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✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
The devil doesn’t mind if people are religious, not at all. In fact Satan actually likes it when people are religious; he’s behind the invention of all the false religions in the world. For the most powerful form of evil is darkness that appears to be light, evil that seems to be good. And what could appear to be more good than something which is done in the name of God and spirituality–a Mormon promoting family values, a Muslim seeking to live a righteous life, a Hindu seeking inner peace and balance? The devil has no trouble with people engaging in religious God-talk; for the devil has been trying to play God from the beginning. When people tell you that they’re spiritual, remind them that demons are spirits, too, and perhaps they should be just a little bit more specific. St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that what the pagans think they are offering up to their god they are actually offering to demons. You don’t have to be a Satanist engaging in weird rituals to be worshiping the devil. Any worship that is not the worship of the true God, the Holy Trinity, any faith that is not faith in Jesus the Savior is fine with the evil one.
Just consider the Apostle Paul before his conversion. He was serving the devil even while he thought he was serving God. Paul was devoted to living righteously according to the law; he was a rising star among his fellow Pharisees. And he was so zealous and passionate in his religion that he devoted himself to rooting out and getting rid of those whom he thought to be heretics, particularly these Christians who worshiped Jesus as the Son of God. He oversaw the stoning to death of a Christian deacon named Stephen. He was willing even to travel to other countries in order to persecute and imprison those who followed Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It was only the grace of God that turned Paul’s life around when Jesus appeared to Him on the road to Damascus, bringing him to repentance and faith and a new life. Only by grace did He come to worship the true God, through faith in Christ alone.
Jesus said, “The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.” Today, those words bring to mind Islamic jihad, something that is supposedly a holy killing, a holy war. The terrorists kill in service to their false god. The shout of “Allahu Akbar” that you sometimes hear is simply the Arabic way of saying “God is the greatest.” Those words of themselves are fine and true, but then they are twisted and turned against the true God, used while taking the life of the “infidel” Christian who refuses to renounce Jesus as the Savior or to honor Muhammad. Unfortunately this sort of killing happens today with great frequency in North Africa and the Far East as well as the Middle East. Followers of Jesus are specifically targeted because of their faith. And here’s the thing: the terrorists think that what they’re doing will make the world a better place. They actually think that they’re serving God.
Now thankfully, this is something we almost never face. However, there is a soft persecution that is rising year by year in this country. And it comes from the religion of progressivism. Even though progressives and so-called social justice warriors wouldn’t necessarily characterize their beliefs as religious, they are just as puritanical and intolerant of anyone who departs from their orthodoxy as Paul was in his days as a Pharisee. Jesus said that “they will put you out of the synagogues.” The equivalent of that today is: they will put you out of the public square where the shape of our cultural life is decided–higher education and politics and entertainment. Just go to a university today as a professing Christian who believes that Jesus is the only way to eternal life and that the Bible is the truth. Watch how quickly your free speech and freedom of assembly is shut down and you are cast to the fringes. And also in politics and TV and movies and social media, if you don’t support so-called “reproductive rights” or gay relationships or transgenderism, if you make any sort of open statement declaring that you think marriage is only between a man and a woman, well then you’re no better than a Ku Klux Klan racist. You’re a bigot who deserves to lose your job or be driven out of business. You yourself may not be killed, but your livelihood certainly can be killed. Many of you who work within the realm of secular culture and government regulations know well the pressure to use politically correct talk or to remain silent about your Christian beliefs in order to avoid problems or a financial hit or a re-education sensitivity training course. And again, those who try to silence Christians and purge traditional Christian morality and beliefs may actually think that they’re doing something good and loving and positive for the world. They may well believe they’re serving God by intolerantly enforcing their version of tolerance.
Progressivism needs to be understood in this way as a religion. Its Paradise Lost story is global warming. It’s Gospel is self-expression and sexual freedom. Its priests are Hollywood celebrities and woke professors and news media elites. And its Sacrament is abortion, where Jesus’ words of life are demonically turned into words of death, “This is my body–I have a right to do what I want with it.” The unbelieving world will always be religious. But its religion is anti-Christ, anti-Christian, anti-truth. It does not want to listen to the Spirit of truth sent by Jesus from the Father.
So do not think that it’s some strange or unexpected thing when trials come upon you or if people make it difficult for you to live as a Christian. Jesus has told you in advance so that you won’t be surprised, so that you won’t be made to stumble in the faith and wonder what’s going on, so that you won’t be tempted to embrace the world’s religion like everyone else seems to be doing. It’s not easy being on the outside of what the world is praising and holding up as good. It’s not easy to be faithful in the midst of rampant unfaithfulness. However, it is written, “Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” And today’s Epistle says, “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.”
Jesus said, “A servant is not greater than his Master.” If they crucified Him, those who follow Him should not expect a life of ease in this world. But even in this, faith sees God’s gracious handat work. For in each of these hardships the Lord is reminding you not to get too comfortable here. Your citizenship is in heaven, your life is hidden with God in Christ. According to Scripture, it is an honor to partake of Christ’s sufferings. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
This is what it means to be baptized. It is to take part in Christ’s death, so that we may also take part in His rising to new life. Romans 6 says, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” So first and foremost, baptism means that we share in the benefits of Christ’s death. We are washed clean of our sin, and we are given eternal life and the sure hope of the resurrection of the body. But until that Day, your baptism also means sharing in Christ’s sufferings, sharing in the cross. Baptism means the putting to death of your sinful nature. That happens through daily contrition and repentance, battling against and drowning your old Adam and the world that lives in you. But it also happens through the afflictions and trials that you are put through in this fallen and unbelieving world. God works even through His enemies and the evils they inflict for your ultimate good, so that in the end you may share fully in the joy of Christ’s resurrection. For it is written, “If we have been united with Him in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.”
So trust in God in the midst of affliction or persecution. He has not forgotten you or forsaken you. He works through the cross and suffering to bring you unimaginable joy and blessing. This world cannot touch you. Its threats are meaningless. The devil and the world may prowl around like a roaring lion seeking whom they may devour; but for those in Christ, all the devil can do is roar and make a lot of noise. For he has had his teeth and claws pulled out on Good Friday. Even if you were to be killed for your faith, nothing and no one can stop the bodily resurrection God is bringing you. So do not be afraid when hardship comes. Do not think for a moment that your heavenly Father has abandoned you. For He loves you and has saved you for his own Name's sake. He has gathered you out of the world's synagogues to be his own Holy Church, the spotless Bride of Christ washed clean in the waters of baptism flowing from the spear-pierced side of her Husband. He has cleansed you of your filthiness and your idols. He has replaced your stony heart, creating in you a clean heart of flesh. He has given you a new spirit by breathing the breath of His Holy Spirit over you again and again as receive Holy Absolution.
Here, in His Holy Church, the Lord offers to you all He has, for He offers you all that He is. The Lord is your light and your salvation and the strength of your life. And He is here now to fill you with His forgiveness, love, and mercy. Jesus is the One who truly offers God the Father service–not by killing others but by sacrificing Himself for you. That is what the Divine Service is: the Lord's service to you–first performed for you on the cross and now given to you in the Holy Sacrament with His true body and blood. This is what’s real and lasting and true in the midst of the fake reality of the world. This is where everything is set right, where the madness of the world and its lies are held at bay. For where Christ Jesus is, there is your home, your peace, your comfort, your joy in all hardships, and your entry into eternal life.
So take to heart the words of the Epistle, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, . . . that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”