Mark 1:21-28

May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father be with us in the name of his son, our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Amen.
          Well, we are only about two-thirds into the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel and Jesus has already been born, baptized, and tempted in the wilderness; he has called the beginnings of his disciples, began to preach and teach with growing popularity, and in today’s Gospel reading, he has now healed a man with an unclean spirit. It is an appropriate part of Jesus’ life to hear and consider as we gather for worship with a healing emphasis today. In Jesus’ day, healing was a purely spiritual matter. These were the days before the discovery of bacteria or germs; they didn’t know about cancer cells or chemical imbalance or mental illness. Every physical suffering that occurred was a direct result of the spiritual world – in other words, an evil or unclean spirit possessed the sick to cause their condition.
          Today, we are trying to take a holistic view of healing and consider how illness is a matter for both the physical and spiritual realm. We know more and more about the presence of bacteria, germs and other microscopic entities that cause illness. We are able to treat so much of this with medication, surgery and therapy. Through research we are even treating things like cancer, alzheimer’s disease and AIDS with more and more success. But we also know that there is something about the spiritual that also adds to a person’s physical health. It has long been accepted that prayer is helpful for treating illness, and that a healthy spiritual life is one of the factors that helps keep people healthy. Even in the face of studies that dispute that claim, we in the church still pray for the sick and have healing services and ask God’s to strengthen those who suffer mind, body and spirit.
          One thing that makes us uncomfortable is when we talk about possession. The stories in the Bible like this one make us think of movies like, “The Exorcist”, complete with spinning heads and projectile vomiting. Hollywood has taken this notion of spiritual possession and elevated it to new levels through special effects and fantasy-like story telling. So these stories of Jesus casting out spirits or demons usually don’t make much of a connection for us because our only experiences are the fictional accounts in Hollywood movies.
          But – since this comes so early in Mark’s telling of the life and ministry of Jesus – there must be something there for us to connect with beyond just a battle between the forces of evil personified in an evil spirit, and the Son of God! If you remember the text from last week’s gospel reading – verses 14 through 20 – Jesus’ message is a very short and basic, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.” I mentioned last week that we might read this not only as the thesis statement for Jesus’ message and ministry, but also the thesis statement for the Gospel of Mark. If this is true, then we read these fast flying events of this first chapter as describing what the Kingdom of God looks like.
          Remember that in verse 11, after Jesus was baptized, he came out of the water and a voice from heaven was heard proclaiming him God’s beloved son, with whom God is well-pleased as the Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. Now, about 12 verses later, Mark contrasts that Holy Spirit with an unclean spirit – that which tells people that God is not pleased with them, and that they are not loved or part of God’s family at all. I know it is not as visually exciting, but we would be better off abandoning those Hollywood-fed images of spinning heads and think about evil and unclean spirits as the forces that curse rather than bless; they tear down rather than build up; they disparage rather than encourage; they sow hatred rather than promoting love; they split God’s people apart rather than draw us together.
          So maybe we could boil down the first chapter of Mark leading up to this story this way: Jesus has been baptized, tempted in the wilderness, and now comes to proclaim and demonstrate the kingdom of God on earth, and he does this by opposing the forces of evil which would rob the children of God of all that God hopes and intends for them.
        Seen this way, we have to admit that not only is possession not quite as foreign an event as we might have thought, but that we actually have first-hand experience with it. We have on occasion been possessed by anger at a friend, neighbor or family member that has led us to say and do things that we regret. We have been possessed by jealousy and envy that have led us to spend our money or somehow change our lifestyles in ways that we regret. And that's just the beginning - can you, honestly, tell me that you haven't had these experiences also, when you feel possessed by something that is so clearly not the Spirit of God blessing us to be a blessing to others?
        Remember that this is a good, church-going person like you and me, and that he is at synagogue on the Sabbath in this reading! Unclean spirits don’t only possess those we label as, “un-Christian.” To be sure, because of how this spirit addresses Jesus, we can admit that we are good fertile ground for these evil spirits to cultivate! In addition to what I have mentioned above, for some people the experience of possession is even greater and more damaging as they have felt possessed by addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, or pornography; for some, it's a hidden but pervasive prejudice that keeps them captive; Or maybe they've been possessed by more society-approved unclean spirits like workaholism, affluenza, or greed.
        As we hear this account from the very beginning of Jesus’ life, this man is the epitome of all of us – good, church-going people who (even though we are people of faith) are sometimes possessed by an "unclean spirit." The good news for all of us is that Jesus is still at work cleansing us from such spirits, still sending the Holy Spirit into our lives and the life of our congregations to bless, build up, encourage, promote love and draw us together.    

        Think about your own life and the lives of people who you know or that you have met – I am certain that there are experiences where you or someone else has had sudden encounters with grace and mercy. Or, maybe there are instances when you have seen that over time and healing, restoration and peace have made a gradual difference in your life. Sometimes the road to healing and restoration takes both time and company. Sometimes it's not about a single effective prayer, but the steady, on-going love of a grief support network, or an AA group, or a prayer chain, or parenting group, or notices about anger-management classes, or whatever. God is at work in all these ways and so many more to free us from the unclean spirits that still possess us.
        Today, as we focus on those things that possess us in order to lead us away from the Holy Spirit and God’s will and kingdom, I invite you to contemplate and name some of the things that possess you and that you would like the support of your Christian brothers and sisters to escape. Maybe you simply name it in prayer; perhaps you call someone who is trusted, or email them; perhaps you will make an appointment to speak with me or just invite one of your Christian brothers or sisters to talk about life over coffee.
        Whatever you do, do it with full knowledge that the power of the evil one is still at work in the world – even in the church – to divide and to cultivate fear and doubt and guilt, trying to lead us away from the God who loves us and keeps sending his Holy Spirit to heal us. If you come forward today for a word of healing, have these things in the front of your mind, ready to hand them over to God and surrender to the Holy Spirit and to the one who blesses us all to be a blessing to others.
        I believe that Jesus is still in the business of freeing us from those powers which seek to rob all of God's children of the hope that God offers for us. In the power of this scripture reading from the beginning of Mark’s Gospel, we hear about how Jesus wants all of you to believe that as well. May we continue to be healed of those things that seek to possess us and lead us away from the God and God’s family; and may we indeed be possessed by the Holy Spirit, which continues to be an active and dynamic presence in our lives, in the church, and in the whole world; may it be so, in the name of Christ our Lord – Amen.