Epiphany 4

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Epiphany 4
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: January 30, 2000


TEXT: Mark 1:21-28 - Jesus calls the demon out of a man

“What is this? A new teaching - with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

ISSUE: Jesus is presumed to have authority. He is captivating as a teacher. Mark seems to be implying that Jesus’ teaching, although not explicitly stated, is liberating. He calls out evil, and allows people to take responsibility for their lives. Jesus brings a sense of the importance of God to human life, and casts out the things that keep us from being the people of God, and what God seeks for us to be.
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Last week, I spoke with you at length about the subtleties of Jesus calling some of his disciples to be fishers of people. Today’s reading builds on the calling of Andrew, Simon, James, and John. Following Jesus was not and is not a passive thing we do. Jesus said he was creating, molding, shaping, these four fishermen to be fishers of people. They were not going to be like ducks following mother duck down the road, or like ushers to manage the crowds. There were prophetic Old Testament images of God calling fishermen to be like prophets calling people to change, and to judgment of their lives alienated from God. They were to be something like judges in the world. They would learn like a fisherman does to separate good from evil; the good fish go in the buckets and the bad fish are thrown away. To fishers of people with Christ was a profound calling, quite unlike the image we have of sitting passively in church. Disciples were to be teachers with Christ.

Today’s reading from the Gospel account of Mark builds on the calling of the disciples. Jesus and the disciple have moved on to Capernaum where Jesus begins teaching in a local synagogue. Notice especially what the reaction is. The people are astonished, amazed at him. He teaches with authority, and unlike the usual scribes and Pharisees. What’s so amazing is that here is an artisan peasant carpenter walking into a synagogue and dares to speak. In this time an artisan peasant would not have presumed to speak in a teaching way in a synagogue. Who does he think he is? He steps completely out of his place in the society and presumes to have a message worth hearing. He’s only the son of a carpenter of Nazareth, and nothing good or honorable comes out of Nazareth. And yet he dares and presumes to speak, and what he is saying is making some sense. Let us make no mistake about it, Jesus was challenging and daring.

Now while Jesus is doing his teaching there is a man there who is possessed with and evil spirit. This part of the story is somewhat difficult for us, because I suspect that the large majority of people today do not believe in spirits in quite the same way they did in Jesus time. Today we would think of a person that is described in this passage as somehow mentally deranged. But keep in mind that in Jesus’ time spirits were believed to abound most everywhere, especially in the wilderness and in the darkness. There was a hierarchy of spiritual beings. God, of course, topped the list. Then, in order, there were Archangels, angels, spirits both good and evil, then human beings and sub human creatures. But mind you, good and evil spirits were higher on the scale than humans. Why would people of the time believe this? Well, they did not see themselves as having much control over their lives. They were subservient to political powers, the controlling culture. There were just so many things that they could not explain that became just good and evil spirits that manipulated their lives.

Another common belief of the time was that if you could name a spirit or being you could in some measure control it.

Now look at this scene. Jesus is teaching with authority. A man who is possessed with an evil spirit comes speaks out while Jesus is teaching saying: “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.” The evil spirit names who Jesus is “Holy One of God.” The evil spirit attempts to control Jesus by calling him by name, “Jesus of Nazareth - Holy One of God.” The evil spirit attempts to control and throw Jesus out of the synagogue. But Jesus turns to the demon possessed man and says in effect, you have no control over me: “Be silent, and come out of him!” Convulsing and screaming the evil spirit is destroyed, and the man regains his sanity (we would say); the man is restored to his good senses and becomes again the man God created him to be.

Note well, what Mark’s Gospel is telling us. The teaching of Jesus was and is powerful enough to set things straight, right. The teaching of Jesus is far more powerful than the ways and teachings and demonic spirits of the world. Yes, he is of God. Jesus is divine, but he is right there in the midst of God’s people restoring them to good sense. He will not speak to the evil forces. He is beyond their power. He will not listen to their baloney (bullshit.)

Notice that the people are not raving about how Jesus performed a miracle. That this may seem to be a miracle to us was not the issue. The issue is that Jesus is a great teacher, and he teaches with compelling authority that challenges the evil spirits or if you prefer the evil conditions of the world. He does not quote other people like the scribes and Pharisees did. He is clear, straightforward. He speaks knowledgeably as a true man of God, a son of God. He is prophetic and Moses like. His fame begins to spread.

We may not have the same feeling about spirits in our way of thinking today. We are able to explain so many things scientifically. We think and believe that we are more in control of our lives than were the people of Jesus’ time. I’m not sure that that is something of an illusion that we have because our culture tells us we are self-made men and women. When, in fact, there are still things that we cannot always control: our children, our mates, the circumstances of our lives. There are still things that are out of our control. There are things that we can control.

There is evil in our world, whether you call it just plain evil or evil spiritedness. What Jesus and Mark are teaching in this scripture story is that we have to stand up to it and take responsibility. There is evil but we renounce it. Remember in the Baptismal Service there are several statements in the exorcism section of the Service:

Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God? . . . I renounce them.

Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God? .I renounce them.

Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I renounce them.

We take responsibility because Jesus Christ showed us the way to stand up against and renounce the evil spirits and forces of the world.

Jesus was calling the disciples and the people of his time to stand up against the forces of the period that victimized them.
He was an artisan carpenter and he could speak boldly about God. He could attack and renounce evil spirits and dare to cast them out. People who felt alienate and separated from God could be restored to the embracing arms of a loving God. They could have dignity and worth, and value. Jesus taught that they could truly be the sons and daughters of God. This message was a profound message of hope for the people of Jesus’ time and our own.

Are there evil spirits in our time? You bet there are. Haven’t you done something and afterwards wondered what “possessed” me, what got “into” me that made me say or do something that was shameful. We come to a realization that we have to take responsibility for what we may say or do. We may need to ask forgiveness, or to seek the appropriate therapy that will help us change our behavior.

Is there evil and/or evil spiritedness in the world? Look at what the Nazi’s were able to do, in what was one of the most religious countries in the world. The whole world had to stand up to that evil. In our own time racism continues that has led to some vicious and cruel murders, and that continues to denigrate many of God’s own. Babies are born drug addicted and people addicted to drugs and alcohol have their lives ruined. In America we have a booming, flourishing, Health & Diet Industry while in other parts of the world, people and children are starving to death. We have a planet eroding away from pollution and lack of caring concern. We may well see friends who have breast cancer, leukemia, or other forms of cancer. We can turn away feeling helpless, victimized as if there is nothing we can do. We can allow ourselves to feel paralyzed. Jesus the teacher with authority became angry and confronted the evil of his time and renounced it. Is it that we just don’t get angry enough and have for too long thought of ourselves as helpless non-descript followers of a sweet Jesus.

Jesus taught his own with authority that they were more powerful than the evil spirits. The hierarchy of spirits was wrong, or could a least be changed. Renounce them. He was tough about that, and with the help of God, maybe we need to be tougher too. We need to ask God, prayerfully, to give us strength to find, to discern what God is calling us to be and to do that we can teach with Christ and help to exorcise the demons of our time. He taught men and women to confront evil, to stand for what is right. We need to begin with ourselves and be witnesses to our children that our faith is one of commitment and strength that confronts the immorality and amorality, the indifferences and the vicitimizations of our time with the authority of Jesus Christ who proclaimed a new world under the Reign of the God of Love and Justice.