Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (B)
Deuteronomy
18.15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8.1-13 Mark 1.21-28
May the Lord be in my mind, on my lips, and in my heart, that
I may rightly and truly proclaim His holy Word. Amen.
Outline of a
Sermon Delivered Extemporaneously
1) It’s a busy day in
a) Mark reads like a screen
play, with an emphasis on action, action all joined by the connecting phrase
“and immediately”.
b) It’s a busy day:
i) Jesus teaches with
authority.
ii) Jesus encounters the
possessed man.
iii) The demon is exorcized and
departs.
iv) The crowd
are amazed.
c) In sum, Jesus’ authority is
demonstrated in word and in deed.
2) It is tempting to take this
story apart, and to make explicit the parallels between who Jesus is and what
He does, and the one of whom the Lord
says “I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet” (Deut. 18.18), in our
lesson from the O.T.
a) It is tempting as well to
dwell on the words of the Lord
when He says of those who do not speak for Him, but who presume to, “...
that prophet shall die” (Deut. 18.20).
i) To look at these words and
consider all the agendas being driven in the Church and society at large by
those who claim to speak for God.
b) Finally, it is tempting to turn
to Paul’s words in our lesson from 1 Corinthians, to remind ourselves that in
all teaching we have to consider that “... this liberty of [ours] does not
somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor. 8.9).
i) To turn to these words and
speak of how any and all agendas must be considered in the light of community
and of Christ-centeredness, rather than just in the light of me.
3) But, I’ll not speak of these
things, because I want to focus not on what is said but on what is not
said: what is felt, experienced, lived.
a) There’s one character in
this story who does not speak.
i) Jesus speaks, the crowd speak, even the demon speaks.
(1) The demon, the unclean
spirit who knows who Jesus is and what authority He embodies.
b) The one who does not speak
is the one possessed.
i) The one possessed is
described simply as “a man with an unclean spirit” (Mark 1.24).
4) We are not, thank God,
possessed, and yet we may perhaps share with this mute character.
i) We may share, and consider
that before any agenda or any personal want comes who we are and in what
relation we stand with the Lord.
b) If we think of ourselves as
the man with the unclean spirit in the story then we can experience our own helplessness in the face of
the power of sin and death and evil.
i) And then we will know better
our need for a savior, someone on our side who is more powerful than any
challenge we may confront.
c) If we think of ourselves as
the man with the unclean spirit in the story then we can experience better a
compassionate Jesus.
i) A Jesus whose own heart is
broken by the fact that evil holds us in its sway, and prevents us from being
the person we were created to be.
d) If we think of ourselves as
the man with the unclean spirit in the story then we can experience better a
powerful Jesus who speaks and acts.
i) Who speaks and acts with
authority that instills terror in anyone and anything that stands on the side
of oppression.
(1) Anyone and anything that
would seek to take hold of and control God’s children.
(a) And then we will know
ourselves better to have been set free from any power of sin and death and
evil.
(i) Set free from anything that
would control us and separate us from God.
5) When we know, when we
experience and feel that we have been redeemed and set free, we become signs in
the world of the in-breaking
a) We become individual
epiphanies of God’s greatness.
i) And the world is amazed.
ii) The world can marvel at the
power of God which has set us free, and people’s hearts can be melted.
(1) Melted by and to the same
liberating love that has set us free.
(a) To say with the crowd in the
story, “What is this? A new
teaching–with authority! (Mark 1.27)
In
the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.