Water-Washed
and Spirit-Born:
Claim
the Power
Sermon preached by Rev. Patricia Farris
January 29, 2006
Scripture:
Psalm 111 and Mark 1:21-28
This
series of sermons carrying us through the season of Epiphany is called
“Water-washed and Spirit-born.” Water-washed and Spirit-born.
Those words are from the contemporary hymn in our hymnal, which we
sang at the conclusion of this service, and that we often sing on
days when we are baptizing a new member of Christ’s family.
“Wash,
O God, our sons and daughters, where your cleansing waters flow. Number
them among your people; bless as Christ blessed long ago. Weave them
garments bright and sparkling; compass them with love and light. Fill,
anoint them; send your Spirit, holy dove and heart’s delight.”
On
these Epiphany Sundays, the flowing water of this fountain, the music,
the words of Scripture and the sermons are all carefully designed
to help us remember our baptism—and to live into it. We are
those whom Christ calls and baptizes with water and the Spirit. We
are water-washed and Spirit-born.
It
all starts with Jesus’ own baptism, of course, there in the
River Jordan, baptized by John the Baptist. In the Gospel of Mark,
we see right from the get-go that Jesus IS the divine Son of God who
functions by the power of God, delivering us from all evil that prevents
life from being what God has intended it to be. We hear it in the
prayer he teaches us: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever.”
Jesus
has come to set us free. God has given him authority and power to
do just that. And through the work of the Holy Spirit, that authority
and power will be extended to us as well - we, whom he calls to be
his disciples. Power to be healers. Power to share God’s good
news. Power to share God’s love with those who need it most.
We are water-washed and Spirit-born.
Mark’s
Gospel is different than the other accounts of Jesus’ life.
In his version of the story, John the Baptist proclaims the coming
of the Messiah. Jesus is baptized, confronts Satan in the wilderness
and does not give in to temptation and immediately begins his ministry
in (continued...)
"Claim
the Power" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 29, 2006
the Galilee region.
Boom, boom, boom. Wasting no time here. There’s a sense of urgency
in Mark, a desire to cut to the chase, get to the bottom line. God
in Jesus Christ has come to set the people free from any evil, any
restraint, any illness, any oppression, any thing that would keep
them from being whole and vital and alive and free.
This
morning we see him in Capernaum, on the northwest shore of the Sea of
Galilee, the home town of Simon and Andrew, James and John, those ex-fishermen
now fishing for people as his first disciples. Archaeologists have actually
excavated the synagogue described in today’s story. Those of you
who have taken tours to the Holy Land may have had the privilege of
standing here, one of the few places in modern Israel where visitors
may stand on a spot where Jesus likely stood.
He
enters, and speaks to them as one having authority. Now, this had nothing
to do with any academic degrees or formal credentials. And it had nothing
to do with his tone of voice, his posture, or his charisma. The authority
that was palpable when Jesus spoke had everything to do with the power
given by God, the baptism of water and the Spirit, anointing him to
inaugurate God’s kingdom. Jesus’ authority was God-given.
It was personal. It was prophetic. It came through in his words, but
more importantly, it came through in the way he lived his life. Disciples:
take note. His authority was conveyed in the way he lived his life.
He was the embodiment of God’s great love for us.
And
what a unique prophet he proved to be! He did not seek ever to exalt
himself or to put himself forward. He loved the lowest of the low. He
ate with sinners. He broke the rules. And he healed the sick. He performed
miracles!
We’re
going to find miracles all throughout Mark’s Gospel as we press
on through it over the course of this year. (And a little commercial
here: those of you with an interest in learning what miracles are about
might want to check out the March Book Study book called: The Meaning
in the Miracles.) The author, Jeffrey John, cautions—as did St.
Augustine—against staying on the outside of these miracle stories,
examining them like specimens to see if or how they might be true.
Instead, he says, we need to hear their inner meaning, the meaning that
relates to our own life and experience. The “inner meaning”
of the miracle. We’ll come back to that in a minute.
