Dear Emanuel
Members and Friends –
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, throwing him into convulsions
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. Mark 1:21-28
The Gospel texts for January describe the
baptism of Jesus and the calling of his first disciples. The text above, which we will read on January
28, describes Jesus’ first miracle (at least the first in Mark’s gospel) – an
exorcism.
Readings of this nature can make us, as modern
readers, uncomfortable, as they remind us of the vast, seemingly unbridgeable,
gulf between the worldview of the writer of Mark’s gospel and our own. Many of the symptoms attributed in the
Gospels to demonic activity seem recognizable to us as symptoms of epilepsy,
mental illness, and other medical conditions that can be cured or managed using
modern medical knowledge. At the same
time, talk of unclean spirits and demons may fill our minds with sensational
images from movies such as the 1973 movie The
Exorcist and the decades of cheap knock-off movies (including numerous
spoofs and parodies) about demonic possession and exorcism that followed. We may
feel tempted to throw some side-eye at our sisters and brothers in Christ in
some of the more conservative Christian traditions that to this day attribute serious
illness to demonic possession and see prayer as the only legitimate,
God-ordained cure. We may shake our
heads at occasional but sensational news accounts of people dying, surrounded
by church members passionately united in fervent prayer, of conditions that
could easily have been cured by a visit to a hospital or an urgent care center
or clinic or family doctor, perhaps followed by a trip to the nearest Rite Aid
or CVS Pharmacy. We may want to consign
such texts as our reading from Mark’s gospel to the scrap heap of irrelevancy, feeling
that they say more about the writers’ naïve, pre-scientific view of the world than
about the power of God. We know better
now, we may tell ourselves. To quote a
punchline from the 1985 movie Desperately
Seeking Susan, if the man with the unclean spirit showed up at Emanuel
Church some Sunday morning, howling at the top of his lungs, we may feel
tempted to tell him, “Just take a Valium like a normal person.”
And yet…..and yet. Despite the vast difference between the
worldviews of the writer of Mark’s gospel and our own, these words may still
have a message for us, may yet have healing power for us. At its core, Jesus’ exorcism of the man with
the unclean spirit was the liberation of a man who was in bondage. And while we may be loath to use terms such
as “unclean spirit”, we all know persons who are in bondage – to alcohol, to opiates
and methamphetamines, to sexual addiction, compulsive gambling, eating
disorders, overwork, uncontrolled consumer spending, excessive accumulation of wealth,
to name just a few of the chains that bind and limit us. Our society disparages and sometimes
criminalizes some of these addictions while encouraging and rewarding others,
but they all limit us nonetheless. And persons in bondage sit in church with us
each Sunday. In fact, if we’re honest
with ourselves, when we come home from church, we may find a person in bondage
staring back at us in the mirror. It has been said that we as humans have
God-shaped holes in our spirits. As
Augustine wrote in prayer to God, “You have made us for yourself, and our
hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” If we don’t find our rest in God, we may try
to fill this emptiness and restlessness with substitutes. We may have pacifiers that calm us in the
moment, but in the long run limit our lives and deprive us of the wholeness
that God intended for us.
We may find ourselves in bondage, not only to
our personal addictions, but to the injustices of our society. How many people have been kept from realizing
their full potential by poverty, lack of education, discrimination on a
personal or institutional level? How
many potential cures for cancer, how many symphonies, how many potential
scientific, political, and economic advances for the betterment of humankind
and the environment have we been deprived of, because those who could have
created these things were shunted by life circumstances and systemic barriers
into dead-end jobs or unemployment or other situations that left their
potential unfulfilled. Theologian Walter
Wink wrote that society’s institutions generate a spiritual force or ethos –
what Paul described as “powers and principalities” - which may support or
subvert our journey to wholeness.
The man with the unclean spirit screamed at
Jesus, “What have you to do with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to
destroy us?” Jesus came to free slaves
and liberate those in captivity. But the
forces that enslave us resist change mightily, working to maintain an
unhealthy, destructive status quo. “It’s not so bad; leave well enough alone,”
our addictions and compulsions whisper to us. “Agitating for change will only make things
worse,” the forces of societal injustice warn us. To one enslaved by an
addiction or a compulsion, the path to freedom may involve periods of intense
emotional, mental, or physical pain from withdrawal. To those whose lives have been limited by
circumstances, liberation may bring great disorientation and unease, similar to
recently released prisoners struggling to re-enter society. The early stages of liberation may feel like being
ripped apart, like the bottom has fallen out.
Like the Israelites grumbling in the wilderness, those released from
bondage may feel powerful compulsions to return to the familiarity of their
chains rather than risk the pain and disorientation of freedom.
Jesus came to free slaves and liberate
prisoners, and we as his followers can have a role in this process of
liberation. In a later account of Jesus liberating
the demon-possessed man living among the tombs (Mark 5), Jesus asked the demon
its name, and it replied “Legion”. The
path to freedom may involve “naming the demon”; that is, naming the addictions that
drive us and the forces of injustice that limit us. Addiction and oppression thrive in isolation
and secrecy; indeed, it has been said that “We’re only as sick as our
secrets.” It has also been said, in a
different context, that “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Bringing our addictions and other forms of
bondage into the light (perhaps by asking others to pray for healing and deliverance,
or to stand with us in vulnerable times) may be the first step to healing and
liberation. In doing this work, there
are two pitfalls we as the church should avoid.
One is to impose our personal ideas of liberation on others (the mistake
of those who, for example, seek to “cure” LBGT persons by “praying away the
gay”); the other is to leave others isolated in their suffering. We will need to seek God’s guidance to find the
most faithful way forward.
None of this is to disparage medical
science. Advanced medical technology, doctors
and other medical professionals, therapists, and pharmaceuticals have important
roles to play in promoting health, particularly in the early stages of recovery.
And, unlike Jesus, I am not an exorcist,
nor do I play one on TV. But as human
beings, our physical addictions and psychological compulsions have spiritual
dimensions, and resources for healing must encompass the whole person if healing
is to last.
“And the
unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions 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.’ May God
grant us the courage to claim authority from God to speak and act for our
liberation and that of our neighbors. May
we support and accompany one another and our neighbors in our journeys to
wholeness in Christ’s name. May Emanuel
Church continue to live into our God-given mission of healing and liberation in
the New Year 2018.
See you in church –
Pastor Dave
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