Naming Our Demons

Mark 1:21-28

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.

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There are a few interesting things about our reading this morning for Mark's gospel. One is that it talks about demons. We don't talk a lot about demons or unclean spirits. It doesn't seem to be a big focus for us in today's world. But it's here, right in our reading this morning. Jesus, who is beginning to embark on His earthly ministry, finds that one of the first things he encounters is a man possessed by an unclean spirit, a demon, you might say. I think one of the reasons we don't talk much about demons or unclean spirits is I think we often find ourselves going directly to Hollywood depictions of such supernatural phenomena, such as The Ring or The Exorcist; I'm sure that you have a few other scary movies that top that lists with demons in them, unclean spirits.

We don't really know all of what is happening in this reading for Mark's gospel, besides the fact that we know that there is a man with an unclean spirit who comes to Jesus asking for help. And there's a lot in there. That's important for us today. That's important for us as we try to navigate this world. Navigate what it means to be people who are human, people who are disciples of Christ, people who are trying to find balance. And we'll get to that; we'll get to that about what it means to talk about demons or unclean spirits. But we should go over a little background information first.

As I said earlier, this is really the start of Jesus's ministry and comparing them according to Mark's gospel. And he starts it off with quite a bang. He goes to the synagogue to teach and then encounters this strange happening. If you're an astute listener, you might have picked up on something that was happening in this passage if you're keen. In seminary, we used to joke about this as being a Markan sandwich. The more technical term is an interpolation. Not as fun of a name, if you ask me. But we see this happening as a literary device that helps focus our attention.

The passage starts out with Jesus coming to the synagogue, then Jesus teaches, he teaches with authority. The third thing that happens is that a man with an unspiritual then comes and cries out, which then leads to Jesus, healing the demonic man as the pinnacle, and then things are reflected. The unclean spirit leaves the man; the people acknowledge Jesus's authority. And then Jesus leaves the synagogue. That's a Markan sandwich or an interpolation. So there you go, a little bit of New Testament scholarship for you. The point of all this is that it draws our attention.

The author of this gospel text points us to focus on what happens in verse 25, which is where Jesus heals the man possessed by an unclean spirit. That's the focus that the author is trying to get us to focus on. There's a lot of other interesting things going on in this passage as well. One of which Jesus' encounter with the scribes, the religious leaders in the synagogue, and that unclean spirit that comes in and speaks what was on their mind, "Jesus, have you come to destroy us?" The demon says it, but in many ways, it is what the scribes were thinking.

So why should we care about this focus on supernatural happenings? Why should we care what happens in this text? Of course, as a pastor, you don't see me running around Putnam County with a vial of holy water and the crucifix. I many ways, Jesus is calling us to participate in two critical aspects of the very start of his earthly ministry. The first part Jesus is calling us to participate in is naming those things that are demonic. Those things that possess us, as a community, as a nation.

As members of humanity, Jesus calls us to name the things that destroy, right? Jesus calls us to name those things that destroy, the demons that destroy. Because I think Jesus would want us to know that the demons of this world of this time take on much more nefarious forms than the Hollywood version of demons. It comes in the form of how we treat those who are poor. Right? It comes in the form of how we treat those poor strangers who are newcomers. It takes form in the way that we engage in civic discourse. It takes form in ways even that we don't think are sinister. It takes form in the way that we interact with one another. The ways that we love or don't love each other. Jesus calls us first in this passage this morning, to name those demons that destroy, to name them, it's not enough to acknowledge them to know in your heart that they're there. Jesus says you have to name them. In order to move on to the next step of purging them. We have to name them for as much as it might make us uncomfortable.

The second part of the invitation Jesus gives us this morning is engaging in prayer. Prayer. Prayer, one of those things that we do here at church on Sunday mornings and meetings. One of those things, though, that we find that if you ask someone to do, they all look to someone else. And if you're the pastor, you are often the person who is looked at. But Jesus calls us to engage in prayer.

Prayer, though, in a way that's not resigning. It's not a prayer where we say, "Oh, God. We look around, and we see all these horrible things happening. And we wish we could do something, but we can't. So here are our prayers." No, we're not talking about some pious resignation to God's will. But we're talking about what author Chad Meyers uses to describe what kind of prayer we're talking about, "A prayer that's an intensely personal story, struggle within each disciple, and among us collectively to resist the despair, and distractions that cause us to practice unbelief, to abandon or avoid the way of Jesus."

Friends, we're talking about prayer that calls us into something deeper. We're not just talking about prayer as words we say, but ways in which they call us to action. We are called to pray. We are called to pray. And we are called to name the demons in our world, in our community. So how can you and I be a part of that? How can you and I create space for us to have these conversations? How can we create a way for us to name the demons that destroy, that divide, that oppress, demons that do not let us tap into our better angels, but instead, move us to buy into our fears?

We have to be able to name these things without feeling like they are personal attacks on ourselves. And we have to be able to pray in a way that pushes us deeper in a way that captivates the struggles that we wrestle with, in a way that helps push us to resist despair and hopelessness that causes us to avoid the way of Jesus. That is what we hear this morning, in our reading from Mark's gospel. It's much more than Jesus casting out an unclean spirit. But it is an invitation for you and I to do the same. It is an invitation for us to name the things that do more harm than good. They are an invitation for us to name the ways in which we have placed hope in other things other people, then God it's a way for us to name the things that tried to control us and destroy us.

Friends, that conversation takes a lot of courage. It takes a certain level of vulnerability to engage in that conversation. But it's one that's worth having if it means that we are led to the liberating work of God, God who has liberated us as well. May we be a part of this work, knowing that this is all possible due to the gift of Christ's life and love for us. Amen.