{This was NOT my best sermon ever, but I said it and I stand by it.}
Disclaimer: At the request of a few of the congregation, I’m ‘publishing’ the text of my sermon ‘as written.’ I cannot guarantee that I will deliver the sermon ‘as written.’
- They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
- It appears that Jesus astounded the congregation at the synagogue in Capernaum with his teaching. We could read it to mean he also astounded his disciples. After all, the text says “They went to Capernaum” and the action takes place just after Jesus calls Simon, Andrew, James, and John.
- Don't you just wish we had the text of what Jesus taught about? Wouldn't it be great to hear and know and experience what astounded that congregation and the first disciples?
- To add to that then, Jesus encountered a man with an “unclean spirit” in that same synagogue. The spirit was cast out with very little fuss, but a lot of amazement once the man came back to himself.
- When have any of us been truly astonished at a sermon? When have we encountered something like the man with the unclean spirit at worship?
- For sermons, I've heard bishops, pastors, seminarians, deacons, and deaconesses preach the Word. I've heard rabbis preach as well. I've heard superb sermons and really abysmal ones, too. I've seen slide shows, heard guitars used in preaching, and watched preachers use puppets, telephones, and a can of tuna fish for their preaching... and sometimes with success!
- When it come to unusual things at worship, I have been present when dogs ran through the church and birds flitted around the sanctuary. Such encounters can be both comical and distracting.
- On two occasions, a person has died during a worship service I was present for. That really changes the dynamic of a Sunday morning.
- I once saw a person stand up during the distribution of Communion and read some sort of manifesto or prophecy. I don't know what they said because they couldn't be heard.
- Once I saw ball lightning hit the building in the middle of worship; that was a thrill! And one midnight Christmas Eve service began with a power failure that lasted to just beyond the dismissal at the end of worship. It was actually beautiful and a real gift.
- What makes the difference for Jesus' preaching is not the setting or the props or even the topic. It is the authority of the preaching itself that is astounding. Jesus might use the ancient Jewish scriptures and show them in a new light as one who knows what they are speaking of. The scribes mentioned in the Gospel reading would tell and retell the insights of the rabbis who went before, often telling both sides of a controversial passage. They would then leave the listeners to take from that what they could. It appears that the scribes neither added anything to the discussion or even said what they thought.
- Jesus was different; he taught “with authority”, saying what he knew to be right. Beyond that, his message was one of good news for the poor and the oppressed. This good news was challenging, no doubt, -it still is- and his words stirred people in their deepest hearts.
- Jesus' encounter with the man with the unclean spirit is brief and powerful. Again his authority shows. The unclean spirit accuses Jesus of trying to destroy “us”, using the plural. He goes on to say “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” This revelation is part of the secret found throughout Mark: no one knows who Jesus is but the demons... and the reader. The disciples slowly come to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, the Holy One of God, but that knowledge only comes to them after the Resurrection. When Jesus casts out a spirit, they try to spoil the surprise and are usually silenced. Since demons and the unclean spirits subvert the truth and only tell the truth to advance lies, silencing them is the best thing to do.
- Still in this display of power, Jesus expresses an authority unknown to the people, an authority that reinforces his words of teaching. His powerful words are backed by his powerful deeds.
- Aren't his words powerful today? Don't his deeds as reported in the Gospels and shown in the church's history show who he is for us?
- This is why we read the Gospels – to have our spirits stirred by the words of our Savior – despite the eloquence of the preacher or lack of it. This is why we still hear of the powerful things Jesus did – for despite our powerlessness in the face of evil or unclean things.
- It may be for another sermon and another time, but it could be that it is in our powerlessness that Jesus' power is found.
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