Power Failure

Sermon part of Advent series where "The Stars Tell The Story." This one is from the "Fallen Star" of Lucifer with the guiding scriptures Isaiah 14:12-15 & Revelation 12:7-9. <-- Audio file of sermon

Pastor:
Good morning. Last Sunday we heard from the star Polaris about God’s faithfulness and light in creation. Other than some of you wondering why the North Star had a southern accent, it was a wonderful visitor for the first Sunday of Advent. This Sunday we have a more peculiar guest. This guest is known to all of us but not usually in the form of a guest speaker. Today the “fallen star” of Lucifer is going to talk to us. So, I present to you, Lucifer.

Lucifer:
Well, I don’t know about all this “fallen star” business. I really see myself as one who chose a different path rather than cast out. I am more of a capitalist meeting the demands of ever growing needs. Can you blame me for trying to provide what you want? Of course not. I’m no fallen star. I’m a business man, a purveyor of pathways to meet your desires. I am no idiot in a red outfit with horns and I am certainly not here to steal your soul. Souls are your own. You choose what shape it takes.

But, where are my manners? Here I am a guest in your home. I should really be finding out what it is I can provide for you.

I hear you are looking for a pastor. Those are one of my specialties. Now let me see… I know a man who has all the right skills for the job. He has a great personality. He loves to stand up in front of people. And best of all, he has a real way with words. I can send him your way.

Pastor:
Wait, wait, wait… I know where this is going. I’ve met some of your “pastors” and trust me, they are not welcome here.

Lucifer:
What ever do you mean?

Pastor:
I mean that these people are not looking for someone with the right image on the outside but an ego driven control freak on the inside.

Lucifer:
Granted, he has a robust ego but such a person will attract new members through his charisma. New members means more money. More money means security.

Pastor:
Charisma is no substitute for a relationship with someone who loves the people of this church and wants to be loved by them. Charisma can be a good gift but it has to be rooted in love. As for members and security, those come from genuine love too.

Lucifer:
Pastor Lavender, love is overrated and always lets people down. I offer power to people right at their fingertips. I offer pathways to get what they want, what they desire. You talk about love but that takes time and has no guarantees attached. I fulfill the emptiness and the void right away. No waiting period.

Pastor:
No waiting period but also no true fulfillment either. The next day, your pathway leaves us empty again looking for that next fix of whatever drug you just fed us… greed, lust, pride, wrath. You give the quick fix but God gives the true fix.

Lucifer:
Oh yes, God… I should have known that God would come up since this is a church and all. It is God who filled you with the nonsense that I did something wrong or fell from heaven. So what would you say if I told you that God doesn’t love you? What would you say if I said that God could care less about what happens to you? He doesn’t love you or care.

Truly… consider this: You believe God set all this in motion, right? Well then why doesn’t God intervene when you feel hurt? When your loved one died, why didn’t God fix it? When your heart was broken why did God let you suffer? Some of you are parents, right? When your child hurts, do you help? Of course you do! God does not love you or God would intervene.

Pastor:
Lucifer, I’m a patient women but I’m not going to stand here and let you tell these people lies. Your whole logic is filled with manipulation rather than truth. First of all, why are these hearts broken and feelings hurt? I’m guessing it all happened when someone chose to lash out instead of work it out. They chose your path of vengeance instead of God’s path of relationship.

Secondly, you say God doesn’t love us or care because we’re left on our own. Well, I’ll grant you that no booming voice comes down from the sky. God doesn’t send emails reminding us to get our regular health screenings to prevent cancer. As far as I know, no God shaped hand has swooped down from the sky to prevent a car wreck. But God provides intervening support and love every day.

Lucifer:
Blah blah blah

Pastor:
Who do you think surrounds that person when their heart is broken? Their family and friends! Those are among the most pure gifts from God on this earth. And do you give gifts like that? No, you give acquaintances that are around long enough to get their needs met. And how about that death? I’m betting that again, God never left their side whether it was in the form of loved ones, medical support, or God’s gentle spirit of peace.

