Jennifer Hoes will get married on her birthday, May 28, 2004. It will be an elaborate affair: a unique wedding gown, a ceremony in the wedding room of the City Hall of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Jennifer will be both the blushing bride and the dashing groom. Family and friends will gather to celebrate her marriage to herself. She will promise to “love, respect and honor” herself in good times and in bad. In the UPI article, Jennifer acknowledges that hers will be the quintessential postmodern union. She says, “We live in a ‘Me’ society. Hence it is logical that one promises to be faithful to oneself.” The writer of the article wonders: “What if she ceases to like herself — will divorce be an option. . . . Indeed, what if she should fall in love with somebody else deeply enough to wed him — must she first send herself packing? In case she doesn’t but still says, ‘I do,’ to the guy, would this be considered an act of bigamy? Could she go to jail for that?” Her response is: “There’s room for two rings of my finger.” So, obviously, she is willing to marry someone else while remaining married and committed to herself.
It is stories like this one that leave us reeling and wondering if there is any sanity left in the world. We have recently been deluged with the news of homosexuals being permitted to marry, and there seems to be no lack of ordained ministers of the church who are willing to perform these ceremonies. There has been enormous pressure on the General Conference of our denomination this past week and next to permit practicing homosexuals to become legitimate pastors in our church. You begin to wonder if the world has lost its moral mind. What once was understood to be a perversion of God’s intent and design is now considered to be not only normal, but something to be celebrated. You have to wonder where it will end. Will this become the norm in the United States and around the world? Will marriage be redefined so that it no longer means one man and one woman committing themselves in faithfulness to each other, but eventually include marrying yourself, like Jennifer Hoes? Could it soon be defined as one adult and a child, or one man marrying two women, or one woman and three other women, or a dozen people marrying each other? I recently read of a man marrying his horse. Why not, if marriage has lost all meaning and legitimacy?
Why is all this happening? How have we come to the place of moral insanity by a culture crazed by its own desire? How did we get to the place where something as obviously wrong as killing unborn children is seen as a fundamental right? As you look around you, you understand that there is no such thing as a commonly accepted morality any longer. People feel they have a right to do whatever it is they want to do, regardless of what Scripture says about their behavior. Yesterday’s culturally accepted norms are today’s taboos. The very fabric of our culture seems to be coming apart, and it all seems to be happening so fast. What is going on?
If you are going to survive what is happening in the world, you first of all need to understand that We are in the middle of a spiritual battle. This battle is real. It is the same battle that began in the Garden of Eden. God told Adam and Eve not to do something, and rebellion grew in their hearts. They rushed to do the very thing God had asked them not to do. Never mind that God was trying to spare them suffering and trouble, their rebel hearts were blinded by the desire to put themselves before God, and even become their own god. Like Jennifer who married herself, we are a culture of individuals who are in love with and worship ourselves. It is the ultimate form of idolatry. It is the humanistic trinity of “Me, Myself, and I.”
When the apostle Paul advised us to put on the whole armor of God, it was for a reason. He understood that we are in a spiritual battle. You may not like to fight, but it makes no difference. You are in a spiritual battle whether you want to be or not. This is the age old battle between right and wrong, good and evil, heaven and hell, the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Until we understand this, we are incapable of understanding life and what is going on around us. The point of Scripture is that we are in the middle of a great cosmic struggle between good and evil, and that somehow this battle is important to God. It is important that we are aware that something has gone wrong with the world. This is why life is sometimes hard and bad things happen. There is real evil present in the world. And we must be aware that there is a battle going on, that we are prepared for the battle, and that we are engaged in the battle. This is not a picnic in the park. Life can be very good, but life is also dangerous — it can even be brutal. The apostle John wrote that Jesus came to give us life and give it to the full, but in the same verse he warned that there is a thief who has come to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). The thief is our spiritual enemy, the devil. He is not just an idea, or a dark force, he is a person who is bent on your destruction. He is your personal enemy. Just as God has a plan for your life, so does he. As John Eldredge says, “There is something set against us. We are at war.” Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34).
When the devil was not able to win the war against God, he set his sights on the ones who bore God’s image. He lied to the first man and woman in the Garden. He lied about God and told them that he was not to be trusted, and that they needed to break free from him. And he has been lying to us about the heart of God ever since. He is still trying to get us to not trust God or listen to him. He has been in rebellion against God from the beginning, and he still is to this day. He will do anything he can to pervert the laws of God, distort our understanding of the character of God and destroy what God is doing in the world — including leading astray the followers of God and even destroying them. His goal is to rob the kingdom of God of those who rightly belong to God because they are his creation. If you are a Christian, you have an enemy. He is real and he is dangerous, but God has promised, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). What that is saying is that the one who is in you, who is God, is greater than the enemy who is in the world, who is the devil. We are not to fear him, but we are to beware of him. The war is real, for the Bible says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
The second thing you have to understand, if you are to survive what is happening in the world is: You must choose sides. I know, you would like to just go to work and come home and not have to worry about this, but you can’t. After Joshua led the people of Israel into the Promised Land, he gathered them together and said to them: “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). That same choice is before all of us. We can choose to serve the gods of our culture, the gods of pleasure and self, or we can choose to be on the side of God. But one thing is for certain, you cannot serve both. You have a decision to make. You have to decide which side you are going to be on. Choose this day whom you will serve.
