Fighting a Roaring Lion

                                1 Peter 4:12-14,  5: 6-11

 

 

          Lions are scary animals. They are the second biggest members of the big cat family on earth and are impressive to look at. They are prolific hunters and live at the top of the food chain. Their only natural rival is a crocodile. Crocs have been known to attack lions in rivers, but then lions have been known to return the favor on land. A lion has an amazing roar. A lion’s roar has been measured at being heard at six miles. That’s a lot of firepower. Lions pretty much live to eat. They kill their prey, devour it and then rest and digest until they hunt again. They are designed to attack, kill and devour.

          Peter, speaking probably to Gentiles, new members of the early church scattered through and all around the Holy Land, warns them that the devil is their adversary; that he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Peter warns that we will have to be watchful, sober- minded. One would think that if a roaring lion were in the vicinity, we would know what to do. We would seek safety, gather around one another, turn on the lights or build a bigger fire.  We would make sure our weapons were at the ready.

          And yet, lions don’t always roar, do they? They also stalk their prey. And they hunt together for maximum effect. They don’t just kill to eat, either. Sometimes, they kill just to kill.

          Peter tells us that the devil is like a lion. He might add that the devil is also like a chameleon. The devil is described in many ways in Scripture. He is a slanderer, a liar, the evil one, a masquerader, the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Prince of this world, the Ruler of this world, to name a few.

The one that worries me the most is the masquerader. Scriptures say the devil can masquerade as the Angel of Light. That means that he can look like a Clerk of the Session or a really good new book or even a teacher. The devil can use and hide behind all the things and all the people and all the ideas we encounter every day. He can make us feel like we’re doing the right thing even as we really are being hurtful to someone.

Not too long ago, I saw a great example of that masquerading devil. I was at a church gathering. There was an issue to be resolved.  A minister had apparently had some problems with stress and he may have handled them less than wisely. Words were exchanged with church leaders. In the aftermath of the confrontation, his employment was terminated. It was not clear whether he quit or was fired. The remaining matter was how to deal with financial issues that arose from the termination. The complaining church made its case. It didn’t want to pay anything. The negotiators made their case. Something ought to be done financially to help. A room full of Christians were at an impasse. The lion was roaring and looking for someone to devour.

And Peter says to us to not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes. It will come. Don’t be surprised. It only comes to real Christians. Think about it. Suffering in the name of God doesn’t come to lukewarm Christians. If they’re lukewarm, then when the going gets tough, they will compromise. Compromise isn’t suffering. It is the very avoidance of it. Real suffering for God only comes to real Christians. Real suffering is no fun, but it is restorative. It is strengthening. It is that which will ultimately help establish and define us as Christians. We wonder at those whose eyes seem to soften at just the right time. We marvel at voices that sing God’s praises in some special way that transcends talent. Usually we have only to look behind those eyes or that voice to find a test or a loss that took that person to a new level of understanding. They are at a different place than we are and it shows in their behavior. William Barclay says that suffering is meant by God to add the grace notes to life. Musicians will know that term as those notes which enhance the melody. How appropriate that they be termed “grace” notes, as that is precisely what God does to us when he refines us by suffering to receive his grace.

And through that suffering we become prepared. We are more able to recognize the lion in the grass and do not have to wait until he mounts his charge. Peter tells us to be sober-minded, to be watchful. It reminds me of what Oliver Cromwell is said to have told his troops during the invasion of Ireland: “Trust in the Lord and keep your powder dry.” Our heavenly Father will test us and refine us so that we may be found ready for what will come.  

Peter also reminds us Christians to stand firm in our faith, and to take heart from knowing that we do not do so alone. We are joined in such resistance to Satan by our brotherhood throughout the world. The church stands as the bride of Christ and we Christians stand together as the body of Christ, holding hands with our brothers and sisters in faith across party lines and denominations and spanning oceans around the globe. And we are blessed. The trials we bear, the test we face, pale in comparison to that which is promised by God, nothing less than the spirit of glory and of God which Peter says will rest upon us.

In that gathering of church leaders, I saw one rise to ask this question of the dismissing church: When your leader stumbled, what did you do to administer to him? How did you go about fulfilling the vows you had taken to give care to one among you? There was no answer. The silence that followed the question was deafening. It was a telling indictment on the people of God that they had become the voice of the lion rather than the grace notes of our Lord.

Why do we do such things to each other? Why do we so often insist on judging instead of nurturing? Why can we not see that we are being tested? The liar, the slanderer, the masquerader is always there, waiting to trap us, to make fools of us, to devour us.

We cannot defeat him alone. He is the ruler of this earth. Yes, God has dominion over Satan, but God has permitted his presence among us. We cannot resist Satan by ourselves, but he will does us no harm if we are firm in our faith, grounded in our suffering and calling on the name of God to turn away the lion. The still, small voice of God will drown out the roar of the lion that is Satan and will leave us restored and established in Him. He cares for us. We can take our worries and our fears and place them in his hands. We need not be trapped by the deceit of Satan. All we have to do is fill ourselves with the Spirit of God. So much more awaits than that for which we suffer now.