As a little boy, Albert Schweitzer was frightened by the face of the Devil appearing in his father’s church during services. There it was staring down from a frame near the organ. Fortunately, it disappeared when his father began preaching. Sometime later, young Albert discovered that he was seeing a reflection of the organist’s face in a mirror.

The presence of evil is apparent to anyone with eyes to see. For years I have been haunted by a story in the Ocala Star Banner about a homeless family living in a car in the forest. The two boys had one decent pair of boxer shorts between them. Whoever woke up first got the shorts. How can that be in the richest nation in the world? And that’s mild compared to the stories of children shot by stray bullets in gang wars. Is the suffering of innocents in this way enough to persuade us of the reality of evil?

At every baptism, confirmation, reception of new members, and Easter Vigil the congregation is asked, “Do you renounce the Devil and all the forces that defy God?” We respond, “I renounce them.” We then profess our belief in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We trust in the Savior who overcame the power of the Devil.

In Lent, we remind ourselves of Christ’s sacrifice for our sake and recommit ourselves to renounce evil wherever we encounter it.

Read Matthew 4:1-11, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Today’s Reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204:1-11