What Have You To Do With Us

Jesus Spoke With “Authority”

Polk City UMC                     

February 2, 2003

Mark Haverland

 

THE GOSPEL: Mark 1:21-28  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, convulsing him 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.

 


Do we exorcize demons anymore?  You bet we do.  In fact, the President is trying to exorcize a demon as we speak.  This is what he said this past week as he tried to convince us that a dangerous demon possesses the soul of Saddam Hussein and the nation he controls.

 

The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages -- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning.

 

President Bush identified a very evil demon indeed in the person of Saddam Hussein.  And he and much of the world are preparing to exorcizing it.  The question we have to answer is whether he speaks “with authority.”  That is: does he not only speak the truth, but does he also have the competence to get the job done?  Will the demon leave when the president acts?

 

When Jesus spoke to the demon in the man possessed, the demons knew right away that Jesus had the power to expel him.  He spoke with “authority.”  The congregation in the synagogue may have had some doubts initially but when they saw the demon flee the convulsing lunatic, they, too, knew that Jesus spoke with “authority.”

 

Those with “authority” like Jesus have two basic characteristics.  First of all, they share our values; values which include us and our interests.  Notice the president began his speech with a long discourse on how much he was going to do for us: clean up the environment, decrease our reliance on foreign oil, help poor victims of aids, improve access to prescription drugs for seniors and so forth.  He wants us to believe that he shares our values and that we are benefited by those values.  Secondly, a leader must convince us that he is competent to accomplish the challenges that face us.  Jesus had little difficulty convincing the crowds of his ability to command the demons to flee the field.  He spoke and they convulsed their way out of their victim.  The President has not yet performed this miracle with Iraq.  He has convinced many of his ability to lead a victorious rousting of the demon from Iraq, but not quite everyone.  But at least at this point, the country and world seem poised to let the President exocize the demon in Iraq. 

                                                                           

He had better act quickly, however.  The polls reveal declining support for the president.  I think this is is part because his programs for the economy, for the environment, for health care, for energy don't convince everyone that he holds values which include you and me.  And support for the war is eroding also, although not as dramatically.  I suspect the president will act soon before he loses his “authority.” 

 

What do we make of all this talk about “demons,” and “demonic forces”?  I dare say that most of us here today don't believe in demons as personalities that rule our lives.  However, who among us can deny the reality of demonic forces.  Isn’t Saddam Hussein truly evil and therefore a demon?  Don’t we experience evil in our lives, both societal evils and personal shortcomings?  Can't we call those “demons”? 

 

Any time people are held captive by forces beyond their control, they are possessed by demons.  In our society, for instance, the problems faced by people in poverty grow ever larger.  Homelessness, hunger, lack of health care, access to equal education, unemployment and underemployment capture people.  Such people must feel something over which they have no control has taken over their lives.  I think discrimination and harassment against gay and lesbian students and faculty in the schools is a demon.  Those who abuse our environment are demonic.  The list goes on and on.  Such modern evils can easily be called the “demons” of today.

 

Personal “demons” are real, too.  I can't speak for everyone, but I know that some of us are possessed by the demon of fear - fear of futility, fear of making others angry, fear of rejection, fear of ridicule.  Others are possessed by anger and hatred, which forces them to behave in irratioanal and evil ways.  Can’t anger and hatred be demons?  Even indifference can be a demon, causing us to lack interest in other people and their problems.   Selfishness can be a demon which isolates us from the Jesus we find in those who need our help.

 

Demons can persecute us, can make us feel desperate:  the craziness of guilt and shame, the despair of loneliness, the unrelenting competition and drivenness of people's lives – all these can feel like demons.  Hopelessness in the face of tragic death such as struck the astronauts so unexpectedly yesterday morning – do not their families feel like a demon has settled into their lives; the heartbreaking pain of a friend's unfaithfulness; the confusion of young and old alike about how to make sense of the random violence which crushes them; the rage churning within a friend or family member out of control and fearful of the future.  We know the paralysis of powerlessness to stop bad things that are going on around us.  Yes.  We know those demons are real.  We know people under siege by “demons” for we have been such people ourselves.

 

To all who have demons that plague them, the gospel-writer Mark tells us the end has begun in Jesus.  And the end is certain.  God whose kingdom, even now, has broken into our midst with power.  With authority and with urgency this power will drive our demons away.

