4OTBMark 1:21-28Palm 95
I am so happy to be here
I was with my Dad for 3 weeks
And then I was helping with a retreat
45 priests and Deacons, an Abbott and a Bishop
Sounds like the beginning of bad joke
It was nice to miss all that super frigid weather
But there is nothing like laying down
on your own bed
and resting your head on your own favorite pillow
At the retreat, my colleague Deb and I led a session having to do with
“Theological Reflection”
And while there are shelves of books written about theological reflection
And methods of Theological Reflection
Essentially it is simply how we practice being Christian in the world
It’s what we just did as we called to mind what we did and what we failed to do
It’s what we do at night when our heads hit the pillow
and we wonder
“Where was God, today?”
That’s the question of Theological Reflection
“Where is/was God in this…in this tragedy…in this joy”
and how might attending to this question
help me grow in Christian living
So… over these past few years, two stories have perculated to the top
of my beautiful Dad’s repertoire of stories
The first is about meeting my mother
(describe-Officer’s Dance, her holding that cigarette)
The second is about the time he lost his job
(describe-after only 2 weeks, after leaving the security of the AirForce and moving to another planet called OHIO, far away from family and deep relationships, 3 kids under 5)
My guess is that these two stories have always been the weightiest
The ones he returns to…the ones that remind him of God’s presence in the unfolding of his life.
One when he was overwhelmed by joy
The other when he was overwhelmed by fear
If we ponder Psalm 95 alongside today’s Gospel about the Exorcism at Capernaum
I think we will hear a good word…for TODAY.
We are only in chapter 1 of Mark’s Gospel
In quick succession and surprisingly few words
We have had the Baptism, the temptations in the desert,
and the calling of a first handful of disciples
And today…we have Jesus’ first public act
What sticks out to me is this question of authority
What is real authority?
It is clear that Jesus’ teaching
What Jesus said
Though we aren’t given any details
Somehow caught the attention of the hearers
It was different…not like the scribes
the scribes were not original thinkers
Their ministry was to gather from the tradition of prophets and maybe wise teachers to come up with a re-warmed way to say…pretty much the same thing.
On THIS day the menu changes
The hearers notice something
Jesus’ teaching possesses this quality called “authority”
The hearers recognize it.
[But we don’t get anymore than that]
We’ve all heard of show and tell
Well the movement in this reading is tell and show
First the words…then the thing itself
This language of Exorcisms and unclean spirits
This isn’t language we are particularly comfortable with
But it was in 1st Century Judaism
Much of Scribal teaching had to do with purity codes
How do we deal with “unclean”
Unclean actions, unclean foods, unclean people
The ‘cleanest’ way
the easiest way
Is to STEER CLEAR!
Unclean was a way of expressing a kind of disorder
Menstration=unclean because it was a disordered time of the month
Pigs/Pork…they don’t chew their cud = disordered
Bottom dwelling fish…they don’t swim = disordered
The Leper, The dead, THIS man suffering from possession = disordered
And the teaching says, clear and direct – STEER CLEAR
One of the major themes of Mark’s gospel is boundary-crossing
And today’s boundary-crossing is between Clean & Unclean
Remember how Jesus says “you’ve heard it said…but I say”???
That’s how I see what’s going on here.
Instead of STEER CLEER
Jesus has another theology…another answer
He doesn’t appear to respect purity boundaries
…he even trespasses them
If we think about it
Just steering clear isn’t particularly helpful---
In the immediate, it might help the person remain undefiled
But everything else remains the same
Steering Clear gives …Whatever it is (in this case demon possession)
…Whatever is dominating by fear…
Its power
Its like pleading NO CONTEST
YOU WIN
I just want to STEER CLEAR
The literal answer Jesus gives
What the Greek means
Is SHUT UP…GET OUT
And the unclean spirit leaves the man
The man is set free
But the “unclean spirit”
Whatever it was that was controlling this man is not destroyed
…that’s another sermon;)
The good news is that now there is a different course of action
A different teaching…a teaching with Authority
Whereby Healing and freedom are possible
Here’s where your internal voice might be saying:
Well…all well and good…but I’m not Jesus!
I might be having a good day---I came to church and all…But
I’m NOT Jesus
You are right
We aren’t’ Jesus
I’m not Jesus
(Wink) But we Kinda-Sorta are
In the Synagogue at Capernum
Jesus crosses the boundary
Between clean and unclean
Not all boundaries need dismantling
Some boundaries are essential to healthy living
“good fences make good neighbors”
Isn’t that the saying?
But boundaries, that feed fear,
boundaries that result in division and exclusion
These are the boundaries that call out to be crossed
to make room for the path of love
We aren’t Jesus
But we Kinda-Sorta are
Our baptism is a continuance of that first Pentecost
The Spirit of the Lord came upon that gathered community
That same Spirit is still active
upon us---in us---between us
Kinda-Sorta
We say that when we mean
Sometimes, yes --- sometimes, not-so-much
So my friends
Here is where Psalm 95 comes in for the rescue!
Psalm 95 is a kind of antidote for
Kinda-Sorta
IN her wisdom
The Spirit-guided Church
Or the Spirit-guided committees who put together our prayer patterns
Chose Psalm 95 to guide us as we begin each new day
Today…we only recited the first 7 verses
But we need to reflect on the whole Psalm to grasp its gift and wisdom
The first line says sing…so that sounds like an imperative to me
It always strikes me funny when it says SING and we only SPEAK
The tradition of chanting the psalms goes way back
And chant is a means to help the words and poetry sink deep into our bones
Rob is going to help me
You can follow along the first 7 verses from page --- of the bulletin
And then listen carefully to the movement of verses 8-11
which are left out of our Morning Prayer
but which are offered in full in the Liturgy of the Hours
[chant]
The first part is a call to worship
a joyful and lively one
Then we remember the greatness of God
by calling to mind the mighty works of creation
Then another call to worship
This time bowing down
AND THEN THE WARNING
Stop praising and Listen!
Then God helps us remember back when…
For the Israelites…the memory is back in the desert
All that grumbling
I gave you water when you were thirsty
and Manna when you were hungry
and still you rebelled
Remember the golden calf?
Same goes for us
Can we remember when our hearts were hardened?
When fear took hold of us and drowned out God’spresence?
For my Dad is was that fear…terror even…
of relentless questions like
“Why did I ever leave the safety of the Air Force and move to this land of OHIO where I have no family, no history?”
“How will I feed the growing family of 5?”
There is a “rest of the story”
Remembering is the only way to see what we couldn’t see at the time
It’s the way to see in a way that will carry us forward.
So…in the Psalm
There is remembering,
and then…let’s move forward…let’s get on with it.
The inspired compilers of the LOH
chose this Psalm as a way to start every day
TODAY
…If TODAY
Every new day is TODAY
Today is what is before us
we can act on Today
Let me make this day an act of worship
Let me meet this day aware of how easily I can go astray
This day…Let me set my feet on the floor by my bed pointed in the right direction
And little by little
Day by day
…as we repeat the words:
If today I hear God’s Voice
Harden not my heart
I will/We will…walk and talk and act and breathe
More than Kinda-Sorta
like boundary-crossing Jesus
And just
more simply
straight-up
More like Jesus
