Mark 1:21-28
The Devil made me do
it.
It’s a famous catch
phrase from Flip Wilson, an icon in the comedy world. This phrase became a part
of our American culture very quickly. When he talked of a woman buying a dress
at the store, the third one that week, she used the excuse “The devil made me
do it.” And we laughed.
It has become a very
common theme in our thoughts, comedy, even children’s cartoons. You all
remember the angle and devil siting on Tom or Jerry’s shoulders influencing
their behavior? Would they listen to the saccharin sweet voice of the angel or
the gruff fun-loving guy in red? And we laughed.
Because its easier to
laugh at those things that make us uncomfortable. Because we deep down don’t
want to admit that evil is real, that bad things happen to good people, that demons
don’t always dress in red. To quote author Tucker Max “The devil doesn’t show up
dressed in a red cape with pointy horns.
He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.”
In our world, yes even
in the world of the church, it is easier to poke fun at evil than to address
its reality. We Presbyterians like to do things decently and in order, we don’t
have time for this “supernatural stuff.” I remember discussing whether spirits/demons
still existed with a fellow seminary student. He told me that demons or unclean
spirits were just the way that ancient people dealt with things like epilepsy,
cancer, migraine headache and mental illness. It was a catch all to explain the
unexplained. After sitting there for a while I asked, “Then why does Jesus
waste time talking to them?”
In the gospel of Mark
Jesus spends a good deal of time dealing with these unclean spirits. Specifically
casting them out of the people they have held captive. And while I do believe that some of these instances
are probable explained by some of our modern medical issues, that doesn’t make
them any less real. And I think we still encounter them today.
In our scripture this
morning, Jesus has gone into Capernaum and is teaching in the synagogue. Mark
moves his narrative of Jesus along very quickly, with a heavy use of the word immediately.
In Mark Jesus’ public ministry only lasts a year, so he keeps things a quick
pace.
We are not given the
details of his teaching, this teaching with authority. In Matthew and Luke, we
get detailed notes on Jesus’ teachings, like the sermon on the mount and sermon
on the plain, but Mark doesn’t take time to do that. Instead he tells us Jesus
taught with authority. Then he shows us what that authority looked like.
Jesus is on the synagogue,
the center of worship and faith for the local people of Israel. This is where
they came to learn, to discuss, to worship, to celebrate, to mourn, to
question. It was the place where the faithful gathered to hear the word of God interpreted
and to seek guidance. Sound familiar?
It was the church, the
local community of believers doing the best they could to follow the rules of
the faith in a world oppressed by the romans and filled with all sorts of
potholes. SO, the faithful gathered, in theory, to keep one another
accountable, to encourage one another. But the leaders of the day had gone from
encouragement to perfectionism. It had become a museum for saints instead of a
hospital for sinners. It became a place to show how holy you were, instead of
how holy God is.
I can’t imagine the
wonder people would have felt to hear Jesus teaching, a new teaching, with
authority. He wasn’t quoting the past leaders of the synagogue, or the great
former priests. Instead he spoke with his own level of authority- interpreting the
scriptures directly. If this was a shock, what happened next was unbelievable.
There amid the people
of God, immediately, Mark says, there is a man with an unclean spirit that cries
out "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."
Take a step back. There
is an unclean spirit possessed man chilling in the synagogue? Say what? There
were so many rules and regulations about who could and who could not worship,
where people could sit, or stand, how they washed their hands, feet, even whole
selves, so how did a known demon possessed man get into the synagogue?
I read several
commentaries about this lesson and without fail they said that someone with an
unclean spirit, even a suspected demon possessed person, would have been ostracized.
They would have been shunned, considered unclean. People, respectable people at
least, would not associate with them. They speak as if this well-known demon
possessed man just happened to sneak into the worship service without notice.
That doesn’t ring true
to me, or to my reading of the scripture. I think something much different, and
perhaps more disturbing is happening here.
