Matthew 4:1-11 … Damning the Demons (07/13/15)
In more than one sense, demons are quite real, for demons are but the shadows of every angel … And just as there are the very real angelic manifestations of Light, Kindness, Compassion, Love and Justice, so too we have the all too tangible appearances of those angels’ shadows … Each of us has experienced these different shades of darkness, so often so that we even have names for them. We call them Gloom … We call them Greed … We call them Callousness … We call them Arrogance … We call them Bigotry.
These five demons are indeed very real …
… and yet they don’t exist “out there”.
No, instead they reside embedded in our physical bodies; bodies that want nothing more than to survive & know pleasures fleeting … They are ingrained in our subconscious desires; yearnings to be surrounded by those like us — who “like us” … They are entrenched in our cultures; conventions & social norms that would have us take up arms against our enemies and cast away all others who seem “strange” or “dangerous” or “heretical” or even “odd”.
And yet we do not have to heed the jaded whispers of those demons … We do not have to succumb to their tempting taunts of “only human” and “better than” … We do not have to follow their teachings of hopelessness & entitlement & “healthy boundaries” & specialness … No, my Friends, just as Jesus stood his ground against Satan himself, we too can bravely turn to face our demons, we can call to them with Compassion in our Hearts for the massive pain & fear in theirs …
… and then we can firmly bid them adieu.
Amen … Let it be so.
(~ inspired by Matthew Fox)
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. And the tempter came and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”‘ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written … “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”‘ But Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”‘ And then again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all their splendor; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”‘ Then the devil departed, and angels came and cared for him.” ~ Matthew 4:1-11
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