Mark 1:21-28
Epiphany 4 / Year B
Many of you will recall
when the house behind us on Saratoga St. was used as a halfway home for some
folks who, for various reasons, could not live on their own. A few of the residents became regular clients
of our food pantry and you may remember Reggie who attended Sunday services and
lots of coffee, which, due to digestive issues, he was not supposed to have.
And then there was Mr.
Johnson who was not permitted to leave the house, but ‘escaped’ from time to
time. One Sunday morning between services
there was a wild pounding on the Parish Hall doors. It was Mr. Johnson and he was ranting that
the lady who ran the house was trying to kill him. Well, some of you managed to get him settled
down while I went across the street and fetched the supervisor. She came over, corralled Mr. Johnson, and
gave him a firm talking to as she escorted him out of our building.
Guess what happened the
very next Sunday, again between services.
You got it. There was a beating
at the door and it was… Mr. Johnson complaining loudly once again the
supervisor was trying to kill him. This
time I did not welcome him into the building, but started walking him through
the parking lot and back to his home.
“She’s gonna kill me,” he protested.
“Oh,” I said light-heartedly, in an attempt to calm him down, “now you
know she is not going to do that.” But
over and over and rather boisterously he professed an unwavering belief his
life was in danger. Finally, and fed up,
I said with some force (loud enough, at least, for a person in the bank parking
lot to hear), “Listen, she is not going to kill you, but if you come back over
here again and pound on our door, I just might!” I glanced over at the person at the bank and,
from the expression on his face, could tell this is not something he expected
to hear come out of the mouth of a person wearing a clergy collar!
This morning we read from
Mark’s gospel about Jesus’ first public appearance after his baptism. It is the Sabbath and he and his new
followers go to the local Synagogue.
Just as we do here, he wanted to be a setting where he could worship,
pray, read from Holy Scripture, and gather as a community in a peaceful
setting. Mark tells us on that day Jesus
was asked to be what we would call the preacher. The text does not tell us a single thing
about the content of what he said, only that those present are amazed by the
authority he exhibits while teaching.
And then comes what we
might call the Mr. Johnson moment.
Demons have possessed a man at the Synagogue and they cry out to Jesus:
“What do you have to do with us?” A more
literal translation is “Why can’t you just let things be?” “Have you come to
destroy us?” “I know who you are.”
Why can’t Jesus let things
be? Because he is not going to allow
anything to impede human flourishing. He
is going to teach God’s word so that we who listen might understand, and in
understanding be empowered to think and do those things that are right. He is going to banish anything and everything
which might hold us back, drag us down, lock us up, or tie us in knots. This is Kingdom work and, as we heard Jesus
proclaim in last week’s reading, the Kingdom of God has come near. This means every other kingdom, every other
realm, every other dominion, every other power is being supplanted; now, in
part, one day in full.
Suppose we were to spend
some time pondering this reading and think about what it says to us and to our
church. Suppose it was the only
Scripture we had to draw upon to gain a sense of identity and purpose. Suppose from it we had to craft a mission
statement. What would it be? I contemplated this for a while this past week
and here is what I have come up with:
Come as you are,
leave as God intends for you to be.
And God intends for this
particular person to be free from of all that possesses him. With just a few words, spoken with authority,
it happens: “Be silent, and come out of him.”
And with this the Mr. Johnson moment is over once and for all. All present, who I suspect have seen the
demons speak out many times before, are amazed, stunned I would say.
Word about this and other
things Jesus does spreads throughout the region. As Jesus journeys from town-to-town, locals expect
it to be showtime… “Do here what you did in Capernaum.” But for Jesus it is not showtime, it is get-right
time. He has come to help folks get
right with God, with their community, with their family, and with themselves.
You are here this morning
and perhaps you sense the presence of Jesus in this place. Perhaps you hear his message and respond in
the silence of your heart, “Why can’t you just let things be?” Jesus answers, “Because today is your get-right
day!”
Come as you are,
leave as God intends for you to be.