 

If in the Christmas season we are prone to sentimentalize the Jesus who comes into our midst wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, the Epiphany season shakes us into the startling awareness that in this self-same Jesus we are also confronted with the very power and authority of God made flesh. While some healing stories may point us toward the Jesus of compassion and tender care, this story brings us face-to-face with a boundary-defying, demon-exorcising Jesus, whose authority - while certainly grounded in God's love and justice - is also coupled with God's power to conquer every other force that threatens to undo us.  If we let him, Jesus will silence our demons with the might of his authority – nothing stands up to his commanding voice.

Of course, it’s not always easy to tell which voice is the voice of Jesus.  In considering all the voices which attempt to speak with “authority,” how are we to know which to follow?  For instance, as we listen to the president speak to the demons, how do we know if his voice has real “authority?”  Some among us say yes, others say no.  Who is right?

 

Methodists have a suggestion.  The confirmation class learned about it this past Wednesday.  It’s called the Wesley Quadrilateral.  When Methodists begin to ask which voice has authority, we have four factors to consider.  We don’t turn just to the Bible – although the Bible may well be a good place to start and we give it a bit of extra weight.  But the Bible does not provide an instant answer to every problem.  No one in the Bible doubted that insanity was possession by a very real demon, for instance, whose voice tormented its victim.  We now know more about mental illness.  But to tease some meaning out of the story of a poor schizophrenic encountering Jesus, well, that takes some doing.  The Bible is a good place to start, to be sure, but Wesley encouraged us to consult three other sources of authority.  Consider what the church has taught over the ages.  The tradition of faithful Christians can sometimes bring light to bear on a dark subject.  Think also about your own personal experience.  Does it often work to cure mental illness by shouting at the evil spirits?  Does a program of retaliation really work to bring about peace?  Our experience can teach us a lot.  To the Bible, the tradition, and experience Wesley adds the notion that all this must finally make sense.  God gave us brains so use them, Wesley suggested.  Asking whether or not handling snakes makes sense can keep us safe, even though the Bible suggests that it’s a way to prove your faithfulness.  Our tradition and our experience don’t think much of snake handling eeither.  Only those who only use the Bible could reach the silly conclusion that snake handling is a Christian practice.  Snake handling is not the only silly practice Christians engage in because they use only the Bible when they approach a problem.

 

To this I would add only one more thing.  Follow Christ!  Jesus had one more leadership quality besides a set of values which ring true and a powerful efficacy at driving out demons.  He also possessed the power to draw us into a relationship with him.  So many voices!  Which should I follow?  Human beings are social animals.  We have evolved to know that when we stick together, we are more likely to survive.  No leader who is not also a friend will protect you from your demons.  Jesus is our friend and so we know that we can trust his “authority.”

 

In considering the idea that Jesus taught as one who had authority, and not like the scribes, I came across a story about a gathering in which a noted actor was called upon to give an oration.  He stood, cleared his throat, and recited the 23rd Psalm, with perfect dramatization, inflection, and so on.  When he finished, the room was filed with applause.  

 

Then, an elderly priest stepped forward, and proceeded to recite the same words.  When he finished, there was not a sound in the room.  But nearly every eye was filled with tears.

 

Someone asked the actor what the difference had been.  "Well, you see," he said, "There's no doubt that I know the 23rd Psalm backwards and forwards.  But the Padre here, well, he knows the Shepherd."

 

Jesus redefines authority as someone we can trust, someone we can believe, someone who cares about us.  Instead of being used to reinforce and uphold oppressive societal structures, or to mask and cover over truth, Jesus uses his authority to boldly proclaim the whole truth of God, to break down false boundaries that separate clean from unclean, to cast out demons from those possessed, and to proclaim God's victory over all demonic forces. Teaching in the synagogue "as one with authority," Jesus, through his very being, also sends a warning to all other false prophets and despotic leaders: "Beware, for the time of your control is coming to a swift and certain end. The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel."

 

In a world such as ours, in which many despotic powers still hold people captive, such news is good indeed. The day of dictatorships of whatever stripe is coming to an end. The day of leaders whose authority is grounded in lies, cruelty, or deception, is coming to an end. The day in which people are possessed by forces that control, manipulate, and enslave them is coming to an end. The day of exclusion and ostracism on the basis of mental illness or other debilitating disease is coming to an end. The day of evil gaining an upper hand over good is coming to an end. God, whose kingdom has broken into our midst with the power and authority of Jesus to cast out our demons, will win the victory over all the evil which now seems to weigh us down.  Now that’s real authority!