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Epiphany 4B
January 31, 2021
Mark 1:21-28
INTRODUCTION
The theme of today is authority: who has it, and who does not. (Hint: God has authority, and those whom God has lifted up call upon not their own authority or that of others, but God’s.) Moses tells the Israelites about how prophets speak with God’s authority. Jesus’ encounter in the synagogue impresses everyone because of the authority with which he teaches and speaks. And Paul explains that while we may think knowledge gives us authority and power, in fact acting lovingly and for the benefit of our neighbor, is all the authority we need.
An additional word about Mark. Today, we will hear about Jesus’ first public appearance: an exorcism. Dramatic start! One thing I want to point out before we hear it. Notice that the unclean spirit, or demon, in the man seems to know who Jesus is. This is characteristic of Mark, that the demons and unclean spirits are in fact the only ones who know who Jesus is. This is known by scholars as “the Messianic secret.” Right at the beginning of the Gospel, Mark tells us, the reader, who Jesus is (“Jesus Christ, the Son of God”). Then we don’t hear him called that again until he dies on the cross, when the centurion observes, “Surely this was the son of God.” Between those bookends, the only ones who know who he is are the demons. It seems that they have a sense that their existence is in peril with Jesus around!
As you listen today, notice where and how God exerts authority, and consider where you see and experience authority today. What does it look like to you? How do you respond to authority? Do you respond differently to human authority vs. God’s authority? How does it look different to you? Let’s listen.
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| Meme credit: Barn Geese Worship |
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
First impressions matter. I remember my first impression of Michael, whom I met online – from his profile, I thought he seemed sort of goofy, but a nice guy whom I enjoyed talking to, and a good friend. The first time I met him in person, my impression was that he had a nice smile, and was friendly, fun, and genuine. All of these things turned out to be true, and they even set the tone for our relationship.
Today we get to hear about Jesus’ first impression on the public, and as I mentioned, it is a dramatic one! First, he impresses those gathered by the authority with which he speaks, an authority unlike anyone had seen from other leaders. Then to prove the point about this different sort of authority, he casts out an unclean spirit from a man who wanders into the synagogue. “Even the unclean spirits obey him!” they marvel. And sure enough, this impression would prove true: Jesus would consistently stare down and overcome the evil forces of the world, exerting his authority over sin, evil, and even death itself.
But I admit, all this talk of demons and unclean spirits… it feels sort of archaic or even just a bit weirder than we can really wrap our heads around, right? I mean, personally I have never met someone with an unclean spirit. I don’t encounter demons on a regular basis. Many commentators have suggested that what people were calling demons in the first century, we now know is probably some sort of mental illness. Or, preachers may liken this encounter to those things we often call “demons” today, like addiction or a troubled past we’re wrestling with. And I guess that’s okay, maybe even helpful for some, but not entirely satisfying to me, at least. First of all, calling either mental illness or addiction “demons” gets a little too close to demonizing and “othering” the people who suffer those things. Furthermore, it places the plight of suffering evil in only those who are dealing with those things. But I think we are all susceptible to the power of evil! I know we are! So if Mark is trying to invite us all to place ourselves into the narrative (which he is) – then how are we supposed to understand this bizarre first public encounter?
As natural as it may seem only to associate “demons” with those things that are clearly challenging or troubling, in truth, demons and the forces of evil are more insidious than this. That is, evil seldom presents itself as evil, because any self-aware, moral person would know to resist that. Rather, evil presents itself as things that appear normal, or even worse, appear good and necessary. That is, demons wriggle into our hearts in the form of those well-intentioned but mis-guided behavioral patterns and coping mechanisms, ways of being that we thought were for a greater good or benefit, but which instead put up barriers between us and our faith in God, between us and our neighbor.
An example from my own life: before entering the ordination process in the ELCA, every candidate has to do a psychological evaluation. My results were mostly very healthy, but one potential issue that came up was that I had “over-managed anger.” 23-year-old Johanna laughed at this, joking, “So what, I’m too tolerant? I don’t get mad enough? Doesn’t sound like a problem to me! Pastors should be tolerant, after all!” But I kept it in mind, and soon enough began to notice how this really was a problem in my life and relationships. Because what happens when you over-manage your anger? All kinds of things: it can cause high blood pressure. It can increase anxiety. Unexpressed anger can manifest instead as resentment and judgment of others, and passive aggression, thus driving a wedge through one’s most important relationships. And eventually, the bottle that has been stuffed full of unexpressed anger for days, weeks or months, bursts open in a self-righteous string of unfair accusations. Boy, none of that sounds like behavior one would want in a pastor, or anyone! Suddenly, what I had seen as a good thing – what I had naively called tolerance but was really a propensity toward resentment – sounded more like the kind of, shall we say, unclean spirit, that needed to be cast out. (As an aside, since realizing all of this, I have worked on it, and I’d like to think I am now better at expressing anger in a healthy way!)
