In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Why go to Church? Really, why? Because for many our life in this world is simple and straightforward. In our liberal democracy we can get on in our lives and choose on what we want to focus. For some it is making money, for others it is having a good social life, others still to have a family. And if some find Church beneficial to fulfilling themselves, so our society proclaims, that’s fine but don’t impose it on others, because Church is not necessary, not essential.
“But even if our Gospel is veiled,” says the Apostle,
it is veiled to those who are perishing,
Second Corinthians 4:3–4
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
That there are those outside the Church who have been blinded to the reality around them—that the world is still subject to the Satan—is heartbreaking, yet the greater tragedy is that there are those within the Church who do not realise this, who think that Church is a “spiritual top-up” to prepare them for the week, or weeks, ahead.
And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Ephesians 2:1–2
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the Power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
Since when the Satan tempted the Lord and offered him all “the kingdoms of the world” (Matthew 4:8) it was within the power of the Evil One, the Prince of the Power of the air, to give it.
And yet, when the demonic powers come face-to-face with the Lord, they are without power. “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?” they cry out, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” They cannot even leave the two men and enter the herd of pigs without the Lord’s permission. Notice, too, the compassion of the Lord—the herd of pigs is immediately destroyed by the presence of demons but this was not true for the men; whatever rituals or pagan worship they had participated in to receive the demons, the Lord still says to them and he says to us, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11)
So, why go to Church? It is not a “spiritual refresher” to prepare us for the week ahead, it is a rejection of the spirits of this age and to identify ourselves with Christ who has already shown himself victorious through his Resurrection. The Satan still has power and is willing to grant the treasures of this world with those who would follow him, and these lead only to the grave, only to death, only to a parody of truth. Yet we follow Christ, himself the Truth, who leads us not to death but Life, eternal Life, Life without end.
Let us then, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, remain faithful to the one who has shown himself Victor over idolatry, Victor over sin, Victor over death, let us reject the powers of the world and let us turn ourselves in repentance to the living God who “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting Life.” (John 3:16)
To our risen and glorified Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Victor over all the demonic powers, be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified. Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.
— Romans 10:1–10
At that time, when Jesus came to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one would pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city.
— Matthew 8:28–34, 9:1