"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, throwing him into convulsions 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." Gospel of Mark, ch. 1.
What a crazy story. Jesus’ first miracle in Mark’s gospel is the exorcism of a demon-possessed man in the synagogue. After his baptism in the Jordan river, at which he is named God’s beloved son, he is cast out into the wildernesss, presumably with the rest of us, to live as the bearer of a new message: the powerful reign of God is near, repent and believe the good news. This is Jesus’ mission statement. The rest of the gospel is how Jesus enacts this one mission statement. And in this first scene, Jesus is confronted. A conflict ensues during synagogue services, at which Jesus is teaching. A demon-possessed man shouts at him: what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us, we know who you are, the holy one of God. A heckler in the crowd-- sounds more like a political rally than a religious gathering. Jesus rebukes the spirit, saying, be silent and come out of him. So, according to the bible Jesus has power to exorcize demons. Exorcism and demon-possession are outside my realm of experience. We may wonder why this man was not in his right mind. Was he a paranoid schizophrenic? By speaking in the plural, we suspect he is hearing voices in his head. We might wonder if he suffers from multiple personality disorder. In the 21st century world, we turn to medication and other forms of medical/psychiatric treatment to address such things. We realize that in a pre- modern society, in which the same diseases that threaten us, threatened them, people had no recourse, no possibility for healing. Often diseased people were isolated, quarantined, or imprisoned. These people were abandoned to their disease, left to die or suffer without treatment, without opportunity for healing, without any hope. I realize that In a world without corrective lenses, I am practically blind. At the age of four I contracted a rare disease called epiglotitus. My windpipe swelled shut. Without a trachiochtomy and powerful antibiotics I would have died. We have the ability to cure measles and wipe out malaria. Vaccines and other medicines have changed the way we moderns experience disease. We expect medicine to fix us, heal us, reduce suffering, manage pain for us. We expect the medical professional to make a plan of treatment that will work. We expect miracles, because they happen in our world through modern medicine every day. People who have heart attacks, live. 50 years ago, bypass was new. Now people survive for years after open heart surgery. Despite our advances, we know that there are people who suffer around the world for lack of access to medical treatments and clean water. We wonder how thousands of children can die from diseases that require a simple vaccine or course of antibiotics, things we take for granted here. In the globalized world, people still die from curable and preventable diseases. We cannot cure or heal everything.
The stigma of mental illness, however, still plagues our world. We have a friend who, in his early 20s, had his first manic episode followed by a deep depression. After a lot of prayer and counsel, it was concluded that he needed psychiatric attention. I went with him to the hospital to admit him to psychiatric treatment. He was a new father and his world was coming undone. 7 years later, he is still battling bipolar disorder. We have seen him occasionally. They have two boys and a third on the way. I’d like to say that life has improved and he has been healed. But, he is in prison and they are getting divorced. I'd like to "exorcize" his "demons".
It may be difficult for us to understand illness and disease in the premodern world. In a world before vaccines, surgery, antibiotics, psychotherapeutic drugs. We see disease and illness from this modern viewpoint.
But imagine living at a time when the medical world we take for granted did not exist. Imagine what it means when someone heals someone else, when someone sets someone free from suffering, when someone reduces the stigma attached to your illness, touches you, shows compassion to you in your isolation and fear. Imagine what it would have been like to have someone who claimed to be able to address disease at its source and root it out. Imagine when this man’s first public act is to cast out a demon.: to set a man free from whatever is preventing him from living the life God intends for him to live. That's what exorcism is, liberating someone from whatever is preventing them from living the full and abundant life God intends. Imagine if you’ve been told that you are not good enough, not welcome in human community anymore. Imagine if you’ve been cast out because you are sick and then someone reverses your circumstances, casting out the sickness and welcoming you back to life. Do you know what its like to be bound to a situation, a problem, a disease, a way of thinking that is unhealthy and ungodly? Addicts do. Do you know what its like to experience something short of the life God intends and hopes for you to live? I know a woman who has been told repeatedly throughout her life, by her parent, her teachers, men, that she is not smart enough, pretty enough, or good enough to deserve any better than the poverty that binds her. She has been told so as to believe it, that she is worthless. She has been told that no one can save her, that she is alone in her struggle, that no one really cares about her. She believes it more than anything else. What we believe about ourselves, about others, about God is manifested in our behavior. People are taught to discriminate, to hate, to retaliate, to denigrate.
What or who prevents you from living the life God intends? Jesus comes to reveal God’s intent, which is to liberate humanity from all that threatens to rob us of healthy bodies, minds, and souls. I don’t know how, but I think that it starts by coming near to Jesus; something the church says happens in baptism, in the Lord’s supper, in the beloved community. I like to say that worship is healing. My hope is that worship gives us courage to do what is right, which may mean seeking other forms of help. This gospel story also says that Jesus exposes our weakness, our sickness, our hidden pain. I need healing from wrong thinking, from wounded emotions, from poor judgment. I need healing from the voices in my head telling me that God has abandoned me or us, that I am not worthy of love or peace. I need healing from the voices telling me to quit. I need healing from the voices telling me to hide, to isolate from others, to self-protect. You need healing too. So here's the good news: You are loved by a good and gracious God, a creator and abundant provider who will never leave your or abandon you, least of all in your time of greatest need. You are loved by God. You are loved, because you are. You are loved because God loves you, a circular argument, but it is the most true thing there is in the universe. So forget what you’ve been told before, and believe the good news. You are God’s beloved child. And your inheritance is life in God’s kingdom NOW and in the age that is yet to come. Amen.
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