Mark 1:21-28
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 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." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 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." 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
(Opening omitted/improvised)
The man never set foot back in the church. He came looking for help, for liberation from the illness that clouded his mind, for love from those who claimed to love everybody, for acceptance from those who were really just as broken and messed up as he was. He just wanted someone to say that he wasn’t alone in his struggle, that there was something more powerful than the oppression of fear and rejection, yet all he got was more of the same—it just happened to come dressed in its Sunday best. He was looking for freedom from the chains of illness and loneliness, freedom from the so-called authorities of this world that tell us how to think and how to act, but instead he got a new dose, a new authority with cleverly disguised “God language.” And he wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last (even if he exists in a world of my own creation).
Of course, it could have gone differently. It could have gone more like that meeting at Capernaum some two thousand years ago, where Jesus (fresh from his bout with Satan and the calling of his first disciples) was teaching in the synagogue there. The congregation, we’re told, was “astounded at his teaching,” when “Just then [in the middle of their service] there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” Now, nothing can really throw a wrench in the gears of a good service like some giant, obnoxious distraction, and I’m sure to many that were there in the synagogue at Capernaum, that’s exactly what this man was—a distraction. Not only that, but he had no right to be there! This man had an unclean spirit, whether that refers to a demonic possession (though the word “demon” does not appear in this text), a mental illness, or something else entirely is really irrelevant. This man is unclean, which means he is not supposed to be gathered with the others in the synagogue. Perhaps he had successfully kept this unclean spirit hidden from the others and Jesus’ authoritative teaching had forced his hand. Maybe he had snuck into the meeting that day just to test the new rabbi from Nazareth. Mark doesn’t give us a lot of details; we just know he appears and threatens to throw things off track.
The unclean spirit cries out through the man at Jesus: "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 doesn’t roll up his sleeves and ball up his fists in preparation for a physical altercation. Jesus doesn’t begin a systematic utterance of incantations to expel the spirit. No, Jesus (in a matter-of-fact sort of way) rebukes the spirit and says, “’Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.” Jesus showed his authority over the unclean spirit—over those things which are beyond our control and comprehension—and in doing so gave this unnamed man a new life. No longer was this man ruled by the authority of this unclean spirit, but now he has come face-to-face with the ultimate authority that rests in the Son of God.
That’s all we get about this man; there’s no follow-up. We never even get his name, but we are told in verses 27 and 28: “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.” Jesus kicks off his public ministry with a bang! His fame begins to spread as those at Capernaum witnessed what Jesus had done to the man with the unclean spirit. It’s really a great testimony, isn’t it? A man who was once tormented by an unclean spirt, a man who was once under the influence of a false authority, a man who was once enslaved to a power outside of himself, a man who was once lost is now found. That’s the kind of story we can get behind. It’s the kind of story we like to share with others. It’s the kind of story we like to tell…but it’s not really the kind of story we want to live.
See, like those first witnesses at the synagogue in Capernaum, many of us are anxious to hear exciting teachings; we’re excited about telling these grand stories of how Jesus saved someone from an unclean spirit, a life of crime, fornication, drugs, evil, and sin. But when it gets down to it, and we have to be a part of that story…well…we kind of lose that excitement. There are those of us who find ourselves standing on the other side of a decision, the other side of baptism, and believe (whether we admit it or not) that we no longer need Jesus to save us, to exorcise those unclean spirits that pollute our lives and cloud our conscience. We would much rather witness that in the lives of others, of those we call unbelievers, sinners, reprobates, different. We’d rather watch it unfold in the lives of others, to watch as the love and forgiveness of Christ becomes real in their lives, all the while we withhold our own love and forgiveness from those who need it. We love to tell to the stories, but we’re not so anxious to live them.
We’re quick to point out the need for Jesus’ authority in the lives of others, but not so quick to confess that our lives aren’t always steered by the presence of Christ within ourselves. In other words, it seems to me that we are always ready and willing to call out the unclean spirits in others, to tell the stories of how someone else has been liberated from a sinful life we were fortunate not to lead, but when it comes to acknowledging that there are blind spots in our own lives, places where we have yet to allow Christ to take control...we’re not so ready to confess that. It’s as if we have some kind of diet, low-cal, fat-free faith: “all the salvation with none of the surrender.” Do we really believe that Jesus has the authority to be Lord of our lives—our entire lives? Do we really believe that Jesus still has the authority to forgive even our darkest, most secret sins? Do we really believe that Jesus has power over those things that are beyond our control and outside of our understanding? Do we really believe that Christ has that sort of authority, that sort of power? Sometimes I wonder…
I wonder sometimes if we still believe that Jesus has the power and authority to change this very world, our very lives in an instant, if we’re ready to confess that we still have places in our own hearts we have yet to fully give over to Christ’s authority and power. I wonder if we’re just a bunch of folks who want to tell others’ stories, to make Jesus famous by sharing stories of how he has changed those we believe needed to be changed. Or are we ready to confess that we are still in need of Christ’s love each and every day, that we need to let go of more of ourselves that it may be changed by more of Christ and his love?
What is this power that Jesus has? Is it the power to make the unclean clean? Is it the power to bring the addicted out of their darkness? Is it the power to turn the lives of nasty, unfit folks around? Is it the power to get folks into heaven? Of course it is! But it’s the same sort of power that can save good, clean church folks like you and me, with each new day we face. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment