Note: This is today’s daily devotion that I wrote for Wittenberg Academy following the Treasury of Daily Prayer lectionary (also available as a phone app called Pray Now.

Friday

October 8, 2021

Matt 10:1-23

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Trouble just follows certain people.  Sometimes such people are troublemakers and criminals.  And that fits our expectation about how the world works.  But trouble also follows those who tell the truth, especially those who follow Jesus.

Our Lord gives the Twelve “authority over unclean spirits.”  This “authority” makes them the enemies of the Prince of this World.  And Jesus sends out these men (the Greek word “to send” is where the English word “apostle” comes from).  This is part of their training for the ministry, when they will actively lead the war on the devil after Jesus ascends to heaven.

And our Lord tells them plainly that He is “sending [them] out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”  How our Lord instructs them to conduct themselves as a result should be memorized and taken to heart by every Christian in our increasingly hostile and demonic age: “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

We are to be innocent.  We are disciples of Jesus.  We do not simply adopt the perverted ways of this “crooked and twisted generation.”  We are not called to become pagans who wear crosses.  We are Christians.  We must never forget that.  But at the same time, we must not forget that we are in a war.  And that means thinking strategically and applying tactics.  Christians are called to be cosmic chess-players, to realize that the battle rages all around us, though it is mainly invisible to the naked eye.  Don’t be naïve, says Jesus.  “Be wise.”  In fact, we are to be “wise as serpents.”  We are to be as crafty as the devil himself, but we are to be as pure as the Holy Spirit.

Too often, Christians are their own worst enemies.  They cozy up to the world and then wonder why their lives are in tatters.  Christian parents turn their children over to the tender mercies of TV, Disney, the youth culture, unhindered access to the Internet, and movies that mock our faith. And then they wonder why the younger generation rejects the faith.  Christians are lukewarm when it comes to their faith, and then wonder why evil seems to triumph in our society.  It should be no surprise when the churches are empty and the stadiums are full.

We are neither innocent as doves nor wise as serpents, dear friends.  We need to repent.  We need to memorize this Bible verse and live it.  And we need to understand what is coming in our day and age, probably sooner than later.  Jesus speaks of Christians becoming outcasts in society and even among their own families.  “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.”  But don’t forget that the church has been given “authority” over the demons.  And this is why we are hated.  But take heart.  “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”  That is our Lord’s promise, dear friends.  Innocent as doves.  Wise as serpents.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.