The Gospel lesson for this Sunday is one of those passages that it simultaneously very simple and very, very complicated. Basically, it goes something like this: One Sabbath, near the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, Jesus went into a synagogue and began to preach. And everyone was amazed at the authority with which Jesus preached. 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. This only served to make the people even more amazed at Jesus’s authority--he can even command spirits!--and the news of what he had done spread all over the countryside like gossip through a middle school cafeteria.
It terms of the plot, it’s pretty simple, right? But there’s one element that complicates matters for the post-modern reader.
And that one element is… Demons.
Already it is happening—with the invocation of that single word, each and every one of you has experienced a different set of images, thoughts, and emotions. Some of you are probably remembering the disturbing imagery of any number of popular movies and even television, from The Exorcist and The Amityville Horror to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Perhaps some of you disapprove of such dark musings, believing that such entertainment indirectly or unintentionally worships Satan. And I imagine that some of you do not believe in Satan, or demons, at least not literally—humanity is capable of enough evil on its own and the real demonic forces are societal and personal and very human.
On the other hand, I once heard someone say that only rich white folk can afford to not believe in the devil.
There’s always another hand with which to say, “On the other hand…” isn’t there?
I have heard stories of addiction referred to as a battle with personal demons. I have heard stories of struggle with mental illness in which the concept of demons seemed to be very literal. Others see this Gospel lesson as demonizing what is simply an illness.
Actually, the idea of demonizing--presenting something or someone as purely evil or diabolic--is something geeks could teach a thing or two about.
I’m still not sure what to say about the impudent little demon from the Gospel lesson. But I once had a really interesting conversation with a group of clergy about how they would preach over the passage. One pastor immediately described this passage as presenting itself as silly to the modern reader and concluded that the only way to make any kind of connection for you would be for me to share at least one of my personal demons with you all. The next pastor said that I should be very careful of that kind of sharing and that he himself would not share any of his personal demons from the pulpit. A third pastor said that this would be a great chance to say a prophetic word and name the demons of the church. And a fourth pastor said that we should be very careful about naming the church’s demons, as she had heard a horrible story about a pastor naming something that turned out not to be true at all.
All this talk of naming or not naming demons reminds me of Harry Potter. The arch-villain of the story is an evil wizard of unimaginable power who calls himself Lord Voldemort. Most of the wizarding community refuses to call him by name out of fear that doing so might somehow invoke his evil presence. He is instead called You-Know-Who, He Who Must Not Be Named, and The Dark Lord.
If Arthur has Merlin, and Luke Skywalker has Obi-Wan Kenobi, then Harry Potter has Albus Dumbledore. And at the end of the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry almost slips and says the name “Voldemort” in the presence of Dumbledore. When he catches himself and says “You-Know-Who,” instead Dumbledore says, "Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." Dumbledore’s advice is wise, for needlessly increasing your fear of something is to give it power that it would not normally have.
In fact, no matter how you define what a demon, or a demonic force, is, we can learn from Dumbledore’s advice here. We have to be careful not to give the demonic power that it does not have on its own. And so I want to let you in on a little secret.
Sunday’s Gospel lesson is not about the demon.
Even the demon acknowledges that it is not the star of the story. This Gospel lesson is about Jesus. Jesus is the one with the power in this story. Jesus is the one with the authority. When Jesus teaches, he teaches as one who has authority. And whether you believe in a literal demon who speaks, saying, “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.” or if you believe that the demon is a metaphor for the societal ills that Jesus continually preached against, or if your beliefs fall somewhere between the two—when Jesus interacts with the demon, Jesus is the one with the power. Jesus is the one who speaks with authority.
It really is just that simple.
Be good to each other,
RevJosh
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The scripture lessons for January 25th—The 4th Sunday After Epiphany—are:
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: "If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die." Then the Lord replied to me: "They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak — that prophet shall die."
Psalm 111
Praise God! I will give thanks to God
with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright,
in the congregation.
Great are the works of God,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of honor and majesty is God's work,
and God's righteousness endures forever.
God has gained renown by wonderful deeds;
God is gracious and merciful.
God provides food for those who fear God;
God is ever mindful of God's covenant.
God has shown God's people
the power of God's works,
in giving them the heritage
of the nations.
The works of God's hands
are faithful and just;
all God's precepts are trustworthy.
They are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness
and uprightness.
God sent redemption to God's people;
God has commanded God's covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is God's name.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
God's praise endures forever.
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "no idol in the world really exists," and that "there is no God but one." Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as in fact there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. "Food will not bring us close to God." We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
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.
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