Saturday in the 3rd Week of Lent: Letter 20

 

Lewis turns our attention from the sin of Gluttony to Lust and the tendency of society to create physical ideals which do not exist anywhere except in fantasy. 

Screwtape turns his attention to the Patient’s chastity and what Wormwood is doing to tempt him.  But the emphasis is on much more than a single virtue and vice. 

In Letter 17 we talked about the 7 Deadly sins of

1.      Lust

2.      Gluttony

3.      Greed

4.      Sloth

5.      Wrath

6.      Envy

7.      Pride – it is often considered the root of all sins.

There are also 7 corresponding heavenly virtues.  Virtues are gifts from God that show us how to live our life according to God’s will.  Vices are just ways that demons corrupt Virtues. 

Screwtape begins this letter admitting that God always wins over evil and so the attacks of temptation don’t last forever.

So the virtues of life which overcome the corruption of a vice are

1.      Chastity which overcomes the temptation of Lust and lets remember not to limit a vice to a single sin but rather understand that lust can apply to too much of anything we want for the wrong reasons.  Chastity is not just about avoiding temptation but more about living life to its fullest.

2.      Temperance and Self-control combat Gluttony

3.      Charity and Good Works can be corrupted by Greed or Avarice.

4.      Diligence is a virtue that helps us move beyond Sloth or laziness.

5.      Patience combats Wrath

6.      Envy is overcome by Kindness

7.      Humility wins over Pride everytime.

However, you have probably noticed by now that if a demon can’t win one way, they switch to a different vice to tempt us and this is what Screwtape advises Wormwood to do now that God has put a stop to his first tactic.

Screwtape uses romantic love or Eros as his next target.  Wormwood is to tempt the Patient, basically with his imagination using 1 of 2 approaches.  The first I will call the “Heavenly” approach and Screwtape calls the Terrestrial Venus.  Here we imagine that what is normally a sin can be made into something good.  The classic example is to be “Proud of our Humility” like the Pharisees in the market place wanting everyone to see how religious they are and to be impressed by their holiness.

C. S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity discusses at length how we know there is a universal understanding of right and wrong, but at the same time we want to use that understanding to our advantage.  Screwtape tells Wormwood to create in the Patient’s mind the idea that whatever he is doing is in accordance with God’s will for him specifically. 

Another good example of this approach would be if I was to take one of Corey’s books without asking, keep it, and justify this by reasoning that it would make my sermons better and he would never know it was gone so that makes a wrong into a right!

The 2^nd approach Wormwood should consider with his patient is to take him to what Screwtape calls the Infernal Venus and I will call the “Dark Side” and yes I am borrowing from Star Wars.  Once again, drawing on Mere Christianity, this is close to the first approach but different in some key ways. 

Screwtape points out that in this second type, “the felt evil is what he wants; it is that ‘tang’ in the flavour which he is after.”  Why do politicians accept bribes when it is clearly wrong?  Why do bank robbers think they can actually get away with it?  I think ultimately that the temptation is to get away with something we know is wrong universally but if we are not caught and get away with it then it must be alright and somehow good.

In the end, Screwtape reminds Wormwood that there are many ways to bring about his Patient’s undoing.  And the universal truth in this is that rarely does it work the way we imagined.  As Screwtape says when it comes to vices  “they are not only efficient, but delightful;  the unhappiness produced is of a very lasting and exquisite kind.”

We continue our scripture lessons today with a first reading from the Old Testament book of Hosea.  Chapter 6 verses 1 through 6 highlights themes of repentance, divine mercy, and the true nature of devotion that God desires from His people.  Look at verse 2 and the parallels to the resurrection.  “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.”

Psalm 51 is a penitential Psalm traditionally attributed to David – who  had a lot to repent.  It expresses deep remorse, a plea for forgiveness, and a desire for spiritual renewal.  This could be our prayer every Sunday.

We may remember verse 16 from Morning Prayer.  Verse 17 is one of my favorites because we are reminded that worship simply to say that we have been present is hardly what God wants.  Worship is so much more than just being present and we should never assume we get credit with God just for showing up.

Our Gospel Reading from Luke tells the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  Here we see the opposites of self-righteous pride and humble repentance. 

In the Pharisee we see a classic example of a vice corrupting God’s virtue.  No matter how hard he tries, you cannot justify his public display of piety. 

The Tax Collector comes seeking God’s forgiveness.  It makes no difference there are other people in the temple.  This is between this man and God.

Our prayer for today recognizes that temptation for us is hard that our strength to resist and live a holy and whole life comes from God.  Let us pray.

O God, you know us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: Grant us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.