The Voice of Authority

Speaking of unclean spirits:  Several years ago the San Jose State University football team wasn’t doing too well.  Instead of scheduling extra practices, the head coach placed an ad for an exorcist who could place a hex on their opponents.  

Although we don't necessarily look for demons under every pew, our movie producers would have us believe that they are more common than we think.  Beginning with movies like "The Exorcist" and continuing through more than we have time to name, they have regaled us with demons around ever corner. 

Now I'll admit, I don't go to movies like that.  I don't have to do that to myself.  I think I have a proper perspective on the demonic.  I'm not going to say that demon possession is impossible, because some of the things we hear not the news today sound very demonic, but it's not nearly as common as some people would have you believe.

But yes, people do still seek exorcism for family members.  I may have told you this before, but the last year I was at Redeemer, I came in one morning to be met by my secretary telling me that there was a family waiting to see me who were looking for an exorcist.  My secretary, a good Baptist girl, had eyes as big as donuts when she relayed that information.  So it was with a great amount of trepidation that I went in to meet them.  Their story unfolded and I listened to them and the story ended with their having been sent to see a particular priest.  It was with great relief that I gave them directions to the Catholic Charismatic Center where the named priest was on staff.

Tom Wright, former Bishop of Durham, in his book, “Mark for Everyone,” tells a story about a disaster at sea in which a boat loaded with tourists begins to sink. Everyone aboard begins to scream as panic sets in.  “Suddenly one man –not a member of the crew –took charge. In a clear voice he gave orders, telling people what to do. Relief mixed with the panic as people realized someone at least was in charge, and many managed to reach lifeboats they would otherwise have missed in the dark.  The man himself made his way down to the people trapped in the hold. 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 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 had been saved.“

This story is not unlike the story of Jesus himself.  The important part in today’s gospel lesson is not the demonic, but the authority that Jesus assumed in his teaching.  This is the first place where we see Jesus teaching in the gospel of Mark.

Here we see Jesus having entered the synagogue.  It was not unusual in that day for visitors to be given the opportunity to read the scriptures or to teach.  Jesus was invited to read and teach.  He was not hesitant or shy in his teaching.  He was very confident in both his message and his delivery and it was obvious to those present that this was a very special person – one with authority.

  

This is the third time Jesus speaks in the Gospel of Mark and we are not told what his teaching is at this point.  But whatever his teaching, the people there are amazed at his authority.  But apparently it greatly disturbs one man there.  The man interrupts the service by challenging Jesus’ teaching.  It says here is that this man is possessed by an unclean spirit.  This spirit is disruptive and recognizes Jesus for who he is.  He calls Jesus, “the Holy One of God” and challenges his teaching and his very right to be there.

The man was not an outsider – he was apparently a member of this synagogue.  The implication is that the teaching in this place had become distorted.  And when Jesus comes, teaching with authority, this unclean spirit lashes out.  He can no longer sit back and be comfortable as he had been with the scribes’ teachings.  Self-preservation kicks in as his existence and belief is being challenged.  

This story is how Mark relays the rise of Jesus, and explains why people followed him and flocked to hear him teach.  It was the authority of his teaching and his presence that brought hope and healing to the broken world of Palestine. 

And today’s world is broken.  If you think it’s fine, then you haven’t listened to the news lately.  People are doing the most horrendous things because they don’t have hope, or they’ve listened to those voices that come from a source other than God.  They may not be coming in the churches, so they don’t heard about the love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ.

Even today there are various teachings in the church and there are people who will rise up to challenge the authority and teaching that they hear.  God will send prophets to speak out, and God’s love will rise up to sustain the body of Christ if we only have eyes to see it.  God’s new teaching is always based on where we are right now, and the direction in which God wants us to move.  

The church is not a static entity, but one that is growing and changing even as our culture and technology and the world itself changes around us.  We have to listen carefully to the different voices that vie for our attention and hear the one with authority.  Being Anglican, I believe that voice is somewhere in the middle – not on the extreme edges.  But it is up to us to ponder love and to listen for the voice of Jesus coming down through the centuries calling us to be a people formed in his own image.

