Mark 1:21-28
February 1, 2009
Have you come to destroy us? Have you come to destroy us, Jesus, you Holy One of God? In short, yes.
Oh how I wish I could have been there in that synagogue that day to see the confrontation between Jesus and this crafty little unclean spirit! Man, what it show! Can you picture it?
Jesus laying out the truth of God’s Word as one that hasn’t been seen before. The authority that he has has captivated the assembly of 40 or 50 people, and they are feeding out of the palm of his hand. Then out of no where…an interruption breaks everyone’s concentration and this powerful teaching leaps off the page of Scripture and becomes action right into the middle of worship!
And just as Jesus did in the wilderness for 40 days, previous in this chapter, he is confronted again by that power that opposes everything that he is about, namely God.
I don’t know about you, but I find that I can relate more to the man with the unclean spirit than I can with the other people in the synagogue, or Jesus for that matter. Not because I think I am evil, or that any of you are evil, but I relate to this man because there are so many things in my life that get in the way of me putting myself under the power and authority Jesus has to change my life. In fact, I can’t do it alone.
How often do we ask, “What do you want with us, Jesus?”, while at the same time living with the underlying thought that God is out to get us because it seems that life is too chaotic, too painful or lonely. “Have you come to destroy us? Really, tell me, Lord God of the Universe, what DO you WANT with me?”
To which Jesus responds tersely, “Keep quiet, and come out of him!” You see, in spite of our own attempts to confuse or restrict God’s power to change us, we are powerless. Jesus speaks, and the adversary of God is defeated.
What does Jesus want with us?
He wants to release us from obstructions and see with the eyes of faith.
He wants us to stop asking so many questions that attempt to reduce his power and authority.
He wants us to see ourselves and others as the beautiful creatures that God has so lovingly and meticulously made us.
It is too easy to point at something and judge its whole as good or bad without understanding the whole of the situation. Our lives are (sometimes necessarily) based on making snap judgments, and yet we sell God and our neighbor short when we allow our judgments to dictate our relationships.
When I was in seminary, I worshiped in a community with a very diverse population, with people from all over the world and in nearly the entire spectrum of socio-economic classes. One of the guys that I couldn’t figure out was a man who was about 50 years old and always sat in the front pew wearing a white robe. From a distance, he seemed very peculiar, if not just plain weird. He didn’t look any different that anyone else, so it could be assumed that he just thought it was special to wear a robe. He never assisted in worship, or lit candles. Once in a while he would hold the cup with grape juice in it at communion, but he always wore the robe.
Within a couple months of being there I learned that his name was Charlie. He grew up in this congregation and had been there for over 40 years. Charlie was cognitively disabled and when he was growing up the church had very little to do with people who had any cognitive disabilities. Often they were outcast, and their families were sometimes blamed for the “problems” their children had. You could say that the church thought that something “evil” or “unclean” had happened to them. But not this church. There happened to be a number of young people like Charlie at the time and so the pastor modified the confirmation curriculum so that these young people would be able to have the same privilege of being a confirmed member of the church as all the other kids. 40 some years later, Charlie is living his discipleship out through the same congregation that saw what God sees in him, that he is loved as he is and that he has everything that he needs to be a follower of Jesus.
Through the brave and faithful actions of a faith community the evil of isolation and shame were put to death so that others might have life in Jesus name.
Jesus speaks and evil is defeated. When Jesus speaks today it often sounds like your voice or yours, or ours collective as a faith community. And sometimes, in order for evil to be defeated, it takes the collective voice of Christians across our cities and country and even around the world to defeat evil. We hear God speak in our lives and we are set free from obstructions to Jesus and free for serving others.
As people of faith, we are empowered by Christ and the Holy Spirit, to act on the behalf of those whose lives have been touched by things not of God and to show them that the God of hope is present and real.
What does Jesus want with us? He wants nothing less than our whole selves and he goes to the farthest end to claim it for God. He has given us nothing less than his whole self spread out on a cross, which God used to defeat evil and give us abundant life through his death. It isn’t easy or clean. It is God's way of being with us.
U2 Yahweh Lyrics:
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn
Take these hands teach them what to carry
Take these hands Don't make a fist
Take this mouth So quick to criticise
Take this mouth Give it a kiss
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now Why the dark before the dawn?
Take this city A city should be
shining on a hill
Take this city If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break
Through our encounters with Jesus, may our hearts break for those who have been hurt, harmed and lonely and may we be changed all over again by seeing God work a new thing in their lives by the power of Jesus. Amen.
