But that doesn’t happen. So, what’s in a name? Let’s keep that question before us as we discuss this word of our God to us this morning. Part I. I’m glad to know that there are people in our world who are optimistic. They have high hopes. They believe brighter days lie ahead. And, to some extent, that’s a good thing. I wouldn’t want to live in a world full of hopeless people. But I’m a little more realistic, and I’ll bet you are, too. Because, as Christians, we know this is a broken world. All around us we see broken hopes and dreams, broken homes and families, broken futures, broken lives. If your opinion is that our world is broken, you’re not alone. And I’m reminded of that especially when I encounter homeless and destitute people. I get anxious if I get stopped at a traffic light in downtown Dayton and there’s a person with a tattered cardboard sign begging for money near the stoplight. It wasn’t too long ago that I regularly saw the same thing here in warm and cheerful Centerville. It hurts to see such a thing. Now imagine seeing it every time you walk up to our church doors. We wouldn’t allow such a thing, but that’s what was happening here in Acts 3, and it was “normal.” People expected it to be that way when they came to the temple. No matter what day of the week, this man was sitting on the ground at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. “Beautiful Gate.” How’s that for ugly irony? Luke, who wrote Acts, informs us that this man was crippled from birth. Imagine that. Some pre-birth genetic disorder? The result of a devasting injury during the birthing process? It doesn’t matter. From his first moment of life in this world, his life was difficult. More so than for others. He was entirely reliant on the compassion of others every moment of his life. He relied on relatives and friends to transport him to the temple every day and then transport him home. While he was there, he was entirely dependent on the compassion of others as he begged for enough money to get the food he needed for that day. I imagine some days he received enough. Others, not so much. But I imagine that, at this point in his life, he had reached a level of personal acceptance. Later we read that he was more than 40 years old. Surely by now he had accepted that this was his life every day for as long as he lived on this earth. Unless a miracle happened, he would be known as the daily beggar at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. But on this day things would change. Things would be different. It happened like this, “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.” Healing! What the man had likely stopped hoping for, what he had likely forced himself to stop dreaming of, happened. In an instant. Without surgery or physical manipulation. No weird incantations. Just a name. The name of Jesus. What’s in a name? When it’s “Jesus’’—healing. So, what healing might you want, need, or expect from Jesus? I’ll give you a few seconds to settle on one or two. OK. Now, imagine if Jesus healed you right now. What you wanted him to do for you was done completely. In the words of our text, you are now walking and jumping. But what next? For the rest of today? Tomorrow? Next week? We read that this man went with Peter and John into the temple and worshipped. And we aren’t surprised. What a natural response to what Jesus had just done! He worshipped Jesus. But let’s be realistic. The fact that he was now able to walk didn’t mean that his life was trouble-free. He may have still had hypertension or diabetes. Perhaps his eyesight was less than 20-20. Perhaps he was still estranged from family members. Perhaps no one offered him fulfilling employment. His living conditions were still less than average. But he worshipped. I realize that the difficulties you’re facing in life may not be the best motivation for worshipping. But you have every reason to do so. Like this man, you have a God who knows your situation better than you do and he cares. He cares about you so much that, if he doesn’t remove your troubles or heal you, he uses them to draw you to him. They are daily reminders that this world is not what the Lord ultimately wants for you. It’s a broken world that will never be what you want it to be. But the Lord sustains you through all your difficulties. He brings people into your life to assist you with them. He gives what you need most of all—a Savior from all of this. His name is Jesus. That’s the name of the One who brought you healing for your worst sickness—sin and the hell it deserves. He freely dispenses his healing to you through his word and sacrament. He reminds you that he shed his blood for you so that he can call you his own dear child forever. What’s in a name? When it’s “Jesus”—healing. Part II. As our worship theme states, we see Jesus working in everything. That’s certainly true here. He not only works healing in a man, he also works healing in a multitude of people because of it. That bigger picture is revealed in the final verse of our text, “When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” The rest of Acts 3 recounts how Peter used this event and the amazement of the crowd to preach a very pointed sermon about Jesus. He blasts these people with powerful law: “You killed the author of life” (3:15). Wow! Imagine hearing your preacher dropping that bomb on you! And then he immediately shared this sweet gospel, “But God raised him from the dead.” Peter called on the people to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus for their forgiveness and eternal life. Is there any more important message to hear and believe? And the Lord blessed that message. They repented and believed. Luke reports that the Christian Church on earth grew to about 5,000 (4:4). In other words, more and more people praised God. Not because he had healed them as he had healed this man, but because he had saved them as he had saved this man and all people through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus. What’s in a name? When it’s “Jesus”—salvation. This morning’s worship theme asserts that we see Jesus working in everything. How well does that describe you? I’ll admit that too often that’s not what I see. As I look at my life and my world around me, I see things going in the opposite direction of heaven. I’m fearful, skeptical, and fretful. Too often I focus on the problems, instead of on my Savior and his blessings. Too often I view this life for what’s it’s not, instead of for what it is. Your life is your time to come to know the saving name of Jesus. Do you know him now? Praise him for it. It’s all his doing. He rescued us from hell and made of heirs of heaven. That’s what his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead were all about. We know and believe it. And now we live to share it. We believe in the name of Jesus, and we share the name of Jesus. That’s the Christian life at its foundation. That’s your life. That’s your eternal life. What’s in a name? When that name is “Jesus”, it’s everything to those who know him and love him. It’s everything to you. For you. Amen.