Hey…Hey you. Ya, you. Where you at the synagogue in Capernaum last Sabbath morning? I don’t know if I saw you there, but did you hear what happened! It was unreal! Usually at our synagogue there is prayer, Scripture reading and then interpretation by a Scribe (who has worked closely with the text to extract the rules and regulations that guided daily living for all of us Jewish people) and that’s it.

Well, last Sabbath when I headed down to the local synagogue everything started out as I expected. We had the prayers. We heard the Torah readings and then the interpretation began. A man, who I have never seen before, a traveling preacher I think, stands up and begins the interpretation. I expected to hear the usual explanation of the Torah (the first five books of the OT known as the Jewish law books).  But this time something was different. His strangeness is not what captured everyone’s attention, but how he taught sure did. He spoke not out of the tradition of the Torah, but as one having authority himself. His interpretation was personal, relational and meaningful.

And then, if things were not already strange enough, Joe, who lives a few houses away from me, starts yelling and screaming at this stranger right in the middle of his interpretation! I am not sure how he knew the stranger, but Joe calls Him by name and even knew where he was from, Jesus from Nazareth, and then calls him the ‘Holy One of God’! Can you believe that blasphemy!! Everyone that was gathered that morning went silent. I remember being on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how this stranger would respond to these heretical claims!

And then…well, the stranger commands an unclean spirit to come out of Joe! Can you believe that? I know what you’re thinking, Joe has a demon? But hang on, because this is where I almost lost it; because, very literally, all hell breaks loose.  Joe starts shaking and falls to the floor while screaming in this high-pitched horrible shrieking voice! People are crying, the scribes are yelling at one another, kids are running out the doors and then…complete and utter silence. Joe stands up, and walks out. The stranger, who Joe called Jesus, follows Him, as if nothing ever happened. My jaw hit the floor. Rita leaned over to me and softly whispered, “Who is this”, “What happened”, “Does this Man even control the spirits”. You had to have heard about this, the town and region have not stopped talking about it!

Could you even begin to imagine being at the synagogue in Capernaum that Sabbath morning…

Here we have the first story of Jesus’ public ministry; and as we read, He starts out with a bang. Thus far in Mark’s Gospel it has been business as usual; we have heard about John the baptizer’s ministry, Jesus’ baptism, the 40 days of temptation, and Jesus calling the disciples. But, in his first public-ministry event, Jesus not only amazes the people by teaching in the synagogue with authority, but he also demonstrates that authority with nothing short of an exorcism. And here is where things get real interesting, because the unclean Spirit knows who Jesus, the Holy One of God, is. Yet, simply knowing about Jesus does not make one to be a follower or disciple of Jesus; for as we can see, even the unclean spirits and demons know Jesus’ true identity.

In his letter to scattered Christians, James says; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:18b-19). We learn very early in Mark that Jesus, the Son of God, gives up His equality with God to become a finite human in order to summon disciples; disciples who just don’t know about Him, but are willing to sacrifice everything, even their very own lives, for the sake of the coming Kingdom of God! Jesus comes to us by grace and through faith in order to bring us back to God; in order to restore our relationship with the Divine. And in doing so, we respond, because love can never be forced.

In the Gospel story, people were astounded at Jesus’ teaching and amazed at His authority over the unclean spirits. Because of this, it did not take long for His popularity and fame to spread throughout the region. Yet, Jesus did not come to compete with the Justin Beiber’s or the Bret Favre’s of the world. If Jesus’ finds His face on People’s magazine, it’s probably not from His own doing.

As the unclean testifies in the midst of its rampage, Jesus came to destroy the stronghold that the evil one has over humanity (Mark 1:24); to conquer evil and the grave and rise again! And because He lives, we also may have life. That is the Good News we are called to proclaim; to live and if we must, to die for. Jesus, the Word made flesh, isn’t summoning cheerleaders; Jesus is calling disciples.

Indeed justification, or being made right before God, is accomplished through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). But how many of us today are living a dead faith, trapped by the boundaries of a lifeless religion; sitting on the sidelines of life while softly cheering on a God that we are not in relation with? How many of us today are living a dead faith, trapped by the boundaries of a lifeless religion? The Apostle James, who we referenced earlier, goes on to say in his letter that “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (2:17). Faith is trusting in God with and for everything; it is a personal relationship and commitment/obedience that informs and transforms our entire lives. Because of our faith in the Living God, we are a moved people. For it is only through the death of our sinful and selfish desires, that life comes through Jesus Christ.

Because of what Jesus has came and accomplished for us, we now can live for the glory of God and the good of the neighbor; which Paul is talking about in his letter to the Corinthians. It is true that we are set free from the chains of sin and evil to live life; but this new-found freedom in Jesus does not give us the liberty to be a stumbling block for the weak. Whatever our vocation and gifts may be, we are always called to live for the other. Our words, actions and behavior are a reflection of the love of God for all people; no matter what our own personal opinion or bias may be.

A living faith means that all of our deeds spring from the love of God and are for the love of our neighbor; whether they are across the street or across the world. Think about it, we, our lives, may be the only Bible that some people will ever read.

And according to Forbes.com, Americans are definitely reading. In fact, Americans spent around $11 billion on self-improvement books and programs in 2008 alone, up 13.6% from 2005, and trending at a 6.2% annual growth rate through 2012[1]. People are spending enormous amounts of money looking for help; looking for hope – for something solid to hang onto in this ever-changing, complex world. As Disciples of Christ, we know of something, better yet, Someone, who alone can fill this deep desire that all of humanity possesses; this desire to be in relationship with the Divine.

We live today to tell the story of God with us, God’s love for each one of us. As Paul states to the Corinthians, we are not guided by a superior knowledge that we may posses, we are guided by the sacrificial love exemplified by our Lord, Jesus Christ; a reckless love that knows no boundaries.

Therefore, today we do not need anymore “Seven-steps to a better life” or “Finding Purpose in Life” self-help books to give us what we are looking for. All we need is Jesus. He is the One and the Only who can give us life with meaning, purpose and hope; He can fulfill us with what our hearts desire. He alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life… (John 14:6), the One worth dying and thus living for.

The lyrics of Charlie Hall’s song called “Center” explain this beautifully.

You’re the center of the universe

Everything was made in You Jesus

Breath of every living thing

Everyone was made for You

You hold everything together

You hold everything together

Oh Christ be the center of our lives

Be the place we fix our eyes

Be the center of our lives[2]

God has so much more in store for us that we can ever envision. God’s Kingdom is more thrilling than we could ever image or dream of; if only we will come to Him, if only we will put our entire faith and hope in Him. You see, God wants to astound and amaze us and all of creation. If we will look to Him, and only Him, we will realize that He is more than enough. He is the great “I am” (Exod. 3). He is the “Holy One of God” who has broken into His creation and is calling out to each one of us.

Jesus does not need any more cheerleaders standing on the sideline of life, Jesus wants and is calling disciples. So may we be a people who die to ourselves in order to live for Christ. May we be a people who do all things in life for the glory to God and the good of our neighbor.

Intern Pastor Nate

Past Sermon's

January 22, 2012

January 15, 2012

January 8, 2012

January 1, 2012