Advent Lutheran Church

"The Voice of Authority (Epiphany 4)"

Grace and peace to you from God the Creator, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Alyce McKenzie writes in her blog, “I remember from my Soccer Mom days feeling sorry for the boys whose parents tried to outcoach the coach. I still remember the confused look on the boys' faces when their mom or dad was on one side of the field yelling to them to do one thing (usually score) and coach was on the other yelling the opposite (usually pass). Many times, a boy would shake his head angrily toward his parent and then do what the coach said. Good choice. The angry head shaking spoke louder than words. It said, ‘You are not the authority here. You need to be quiet so I can hear my coach's voice.’”  Thank goodness for the “something inside” that makes boys choose to listen to the coach’s voice.

We are following Jesus from the perspective of the writer of Mark’s Gospel.  The story begins, not with Christmas and the birth narrative, but with Jesus’ Baptism by John in the River Jordan, and his immediate temptation in the wilderness.  The beginning of Jesus’ adult ministry, and the point of it all, was for him to proclaim the dominion of God (otherwise known as the Kingdom of God.)  As in any big job, it is wise to start by removing the obstacles, which is exactly what Jesus does.  In John, Jesus starts out by cleansing the Temple, but in Mark, Jesus has initiated his ministry with an agenda of prayer, preaching and healing and begins this housecleaning task by showing his authority over “unclean spirits.” The writer of Mark might be claiming Jesus’ authority over the “demon Rome,” but as readers, we are beginning to get the picture that wherever Jesus walked, the Kingdom of God was breaking in with power over all the forces that opposed God’s reign, or God’s good desire for the Creation.       

Jesus’ ministry in Mark, so clearly focused on healing the wounds of the world, reminds me of the English version of the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (13^th c.)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.  Amen.

 

In Mark, Jesus’ voice is that of the Son of God.  And throughout the Gospel of Mark we hear the refrain, “Listen to him.”  And this morning we are listening in on a teaching from the synagogue at Capernaum.  The guest teacher/preacher in church today is none other than Jesus of Nazareth, and his words might have been the inspiration for Francis’ prayer.  Perhaps they were similar to the sermon recorded in Luke 4, where Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,

release to the captives,

recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free;

to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And then, as if to add the authoritative postscript to the reading, Jesus said, “Today, in your hearing, the Scripture has been fulfilled.”  Jesus is moving from the “head” of humans to the “heart” of God, teaching with divine authority, and the unclean spirit cannot stand it!  (Sidebar: A word about “demons” – “unclean spirits” of the day.)  “Spirits” were everywhere; they roamed the world, the good ones belonging to God and the bad ones serving Satan.  It was sort of like “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” from The Wizard of Oz.  As if these were the only two options…But the basic belief system across the culture was polytheism (many gods)

So there was fertile ground to believe that demons had power over us.  In fact, the Jews of the day had no doubts that there was demon-possession among them, so much so that archeological evidence shows that holes were bored in the skulls of disturbed people to permit the demons to escape.

But “demon possession” then was not like the movies we have today, created for their scary-movie entertainment quotient.  Much of what was labeled demon possession can be explained by modern medical knowledge, or a more comprehensive understanding of mental illnesses.  However, the prevailing observation of the presence of evil was sufficient to fuel the images of “Satan.”  And whatever the demons or spirits were, Jesus saw these situations for what they were and will always be:  the Voice of forces that inhibit, block or derail the work of God’s Spirit in the world.

            “What have you to do with me, Jesus of Nazareth?” said the unclean spirit.  And we might ask the same question, thinking the answer is, “Nothing.”  Yet in Baptism, we still participate in renunciation of the evil that exists in the world: “I/we renounce the devil and all the forces that deny God.  I/we renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God; I/we renounce the ways of sin that draw us from God.

We KNOW those other voices, the ones that seem to control us at times when we are “not ourselves,” or when we think, “Where did THAT come from?”  Possession, addiction, guilt – all those things that get in God’s way - these are all symptoms of sin, classically defined as “separation from God.”  Deserved or undeserved, whether from within or without, these symptoms signal the sickness and brokenness of all humanity.  First, we need to claim our fallen state, then name it as SINful.  Then, we can listen for the coach’s voice…

The story I told at the beginning is true of any team in any sport.  Parents, justifiably, root for their child first and foremost, and then for the team,  The coach, however, puts the best interests of the team first, encouraging and strengthening each individual member to put forth their best efforts for something bigger than themselves.  It’s true of life as well…you can play for yourself, or you can play for the team.

Finally, let’s review what has been “revealed” thus far in our Epiphany journey:  With Jesus we began with our baptismal identity.  On Epiphany 2 we were reminded that God knows us, and all creation, intimately (cf. Psalm 139.)  Last week, Epiphany 3 brought us a memorable example that God shows mercy to all (and apparently all means all!) God’s mercy flowed over those who repented in Nineveh, as well as extending to the non-repentant prophet, Jonah.  Today, the 4^th Sunday after the Epiphany, we are assured that God has authority over whatever might keep us away from God’s comfort and love (unclean spirits/demons/evil, etc…)

Something inside the child said, “No. You are not the authority here. You need to be quiet so I can hear my coach's voice."  Thank goodness for the something inside that recognizes the voice of God.  Amen.

 

Sermon Resources:

Alyce McKenzie (edgyexegesis.com)

David Lose (Workingpreacher.com)

Harold Lentz (Sermonsuite.com)