“More Than Being Right”

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 quiet 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.

Last Sunday, we started talking about the book of Mark and I said that there are three groups of people that all function as stereotypes. There are the authorities, which are all opposed to Jesus, there are the crowds which are just following him for the signs and miracles, and then there are the confused disciples who follow, but don't understand. But in fact, there is a fourth group of characters that come up in the book of Mark and today's passage introduces us to one of those characters—the demons or spiritual forces. We don't talk much in our church about demons or unclean spirits, or anything to do really with the demonic or spiritual realm. I’m not sure what your connotations are of any of those words, but I doubt they're good, and I especially doubt that you enjoy talking about it. As Presbyterians, we certainly do not focus much on demon possession or exorcisms. As I said, I don't particularly like Mark because he forces me to be uncomfortable. And sure enough, right out of the gate we get to talk about demons.

Our scripture passage today takes place in Capernaum, which is a city by the sea of Galilee. It's Jesus's first time teaching in the book of Mark, and the people who are listening are astounded at the way that Jesus speaks with authority. They don't describe what kind of authority he has, or where he gets it from just that he has authority, and they are astounded. But all of a sudden, from the mouth of a man, comes the voice of an unclean spirit, as the NRSV says, who calls out at Jesus and makes the first Christological confession. “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.”

It is this unclean spirit that can identify Jesus correctly. In Mark gospel, no one other than demons identifies him correctly until Peter’s declaration of faith in Mark 8, which is halfway through the gospel. Last week we talked about how in our tradition, we associate Christian faith with proclamations of faith. You are a Christian because you say “I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and savior.” You are a member of the church because that is what you professed in front of all of us. And, yet Mark’s gospel shows us that faith is far more than that. The demon may have correctly identified Jesus, but it was not making a profession of faith.It seems that from the very beginning Mark wants us to know that the right answers, doesn't always make us right. I'll say that again— having the right answers doesn't always make us right.

I love being right. I love having the right answers and feeling justified and self-righteous in being right. I will confess that it is not a small part of me that applies that to my faith as well. I want to be an expert. I want to have all the right answers. When you're a pastor, people generally expect you to have a lot of answers, and to be honest, I kind of love that. I love when I have the right answer readily available. But this passage has convicted me this week that having the right answers doesn't always make us right when it comes to our faith. The question about whether this spirit is good or evil comes down to the impact it has on others. What we know from Mark's brief descriptions is that the spirit made this man unclean, which meant he wouldn't belong in ritually clean places, like synagogues or the temple. This means the spirit kept him isolated and alone. We know the spirit held the man captive and made his body convulse and so the scripture clearly identifies it as an unclean spirit. It was a force for evil, and not for good. And yet, it was correctly able to identify Jesus as God.

Having good theology is meaningless if we do not have good practices and behaviors. If you know that Jesus Christ is Lord and savior of the world, but you do not love your neighbor in real and practical ways, and you have nothing but an empty testimony. One of the most powerful examples of this empty testimony was the January 6th insurrection 3 years at the capitol. Insurrectionists tried to overthrow the democratic process of verifying the Presidential election and they brought with them symbols of our faith— a giant, 12-foot cross, bibles, flags with the name of Jesus, and even blowing shofars to try to recreate the the battle of Jericho where the walls came tumbling down. They had the signs and symbols of Christianity– perhaps we might say that they said the right things– but their actions led to violence and death. They may believe that their right words justifies them, but the gospel that we read tells us that we all will be judged just as much by what we do. Do we bring light and hope and justice to those in need? 

This week, I thought also about John's gospel, and how it ends with a conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asks “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” Love is not enough unless it has been put to work.

I wonder if, like me, you have been tempted to think that your faith rests upon what you believe. I wonder if you have gotten complacent not only in your faith but in your life about being right. Do you think that you have the right theology, or the right parenting strategy, or that you are right in an argument between you and your sibling who lives out of state? Maybe you know that you are right and yet if you look around and are honest with yourself, there is no good fruit that is coming out of the situation. Maybe it's a parenting challenge where you know you're in the right and yet your kid is slipping further and farther away from you. Maybe it's the argument with the family member that you don't want to give in on because of course you know you're right and then you realize you haven't talked to your brother in months. Sometimes I think we have to choose between being right and being in right relationship with others. Our preoccupation with being right, and with having all the right answers can get in the way of real relationships.

I am not an expert on demons or the spiritual realm. I don't have all the answers here and I can't tell you if, for certain, demons are real or if unclean spirits inhabit us today. But what I do know is that I take the forces of good, very seriously. I believe the spirit of God is in each and everyone of us and compels us to be able to do good. And I also know that despite that, I do not always do good. I want to be a good mom and a good spouse and still I lose my temper with Jack or with David. I want to go to bed at a reasonable hour and still I scroll on my phone till far too late despite saying I didn't want to do that. I say that I want one thing and then I behave in a different way. I know I am not alone in that. Certainly I could give examples that are far more grim and serious. There are forces of evil in this world. I do not know exactly how it works or what the right name might be, but I do know that this world is broken and infected by sin, and we must take those powers seriously.

My children's message was something I learned from another pastor, and I was so taken with the way she described this unclean spirit as a mess. It's so simple for children, but it's also quite profound I think. Jesus identifies the mess as separate from the person. The unclean spirit is not who this man is. Yes the mess is his but it is not all that he is. I am not saying that any of you are possessed by unclean spirits, but I will say that we are all constantly trying to do what is right in this world and constantly failing. There are forces of good and evil within us and we do not get it right every time.

Friends, you may think you are being judged based on the answers that you give or the knowledge that you possess but in the gospel of Mark, the good news is quite different. The truth is that you shall be judged based on what you do. Does your life bring freedom? Hope and healing to others? Does your presence in other peoples’ lives bring them joy? Or are you causing harm even to the people that you love? None of us get it right all the time and certainly have lots that I have asked to ask for forgiveness. I want you to think about your own lives, and think about the impact you are having on others. Is your presence in the lives of others doing good or doing harm? If it is the latter, may you be convicted today to repent. Repentance is a key Theme in Mark and in fact, it is the first thing Jesus says in the gospel– repent, for the kingdom of God is near. Repent means literally “to turn.” Repentance isn’t about saying sorry, it’s about turning your actions away from what caused harm to bringing light and life to others. There is a reason we have a confession of sin in our worship every single Sunday– it’s because we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There’s no question of that.The call to repentance is a lifelong one for us. We want to do what is right, but we don’t always do it. The good news is that God longs for a true and right relationship with us. God is slow to anger and ready to forgive. So bring yourself to God– all of who you are, your gifts and your messes because God is afraid and God will be there to help you clean up those messes. 

Amen.