Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
Donna G. Joy

 

Mark 1:21-28

Martin Luther said that “When the word of God is rightly preached, demons are set lose.” Although this may be terrifying to those who are called to preach, it seems to me that this makes good sense, because as we were reminded in our Gospel reading this morning, when Jesus entered a synagogue and taught, demons were set free. Martin Luther is suggesting that Jesus sets the bar pretty high for the rest of us to follow.

In this story were are told that while in the synagogue on the Sabbath a man with an unclean spirit – a man struggling with certain demons - cried out to Jesus. It seems that at some level of his being he knows that this Jesus has the authority to destroy the demons that have found their home in him. He acknowledges Jesus’ authority as he says, “You are the Holy One of God.” There is a profound acknowledgement here that Jesus possesses the authority to destroy the demons that this man knows only too well. And Jesus – with the greatest of authority – does just that – and immediately his authority is seen and recognized.

So first, let’s become clear what we’re talking about when we refer to this ‘unclean spirit’ – or these demons – that dwell within this tortured man. This passage is often referred to as the story of Jesus healing a man who is possessed. When we speak of one who is possessed we might tend to define this condition as one who is controlled by a spirit, demon, or other supernatural force. Thought of in this way, we might interpret this story as a miraculous healing specific to that understanding.

I think we need to broaden our understanding of what this might mean. I suggest this is a story that offers the authority of Jesus’ healing touch to each and every one of us even though we may not be possessed by what we may define as a supernatural force. I believe that we are all possessed . . . we are all possessed by habits and conditions that create barriers between ourselves and God. Are we, for example, a culture that is increasingly becoming possessed by technology? Are some of us- perhaps too many of us - more connected to our cell phones that we are to the God who longs and promises to be the very centre of our lives?

Not long ago I read an amusing – yet profound – little piece which asked the question, “How would your life, or the life of Christ’s church, look if we had just as great an obsession for God’s Word as we do for our cellphones? “What would happen if we treated our Bible like we great our cell phone?”

  • What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
  • What if we flipped through it several times a day?
  • What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
  • What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
  • What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
  • What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
  • What if we used it when we travelled?
  • What if we used it in case of emergency?

Perhaps the cell phone serves as an indication that we are possessed with technology and we need to cry out to Jesus to take this possession from us?

No need to panic here, we won’t be divesting you of your cell phones as you leave the church today. I, for one, would find that too much of a stretch. I am saying, however, that perhaps we need to cry out to Jesus to remove us from this obsession, and make HIM our obsession so that the use of technology is put into its proper perspective. Neuroscientists tell us that our addiction (our possession) and our use of these devices is changing our brains, and not for the better; our ability to focus for longer periods is reduced, the tendency of our brains being scattered increased. Perhaps we need to call on Jesus’ authority to heal us of this demon.

Seen in this light, it is clear that we become possessed by habits and things that hold us back from the full life that God calls us into. All kinds of things can become addictions – the normal ones like alcohol and drugs, but also things like computer video games, Candy Crush, and even exercise. I’m reminded of a comment made by Jane Fonda, who said that it was progress for her to become addicted to exercise after coping with more severe addictions in her life. Indeed, exercise is what is known as a positive addiction. If one was to choose between an addiction to alcohol or drugs and an addiction to exercise, of course exercise would be the preferred choice. But imagine what would happen if everyone’s primary commitment was to God.

We can become possessed in other ways too – a life crisis often overwhelms our lives, and usually that is temporary – meaning that – in time – we find our ways out of it and move forward. Sometimes, though, we can get stuck, stuck in a pattern that freezes us from moving forward. Lately we have been reading and hearing more and more about a condition known as hoarding. There are stories about such people who sometimes receive an intervention from family members because they have allowed their possessions to possess them, and often, there is an unresolved trauma or crisis that is behind the hoarding behaviour.

Other possessed behaviour can come like a group psychosis, like racism or sexism, or any one of a number of ways that we discriminate among the people of God. This is a particularly sensitive subject in Winnipeg at the moment, as we have just recently been identified as the racism capital of Canada. Perhaps the church has a prophetic role to fulfill as we address this serious situation.

Often we may be possessed by anger and/or a lack of forgiveness toward another person, or group of people. Clearly, to be possessed can be defined in much broader terms than simply being controlled by a supernatural force. To be possessed is to be controlled by demons that preoccupy us and take our attention away from the God who lives and moves and has our being. To be possessed is to be stuck in a particular pattern of behaviour that removes God from the centre of our lives. Jesus comes to the person who is possessed – dare I say, each and every one of us, and says to those demons, “Be silent, and come out of him!” “Be silent, and come out of her!” Clearly, Jesus speaks with authority and this story has me thinking about Jesus and the nature of his authority. In the context of this morning’s story, Jesus is clearly able to see into the heart of humanity and release the demons that dwell within.

