The Fourth Sunday After Epiphany January 31, 2021

Sermon by Pastor Cindy Bullock The Holy gospel according to Mark.

21[Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and 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.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27They 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.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

The gospel of the Lord. Grace to you and peace from God our father and our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Today we find Jesus in the Synagogue – in the holy space – like church. the place

where you go to be held and grounded in faith. Now, for the past year, our holy spaces have looked a lot different. I have to say I’m aching to be back in the space we have known so well. I look forward to being in our sanctuary, where the very walls seem to hold the voices of people who sang and prayed there for 100 years. I miss the sounds and sights and smells – I have to admit that when I’ve been in there lately it smells a little too lemony fresh. – it needs a little perfume of lutefisk, or of young children, or just a lot of people gathered. We all

miss that. In these days we have had to create our own spaces of reverence – New holy spaces where we can be grounded, to remember who we are and what we’re about. Sometimes it’s a cozy chair with a warm blanket. Sometimes it’s a walk in the woods or a yoga class. Sometimes it’s sitting in front of a computer or a phone on a Sunday morning at 10 with a cup of coffee and a lighted candle beside us. We have created new sacred space.

And that is good! In the midst of anger and fear and too much uncertainty it is good to have a place of grounding, that space and time for prayer, listening and remembering. A place to remember that there is something greater than ourselves that holds us in love and points us toward love. What holy spaces or practices have you discovered in the past year? What are places you can reflect and talk with God? Where do you go, what do you do? For the sake of all of us. Would you write that down in the chat? Please add places, or practices or apps that you use. It doesn’t have to be fancy – it can be “I pray while I vacuum.” How do you stay grounded in Christ in these days?

Today we find Jesus in a holy space – in this case, he’s in the Synagogue at Capernaum. Now the Capernaum synagogue was a good-sized building, physically and spiritually the center of the community. Today’s reading took place during the

sabbath, so the community was there I the holy place listening – trying to find connection, grounding in God. Then, suddenly, or in Mark’s words, “Immediately” there was a man with an unclean spirit in the holy space. And yes, I know, our first thought as 21st century Americans is “He was having a mental health crisis”, or “He has a neurological disease”, or we shake our heads at those who believe in demon possessions – it’s like believing in zombies –

But that’s not what Mark says. Mark doesn’t say, “Suddenly there was a man possessed by a demon” – 10 verses later, Mark talks about casting out demons. But here he speaks of an unclean spirit – literally a life that is disordered or poorly mixed. A life or soul that is dark or broken. Think about it this way. In the Baptism service we speak out the three great no’s – we renounce all the forces that defy God – we renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God - we renounce the ways of sin that draw us from God. These are the unclean spirits all around us. In other words, this is not some guy with glowing eyes and flaming breath. He is all of us at some point. He is broken and lost and unsure how to find his way back to God. We know what that’s like. We know how it is when your head is filled with the voices of ego, anger, envy or fear - that voice in your head that says, “You’re not good enough – or that says, “You deserve it all.” Or the voice that whispers, “nothing will ever get better again.” Any of this is unclean spirit. – anything that robs someone of the fullness, the beauty, the hope of life. Suddenly, there appeared a man with an unclean spirit. And with a few words, Jesus heals him. Fast, simple, but it is such a rich moment, that I want to rest here for a bit.

Jesus meets this man where he is. The man who confronts him is angry and aggressive “What have you to do with us Jesus, Nazarene, small town nobody.” This is not a kind and respectful man. But Jesus isn’t looking for him to be perfect before he can come to God. Jesus doesn’t politely ignore him or politely show him the door. He engages with him.

And that tells me that -- the holy place, the church, is not the fellowship of the beautiful and perfect, it is a place that we can come as we are. We come into God’s loving presence bringing all of our baggage and faults. And whether we encounter God from a pew or a comfy chair or a walk in the woods, we can bring all of us to that meeting, the good and bad of us, and Jesus will welcome us in. Always welcome us in.

The man with the unclean spirit confronted Jesus, and left the encounter changed. Jesus healed him – invited him into a fuller life. But the healing was not easy on this man. He cried. He convulsed. He was in pain. Change is not easy. – Change in ourselves is even harder. Even seeing that we need to change can be a challenge. It can break our hearts and leave us wrestling in the night as we begin to see the world the way God sees it. But Jesus continues to invite us into a world of abundance, freedom, welcome, equity and love – where we can be healed and fully human no matter how long or difficult the healing may be. Which leads me to the last and most difficult part of the story. The silence. The man is made whole, and we don’t hear another word about him in the gospel. Only silence. I guess we will have to fill that silence with our own stories of healing and a future made possible by Christ. The man in the gospel today was healed, then left in the midst of his community – a circle to support him, teach him, and keep him well. Over time I suspect the gifts and talents given by the Spirit could appear and be used to help heal others. And so it is with us.

We come as we are into our holy spaces to meet the Christ – who invites us in love and walks with us in the difficult work of confronting our unclean spirits. And then we are surrounded by a community that continues to walk together, supporting, questioning, teaching and cleansing. IN community each of us can discover our gifts and use them for the healing of others. This is the story of Jesus and the man in synagogue. This is our story. Amen.