Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany – January 28th, 2017

Text: Mark 1:21-28 Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 And they went into Caper′na-um; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately 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 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Amen.

Today’s Gospel lesson tells us something that we should never forget, and that is that God stands steadfastly for us against anything and everything that tries to hold us down. God opposes anything and everything that tries to rob us of abundant life. God opposes anything and everything that seeks to rob us of lives of joy, meaning, and purpose. God, in the words of Martin Luther’s great hymn, truly is our mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing.

How can we know this? Because of this: The very first thing Jesus does in Mark’s Gospel is heal a man with an unclean spirit. His very first act is one of compassion and healing.

Whatever that “unclean spirit” was, however we want to understand it today, the fact is that it caused that poor man untold pain. It kept him from his friends and his family. It robbed him of his dignity, even his personhood. He very possibly had become a danger to himself and to others. His family suffered right along with him. They were in anguish over his situation, and feared for his future – or even whether or not he would have a future. And there was absolutely nothing that could be done.

Anyone who has ever loved and cared for another person knows this kind of anguish. Whether it was a mother or a father, a wife or a husband, or – God forbid! – a child, we’ve all stood helplessly by as that person suffered. We have all spent time in that “valley of the shadow of death.”

But then along comes Jesus, who proclaims: “The time that was appointed has come; and the kingdom of God is here. Repent and believe the good news.” He didn’t just say these powerful words, he backed them up with powerful, healing, life-giving, life-affirming actions.

That is our God – the God who was not content to stand back and watch His children wander away, but who came to us as one of us to call us back to him.

And here we are this morning, gathered together as our fellowship in the faith. The compassion that Jesus showed to that man is the same compassion he bestows on us.

Have you ever wondered why it is that churches like ours exist? Have you ever asked yourself why you are a member here? We have all sorts of answers to that question – tradition, family connection, the friends we’ve made here, the ability to serve Christ and others through St. John’s, and many, many more. All of them are valid and very important.

But I think that, underneath all of the answers we give to that question, there is just one answer that supports all the others: Whether or not we articulate it, or are even more than dimly aware of it, we are members here and do what we do in this place, and from this place, because we know that God really is for us, that God really does love us, and we want to respond. We want to live what the Rev. Charles Hoffacker calls “a true life.”

Everything we do here – Sunday worship, our meetings, our various gatherings and activities – all of it is a response to God’s love and His gift to us of abundant life through His Son, Jesus Christ. Somewhere inside each of us here this morning is the unshakeable desire to live a true life, the kind of life Jesus lived, and the kind of life He calls us to live. It’s unlikely – but by no means impossible – that any of us will cast out unclean spirits the way Jesus did; but, on the other hand, every one of us can meet real needs others might have. The Latin motto of the ancient Benedictine Order of monks is “Ora et Labora,” which when translated is “Pray and Work.” The “work part” for us might include packing meals at Feed My Starving Children, serving as a member of PACA, or on our Council, or on the Cemetery Association, or teaching English as a second language, volunteering at the Gathering Place; the prayer part might include participating in World Day of Prayer – well, we can serve in countless ways, and every one of those ways is a real response to that boundless love of God. Even simply being a member of this church is also a way to serve, because without faithful praying members who attend, week after week, this church would not exist.

Each of these examples points us to what it means to live a true life. Such a true life can be heroic, but it doesn’t have to be. The Rev. Charles Hoffacker writes, “To live a true life means to bring some light to the world. In one of her best known gospel songs, Mahalia Jackson sings out about this true life:

“While you’re on earth,
shine like a star;
brighten the corner
wherever you are.”

[From Bob Merrill, “Rusty Old Halo.”][1]

It might come as a surprise to hear that living a true life has nothing to do with doctrines and dogma. Mark does not give us so much as a hint as to what exactly Jesus taught that day. There was no expounding on rules, no list of “thou shalt nots,” no discourses on who was in and who was out, on who was right and who was wrong – there was only Jesus Himself, teaching with an authority that did not come from tradition, but from Himself as God. He does more than just set forth truth. He was – is – the Truth, with a capital “T.”

Imagine the good people of Capernaum, gathered together in the synagogue, just like they did every other Sabbath. And also just like today’s churchgoers, they came with all kinds of attitudes, and in all kinds of conditions. Some dragged themselves along, half-asleep from partying last night; some came into worship still worrying about the last week at work; some came in a bad mood because of the uncooperative children they were towing behind them; and still others came happily, ready to hear what was going to be said and ready to pray. The usual mixed bag of expectations and outlooks, in other words.

And then they are jolted out of their complacency because the Truth – God’s own Truth – stood before them and stared them in the face.

And we’re told that Jesus astonished the people there that morning with his teaching. Not “surprised.” Not “pleased.” Not even “shocked.” He astonished them, young and old, with the way he brought the faith of his people, and the Good News that he had to share, to life. No preacher before or since, no matter how gifted, no matter how learned, no matter how godly, has been able to come close to what Jesus did regularly. We can only preach the Gospel as we have heard it and come to believe it; he was the Gospel. He was both the medium and the message. He was the true life in person.

Even though none of us can match Jesus, nonetheless each one of us is called to be true. This truth cannot be measured by any external standard. All the ways we measure ourselves do not tell the truth of who we are. The truth Jesus calls on us to live is not something that appears on an organizational chart or is summed up on a spreadsheet. It is an interior reality. At the end of the day, it is a matter of soul.

Hoffacker tells us: “We are to be true. And for most of us most of the time, that does not require going someplace else. It means being true right where we are. We are to live out our own unique life with all its foibles and limitations. It’s a waste of effort for us to wish we were living out another person’s life someplace else. We are to be true right where we are, and usually that means someplace outside the spotlight.”[2]

At any given moment, we have the opportunity to have a profound effect on the world. Would you like to have such an effect? Then, Hoffacker says, “be true to who you are where you are! This is an opportunity given to everyone. This is a radically democratic proposal. No one’s denied the chance.”[3]

For some, living a true life might mean teaching a single child to read. Note also that the true life doesn’t guarantee huge success. Jesus did not have thousands of faithful disciples. He did not cure all the sick or possessed people in Israel. His earthly ministry only lasted three years. Yet the life he lived was a true life, true enough that God endorsed it by raising him from the dead.

The greatest tragedy for us is to miss living a true life. But to live a true life is to have done everything we possibly could do, regardless of failure or deprivation, right where we are.

When we keep in mind that, as Paul writes, “if God is for us, who can be against us?” we can really live into a true life lived in and for Jesus Christ – and what a difference we can make in the world!

In the Name of God, the Holy and Undivided Trinity. AMEN.

[1] Hoffacker, Rev. Charles, “A True Life,” https://www.sermonwriter.com/sermons/mark-121-28-a-true-life-hoffacker/

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.