Today’s
passage works like a sandwich, we might say. The two pieces of bread
that hold it together are verses about Jesus’ authority. “He
entered the synagogue and they were astounded at his teaching, for he
taught as one with authority.” In the center of our sandwich is
the healing of the man with unclean spirits. And wrapping it up are
more verses that say: “They were all amazed and they kept asking
one another, ‘what is this?’ A new teaching—with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
(continued...)
"Claim
the Power" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 29, 2006
Got
it? Authority—authority—and at the center, healing.
What’s
going on here? And what is the inner meaning of the healing miracle?
Ah, Mark
is showing us, God has given Jesus power and authority over all that
is evil in this world. Authority over the unclean spirits, over the
powers of darkness, over the forces of oppression, over everything
that keeps us—and any human being—from being fully who
we have been created to be.
I know,
you’re thinking: evil spirits? I haven’t seen one of those
since the Exorcist! But dig a little deeper to see if there isn’t
some inner meaning for your life. Are there not within us all things
in need of healing? For some of us, it’s an addiction to alcohol,
to drugs, to gambling, to acquiring ever more things. Others of us
need healing from the hurt and the bitterness that keep us imprisoned
to small lives of resentment. And have we not all done things we ought
not to have done? Have we not all failed to do something we should
have done? Have we not hurt someone, unintentionally or intentionally?
Have we not wondered if we couldn’t have perhaps done better
with a spouse, a parent, a child? Aren’t there demons in our
souls?
Jesus Christ
has power over all these “unclean spirits” in us. This
is the good news. He has authority and power to heal us and set us
free.
I know
that sometimes the things that bind us seem to have the upper hand
and we wonder if we’ll be strong enough to overcome. I know
that sometimes we feel that we’re not worthy of this great love
of God in Christ, or worthy, even, to show up in church. Who am I,
to stand before the Holy of Holies?
It was
the same back then in the synagogue in Capernaum and Mark lets us
know. He says clearly: “Just then there was in their synagogue
a man with an unclean spirit.” In THEIR synagogue. The man with
the unclean spirit didn’t belong, you see. It was THEIR synagogue,
the righteous people, the good people, the members. It was their synagogue,
but even so, this man with an unclean spirit dared to walk right in.
And the unclean spirit in him, whatever it was, called out to Jesus:
“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.”
Wow! It
was the unclean spirit who was first to recognize Jesus’ power
to heal! And Jesus said: “Be silent. Come out of him.”
And THEY, whose synagogue it was, were all amazed. “What is
this?” they asked. “A new teaching—with authority!”
There’s
a lot going on here. A man is healed. The synagogue is opened up to
an outsider. People begin to see that something new and different
is happening. The kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus Christ has authority
and power to heal us and set us free. Jesus Christ has authority and
power to heal the world and to set all God’s people free.
(continued...)
"Claim
the Power" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 29, 2006
The
thing is, it doesn’t stop with Jesus. We’ll read in the
third chapter of Mark: “And he appointed twelve, whom he also
named apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the
message, and to have authority to cast out demons.” And in John
hear these words of Jesus: “Very truly I tell you, the one who
believes in me will also do the works I do and, in fact, will do greater
works than these….”
As
Marcia McFee made so clear in worship with us, God’s spirit
has been poured out on all people. In our baptism, we, too, are water-washed
and Spirit-born. As you go through this week now, pay attention. Walk
with Christ through this week. See through his eyes. Think with his
mind. Feel with his heart. Find the “inner meaning” of
this miracle, of Christ’s claim on you. Embody his love in your
life. Look for ways when you, too, might claim the authority bestowed
upon you in your baptism. Speak words of healing and of hope. Offer
forgiveness and reconciliation. Lift another up. Open a door that
has been closed. Let Christ heal you. Claim the power.
“O
how deep, your holy wisdom, unimagined all your ways. To your name,
be glory, honor! With our lives, we worship, praise! We your people
stand before you, water-washed and Spirit-born. By your grace, our
lives we offer. Recreate us, God, transform!”
Amen.
©Patricia
Farris , 2006. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
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