God acts through us, not over us. God’s interventions are about empowering creation rather than manipulating it. What has God done for us lately? More than I can count. What have you done for us lately? You broke our hearts. You left us there hurting. You made the hole in us bigger.

Lucifer:
Hmph… If that is true, why do I have more power than God? You demand an outlet for greed, I give you the opportunity to make money in your businesses if you make the choices I show you. But more than that, I go a step further and provide a pathway for you to influence politicians and regulators to make all that happen legally. I didn’t create greed or money or businesses. I only showed you a way to use them. They were your desires. I only showed you how to fulfill them.

Pastor:
Oh, and those “choices” that you show us, what do they entail? They mean standing on the backs of those that can’t fight for themselves. They mean building up wealth while ignoring those who are without. And what if I’m one of those who suffer because I can’t get a job to even take care of my basic needs? Your “choices” only make me feel worse about how hard I’ve tried and have nothing to show for it!

Lucifer:
My choices are just fine. You are the broken ones. You lust for violence and revenge. You crave retribution. And me, well I simply provide you with ways to cut others down. War, gossiping, viewing and creating violent images… they are all just tools you choose to deal with your brokenness. I didn’t break it. I simply showed you how to deal with it.

I don’t make families act out violently. But since so many of you want to do that, I help make it easy to do by showing you how to make laws that revictimize victims and how to use greed to hold down funding for programs to help support families rebuild. I’m not the cause. I just help you get what you want.

Sexism, racism, classism… those are all tools of oppression that you made by your desire to cling tightly to your fears and cut others off.

Pastor:
Lucifer, I actually agree with you on this part. You didn’t cause any of it. We made choices. But we made choices that hurt others and ourselves because we were overrun by fear or pride. And what did you do? Instead of trying to nurture us so we could shed our fears or let down the guard of pride, you took advantage of us in our weak places. You made it even harder to see hope. And worst of all, you made us doubt ourselves. Your actions manipulate us into thinking that we aren’t worthy of grace and couldn’t be loved. You may not have started it but you definitely made it worse!

Lucifer:
Perhaps I have overstated myself here. I am your friend. I am here to make your lives better. You have fears and I show you how to make them not overwhelm you. You have a deep and genuine need to feel good about yourselves and I show you pathways to use your pride to feel better. I am truly here for you. Otherwise why would I bother?

Pastor:
You bother because you are the truly warped one. You find pleasure from using your power to manipulate. Meanwhile God’s heart breaks as we grow farther apart from each other. What do you do? You fill us with more emptiness. What does God do? Keep loving us and sending more guiding lights to help us find our way home.

Lucifer, I think we’ve been gracious guests but your time here is done! You have come into our sacred space and lied to us, made us question God’s love, and tried to undermine God’s gifts of love. Leave now!

Lucifer:
I may leave this place right now, but mark my words, you’ll choose what I can give you over some false hope of love. I don’t have to come to you. You’ll come to me. (rumble)

Pastor:
Folks, I’m sorry about that. When we invited him, I had hoped that he would at least be honest about who he is. Love is not a false hope. God’s power is true and manifests itself as love… love that transforms our lives into something more than we could have imagined. You wonder how God responds to our needs? Look to Christ. Look to the body of Christ that surrounds us and holds us. Look to God’s guiding lights that surround us. Look to God’s light that burns bright inside of us.

When fear grips us, don’t listen to Lucifer’s message of taking advantage of people, cutting them down, or cutting them off. When pride wells up in us, Lucifer will only guide us to put down others, stand on their backs, and feel false superiority. Sisters and brothers, hear the call of God. Receive the gifts of love and relationship with the giver of life and all creation. And most of all, live as the children of God, knowing that grace abounds, faith sustains, and love always prevails. Amen.