Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Though hordes of devils fill the land
All threatening to devour us,
We tremble not, unmoved we stand;
They cannot overpower us.
This world’s prince may rage,
In fierce war engage.
He is doomed to fail;
God’s judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.

The world is filled with devils and demons, dear congregation.

The poem I just read was written 475 years ago (1529) and it is as if it was written today. It is the third verse of Martin Luther’s hymn “A mighty fortress is our God”. The poem speaks in the language of faith and certain hope that the hordes of devils cannot overpower us, yet first of all it acknowledges the existence of devil, demons, evil.

It is a difficult subject to speak about because one way such forces work is to confuse, to throw us off balance and cloud our sense of judgment. Luther points right to our only comfort: In the end it is God’s judgment that will and must prevail.

While in the ancient world and also in the middle ages people talked about demons, unclean spirits, the devil more readily than we do today, we all know about them. It may have been a way the ancient people talked about mental illnesses, illnesses that were there, unexplained and clearly destructive, destroying individual lives and therefore the community. It may also have been the way to talk about evil and destructive powers, people and situations that dehumanize and destroy other people.

We know from experience the power of evil just as people in ancient and in medieval times. Entire peoples are oppressed, individuals are captive to the power of evil. There are signs of personal possession among us, in our society, in our own families and we know them: drugs, alcohol, gambling, sexual addiction, religious obsession, fascination with violence.

Who shall set the captive free? Can they be set free? What is the little word that subdues this world’s prince, that is the devil, as it says in Luther’s hymn:

This world’s prince may rage,
In fierce war engage.
He is doomed to fail;
God’s judgment must prevail!
One little word subdues him.

From all we know about Luther, the little word to say in the face of demonic possession or temptation, would have been “I am baptized.” “I am baptized”, was for Luther the core expression of faith that is never to be seen as the last resort but always as the first thing to say, to blurt out, to yell out. Interestingly, it is not “I believe in Christ,” or “I am a Christian,” but: “I am baptized.” His confidence is not centered on his faith or beliefs (ha, how quickly Satan comes in and confuses those beliefs with high delight!...), but Luther’s confidence is based solely on an act of God, God’s claim on his life given in baptism.

So, the little word that subdues demons, devils, and the forces of evil is “I am baptized.” We also are baptized in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are welcome to say, to blurt out, to yell also “I am baptized.”

Baptized in the name of this man who once entered a synagogue on a Sabbath day long, long ago, just after he had been in the desert for 40 days where the devil tried to confuse him; and he said to the congregation: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And then he sits down, looks at the people and says, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. They almost kill him for that, but he escapes, and the next thing you know, he sets a man free who is possessed by an unclean spirit. He does it again later on the other side of the lake, in Gentile land, for his power transcends those boundaries of ours (Galatians 3:28 today: There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.). The thousands of faces and voices and powers that inhabit the man enter a herd of swine upon their own request, thus asking for their destruction as the swine run down the mountain and drown in the lake.

Which if we can trust historical research is the first reported case of deviled ham.

The man is healed on the spot, puts on clothes and returns to his right mind. Jesus does not allow him to go back with him to the Jewish side, but has him stay where he belongs, has him return to his own community now. The people in his town are struck with fear about all this and he is to teach a quite mature model of discipleship as someone who lives out of the claim made on him by the Most High without the privilege of literally remaining at the feet of Jesus himself.

Dear congregation, when I look at this story, it seems clear that our ritual of baptism is based on such stories.

During the time of baptism and in the rite of confirmation we ask of the candidates or their parents and sponsors “Do you renounce all the forces of evil, do you renounce the devil, do you renounce all his empty promises?” This ancient rite of exorcism prior to baptism itself acknowledges the existence of evil, the devil, and his empty promises. And it drowns all these forces in water, the baptismal water which carries the promise of new life because Jesus Christ in his own death has made water a sign of the kingdom and of cleansing and rebirth.

The connection of water and the casting out of evil is very old, even older than our story of the demoniac, and it extends beyond Scripture into literature and even into deplorable, wrong practices. At the time of Noah all creatures on earth were drowned in the flood except for Noah and his family. In Luke unclean spirits are trying to find a resting place in the desert where there is no water. In the Wizard of Oz the witch melts away in water, in steam. And in colonial New England women accused to be “witches” were drowned.

Does baptism mean then that the captive are set free? Is the little word “I am baptized” which we are to remember in moments of confusion and temptation, is it then a guarantee against the devil, demons, voices, visions, addictions?

Yes and no. Otherwise we would not have to remember it so often. Our lips would not silently move and denounce these forces together with our baptismal candidates as they say at the font “I do” three times.
Just like to be a new creature does not mean to be without sin, to have denounced the devil does not mean that those forces do not exist anymore.

But to be claimed by God and, as the demoniac yells at the top of his lungs, by the Son of the Most High, and by the Holy Spirit under the word and in the waters of baptism means this:

In our despair we can remind God that we are baptized. That is what prayer and the liturgy are for: not only to remember the claim that God has made on our lives, but also to remind God of this claim. Come, God the Most High, and set free the captive. Set free all those who suffer and those who suffer with them.

God’s claim on our lives through baptism gives us also strength to see what is going on. Turn around, it says, face and confront temptations, analyze a mental condition, rejoice in cases of healing. We are given strength to care for those who have fallen victim to demons, strength to comfort the ashamed. The healed man goes back to his own, fearful people. I wonder what his work looks like. He can do it without fear, “we tremble not, unmoved we stand,” Luther sings. Because we are released from the fear of the hordes of devils. I am baptized!

The healing of the demoniac extends as a promise also into our lives. The promise gives us hope that we ourselves will be healed, that the world and those close to us whom we love and with whom we continue to suffer will be set free. Our comfort is that God has claimed all baptized even those whom we cannot reach and heal.

Our biggest comfort however must remain that God is the finisher of our lives and our faith. Again with Luther’s words, God’s judgment will prevail. Our hopes and dreams will be gathered at the table. We pray, o God of healing, that your presence may grace our table and you will give us a foretaste of the feast to come.

Amen.