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4 Epiphany B—February 1, 2015
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Mark 1:21-28
The Rev. David R. Wilt
One Sunday a priest was getting well into his sermon when a
baby started to cry down in one of the front pews. The very
embarrassed mother snatched the baby up and started down the
aisle. The priest stopped his sermon and said, “Madam you don’t
have to take that baby out. He is not bothering me.”
She said, “No, he isn’t, but your certainly bothering him.”
How many different voices do you hear in a day?
How many words to you hear or see in a day?
If you have a clock radio the first voice you may hear is some
talk jock. Then, if you are married, it might be your spouse. Of
course there is always the newspaper, then more radio in the car,
followed by your boss or co-worker. The people sitting next to
you at lunch who have solved all of the political and social
problems of the world and in loud voices want to share their
opinions and accomplishments are always inspiring. Then more
boss, more co-worker, the evening drive jock on the radio. Here
comes the spouse again and maybe children, and then why not
add some more words and turn on the evening news.
Of all the words you hear in a single day think about how
many of them you actually absorb and digest and remember.
My brother-in-law Bob is an NPR junkie. And, he loves to tell
of the wonderful things he has heard about medicine or world
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leaders or any other number of topics which is fine except he
forgets a lot of the details to the point, well sometimes there just
is no point. By the way if you are ever with him and there is a
newspaper handy he will be happy to read it to you.
Of all of the words you hear in a single day think about how
many of them strike you as being said with authority?
That’s what distinguished Jesus in the synagogue that day.
“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as
one having authority.”
This is a distinction from the scribes but not a disparagement
of the Scribes per se. The Scribes method of teaching was to
quote the historical precedents and laws and principles often as
written by their ancestors. And here is Jesus speaking in the first
person, sharing first-hand the words of God.
Of course it’s going to sound different. It’s like having a
commentator describe a space shot to you or being wired directly
into the astronaut
Authoritative voices sound different. And, literally we may go
days without hearing one but when we do we listen. And, having
listened all of the other voices become even less convincing,
particularly if what they are saying is a direct contradiction to
what the voice of authority is saying.
Voices of authority tend to do something else to us,
particularly if they are professing things that are making us
uncomfortable. They bring out the worst in us. And, our initial
reaction may well be to shout down the voice of authority
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you
come to destroy us.”
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But voices of authority also come with another trait. They
come with power.
Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him,”
and the evil spirit obeyed to this voice of power
Voices of authority and power do not waver or shrink from
their convictions. They demand action and they get it. They
demand justice, and they get it. They demand healing, and they
get it.
Imagine this, there was actually a man in the synagogue
with an unclean spirit; he wasn’t whole, he wasn’t healthy. Can
you imagine that? There was actually someone sitting in the pew
whose life was not perfect, who didn’t fit in, who wasn’t the same
as all the others.
Well, the scribes didn’t catch that little fact because they had
a service to conduct, and they probably had someone keeping
track of the sundial to make sure it didn’t run over.
Imagine that, somebody in church whose spirit is more
troubled than it is whole but that caring voice of authority, that
voice that saw beyond the crowd and focused on the needs of that
one individual, spoke with power and suddenly that one individual
was no longer a source of ridicule or estrangement or exclusion.
Because of that voice of authority and power that one individual
was as worthy as the rest of those gathered.
And, because of that, the voice of authority and power has
one more trait that all who feel dispossessed must feel.
The voice of authority and power is also the voice of hope.
The voice of hope that no matter what our ancestors believed,
that no matter what station in life we are told we cannot rise
above, that no matter what humilities we have been forced to
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endure in the past, there is hope that we all are free to live as new
people of God.
That is the voice that came from Jesus. The Scribes and
Pharisees and Sadducees would hear it spoken as loudly as all the
others, but because it would challenge their superiority, they not
only would not listen, they would set out on a path to silence it
forever.
But others would hear it too and they would choose to listen.
Those would be the ones who find themselves in desolate places.
Those would be the leper, the paralyzed man, the sinner, the
publican. Those would be the outcasts. And. by choosing to listen
the kingdom of God would be revealed to them and instead of
mirroring scorn and degradation they would live as the child of
God that God had always intended them to be.
Authority, power, and hope, the message of Jesus Christ.
Was this a healing?
It is referred to often as the story of an exorcism.
Or was it a miracle?
Is it even really about the man who was healed? Or, was it
about opening our ears and hearing above all of the thousands of
other voices we hear that voice that speaks uniquely with
authority and power and hope?
If we hear the words “love, follow, forgiveness, you are a
child of God” keep listening you are probably on the right channel.
And, when you see prejudice and hatred fall before your very eyes
at the power of these words then you are free to hope that God is
not done with us yet.
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You have just heard 1,108 words, a mere fraction of what
you will hear the rest of the day, especially if you watch the
Superbowl.