The man is in the community,
a part of the community. Possibly even an upstanding part of the community of
faith. From the outside he looks pulled together, righteous even. But within
him is an unclean spirit, a spirit contrary to the will and works of God. Faced
with the real honest truth of the word of God he can no longer hide his
possession. The unclean spirit is threatened and cries out "What have you
to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are, the Holy One of God."
When Jesus shows up in
church it is challenging. When Jesus shows up at church it is life changing.
When Jesus shows up at church, even there he exposes the spirits that are
contrary to the work and will of God.
Throughout the remainder
of the Gospel of Mark Jesus will encounter unclean spirits, demons. He will
call them out, he will cast them into the abyss or into the swine herds. He
will not let the people of God to remain infected with these spirits. But the
first one he calls out is in the house of worship. This is important to Mark,
and important to us.
When Jesus comes into
your church he comes to set you free. This is good news, but it is not always
welcome news. The liberating power of Jesus rubs against the powers that be in
such a way as to cause disruption, fear, and push back.
"What have you to
do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are,
the Holy One of God."
Have you come to
destroy us? The answer is a resounding yes, and step by step in the Gospel of
Mark Jesus goes about destroying any and all unclean spirits that come into his
path, whether they be in the church, or in the political sphere, in homes or by
tombs.
What does this have to
do with us today? Plenty. You see there are still unclean spirits around today.
And just like in Jesus’ day they are not always easy to spot. You don’t always
find them in expected places. They lurk in places that from the outside appear
healthy, clean, even good- like places of leadership and power, schools, capitals,
and yes, even churches. They can hide because as a society we have reduced them
to a joke, a punch line “The devil made me do it.” But let me assure you all,
they are not a punch line, they are real.
They manifest in many
different forms. I don’t think that any of us can look at the current
addictions crisis in the USA and honestly think there is not something more
than meets the eye. These are not isolated individuals who were born bad and
therefor some how deserve the pain and anguish caused by addictions.
I hope that none of us
can look at the increase in mass shootings and school shootings in this country
and think there is nothing more than bad parenting and poor security at its roots.
I hope that in this
city, where just this month, at least 4 people have been killed and 4 others
wounded by gun violence, one of whom is a member at our sister church, Church
Street, and think that there isn’t more going on then living on the wrong side
of the tracks.
Institutional demons or
racism, poverty, sexism, they are real. I believe at my core that they are not
just policies and procedures that have become bad or harmful, but that at their
root there is an unclean spirit, a spirit against God and the will and work of
God.
Demons are personal as
well. Individuals face demons, created by others, created by hate or loss or
pain of course. But also, those with an honest to goodness spiritual component.
I know, its not
something we talk about, but its real. Just look at this scripture.
Jesus, who just verses
before is confirmed as being possessed by the Spirit of God comes into the
place of worship and the Spirit of God is so powerful it causes the demon to
cry out, to expose itself.
If I could talk to each
of you, one on one, I could tell stories of encounters with unclean spirits,
with demons. Those where I have witnessed the power of the holy spirit to cast
them out. I could tell you of places where you walked in and knew something was
not right. I can tell you of thin places, where the space between heaven and
earth seemed to all but disappear.
And my guess is that
many of you have these same stories, you just don’t talk about them in polite
conversation because our modern world is somehow above all of that spiritual
non-sense.
But here is the truth,
and we will hear it a lot in the gospel of Mark, just like the line between
sacred and secular doesn’t exist, everything every aspect of our lives is
sacred. Likewise, every aspect of our lives is spiritual. We are not just flesh
and bone, but spiritual beings. To deny that reality is to enter into a type of
dualism that winds up denying the power of God all together.
As Ephesians 6 v 12
tells us “12 For our[b] struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this
present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
This new teaching with authority
that Jesus brings about shook the foundations of not only the synagogue, not
only the Roman empire, but the whole of the world. Its still shaking the powers
that be, be they earthly or spiritual. The good news is that we know who wins,
that the darkness cannot and will not put out the light of Christ. SO, let us
carry that light with us into the darkest of places, casting out the demons,
the unclean spirits, the things contrary to the work and will of God in Jesus
name. Amen.
