Abide

Romans 10:1-10 • Matthew 8:28-9:1

Glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We read this morning from the story of the Gadarene demoniacs in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. There is one line in this account that stands out to me: The demons say to Christ, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Before the time! The demons know their future and their destiny.

In another place, the Lord says, “I beheld Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:18). And in a vision Saint John sees, “the great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him… Woe to those who dwell on earth and the sea, for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time” (Revelation 12:9,12).

We confess in the Creed, Christ “shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom shall have no end.”

And we read that on that day, “Then shall he say unto them on his left hand: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

…And not for you.

Before creation began, before you were conceived in the womb, before you were baptized into Christ, God the Father knew you and called you by name. “For whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,” (Romans 8:29) who is patient, who is kind, who is Love.

“And you, who were dead in trespasses and sins, God has made you alive… together with Christ. And raised us up together and made us sit together with him, in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-7).

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have [already] apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

You have a destiny. You have a purpose. A high calling from the God of creation.

Do you know what humility is? Humility is not fixating on how bad or unworthy you are. When we are crippled by shame and self-doubt, or when we believe we deserve to fail and suffer, we are not being humble. Who is our attention on? Ourselves.

The humble person isn’t thinking about himself. He’s not moved to pride or despair because he knows that God is his Judge and his Savior. Look at the icon of Christ: He holds a book, and out of it “he shall judge the living and the dead.” And at the same time with his other hand he is blessing you.

That’s why at confession, we stand before the scriptures and the cross: By the law of the Kingdom, Christ judges your actions – and by the cross, Christ carries your sins away to hell and offers you his mercy. The gospel and cross are there to draw your attention away from your list of failures and fix your eyes on the high call of God, to unite your repentance to confident hope.

Apostle James advises us, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up” (James 4:6,10).

So let’s humble ourselves and think of ourselves as God thinks of us: “What is man, that thou dost take thought of him? Or the son of man, that thou dost care for him? Thou hast made man a little lower than the angels; and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou gavest him dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:5-6).

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, then how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).

Here’s where we come to it: God has so thoroughly stacked the cards in our favor that the only way we can fail to enter into glory is through neglect.

St James again: “You have not because you ask not… Ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed… A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 4:2; 1:5-8).

“Waver” means to hesitate between two paths. Like a car that can’t decide whether to take a highway exit or not – Turn? Go straight!? and finally plows up the grass median and is wrecked between both lanes.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 26:4 lxx)

To abide, to remain and live in a place, is the opposite of visiting. The place you abide is where you have made your home. Unless you’re a nun, you probably can’t physically live in the temple. So you and I will need to practice the presence of God – while we are driving, working, caring for kids, serving customers, chatting with one another, we need to intentionally live and abide and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty.

The Lord said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, then ask what you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

In today’s Gospel reading, everybody got what they wanted.

The demonized man got free of the demons in his thoughts.

The Gadarene people got rid of Jesus.

Even the demons got what they asked for.

As we work out our salvation, we seem to get what we want. And what we really want is demonstrated by our actions.

I can fiddle around on a piano; professional musicians tell me it’s “good enough for gospel.” For years I said I meant to take formal piano lessons when I got time. But after 60 years, as a man who makes his own schedule, that’s evidently not true. I would have taken formal piano lessons by now if it really were that important to me.

For a long time I couldn’t find time for daily prayers, either. Maybe you have the same experience. Nobody who wants to win a wife tells his sweetheart, “Yes! I think I’ll have time free for dinner and a movie next Tuesday, if nothing comes up. Or maybe on Sunday, after I finish dusting behind the refrigerator, we could take five minutes to watch a sunset together?” Aw, you romantic dog, you!

But we say, “I get up early and I can’t pray before I go to school or work. My responsibilities take all my attention so I literally do not have five minutes anywhere in my day to say a prayer or to do a prayer rope.”

“I know I ought to have a word of prayer before I go to sleep, but I’m so tired… and besides, I haven’t finished binging my show on Netflix!” ­ Or am I the only one?

We know almsgiving without judging is a core value in every Christian discipline. When I see the “will work for food” guy at Wal-Mart, I know I ought to roll down the window and give him something. But once again I have neglected to put a ten dollar bill in my wallet for this purpose. That happens when I don’t put faithfulness first. Left to themselves, these things just don’t seem to happen. 

I keep finding myself too busy to do anything that matters, and frustrated because my busyness has not accomplished anything that I want. It turns out, you can’t find time for prayer, or for your spouse, or for your art or study or fresh air outdoors. You can’t find time in your day for God — because God will not permit you to find time for him. He will not settle for second place. You have to make time for him. 

This is why God called the people of Israel to sanctify, set apart, and give to Him their first fruits. Because we are people who say we want to offer our whole lives up to God, a living sacrifice, but so often our actions reveal the truth that our salvation is one of the many things that matter to us, and often we live as though nothing matters to us.

We waver, not deserting the call of God, but not delighting first in the law of God, And so we find it hard to dwell in his presence, abiding under the shadow of the Almighty.

The Psalmist says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” and we have. But we forget. We neglect this high call – this good, loving, and life-giving God. We know we are called to sit on the throne of heaven in union with Christ our Savior, but we let our world contract and shrink into a box full of stress and fears and anger and our own will, which crowds out everything else.

Today we are singing and praying to the God who wants to give you the desires of your heart. Maybe we have not because we ask not. And maybe you’re asking, but wavering, carrying the Cross and a burden of fears and thoughts, so that your feet stumble and you accomplish neither your plans for yourself, nor your desire to seek God in Spirit and truth.

Lay your burden down. You’re done with neglect and wavering. Give God your first fruits. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 36:4,5 lxx)

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that hopeth in him. O fear the Lord, all ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him. Rich men have turned poor and gone hungry; but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good thing” (Psalm 33:8-10 lxx).

To the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.