Mark 1:21-28
January 28, 2024
the Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 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.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 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.
| Centering Prayer |
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask the witness.
Just give me the facts.
The sleepy, seaside town
Known as Capernaum
Came together for
Friday evening Sabbath
To hear and see the latest sensation
To come out of Nazareth.
(picture of map and synagogue at Capernaum)
Crowds gathered to hear him teach.
People were drawn from the surrounding countryside
To experience a new authority
– A refreshing breath of Good News –
That was blowing in the land,
– Unlike the stale and tired –
The old news that was strict and unbending
Recited by talking heads
Of religious authority.
The new authority would become identified
Not with the Law or Covenant of old,
But, with the grace and love of a gentle God
Yearning for the repentance and love
of His children.
…
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask,
“Just the facts.”
Fact #1: Jesus taught with authority.
He is compared and contrasted
with the scribes,
the keepers of the text,
who lacked such authority.
Authority is
more than the ability to be.
Authority is the ability to become
Based on understanding,
Not just caretaking,
Knowing,
Not just believing,
Fulfilling
All that God is calling you to become.
Human nature has
remained remarkably unchanged
in two-thousand years.
When people gather for prayer, worship, and insight, the demons we bear come right along with us.
The sins we struggle with
Are wheeled right into the midst of the sacred,
Only to have us get out our pitchfork
And start cleaning out the stall
Of human depravity and sin,
Slopping it right onto the altar of our God.
We really know how to muck up a good sanctuary.
We would like to think that a house of worship
Would be free
Of sin, suffering, and sedition
But then, whenever people are gathered
We are nothing more than a community of sinners
Yearning to be transformed into a community of Saints.
…
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask,
“Just the facts.”
Fact #2: People with demons know who Jesus is.
They know him by name and reputation
and, likewise, they know his disciples.
Whether we are the demon possessed ones,
Or, we are nothing more than
just an innocent bystander
We are drawn in by the struggle.
We are splattered by the mud;
Hoping above all hope
That we are not sin’s unintentional victims.
All to often,
We are
the stewards of sin.
How could this be so?
We were
Born perfect in everyway.
We have been
Granted free will by our benevolent creator,
Yet exposed to evil and
Succumbing to the lure of
temptation’s persuasive ways.
The evil one knows
Who we are,
Where we are,
What we are doing, too.
We are on his radar.
Like an evil mass marketer
Spewing spam and
phishing for unsuspecting dolts and doorknobs,
The evil one is prepared to fight for his very life
In a cosmic battle with our God.
The evil one is in a death match
over the final disposition of our souls.
This fight is God’s fight.
This fight is also our fight.
In a crime more hideous than identity theft,
Sin driven hunger
drives even the most unsuspecting people
to commit the most outrageous sins
Against God and fellowman or woman.
Be forewarned, “there but by the grace of God,”
That demon filled, sin oozing person can sometimes be a reflection you or me.
Human pride and ego,
Weakness to temptation
And tendencies towards sin
Sometimes makes the most holy Saint
Become nothing more than a snake,
A demon possessed handmaiden of the devil himself.
…
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask,
“Just the facts.”
Fact #3: People with demons are attracted to Jesus and his followers.
Is it because darkness seeks out it’s adversary?
Is it because sin is looking for a fight?
Or, perhaps
Sin comes a-knocking
Knowing that the only solution
– The only solution to sin and death –
Is the grace that Jesus has to offer:
True repentance
Complete forgiveness
And the hope of eternal life.
…
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask,
“Just the facts.”
Fact #4: People with demons expect that Jesus desires to destroy them, and the evil they carry.
The perspective of evil
Comes from looking through glasses
Colored by sin,
Constructed to be evil.
The demon knows death and destruction.
That is where it lives.
Yet death and destruction
Are limited in their scope;
Are confined to only a small corner
Of the world’s reality.
Jesus surprises the devil.
Instead of seeking his destruction
He seeks his exorcism.
Jesus seeks his conversion.
Jesus seeks to save the person’s life.
…
“Just the facts, ma’am,”
Joe Friday would ask,
“Just the facts.”
Fact #5: Jesus doesn’t seek to destroy people.
Jesus saves.
Jesus seeks to caste out evil,
All-the-while
salvaging and saving the person
To live another day.
There are no “throw away” people in God’s kingdom.
All of us are capable of being Rehabilitated with repentance and
Recycled into a state of grace.
It is the yearning of a loving parent
That we come with repentance written upon our lips and hearts.
Yet, our Gospel for today tells us
That the authority of Christ is capable
Of overcoming even the possessed and unrepentant.
This is truly Good News.
This is good news for those mucking around in sin’s tar pit.
This is good news for you and me, too.
For each of us have our time in the bottom of the barrel.
And no amount of human endeavor
Seems capable of removing the stain of sin.
The Good News of this day is that
Jesus is the only solution:
All other solutions kill both the body and the soul.
Jesus is the only solution:
Who is capable of exercising sin with the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel, saving the patient’s life.
Jesus is the only solution:
Jesus is the only one with sufficient authority to cleanse us from our demons, from our possession, from our sins.
Jesus is the only one with grace sufficient
To rehab and restore this sin sick soul of ours.
Jesus is the only one who is interested in saving your life and mine, all the while, making us pure and perfect once again.
One story
Of Jesus and a demon possessed adversary.
One story
Yielding many facts, but one essential truth:
Jesus is our solution
– Our only solution –
That restores our body
And saves our soul.
The Word of the Lord, as it has come to me.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Breaking Yokes 