“The Great
Liberator”
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ January 29, 2012 –
Annual Meeting
Recognition of Audrea Cannon
Scripture: Psalm 111 read responsively and Mark
1:21-28
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 111 read responsively
This is a Hallelujah psalm; the
Hebrew words that mean “praise the Lord.”
Where in your life do you need to
liberate your praise and express all God means to you? Here in this song of praise we can join with
believers through the centuries to sing "Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”
1Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my
whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight
in them.3Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
8They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.
Mark 1:21-28
Jesus comes teaching the kingdom of God has drawn near in his very personhood. He teaches through preaching and storytelling and most important demonstrating the reality of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God brings liberation from the demons that seek to possess us and our world.
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, convulsing
him 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.
SERMON
Keep in
mind that earlier in the chapter, Jesus was blessed and baptized with the Holy
Spirit as he heard the promise proclaiming, "You are my beloved Son; with
you I am well pleased!" Now Mark contrasts this experience with that of
the man possessed by an "unclean" spirit; a spirit that is most
assuredly is not telling this man that he is beloved of God or God-pleasing in
anyway. Indeed, we would be far better
served to abandon our Hollywood-fed raging demons reaching out to destroy us
from outside ourselves to forces that are opposed to God's will within
ourselves. Rather than bless, they curse; rather than build up, they tear down;
rather than encourage, they disparage; rather than promote love, they sow hate;
rather than draw us together, they seek to split us apart.[1] To be possessed by such a demon would not
only destroy the person possessed but everyone around them would suffer.
While many of the healing stories
provide examples of the power of faith, exorcisms have a rather different
function. They offer no example of faith at all. The possessed have no control
of themselves; the demons speak as they choose. [2]
These stories are about being liberated.
The freedom Christ gives this man is greater than he could ever request,
for he was unable to ask for help. Have
you ever been in a place where you knew you needed help but did not even know
who or for what to ask?
…We all can attest to the presence
and persistence of evil in our world in various guises. The good news in this
text, however, is that Jesus demonstrated his power to overcome the forces of
evil wherever we may encounter them.[3]
So what possess you? What are you powerless to change? As believers and in particular church
“goers,” we may think we are never possessed by demons. Yet here was a man in the place of
worship. Everything should be perfect in
worship, right? Yet the very experience
of worship is not to exclude suffering but to bring to a head the destructive
forces within us. In worship our darkness meets the light of the great
liberator. It can be unsettling. Unsettlingly, I like that word: set in our
ways, settling in, set aside, set apart, set up, all set… God in Jesus Christ is unsettling, especially
in worship. We deliberately come to
encounter the Holy Other and offer our praise and thanksgiving and intersession
and confession. In worship the truth
about who we are in laid bare. There is
no place to hide now. The demons within
us could cry out “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come
to destroy us? I know who you are, and I am out of here!” If that demon has its way it will get us out
of church, out of relationship with other believers, forgetting the word of
God. If that doesn’t work it will seek
to destroy the worshiping body itself.
Today we will have our annual church
meeting. Have you ever participated in a
church meeting that was destructive?
Let’s be honest, of course we have all experienced destructive forces in
the church. Right among those who should
be most representative of the kingdom of heaven, a force for tearing down
rather than building up rises up. Our
demons tell us were stupid or foolish or can’t do whatever we know God is
calling us to do. They send us away
discouraged and afraid. Yet we come back
again and again. Because when we are
truly attentive he shows up. Who? Jesus of Nazareth is singing next to you in
the choir or welcomes you at the door, or sits with you in the pew. This is
Holy Ground! Not because of how
it was built but why! When we
intestinally gather to worship, to study, to fellowship to plan for the future,
we are standing on Holy Ground. And
anything can happen on Holy Ground.
Demons run screaming from Holy Ground.
And for a brief moment the kingdom of heaven has not only drawn near, it
is right here among us and we are free.
Free to love and celebrate all God has done for and with us.
So my prayer for you is that
surrendered to that Great liberator your need to be right and perfect. Surrender you desire to be in control. Surrender you anger and distrust. And out of you surrender may you be freed by
the Great Liberator to love again and again even after you have been hurt. May you be feed by the Great Liberator to
share out of abundance and even more amazing out of loss. May you be freed by the Great Liberator to
live a life filled with joy even when anger wants for ferment into rage. May the Great Liberator give you peace beyond
your asking, beyond your understanding and beyond your circumstance. May you be free. Amen.
[1]
David Lose, Commentary “Possessed”
Posted 01.22.12 on WorkingPreacher.org for Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
[2] A
Markan Epiphany: Lessons from Mark 1 by DONALD H. JUEL AND PATRICK R. KEIFERT,
Word & World, Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary, St. Paul,
Minnesota, 8/1/1988. Or see: http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/8-1_Spirituality/8-1_Juel-Keifert.pdf
[3]
“Gleanings From the Text” Mark 1:21-28
by Beverly Zink-Sawyer January 2, 2009. Or see: http://jointhefeast.blogspot.com/2009/01/feb-1-2009-mark-121-28-beverly-zink.html
