Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Sunday, February 1, 2009 - The Power of the Gospel

Remember the movie “The Exorcist”? It was one of the most notorious horror movies when I was growing up. I remember going to watch it on my 18th birthday in 1974. It was a bold and defiant move on my part, as a teenager who dared to do something that was considered to be extremely bad luck on a birthday.

Part of the appeal of the movie is its message that the church is powerless against some ancient evil. The two priests involved in the exorcism had to deal with their own demons, their crisis of faith and insecurity. It is the secular world challenging the hegemony of the church – especially the monolithic Roman Catholic Church in the 1970s.

This week, you have heard of another controversy about an atheist ad on the public transit system, saying something similar to: “There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life”. I'll say more about it later.

In today’s Gospel lesson, we also have an episode of exorcism by Jesus. There was in the 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.” There are a number of deliberate contrasts here. One is between the unclean spirit/person and Jesus the holy one of God. In fact, the demon’s challenge to Jesus (1:24) is a curious phrase in Greek (ti hemin kai soi;) which can translated to be “What do we have in common?” Literally that phrase is: “What to us and to you?” The implication is that there is nothing in common between “us and you”, that is, nothing in common between what is unclean and Jesus. There is a proverb: “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch.” Jewish laws said essentially the same thing: touching an unclean or defiled person or things made you unclean. The bad infected the good. But Jesus turns this around. This holy one from God can redeem the bad apples, the clean can cleanse the unclean!

Jesus is never worried about becoming unclean or sick by associating with or touching the spiritually or physically or morally unclean. Indeed, he consistently goes out of his way to minister to them. Not surprisingly, his behaviour has offended those who were members of the holiness movement of his day – the Pharisees. Jesus does not particularly care whom he scandalized, while he believes that he is doing God’s work and helps ushering in God’s kingdom. He is more concerned with who gets healed rather than who gets the credit.

The more important contrast we find here is that between Jesus’ teaching and that of the scribe’s. The difference is described in two ways: Jesus teaches with authority, and it is perceived as “a new teaching”. One possible way of explaining the connection is that his authoritative teaching is new in the sense of being fresh and enlightening. The people can tell the difference, for the scribes were merely reciting the opinions of the many rabbis before them. Jesus’ teaching does not rely on those stale traditions.

There is a story of a new rabbi who does not come from a rich tradition of famous rabbinic families. He justifies his authority by saying, “My father was a baker. He taught me that only fresh bread was appetizing and that I must avoid the stale. This can also apply to learning and teaching.”

What Jesus offers is also something fresh, and so should we in our learning and teaching!

Thirdly, in this story, it was the demon who recognized who Jesus of Nazareth really was. By naming Jesus, as the Holy one of God, the demon attempts to gain control over Jesus - a common theme in many folklore. However, the demon does not succeed. Knowing Jesus’ true identity does not allow the unclean spirit to have control over him.

There is what Biblical scholars called the messianic secret of Mark! Time and time again, Jesus ordered those who were in the know not to tell anyone about who he is. You will notice the way Mark presented the Gospel, he announced right from the beginning the true identity of Jesus… However, those who followed Jesus were very slow to find out who he is. At his baptism, a voice from heaven affirms to Jesus his identity. Like the audience in a drama, we have already been told about the secret. But it was kept from Jesus’ followers until the confession of Peter in Caesarea Philippi in chapter 8, affirming that Jesus is the messiah. It is followed by the Transfiguration in chapter 9, where another voice from heaven re-affirmed his divine identity again. Peter’s confession serves as a dividing line for the two parts of Mark’s Gospel. The first part deals with the question of “Who is Jesus?”, and the second part deals with the question of what kind of a messiah is Jesus. The secret is still kept from them what that messiahship is supposed to mean for Jesus and his followers. At the end of this Gospel, Jesus’ passion predictions of suffering and death on the cross become fulfilled and thus making clear the nature of his messiahship. He is the suffering servant of God, not a conquering Davidic king.

Perhaps it is ironic that today the people outside of the church fear the power of God more than those inside. That is why atheists want to go on the attack. By the way, if I had the money to do a counter ad, I would say, “There is a God; you can still enjoy your life, because God loves you!” Hopefully, people will find it good news! What would you say yourself?

Last week, I talked about hearing the proclamation of the Good News at the right time and in the right places. It begs the question, “What is Good News to you?” For instance, if I were to do a test and ask everyone to write down in about 5 sentences, what is your version or your summary of the Christian Good News? What would you say? Can you articulate it?

The most likely and the most common summary is what theologians called “Substitution atonement theory of salvation”: Human beings are separated and alienated from God by our sinfulness. God, out of love, brings about reconciliation by sending Jesus to us. Humans receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of salvation through the innocent suffering of Jesus, his death, and resurrection on the third day.

However, you have also heard other forms of salvation theories from me: a few weeks ago, I talked about the Original Blessing of the Beloved = we are to be like Jesus, as the beloved sons and daughters of God… we live out our God-given blessed nature by living the way Jesus has called us to live. Many Christians also believe salvation is brought through the “Incarnation” itself, in which God takes on human nature so that humans could partake in the divine nature (2 Peter 1.4).

Part of the black African history has to do with finding the Good News in the story of the Exodus, and the return from exile for the people of Israel. The good news comes from the liberation out of slavery into freedom. The parallels they find in scriptures speak directly and pertinently to their personal experience. Liberation theology is also very attractive to others who found themselves in different forms of oppression, exploitation and enslavement.

Many people of faith also find the good news in terms of healing and exorcism. To some, their experience belongs to the miraculous and supernatural dimension. Healing can be experienced in a spiritual, physical or emotional way. We have heard people talking about healing of memories as a way of dealing with old hurts and psychological injuries. It could be simply feeling forgiven and being offered a second chance in life. Wholeness is another word for salvation; it is often used by non-religious healers and therapists these days.

There are powerful moments of conversion. There are moments of sheer grace, where we can sense our own powerlessness in face of divine mercy and compassion. The hymn “Amazing Grace” captures the essence of this kind of good news experience! Without such encounters or experience, our faith stays as head knowledge, or second hand information. However, when we can say, "I believe it to be true, when I have experienced that power in my own life", then Jesus indeed can make the unclean clean; the sinful holy; the outcast a member of the community again.

In that sense, there are personal dimensions as well as corporate ones, when we talk about the good news of salvation. We have the whole salvation history from the Old Testament to the New to draw from. Yet, we need to personalize the meaning we find in our understanding of the Christian Good News and be able to articulate it to other people. We are called to defend our faith, whenever it is needed. Just as the atheist bus ads would create a healthy debate or discussion, we need to be prepared to tell others why we believe that there is a God, what kind of a God is it, and why that should be Good News to us and to them! Otherwise, we fail to live up to the challenges thrown our direction.

I read somewhere this week a quote from St Francis de Sales: “The test of a preacher is that the congregation goes away saying not “What a lovely sermon” but “I will do something!”

Whether I succeed or fail this week depends on whether you will do something as a result of what you have heard this morning! It’s in your hands! Amen.

Fr Victor+
www.stjd.ca