Sermon for January 29, 2012 ~ Epiphany 4

 

Mark 1:21-18

Have you ever felt mixed up, guilty, easily upset and ready to bite someone's head off if they look at you the wrong way?  It can take a lifetime to sort out inner life and the road can be rocky due to hormones, circumstances, attitudes, aging, belief systems and so on. 

 

Today we consider a fellow in turmoil with what is called: an unclean spirit.  This is not like the Exorcist or some other Hollywood treatment.  Maybe it was medical.  Maybe his mental health was challenged.  Maybe he was burning out because of life's stressors.  Whatever the case, he was at worship one day and had what might be called a "melt-down."  And like for us, Jesus was there to help, but it wasn't easy for our friend…

 

In the last episode, we left Jesus walking down the beach with 4 fishermen as the credits rolled at the close of that message. For me it was a picture of four broad-backed strong men of the sea following a slim self-assured teacher who has captured their full attention.  Look, he said in different ways, God is here, God knows you and it is going to be okay. They walk along the sand as they always have, but this time the journey is different.

 

Capernaum

 

Our lives shift and change.  Sometimes life is straightforward and clear.  Sometimes confusing and dark.  Sometimes we get meaning by being with others, by helping or by being part of something.  Other times we live quietly listening to our own thoughts as we try and find our way.   The four men who used to compete for fish on Galilee are now a group and they are going home to Capernaum on a new road.  What did Jesus talk about?  Who knows?  He was on a mission… was it more about Good News of God's kingdom… always good, Jesus might have said, always good – even if life itself is tough.

 

Some days later, he leads them to the synagogue.  When was the last time any of them were there?  These four men block the sun in the doorway as they enter.  The Torah is read, they sing a psalm, someone speaks or teaches and there is prayer. It was not unlike our setting here.  The basic structure of our worship was patterned after the synagogue.  So Jesus teaches.  I wonder if it may have been the Good News of God's kingdom… always good, always good.  God knows you and it is going to be okay…

 

The usual visiting and chatter while a rabbi spoke was not taking place.  The message that was different.  It wasn't just a familiar recitation of commandments.  It wasn't the urging to do good works.  Nor was it a talk about Abraham or Moses or Elijah.  It was different.  It was about God NOW.  HERE. TODAY.  It was as simple as that.  The four big men nodded.  And this Jesus from Nazareth smiled and spoke the words good, good, good … God is good.  He seemed to know what he was talking about.  Very refreshing… guest speakers can be like that.

 

The man

 

But not everyone thought so.  There was a man – let's call him Frank – maybe a regular attender – who had heard enough of this.  If he had been a strange odd-ball he would have already been escorted out.  He was just an average guy.  But Mark tells us he had an unclean spirit.  What does that mean?

 

The definition of Unclean is not that much different from what you learned growing up.  Like me, you may remember when your mom first heard you use bad language and offered to wash your mouth out with soap.  That's unclean.  People sometimes have dark thoughts, they feel dirty or guilty and don't feel right because of what they have done or thought – they feel unclean.  In general in the scriptures, unclean refers to anything that is contrary to God: violation of the commandments, sin, hurting or using others in anyway, being unjust, putting profit before people, ignoring the vulnerable, excluding the weak; and poisoning the environment makes it unclean.  The woman caught in the act of adultery or the son who wasted his inheritance and lived slopping the pigs were unclean.  Those with lives of contradiction may feel or may be unclean.

 

Frank had an unclean spirit.  Something was wrong.  Part of him was wrong and he knew it.  He had a divided life.  And he couldn't stand Jesus' teaching that God was good, good, good.  What are you talking about Mr. Jesus of Nazareth! he cried out, You are the Holy One of God?  That means you will destroy us!  Destroy, destroy, punish, punish!  Because you are unclean… God will destroy you was the motto of his spirit.

 

Using words that carry the sense of put a muzzle on it, Jesus orders that teaching, that spirit out of Frank.  It`s not easy to let go of the belief that God is coming to judge us in this life.  Some live their whole lives with that.  In Capernaum, at the synagogue that day – Jesus will not put up with it.  It is a challenge to his message, his presence, his life… and he shuts it down.  God comes to heal, to free, to forgive, to help people start over.  That is the good in the Good News.

 

The Teaching

 

Mark tells us that Frank is set free.  In later instruction on prayer, Jesus also teaches, "Deliver us from evil."  We pray to be kept from the unclean spirit of our friend in Capernaum.  Because God is good, good, good.  There is forgiveness, there is hope and everyone is included.  He will demonstrate on the cross and break down death's door to drive the message home.

 

Frank was like an object lesson at church.  The unclean-ness was sent away by Jesus.  What happens to these folks who are cleansed and healed by the words of Jesus, who are washed in the water and healed by the message of the cross?  They are us.  Is there a story to tell?  Who will listen? I think people in the building tripped over Frank on the way out that day.  Did anyone invite him for lunch?  I`d like to hear how he got himself into such a state in the first place.  I`d like to introduce him to some friends.  I wonder if he will come back.  There are probably a lot of current issues he could speak to.  It would be great to listen to him at Men's Breakfast – especially if he has always been a member of the congregation.  His story could help others.

 

Maybe Frank will tag along with the four fishermen.  Maybe not.  The problem is that he has been forgotten as people raved about Jesus.  We'll see that Jesus is not impressed with that kind of fame.  He wants care shown to people like our friend.  Why?  Because that is like the good news of God's kingdom.

At a meeting in Winnipeg yesterday, the devotional leader quoted the motto of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd: "One person is more important than all the world."  I think they learned what Jesus taught at the synagogue in Capernaum.

 

As this episode closes Jesus and his friends head for the door to leave.  Did we learn something, or have we forgotten already? 

 

He won't give up.  Tune in next week.

 

Amen.