In our second lesson, Paul tells us that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”   It is this love of Jesus for all people that seen so strongly in this gospel passage.  The synagogue is a microcosm of the world today.  Our world is filled with people who are fighting with their own particular demons: emotional issues, addictions, abuse, abandonment, chemical dependencies or imbalances, illnesses or physical demons that torment them in many varied ways.  God sent his very own Son to free them all from those things that keep them bound and unable to respond to God’s love.   He sent his Son Jesus to free us all from our particular demons, to bring us hope when things seem hopeless, and to point the way to a better future and life eternal.  

Where do you hear the voice of Jesus?  How is he calling you to live out your life empowered by his love and healing presence?

Love is being interdependent

Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians says, “We had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the face of great opposition.”  I like that.  He gives us a perfect example of giving credit to God rather than acknowledging any praise for himself for his work at Thessalonika.  He could have said, “Hey, look at what we did...”  But he didn’t - he gave the credit and the glory to God.  And in doing this he also acknowledges the reason for speaking so, “we speak, not to please men, but to please God.”  

In our gospel lesson when the lawyer asks Jesus, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”  He just might have a reason to ask.  The Pharisees prided themselves (remember Paul in the second lesson who didn’t take pride in himself...) on following all the laws...   All 613 of the laws handed down through Moses.

And of those 613 laws, 365 of them are “Thou shalt not’s...”  With that many to remember NOT to do, it just might be hard to remember what you are supposed to do.  The Pharisees were always determined to “get it right”.  Now I don’t know about you, but I have often been plagued with this burning desire to “get it right”.  Especially on tests.  I remember when I first started running into open-ended questions that had no specific answer.  Almost drove me crazy trying to find out what I was supposed to do.  Remember that I taught mathematics, and I like nice logical problems with exact answers.  You know, it’s either right or it’s wrong - with partial credit if you showed your work.  So I understand wanting to get it right.  

Lots of people want to get it right when it comes to worship.  I’ve seen people panic over the slightest little thing - you know, wine spilled on at alb or the fair linen, or a skipped lesson, or the wrong song played.  I’ve come to the conclusion that God probably gets a good laugh at some of the things that we obsess over.  So this lawyer wants to know which of the 613 laws is the greatest.  He’s asking a legally complex question.  Now according to Matthew - this is a confrontation - they are trying to trap Jesus into saying something that can be used against him in trial.  And Jesus once again sidesteps his antagonists as he sweeps away the legal implications by calling the people to love. 

  You see, I don’t think God is so much interested in our ‘getting every little detail right’, as he is interested in our understanding the big picture.  In other words, it’s not the “things” that matter - it’s the condition of the heart that is important.   That is what Jesus is trying to tell us in the gospel today.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your mind.”  But, it’s very important that we don’t miss the second commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  

You see, even though they are really two separate commandments - they are interdependent.  They have something like of a symbiotic relationship.   Does everyone know what interdependent means?  It’s claimed that there are three stages to life.  Stage one is when you are totally dependent on others – as a baby or small child, you are dependent on your parents and other adults to take care of you - feed you, clothe you, keep you safe.  As you grow up, and especially into your teen years it becomes important to learn to be independent – to be able to take care of yourself and not need anyone else.  That is stage two.  Unfortunately, we all know people who never make it out of one or the other of these two stages of life.  The third stage of life is when you learn to be interdependent – this is usually understood to be the fullness of adulthood.  This is the stage of life where you know that you are fully capable of being independent, but you also realize (or learn) the value of being interdependent with other people in this life.  

This is where you choose to entwine your life with others and allow them to help you even as you help them.  The first two stages are all about self – what others can do for me – and what I can do for me.  The third stage is where we reach out to include others in a healthy way – how we can work together to the benefit of both (or all).

