Possessed
January 29, 2012
Scripture: Mark 1: 21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried 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.”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Sermon: Possessed Rev. Doreen Oughton
We are only halfway through the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, and already so much has happened. Jesus has been proclaimed by John the Baptist, has been baptized, been driven out to the wilderness for 40 days, returned to proclaim the inbreaking of God’s kindom, and has called his first four apostles. And we have today and the next two weeks to finish out just this first chapter. Mark moves things along at a rapid pace, communicating a sense of urgency that his reader get it, see the truth and follow along – time’s a-wasting! He tell us in his very first verse of his very first chapter what his message is – the good news of Jesus who is the Son of God. He doesn’t take the time to build his argument, to have Jesus speak for himself and explain things in detail, but focuses on the reactions of people around Jesus – John the Baptist, the voice from heaven, Satan and the angels, the fishermen he called, and now the people in the synagogue and the unclean spirit. He has been preparing for his ministry – baptism, going off to the wilderness, gathering workers – and now he begins.
The scripture tells us he went to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath, went to a synagogue and taught. Now the synagogue was the center of not only religious life for the Jewish people, but the center of community life as well. There were lots of them. Wherever there were at least ten families settled near one another, a synagogue was formed with the mission of teaching. However, the synagogues did not usually have their own resident teacher or scribe, so visiting teachers were warmly welcomed. This was a wonderful venue for Jesus and his followers to spread their teachings. It was a world of pulpit supply.
I know this church has been through lots of transition and as a result experienced plenty of pulpit supply preachers. I did some pulpit supply preaching myself, and I think it is hard to preach with authority in that position. The preacher doesn’t know the people, doesn’t know the issues the people and the church are facing, doesn’t know what resonates in that place and time, doesn’t know how people hear and understand the scripture. And the people don’t know the preacher – his or her background and theology, quirks of communication, or style. There is no relationship there. It’s hard to persuade a congregation of a truth, to get them to understand and accept teachings with so little to build on.
In our Monday night book / bible study, we are learning that an understanding of truth as based on fact is a very recent development, just since the age of enlightenment. Prior to that, arguments about the truth of a thing was based on reason, experience, and tradition. The way things had been interpreted before was an important element in verifying a teaching. And so I would suppose that many visiting teachers to the synagogue, not knowing the experiences of the people there, relied heavily on reference to other authorities, rabbis through the ages. They passed on traditions. This is not a bad thing in itself, but it does make it difficult to introduce new interpretations, new ideas, different perspectives. It makes it hard to understand scripture as a living word that continues to speak. But Jesus brought something new. And it was so different that the people were astounded. He did not rely on the authority of the past in his interpretations, but taught as one with his own authority. Perhaps Jesus does somehow understand just what these people had been hurt over, had struggled with, had experienced. He spoke as someone who knew all those things, and could still preach with conviction that there was good news.
The people may have wondered who this was that could teach with such authority, but Jesus knew his authority came from a far greater authority than tradition, far greater than any human authority. In his baptism he’d heard the voice from heaven – “you are my son, the beloved, and in you I am well pleased.” He’d been to the desert, been tempted by Satan who was eager to co-opt Jesus’ power and get him under his authority. But Jesus is clear where his authority comes from. Later on in Mark’s Gospel, a Roman centurion says that Jesus doesn’t have to go in person to heal his servant. He says “just as things happen for me because I was granted authority by a higher authority, so they will happen for you, because you have been granted authority by a higher authority.” Both the centurion and Jesus know that the higher authority is God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.”
The people listening are astounded at the word Jesus preaches, when a man cries out. We are told he has an unclean spirit. So right after Jesus has preached and taught with authority, he has the opportunity to act with authority, to command this unclean spirit to come out of the man. One of his first acts of ministry is to stand against the forces of evil that would obstruct the freedom and abundance that God wants for God’s people. For that is what this unclean spirit is attempting. As Jesus proclaims that the kindom has come near and calls people to repent and believe in this good news, the unclean spirit challenges Jesus, “What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us?” The unclean spirits of the world are opposed to Jesus’ message in every way. Jesus proclaims freedom, the demons would keep us in chains. Jesus promotes love, they sow hate. Jesus wants to draw us together in God’s beloved community, they seek to split us apart. Jesus want to bless us, they curse us. They tear down rather than build up, disparage rather than encourage. Unclean spirits don’t show themselves by Hollywood special effects we’ve seen in movies like The Exorcist. They show themselves in their actions and intentions. And for sure they have been around in every age, not just in ancient times which we might see as superstitious and ignorant.