This Gospel reading this morning reminds us that what you do reveals who you are. Through this story we are reminded that Jesus speaks and acts with an authority that can only come from God – we are reminded that Jesus reaches in to the very core of who we are and divests us / heals us of those behaviours / distractions / addictions with which we are possessed.

It helps here to remember how Mark’s Gospel begins – in the wilderness with the heavens ripping apart. Who is Jesus? He is revealed here as a boundary breaker, and this story confirms this exponentially. Over and over again Jesus reveals a boundary breaking God. Throughout the whole of Mark’s Gospel we will see that each and every boundary we try to put in place, we think is in place; even that which we perceive as impenetrable, God bursts through. Whatever demons exist within us, Jesus breaks through and offers a new life in him.

N.T. Wright tells the story of a disaster at sea in which a tourist boat had failed to shut its doors properly so the water began to pour in; the boat began to sink, and panic set in among the passengers as well as the crew. People were screaming as the carefree atmosphere of tourism was quickly transformed into a place of terrifying horror. But suddenly one man – not a member of the crew – not one known as a recognized voice of authority – began to take charge. In a clear voice he gave orders, telling people what to do. There was a slight sense of relief as people realized someone was finally in charge and as a result many people made it to lifeboats they would have otherwise missed in the dark and in the chaotic confusion. The man himself made his way down to the people who were trapped in the hold – the place at the bottom of the ship where luggage was stored. There he formed a human bridge: holding on with one hand to a ladder and with the other to part of the ship that was nearly submerged, he enabled still more people to cross to safety. When the nightmare was over the man himself was found to have drowned. He had literally given his life in using the authority he had assumed – the authority by which many were saved.

This morning’s story ends with, “At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.” N.T. Wright goes on to say that this story is how Mark begins to tell us both about how Jesus became so popular so quickly and of how the course of his public career pointed toward its dramatic conclusion on the cross – which of course leads to the new life of resurrection which we all now share. There is no doubt that Jesus quickly attracted huge crowds, and that his authoritative healings were the main reason. That - in itself - would have been threatening to the authorities; but, as we shall soon discover, there was more. Jesus had joined in a struggle against the forces of evil and destruction – against the demons with which humanity is possessed; demons that, like the dark, cruel sea pouring in on top of frightened and helpless travellers, seemed to be overwhelming and terrifying. And Jesus became the human bridge across which people could climb to safety. And if, in the process, he himself paid with his own life the price of this saving authority, a human bridge with outstretched arms, carrying people from death to life, that was simply part of the integrity of his action. The demons had their final shriek at him as he hung on the cross, challenging and mocking for the last and final time the validity of his authority. This morning's Gospel story is largely about Jesus' authority, which is what scared and threatened the political and religious authorities. In many ways it was his authority that led him to the cross. On the cross he completed the healing work he began that day in the synagogue.

In a world such as ours, in which many destructive powers still hold us captive, such news is good indeed. In Jesus, the day of evil having ultimate authority is over. In Jesus, God’s kingdom has broken into our midst with power and authority. In Jesus, God longs to feed us with the gift of his healing, liberating, forgiving love. Those demons, the demons which continue to possess each of us, knew that Jesus had come to defeat them once and for all. They can and do still shriek, but since Calvary they no longer have authority. Jesus’ authority is far greater than the demons with which we allow ourselves to become possessed. As Jesus’ disciples we are often held hostage by possession of all kinds of things; we are often distracted by the addictions and obsessions of this world in which we live.

What are the obsessions that create a barrier between you and a fulsome relationship with God? Are they perhaps an obsession with technology? Video/computer games? Candy Crush? Consumerism? Do you struggle with any kind of addictive behaviour? Is there someone that you need to learn how to forgive? And we ask ourselves, “where is God in all that possesses me? In my depression, my addiction, my disease? In my loss, my grief, my sorrow? In my own attraction to other gods? And the response to this question is, “Your God is here, breaking through those barriers. Your God is here, releasing you of all that possesses you. Your God is here, offering you the gift of new life." Because today we are reminded that Jesus – the ultimate voice of authority – calls out to those demons and says, “Be silent and come out of him.” “Be silent and come out of her.”