It is this kind of interdependence that is set up with these two commandments.  Each one is stated separately, and in fact, each one has been acted on alone by some people.  Stage one: There are people who get so wrapped up in loving the Lord that they never make it outside themselves to see what He wants them to do in the world.  Stage two: There are also humanitarians who do wonderful work with the poor, or the sick, or the homeless, etc. – but who will tell you there is no God and that’s why we have to be responsible for those less fortunate.  Now that is independent from stage one.  Both of these stages are still about self – the first is what can God do for me?  The second is what can I do for others (I in place of God).  But God calls us to beyond stage one on to stage three – to understand a healthy relationship between the two commandments.

 

There are too many people who claim to love God, but yet they will go out and step all over others to get what they want, or ignore those who need a helping hand, or treat others less than kindly.  They don’t carry what they learn about God out into the world.  What they don’t understand is that our love of God is incomplete if it does not extend to those who are made in God’s image.  That’s what love of neighbor is all about.  It’s about treating those around us in the same way we would want to be treated if we were in their place.  

One of the things we did in seminary was the “Friday feeding” - we would make sandwiches, put them in a bag along with a piece of fruit and bottle of water and take them down to an area just off the drag in Austin where young homeless kids (high school age) hung out.  We pass them out, then if we had any left, we took them down to the Red River Street area where adult homeless could be found, and if there was any left then we would take them to the local shelter.  Putting into action what we were learning in school.

I really liked the way Grace came together right after Harvey to prepare and deliver food for those out working on flooded houses.  That’s the kind of thing God wants us to do - to reach out and help those in need. 

This kind of love is not about passion and it’s not about feelings.  It’s about treating other fairly and honestly and justly.  This love is a decision - a decision to show mercy, to lend a helping hand, to respond to the rights of others.  This kind of love means to be in relationship with the people around us - those who know God and those who don’t.  This kind of love is the fulfillment – the interdependence – the adulthood of the Christian life.  This is an invitation to live into the fullness of God’s love for us and through us.  It becomes a beacon shining out to those around us, calling others to a fuller life in Christ.  Not just obeying the laws of God, but living a life in Christ as well.  And living that life means being interdependent both with God and with the world around us.   Amen.

Transforming Love

Our collect tells us we are to trust God with all our hearts – when we are proud and confide in our own strength, we are not trusting in God – but if we boast of his mercy and trust in him – he will never forsake us.  

Our lesson from Romans tells us to love one another and in that way, we fulfill the law.  Paul sums up the commandments quoting Jesus, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And he says, “Let us lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  Then he tells us to “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” 

And Matthew tells us if another sins against you…  I think we have to be very careful when we accuse someone of sinning against us.  So often there is no clear cut right or wrong.  Greed, misunderstandings, accidents, different world views have all led to disputes of various kinds.  That’s the reason we have courts and judges and juries to decide on cases.  That’s the reason that in this country a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.  Unfortunately, in recent times, people start drawing lines in the sand and refuse to even listen to a viewpoint other than theirs. 

It appears that Matthew is presupposing that the second party is guilty – and I say Matthew rather than Jesus because the words that he puts in Jesus’ mouth talk about the “church” – not the synagogue or the temple – which are the things that Jesus would have talked about.  This is written after the establishment of the Christian church in those areas around the Mediterranean Sea where the disciples had gone to spread the good news of Jesus.  

And I find it really interesting because he goes through this progression – which is really a good progression – you go first and talk one on one to try to resolve your problems.  If you don’t get satisfaction, then you take two or three witnesses with you.  In Jewish legal procedure, everything had to be established by at least two witnesses.  

Robert Heinlein wrote a book called “Stranger in a Strange Land,”  And in that book, there was a character called “a fair witness.’  Once a fair witness put on their official robe, he or she could not tell a lie, could make no assumptions, and went only on the facts that could be verified.

 Their “testimony” was legally binding – something like a notary on steroids.  At one point in the story, a fair witness was asked the color of a house on a nearby hillside.  The fair witness replied, “The side facing us appears to be white.”  They were asked, “so the house is white?”  The fair witness replied, “The other sides may be a different color.  I can only speak for the side I see.”

