And the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, "He is beside himself." And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said. "He is possessed by Beelzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons. "And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house.

"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" - for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother." Mark 3:20-35 (RSV)

There is an old rhyme we sing around the campfire each summer in the North Carolina mountains. A portion of the song goes like so,

Now around that tree old Satan slunkAnd at Miss Eve his eye he wunk;Eve, them apples look mighty fine,Just take one, the Lord won't mind!

Satan, the Devil, the Evil One - or whatever we prefer to label him (or her?), has his pitchfork deeply sunk into our folklore. He goes back a long way, even to Genesis one.

Today, the problems created by organized crime, exploitative business ethics, sexual roulette, the drug counterculture all seem to point to the reality of a sinister force. Darth Vader is always a hot item. If that's true, then one must conclude that he is not only alive and kicking, but he's having quite a field day. Dan Bennett tells us that, "The devil does a nice business in such a lousy location." Mark down also the recent revival of demonology and witchcraft.

Why are we so fascinated with the devil? Why do we go to great lengths to see how Frankenstein ticks? Perhaps there are two reasons for our infatuation: either we play the devil's fool to escape our boredom, or we are driven by our primitive instincts to explore the unknown. Whatever our motivation, few of us would disagree that he's out there. He baits us with sugar-coated compromises. "Truth and integrity are old fashioned. Hang loose and have some fun for a change."

So the ageless drama is churned out. The Prince of Darkness chips away at our weaknesses. Sin is called giving in to him. That's where, with our Scrooge-implanted greed, we become sliced off from fulfilling relationships. That's where life becomes pointless and our will to live powerless. It is as Mephistopheles agonizes in Faustus, "Why this is hell, nor am I out of it."

Wilbur Chapman tells about a minister in Australia who preached on the topic of evil. One of his members commented, "We do not want you to talk so plainly as you do about sin, because if our children hear you, they will more easily become sinners." The minister picked up a bottle of strychnine that was marked "poison." He said, "I see what you want me to do. You want me to change the label. Suppose I take off this label and put on some mild label, such as 'Essence of Peppermint.' Don't you see what would happen? The milder you make the label, the more dangerous you make the poison."

George Buttrick makes the point that evil has several dimensions. First, there is natural evil where one asks, "Why are there snakes and earthquakes? Why did fire burn up Job's sheep and his servants?" He admits that these are unexplainable questions, but offers consolation in the truth that this is still God's world. God does not deliberately inflict plagues and leukemia upon us. In our sufferings, however, good can emerge. We must seek salvation in Christ rather than a rational explanation of natural evil itself.

There is also historical evil. One asks, "Why should we have to pay for dead men's sins? Why should children have to suffer as a result of the promiscuity of their parents which can inflict AIDS?" Historical evils exist but that does not "escape hatch" us from our personal choices. As Christians we may be consoled with the truth that God is deeper than the devil, joy is deeper than pain, good is deeper than evil. Truth stands.

Even the everpresent Pharisees, in their narrowly focused accusations, could not keep the screws on God's love. They could not get away with labeling Jesus as one possessed. "How can Satan cast out Satan?" he rebutted. Wasn't he really leading us on to another conclusion? "Be careful. If you want to call the kettle black, be certain you have the right kettle. Don't get cocky around the Holy Spirit."

Evil is never a package easily unwrapped. Jesus does come on by saying that he can eclipse evil with good. His deathless caring keeps pouring our way. It arrives to tame the raging beast within. Only he can back up any claim on permanent forgiveness. M. H. Schubert shares the story about a group of fishermen in the Scottish highlands. They gathered for tea and discussed the day's catch. As a waitress set down a cup of tea, a hand accidently knocked it against the wall. It left an ugly stain. One of the guests got up, went to the wall, and began sketching around the stain with a crayon. What emerged was a stag with magnificent antlers. The man was Sir Edwin Landseer, England's foremost painter of animals. If an artist can transform an unsightly stain into a beautiful masterpiece, think what God can do with our sins. He absolves them and, in their place, refashions us toward full maturity.

John Wesley, whose life blazed across the decadence of eighteenth century England, has left us a legacy of mental discipline and spiritual commitment. Before he finished his eighty-eight years, this man, who arose every morning at four, would travel a quarter of a million miles on horseback and deliver 40,000 sermons. His urgent message of hope was taken so seriously that his lay preachers on the American frontier labored sixteen hours a day through sleet and heat. Sixty percent of them never lived to see their twenty-ninth birthday.

Wesley's generation was one which may be characterized by lost horizons and faded rainbows. You can see why his message danced to the tune of that familiar gospel script - the interplay of grace outpouring and faith up-reaching. This isn't such a bad bargain for a late twentieth century society whose technology is quickly running out of fulfilling Promised Lands. This isn't such an unrealistic challenge for existing marriages without honesty, for peace talks without commitment, for college sophomores without dreams, for call girls without fathers. Again, His Gospel explodes with the renewed promise that "Grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home." Our haloes may be tilting - tilting badly at times! - but God isn't finished with us yet. Heaven rejoices and hope is given another reprieve on Planet Earth. Join him now in that upward swing to somewhere!