Spiritual Forces Are For The Sane

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

My daughter just started working as a nurse in a hospital, and one of the things that she was saying that is really hard is to know the stories behind why people are there. A lot of times it's things that are just really hard, and I will say as a, as I became a pastor 20 years ago, one of the hardest things to adjust to was being exposed to things that feel dark and sad and broken You know, I think in this world, we have a tendency to focus on the physical world, what's right in front of us, what we can measure, what we can manipulate, what we can control.

We have a tendency to be suspicious of things that have spiritual talk involved in them. And I think that some of that is because over history, a lot of people have used spiritual language in unhelpful ways and in ways that ultimately led to controlling others or hurting others in the name of whatever it might be.

But what I want to say is that I think that while there's certainly dangers in talking about things with spiritual language, I also think we lose something. when we get rid of spiritual language. Because the truth is, what goes on in this world is more than just the physical world. There's a spiritual world, a battle between the forces of good and evil.

And when we're willing to engage and think about it in both ways, I actually think it can be very helpful. Because what it does is three things. It gives us a reason slash explanation for evil and why it exists in the world, and it also offers us a path of hope. Secondly, what it does is I think that it creates a pathway for love and mercy. And then finally, the way that this, I think, shapes us is that we should pay attention, as Paul says in Ephesians 6. And it calls us to a life and rhythm of prayer and consideration and discernment.

So I want to sketch each of these ideas out for you a little bit more because my message for you today is that the spiritual forces of good and evil are for the sane. Spiritual language is for the sane. And you don't have to be suspicious of it. So, in Ephesians 6, Paul tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but our battle is against cosmic darkness, the forces of evil that are beyond what we can control. And I think this is helpful in two ways. One, there's this reminder that the battle, the enemy, is not other human beings.

The battle is the forces of evil that are trying to turn humanity against itself and against God. Now, there are all kinds of horrible things that have happened in this world, things like genocide and human trafficking and disease. And when we look at these, we think, oh, why is God's creation broken in this way? And the reason is, is because there are evil forces who are trying to turn it away from the good. from love and mercy and grace. And so when we believe that life is more than just the physical, but that there's a cosmic battle going on, it helps us explain why there's evil. And second, it gives us a path to hope.

So the Christian faith tells us that God has joined the spiritual and the physical in the person of Christ. God has come and in God's life, death and resurrection, That God has come to rescue his creation from the absurdity of sin and death and the forces of evil that shatter people's lives. And so this gives us this chance for hope.

And so what we believe is that the spiritual realm has come and has not abandoned the physical world, but is at work within it, saving it, restoring it, ultimately one day to bring it to its fullest fruition. In which we rejoice in goodness. And so one of the things I think that we should all be considering all the time is how might thinking about the forces of good and evil in this cosmic battle, reshape the way we live.

I think that it helps us to think through these things and be aware and not get caught up sometimes in the details, in the mini battles. But. recognize and consider that there's more going on than what we can touch and see and explain.

The second reason I think spiritual talk or spiritual forces is for the sane is that it opens up a pathway to love and mercy. Again, Paul says that our battle is not against flesh and blood. This is so important. I think so many times in our world. We see other human beings as the enemy. And if those human beings are not acting correctly, if they're living wrongly, then they must be destroyed, because if they aren't doing the right things, then they are hurting everyone, and it's making the whole thing precarious.

Paul says , they are not the enemy. They are sometimes caught up in the midst of the work of the enemy, but they themselves are not the enemy. A beautiful example of this, of course, is Martin Luther King Jr., who preached a message of peace and said, we can't hate our white brother because if we hate our white brother then we can't achieve reconciliation.

And so the person before you is never the enemy. They might be caught up in the battle, but they're not the enemy. Now, I think that this is a problem on both sides of our political spectrum. Often, the other side is viewed as the enemy, and the only way we can win is if they are destroyed. Well, if they are destroyed, then we are destroyed.

And so what we need to do is we need to sort of find a new pathway. And the reality is, if we see this greater battle that's going on, then it actually opens up space for empathy and conversation and connection. And so if we see someone else, rather than having to just blame them, believing that everything that has happened in their life is because of their choices.

Rather we say, Hey, there's a mix that goes on here, both human choice and agency as well as these spiritual forces that create systematic events. And I think it's easy for us to all acknowledge that we are who we are, not just because of us, but because of the events, because of the stories, because of the circumstances, because of the people.

And so all of those things are always at play and always at work. And so talking about the forces of good and evil are for the same because it opens up pathways to love and mercy.

Finally, Paul says, the way we live this out is we're going to live it out through always praying and being alert. One of my favorite books is C.\ S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters. And it's a story about how a junior devil is writing to a senior devil in order to get coaching and tips on how to manipulate it's human, how to take it's human and turn it's human away from the good of God and God's creation and within it. It reminds us that there's always forces at work and the Senior devil says to the junior devil never let your human just go for a walk Because if they go for a walk and they enjoy it for the sake of being on the walk and the beauty of creation Then that opens the doorway for them to connect with the love of God and we don't ever want that make them think that going for a walk has something to do with their physical activity or to accomplish something but don't let them enjoy it just for the sake of enjoying it

And I love the way that he writes because it's it's something that I experienced in my own life There's always little things that can take even something good a good deed and twist it so that now I'm feeling prideful about my good deed rather than just enjoying and loving and serving. So Paul says to pray all the time in the spirit

Elsewhere, Paul tells us that the Spirit produces peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self control. And so we should always be measuring our connection to the spiritual world by its ability to create those things in our life. If you think you're being given spiritual guidance and it's manifesting something other than joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self control and kindness, then you are hearing from the wrong thing.

You're hearing from the other side. Yeah, so I hope this is helpful. In the next few weeks, we're going to talk a little bit more about what are the forces of evil? What are the forces of good? And how do we connect to them? Remember this this week, as you go out. Spiritual forces are for the sane. Recognize that we are caught up in a battle of good and evil, and that in Christ we've seen what the picture of good is, and we're invited in to participate, to offer love and mercy, to pray continuously, to consider what's going on, and to acknowledge that there is evil in the world, but we have hope.

We have hope that Christ has come to rescue broken creation. Have a great week. We'll see you soon.