We hope that witnesses would always tell the truth, but that is not always the case.  There is an apocryphal story of Daniel called “Susanna.”  It is the 13^th chapter of the Greek version of the book of Daniel.  In this story, two elders bore witness accusing Susanna of impropriety.  They were lying, but thought that they could get away with it since they constituted a “legal” two witnesses and Susanna’s witness (being female) didn’t count.  But Daniel believed Susanna and caught the elders out in their lie and saved her life.

The truth of the matter is that different people see things differently.  It’s dangerous to draw lines in the sand in personal disputes, because like the witness in Heinlein’s story, you may have only seen one side of the house – and unlike the witness, you may be drawing conclusions from one view.  In other words, what I see (or hear) may seem to be one thing, but what you intended might be something entirely different.  We see our own faults most clearly when we see them in someone else. 

When we live in close proximity to other people, we are bound to rub up against them and irritate one another from time to time.  Even when we are together even for a short time, things can happen that cause discord.  Even at times, an innocent comment can hurt and cause division:

            (insert story about Rob at Camp Allen)

Bishop N. T. Wright writes:  Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying ‘it didn’t really happen’ or ‘it didn’t really matter’. In either of those cases, you don’t need forgiveness, you just need to clear up a misunderstanding. Forgiveness is when it did happen, and it did matter, and you’re going to deal with it and end up loving and accepting one another again anyway.

The new thing that seems to be very prominent in today’s society is condemning people without ‘trial’ and believe me, it is rampant today.  “Look what he did!  Did you see that?”  Sometimes its true and sometimes it’s not.  What we often don’t understand is what is behind the action.  What are the circumstances in that person’s life that has brought them to this place?  When we see people behave in certain ways, we are quick to condemn.  I offer up the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and her interaction with Jesus.  He offered salvation to her - without condemnation.  He stated the facts about her life – you have had 5 husbands and the one you have now is not your husband.

Since women were not allowed to have property, and they couldn’t inherit, they were sometimes desperate for survival.  They would do whatever it took to stay alive.  Most of us don’t know what it is to be that desperate – for shelter, for food – to believe that someone cares.  Jesus did not condemn this woman for her ‘sin.’  He didn’t even call it ‘a sin.’ Like the fair witness, he simply stated the facts – without commentary.  We need to leave off the commentary when we talk to people, because it most often is conjecture and that is where the real harm comes from in our interactions with other: the conjecture, the commentary by which we judge people.

Our lesson from Romans says to lay aside the works of darkness – those works that condemn others – and to put on the armor of light.  It tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and that means to do as Jesus himself would do.  The flesh in us wants to be hurt by others – the flesh in us wants to compare ourselves to them and come out on top.  It wants to condemn those who are not like us, who want to do things in a different way.

So how did Jesus treat the tax collector and the Gentile?  With dignity and with love.  He greeted them as friends, and his friendship was so powerful that their lives were transformed.  Jesus calls us to do the same – to everyone - to be a transforming agent.  He calls us to greet them as friends, and to allow the power of that friendship to transform them and to transform us, over time, into new creations of his love.  Don’t expect instant results.

Yesterday I gave a talk at Camp Allen mostly concerning angels and I said that the demonic influences seem to be winning through out the world today.  When we look at the divisions such as political situation, terrorism, genocide, wars and the rampant hatred that has plagued the world in recent history, it is hard to see how our world will survive.  It is sad to see how far down our world had come.  And then there is Harvey, the fires burning in Oregon and Montana, the earthquake in Mexico, Irma bearing down on Florida - and people wanting to comment - these are punishments from God.  No!  Those are not punishments.  I believe these are tools that God is using to allow the good in people to shine through and teach us to pull together and unite for a common cause.

Our gospel ends with Jesus saying, “For whenever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”  Whatever you bind or loose on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven.  What you reap here on earth, what you transform for the glory of God, will be credited to you in heaven.  When you gather with the tax collector or the Gentile, in the name of Jesus, without condemnation and allow that friendship to grow so that the love of Jesus shines through it, then and only then will you have put on Jesus Christ and the armor of light.

Amen