That’s just one example – but there are many similar examples in our lives, patterns we have developed that seem like they are good and necessary on the surface, but which truly serve only as a barrier to having life-giving relationships with God and one another. For instance, striving ever for perfection… that leads to beating yourself up about not being good enough, thus putting yourself beyond our Savior’s grace. Caring whole-heartedly and relentlessly for others… to the detriment of your own self-care and spiritual nourishment. Obsessive rule-abiding behavior… that turns into self-righteousness toward “those people” who don’t follow rules, or even to flat out idolatry of the rules. Over-analyzing every decision… which keeps us in a place of fear rather than trust of God. Always engaging in some new, fun, exciting activity… really to self-medicate the pain you’re afraid to face. Putting so much trust and faith in political parties or institutions that you see them as beyond reproach… and the other side as bad no matter what, and thus forgetting that God is our only savior.
Demons like these are so insidious, because they have us fooled into thinking we are doing just fine, being good people and good citizens. One colleague of mine calls these “Satan’s playground,” an easy in for the devil to get into our hearts and minds – because we don’t suspect them as places evil can rest, and so we are not receptive to Jesus coming to cast them out of us. Instead, we only make those unclean spirits more comfortable, and imbed them deeper in our daily life and patterns, assuming that’s just who we are. “I don’t need to go to counseling for that, for tend to it, it’s just the way I am.” I love the way Pastor Debie Thomas puts it. She writes, “Sometimes our ‘unclean spirits’ take up residence in our holy places. That is, we carry our destructive habits and tendencies right into our churches, our friendships, our families, and our workplaces. Sometimes our demons — our fears, our addictions, our sins, and our compulsions — recognize Jesus first because they know that an encounter with him will change everything. So they make us recoil as soon as he shows up in the guise of a loving friend, or a provocative sermon, or a pricked conscience. Sometimes our lives actually get harder when we move towards faith and healing, because unclean spirits always fight the hardest when their time is up.”
I love that last bit she writes – about those unclean spirits fighting the hardest when their time is up. When Jesus casts out the unclean spirit from the unnamed man in the synagogue, the spirit convulses him and cries out with a loud voice. Isn’t that how it feels sometimes when those behaviors, which have come to feel so familiar and comfortable, get their eviction notice? When we have a breakthrough in counseling, when a friend lovingly points something out to us. Suddenly our inclination toward them feels even stronger, and our resistance weaker. We cry out in frustration at our failure, and delve deeper into the behavior or mindset. They are too much a part of us, and we cannot seem to free ourselves from these unclean spirits that have gripped us!
Ah but see, that’s the rub. We can’t. But Jesus can. The man does not cast out his own demon. But he does approach Jesus, and Jesus casts it out for him. He presents himself, ready to be healed, and Jesus casts it out. And Jesus authoritatively silences the demons and says, “Get out of here! Get out of my beloved child! You are not welcome here!” And the unclean spirit puts up a mighty fight, but ultimately, it gets out.
You see, when we place ourselves in this story, we let our insidious demons and well-intentioned behaviors of destruction see Jesus for who he is and what he has come to do, and, we let Jesus see them and what they do to us. And no, those patterns of behavior don’t leave lightly! But once they are out, then our new life can begin.
First impressions matter. And the first impression Jesus gives here, in Mark’s Gospel, is that he is here to stare down the evil that would keep us from God, to exert divine authority over it, and to bring us into discipleship and new life. And we see the reaction of the crowd when this happens: they are amazed, astonished. I hope and pray that we, like the man with the unclean spirit, would surrender to the freedom Jesus offers, even though losing those “demons” might at first bring us hardship or discomfort. I pray that we will respond to God’s saving acts with astonishment. And I pray that we would then be able to bring that loving, healing power into a world desperate for such an encounter with the divine.
Let us pray… Liberating God, you
see and know our hearts, know where we need to be rid of those evils that harm
us and our relationship with you and others. Give us eyes to see and courage to
act, that we would present ourselves to you, ready to be healed. In the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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