If we are honest, we recognize these forces as active even in ourselves. There are times when we curse other children of God, when we seek to tear down, when we disparage, sow hate. There are times when we become chained to forces that would destroy us – addictions of all sorts, destructive relationships. We think in ways that isolate us from others, fueling resentments, stoking self-pity. The scripture read by Len doesn’t use the word, “possessed,” but a few translations and lots of commentators on this passage do. I can understand that. There are times when, at the very same time I feel so angry, defensive and resentful about something, I have this other part of me that knows this is not right. I recognize that I am pushing away someone I love, that I am cutting myself off, and that this is not what God wants for me. And yet I feel I cannot control it. I feel possessed by an unclean spirit. And when I recognize this, I often pray. I often wait for Jesus to call that spirit out of me and to leave me standing whole and astounded at his authority. Sometimes it happens.
Now I’m not a scholar of biblical translation. I don’t know how the syntax and ordering of words go in Greek or Hebrew. But it struck me how many translations said, as this one, it was a man with an unclean spirit, or who had an unclean spirit. There is something about that wording that struck me as cooperative. Maybe as much as the man was in the grip of this demon, he also held tight to it. Does that make sense? It’s not always the case, I think. We sometimes are completely in the grip of something else. We are truly powerless. But sometimes we can regain power by shifting our understanding. I was at a training for addiction therapists many years ago and was so struck by this concept being presented. It’s like if you try to run from or escape something – a fear, a truth, a resentment, whatever, you are in its grip. It has you. But if you stop running and face it, accept it, try to get a handle on what it is about, then you have it. It is in your grip, and you can learn to let it go. I think of the story in the bible of Jacob wrestling with a divine being. He is attacked, but somewhere in the struggle stops trying to fend off his attacker, and instead holds fast to him and demands a blessing. And then Jacob lets go when he has received his blessing.
Perhaps when Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, the man also had to let go of the unclean spirit. The unclean spirit did what it is so good at – naming enough truth to hook us, but twisting it to its own evil purposes. It said the truth that Jesus is the Holy One of God. It was somewhat true that Jesus came to destroy, but it twisted that part. Jesus came to destroy the ways of oppression, injustice, hatred, hoarding, and self-centeredness, but not to destroy people. He didn’t even destroy the unclean spirit, but instead sent it away. And the spirit got it all wrong when it implies that Jesus has nothing to do with it. Because Jesus will go there, will confront evil, will stand up to it, will stand beside us when we stand up to it. He won’t ignore it or work around it or excuse it. He commands it to go. He commands us to let it go. But he won’t force us to let it go. This is another astounding thing about Jesus’ power and authority – the way he uses it. His authority is found in integrity and living truth, in walking the talk, in practicing the teaching, not the assertion of power over others. He doesn’t seek to just swap one set of chains for another. He will encourage us, equip us, strengthen us admonish us, cajole us, love us, but he won’t force us.
We have to be willing, we have to choose in our hearts to follow Jesus, to let go of our unclean spirits even when they offer us a feeling of security, of self-righteousness, of pride. We have to be willing to let our whole way of thinking and living – the way of competition, of grasping, of separation, of hard-heartedness and self-centeredness – be destroyed. It is a hard choice. These ways are so ingrained. They seem so right. We want to know what Jesus has to do with any of that – with success and wealth and comfort and an illusion of security that all come at the expense of others who have none of that. We want to know what Jesus has to do with the ways we make ourselves feel good by finding fault with others, by blaming and judging, by separating ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically from those who are suffering. What have you to do with that, Jesus. Have you come to destroy us?
I invite you to take a few minutes to consider what unclean spirits you have with you. Do they have you in their grip, or do you hold onto them in some way? Consider these things with the compassionate, loving, but commanding spirit of Christ beside you. What do these unclean spirits tempt you with? What is the truth in what they offer? How do they twist that truth for evil purposes? What are the lies they tell you? Listen for Jesus’ command that they leave you. Can you let them go?
This is difficult, and sometimes we need flesh and blood people who care about us to help us listen for Jesus, to discern the distortions and lies the unclean spirits tell. If you recognize something in yourself that is holding you bound, that is keeping you from living in the freedom and joy God intends for you, let’s talk. Let’s pray together and listen together and find strength together. Time’s a-wasting. The kindom of God has come near and we’ve got good news to share. Let’s not allow anything to get in the way of that. May it be so.