You cannot be neutral. I have known some people who never take a stand on anything. They pride themselves in always seeing both sides and avoid committing themselves. I am always concerned about those who say that they are middle of the road. Being in the middle of the road is a dangerous place to be. In fact, about the only thing I see in the middle of the road are dead skunks. You can’t live a life of compromise and never unfurl your flag. Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). All of us would like not to be in a battle. But since we are, there are only a few options open to us. 1. Give up, surrender, and let the enemy take us over. 2. Be afraid, try to run and hide, and be a deserter. 3. Fight the good fight. The problem is that if you will not go the battle, the battle will come to you.
Many of you have seen The Matrix, a movie about an evil force that takes over the world. Neo is the One who is appointed to deliver the world from the grip of the enemy. In the beginning he is unaware of what has gone wrong in the world, and of the importance of his role in it all. Morpheus brings him to the place of decision. [Play clip: 1.08.25.20 - 1.08.29.49] Morpheus says to him, “I imagine that right now you’re feeling a bit like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole?” Neo responds, “You could say that.” “I can see it in your eyes,” says Morpheus, “You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he’s expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?” “No,” he answers. “Why,” questions Morpheus. “Because I don’t like the idea that I’m not in control of my life.” Morpheus looks at him and says, “I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain. You feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is. But it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?” Neo says, “The Matrix?” Morpheus asks him, “Do you want to know what it is?” Neo is hesitant, but he nods his assent. Morpheus explains to him, “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window, or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you goto work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” “What truth?” Neo asks. “That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage, into a prison that you cannot taste or smell or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.” And in each of Morpheus’ palms he holds out a pill. One is red, the other blue. He is offering Neo a chance to know the truth. And then Morpheus says, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and you believe. . . whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
The same choice is being offered to us. There is something wrong with the world. The world has been pulled over our eyes to keep us from seeing the truth — that we are in spiritual bondage and must enter the battle to be free. Either we take the blue pill and believe whatever we believe, or we take the red pill, settle down in the real world and see how deep evil goes. And in doing so, we find our fate — our place in the battle. So we have a choice to make.
The third thing you need to know in order to survive is: The battle must be fought with courage. After Moses’ death Joshua was left alone to lead the people of Israel and take them into the Promised Land. There were great and fearful battles ahead. But the Lord appeared to Joshua and said, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). God is calling us to be courageous. The purpose of the battle is so that we no longer have to live in slavery. God wants us to move into freedom. The Bible says, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:6-7). The matrix of evil wants to enslave us and turn us into spiritual zombies, but Christ has come to set us free.
The good news is that the battle has already been won. Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin, hell and death. When we make a choice, we become a part of his army and are on the winning side. The main battle has been won, but there are terrorists about. The battle is not fought without effort. Sometimes people are surprised that the battle is difficult. They think that when they come to Christ, he will spare them from all unpleasantness and difficulties. That is just what the enemy would like them to believe. But think of it like this. When we pray for a loved one who has joined the military and is going to war, do we expect that God will keep them out of the battle? No, of course not. We are praying that God will protect them in the battle. We pray that God will give them courage and strength, and deliver them, even though they are surrounded by danger. Some of you came into the Christian life expecting that God was going to solve all your problems, but God does not do that, he stands by us in all our problems and asks us to be his champion in the fight against evil. Don’t be discouraged when things get difficult. That is the way it is supposed to be.
The apostle Paul knew what it was to be in the thick of the spiritual battle. He was stoned, beaten and opposed at every turn, but he wrote: “We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
Calvin Miller, in his allegory The Singer, helps us to visualize the supernatural war that was fought in the time between the cross and the empty tomb. The Singer, or Troubadour, who is the Christ figure, sings a song of love to the world which is in the grip of Satan, or World Hater as he is called in the allegory. Later on in the story, the Troubadour is being tortured, and World Hater shouts at God, “Look how he dies. Cry, Creator, Cry This is my day to stand upon the breast of God and claim my victory over love. You lost the gamble. In but an hour your lover will be pulp upon the gallows. Did you tell him when his fingers formed the world, that he would die on Terra (earth), groaning with his hands crushed in my great machine?” As he laughed, he turned to look again upon the Troubadour. “Now, who will sing the Father’s Song?” he asked the dying man. But Calvin Miller paints this scene near the end of the story: “World Hater reached the threshold of eternity and found the doorway of the worlds, not only open, but clearly ripped away. He strained to hear the everlasting wail, the eternal dying which he loved. All was silent. Then he heard the Song. ‘ No ’ he cried. ‘Give me back the door and key for this is my domain.’ He felt again and found the great key at his waist had disappeared. He steeled himself for the battle out ahead. He would have to fight the Song. He would fight with every weapon in his arsenal of hate. But he knew that he would lose. And he knew that when the course of time was done, the door would be put back upon the Canyon of the Damned, and he would be locked in with all the discord of the universe. And he would suffer with all of those he had taught to hate the Song. . . .”
The battle will be won, and Jesus Christ and his faithful chosen will be victorious. But the battle will not be fought in the way the world fights. As we struggle, we do so with spiritual weapons. We use the weapon of faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, the Word of God and a life of prayer. The Bible says, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
May we be faithful and courageous warriors in the battle set before us.
Rodney J. Buchanan
May 2, 2004
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
Questions for May 2, 2004
1. Briefly give your reaction to much of the moral confusion in our culture.
2. In your opinion, what has led to the place we find ourselves in this age?
3. Read 1 Peter 5:8. What personality is behind all of this?
4. Read Ephesians 6:10-18. What should our response be?
5. Some people do not believe in a real devil or that there is real evil in the world. Why is a person who does not understand the reality of evil in the world at a disadvantage?
6. Why is it impossible to avoid the spiritual battle?
7. Why is it important to choose sides?
8. Why do some people choose to side with the devil?
9. Why is courage necessary?
10. Read Revelation 20:11-15. Who will win in the end?
