Sermon by Walter G. Edmonds
Damascus United Methodist Church
Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; I Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany - January 25, 2009
It was my second year at Lycoming College. Dr. Clifford Smith was teaching my Introduction to Psychology course and he had invited our class to a lecture-demonstration on hypnotism which he was offering. I went to the event not knowing truly what to expect and Dr. Smith explained that he was going to hypnotize several of his students who had agreed to allow him to induce a state resembling sleep, in which these persons would have little will or feeling of their own, and become subject to the suggestions of Dr. Smith.
Utterly fascinated, I watched these students relax and fall into this suggestive state. Dr. Smith kept looking around the room to make sure none of us observers were also sliding into this hypnotic state. I soon realized I was witnessing something way “beyond my ken.” (I like that phrase, for it simply means experiencing something beyond my range of knowledge and understanding.) What I remember is that the students did a number of things: one reached back into her mind to the age of 6 and behaved accordingly when asked to play with her toys, one student was told not to feel pain in his finger, and when Dr. Smith put a pin into his index finger, there was no reaction whatsoever. One student through suggestion removed the number and concept of 3. He counted 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 etc. He could multiply 2’s and 4’s but was silent when asked to multiply 3’s. Dr. Smith chose carefully the suggestions he made with great deference to the students and how they would be remembered from this laboratory experience. It was clear, however, that Dr, Smith had for the time absolute authority of these young adults until he clapped his hands, the signal he had earlier suggested, to end the trance. I must say I felt a little weird after this experience, and could say nothing to Dr. Smith for quite some time- I was awed and honestly, somewhat uncomfortable.
I have some of the same feelings as I hear again the story from the first chapter of St. Mark where Jesus is teaching in the synagogue magnificently, and a troubled spirit within a male congregant cries out, “What business do you have here with us, Jesus? Nazarene! I know what you’re up to! You’re the Holy One of God, and you’ve come to destroy us!” (The Message, Eugene Peterson, p.1810) Surely this outbreak upset those gathered to hear the rabbi from Nazareth, and a hush must have covered the room after the outbreak. Clearly Jesus was in authority. He had been, for the scriptures tell us, “Those hearing Jesus teach were astounded, for he taught them not as the scribes; he was so forthright, so confident, not pedantic, not quibbling or quoting like religion scholars, but quite spirited and animated by the abba Father’s presence in him.” (My words, with some phrases from The Message.) It was as though the strength of the authority in his voice and presence aroused, we might say, the psychosis in this listening man. It is difficult to address this man’s issues, for we have tamed and domesticated so much of what we have come to regard as irrational and emotional behavior, that labeling and “pigeon-holing” become the immediate response. But I believe, we must be careful with such seemingly safe categorizing, for we can easily remove ourselves from a form of evil that is being expressed here in the form of exorcism, the removal of the demonic from a person’s thinking and actions. Without giving any credence to Hollywood’s versions over the years, it should be said that profound evil does exist and needs to be delivered from suffering individuals. We know one thing for sure. The demonic recognizes the authority and presence of good, and when it comes in direct contact with that authority and its great power, reacts vehemently to its presence. M. Scott Peck’s book, People of the Lie, is most helpful in that understanding.
In Mark’s Gospel story, Jesus is the authority of God’s goodness, and his victory over the powers of evil is manifest greatly. Jesus’ immediate response to the spirit being released in the man is straight-forwardly sharp and decisive. He says, “Quiet! Stop! Get out of him! Jesus acts knowing exactly what needs to be done. The man is delivered with violent writhing and a vocal shriek. The scriptures record the crowd reacts in incredulous amazement asking each other, “What is this? A new teaching that brings release? Does this man Jesus have the power to drive out demons?” We know he does, because we know he has God’s authority. Jesus had authority then, and Jesus still has authority now.
We move now to the Biblical understanding of authority. The Greek word for authority is exousia, literally ex, meaning outside or beyond, and ousia, meaning substance or what is seen or what is visibly there. Exousia, therefore, means the outside power to deal with what is present and seen. An English word coming from exousia is executor, as in “an executor of a will.” The executor is to stand beyond what is seen and visible, and do what is necessary to make the best of the substance, or the seeming reality. The executor is given the freedom to do what needs to be done, because the executor has demonstrated qualities and behavior that show forth a greater good. So “to have authority” is “to have the power to do the greater good” with the substance and situation before oneself.
This understanding makes the Old Testament lesson in Deuteronomy 18 assessable to our thoughts. Moses is telling his people, the Israelites, that Yahweh is going to raise up a prophet from their kinsmen, a prophet like Moses who will have authority, that is, the ability to make things better for them in the future. Moses reminds them that they need to listen and obey. Moses reminds them that they asked for a person with authority at Horeb when they were overwhelmed with God and God’s fiery presence which they saw as destroying them. And God says, “You’re right to be fearful, because that’s what ultimate authority does to any of us. So I will give you a prophet from your own ranks who will know all things I intend for my people. And I expect all of you in this nation to follow his words. I will hold every one of you responsible for following his commands.” Examining this scripture, we Christians see this as God’s intention for all God’s people which is finally realized in Jesus the Christ. For as Moses was the chief authority for the Israelites in their formative years, so Jesus of Nazareth became the chief authority for the Christian community, capable of giving to all God’s people “the power to do the greater good.” There is not a greater witness to that good than Jesus’ ability to drive out evil from within a man. So Mark’s Gospel celebrates that truth in the first chapter.
We must also spend a moment with St. Paul’s discussion about authority when it comes to other gods and the eating of meat from the tables of their temples, the essence of the I Corinthians 8 passage. It is true that Paul’s word about only being one God, and that “eating food offered to idols” is meaningless, because the other gods do not exist. However, knowledge of that factor is not an excuse to take the liberty to eat table food especially served in the temples themselves before people who haven’t sorted this issue out. Your authority to go ahead and eat, and therefore, exhibit behavior that struggling souls have not figured out, becomes an invitation for them to get things messed up. Such eating suggests what we say today, “Have your cake and eat it too.” Because for the unsettled soul who has not fully aligned with Jesus, it appears that one can acknowledge Christ, and still play around with the worship follies of other worldly deceptions. Such behavior from those who appear to be authorities creates havoc. If we will stand true to our understanding of exousia, we must exercise our freedom with the caution that no one is to be misled from God’s directive by our action. The person with authority seeks first the desire for “the greater good,” which almost always means no self indulgence.
I began by talking about the disarming conduct of my psychology professor whose authority to change behavior through hypnosis was amazingly demonstrated. We addressed the overwhelming authority of Jesus to cast out an evil possessive spirit of a man in his company in St. Mark, chapter one. We looked at the definition of exousia, authority, as the ability to “bring a greater good” to any substance or situation. We saw God’s primal intention in the fifth book of the Torah, announcing Yahweh’s absolute commitment to sending one with His same authority. We heard St. Paul’s call for those in authority to do what keeps pure God’s will and way in the eyes of all. So where are we in this look at authority?
Let’s spiritually examine very carefully the authority we see demonstrated and exerted in our home, office, school, community and nation, and give that authority its rightful place in our thinking and behavior.
