The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany --- 1 February 2015

Mark 1:21-28

21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 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." 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 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." 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

• When you came here this morning, what were you expecting? A nice quiet time at a familiar pace with some familiar music? A little bit of preaching, maybe with a word or two to take home and keep for the week? A brief yet pleasant visit with some folks you might not see much of during the rest of the week?
• What about a life-changing event? Surely no one expects that! Maybe that's something we should hope for though.
• I can't promise such an experience to you this week either... primarily because it's not up to me! It's up to the working of the grace of God in the heart of each person here, including me.
• We could imagine the congregation at the synagogue in Capernaum being prepared for the usual Sabbath prayers and message as they went to the Sabbath service that day. To hear Jesus of Nazareth speak “with authority” would be quite an experience. The scribes compared and contrasted the teaching of past teachers and left the decision up to each listener to make. They would not say anything that hadn't been said before, although finding new ways to say what had been said before might be one of their main concerns. They appeared to say what others had said and not have anything to say for themselves.
• That's not how it would be with Jesus. First of all, he was not part of the scribal movement. We don't know what he said to the worshippers that day, but we now it was astounding.
• If we take the next step, we see the amazement of the entire worshiping body at the confrontation between Jesus and the man with an unclean spirit. We might wonder if such an outburst was a regular thing. Whatever the case, it certainly would be disruptive and far beyond that might have been expected.
• What was even more unextected was the way Jesus handled this incident. Rather than calling for the ushers to put the man out of the building, he met the disruption head-on. He cast out the unclean spirit, requiring the spirit to be silent.
• This second point is something specific to Mark's Gospel. Scripture scholars call this the “Messianic secret.” Whenever Jesus reveals something about his nature and mission, he requires silence on the part of those who know. When some of his disciples call him Messiah or Lord, he tells them not to tell anyone else. It is only the demons, the unclean spirits, and the Gentiles who are able to recognize Jesus for just who he is, and these must be considered the real outsiders of Jewish society.
• So here we are today – in this familiar place, doing quite familiar things, and expecting a familiar outcome. Who knows? Maybe there'll even be cookies.
• Have we become too used to the message of the Gospel? Do no longer expect to hear anything life-changing or even interesting? We are confronted weekly – if not daily – with the love with which the creator of the entire universe holds us and has redeemed us. We hear the Word of the Lord and we eat the Lord's Supper of his body and blood for our life and our salvation. It is astounding... and we don't know how to take it. It is beyond our understanding and so we don't think about it.
• Yet we are here, to listen, to pray, to support each other, and to gather strength for the week to come. And maybe that's really all we can reasonably expect.
• So let's be unreasonable. Certainly faith is not reason. Grace is beyond our reason and understanding. And those are the pillars of our lives as Christains.
• And what about this new teaching—with authority that the Capernaum congregation experienced? Is that here?
• It is. That authority is present. Just don't think it resides in the pastor alone. I speak with the same authority that you speak with – the authority of grace and faith. My training helps but what makes the difference each and every time is faith and our experience of the faithfulness of God and the love of God expressed to us in so many ways.
• Two weeks ago, I said that we were all evangelists and today I say that each of us has been given the authority to preach the Gospel by what we say and what we do. It has been said that the individual Christian might be the only Gospel that a person might hear. We can only hope that the power and love and mercy of God can be read in our lives by those who see us. For those who do not know the Gospel, it could well be their introduction to the presence of God in their lives that they hadn't been aware of before. For other believers, it would be a support and an encouragement. It might be exactly what they should have in a time of need.
• Wouldn't THAT be unexpected?

They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.