"Silenced by Jesus"
Mark 1:21-28
Pastor Neil Cole tells the story about a young man named Sean.
Sean was an outstanding musician before drugs took everything from him.
Sean had sold all his instruments to feed his speed habit.
He had lost all his jobs because he would often steal to buy more drugs.
Pastor Cole invited Sean to come to his church and was surprised when he came.
He was even more surprised when he came back again and again.
Eventually, Sean decided he wanted profess his faith in Christ and join the church.
So, a couple of weeks later, Cole baptized Sean in the ocean.
After Sean was baptized, he celebrated by getting high on speed.
Cole got Sean into an accountability group and even had Sean move into his home for a brief time.
Cole writes, "He stayed clean while he lived with my family, but as soon as he moved back home he fell again to the bondage."
Then Cole had an idea of how Sean might break his addiction.
He said to Sean, "I want you and I to get in the car right now and drive over and tell your drug dealer about Jesus. Maybe if your dealer gets saved it will cut off your source."
It took a bit of coaxing, but Sean did it.
From that point on, Sean never took any drugs.
He was finally free.
Jesus' Word in action transformed his life.
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus is preaching in a synagogue.
And there in the synagogue, listening, is a poor man who had somehow been invaded by a force from outside of himself, and he apparently had no control of it.
I wonder how frightening life had become for that person.
I can't imagine.
One thing that stands out to me is that he was in the synagogue in Capernaum that Sabbath day that Jesus entered and started teaching.
Had he somehow heard about Jesus, and thus, somehow made his way to the synagogue with the slim hope that Jesus might be able to free him from the chains that bound him?
Had a friend invited him that day?
Had he surprised the friend by actually showing up?
In any event, Jesus was speaking God's Word, and not like the legal experts taught the people.
The legal experts only read from the Law.
They didn't "preach" so to speak.
Jesus wasn't reading from the Law, Jesus was the Law made flesh.
Jesus was GOD speaking.
Therefore, we are told that "the people were amazed by his teaching for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts."
And while Jesus was teaching, and amazing the listeners, suddenly this poor guy with the "evil spirit" screamed: "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are.
You are the holy one from God."
It has been noted that these words may have been less a question than a challenge.
The evil spirit sees that Jesus is invading its space.
The evil spirit knows who Jesus is and where He belongs.
Jesus belongs in the kingdom of heaven, not in this fallen world given over to Satan.
What is the Holy God doing invading the world of darkness...
...the sphere which belongs to the prince of the power of the air?
(pause)
The power of the Word of God has awakened this demon.
It has stirred it up like an ant hill which has been disturbed by a stick.
It can't contain itself, so it screams in shock, outrage, horror, fury and fear!!!
"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
Have you come to destroy the hold we have on the people you love?
Have you come to set the captives free?
We are here to destroy those You love.
This is our world.
This is our domain.
[We] know who you are.
You are the holy one from God.
Have you come to destroy us?"
One of our great Christian writers, C.S. Lewis had this to say about the devil: "We make two mistakes regarding the devil.
One is to have an unhealthy interest in him.
The other is to deny that he exists.
With both, Satan is equally happy."
In any event, it's impossible to ignore his work—broken hearts and homes, abuse, disease, racism, hatred, murder--everything that is bad; everything that causes us to act less than human...
...everything that distorts the image of God, in which we were created.
How are demons seeking to destroy your life and the life of the ones you love this morning?
In what ways are you being attacked?
Are you being held in bondage by that which seeks to destroy you?
Is there an evil power which is controlling some aspect of your life?
Demons come to us and take possession of our lives in the form of obsession and fear.
Why else would we be automatically suspicious of everyone who looks different from us?
Why else would we feel the need to arm ourselves to the hilt?
People around the world are paralyzed by a fear that is completely beyond their own control.
This fear leads to depression, mental illness, anger, hate, rage, murder, suicide, terrorism.
Then there are all those addictions: addictions to alcohol, prescription drugs, narcotics, sex, money, and power.
Perhaps you have or are experiencing the horrible power of such addictions yourself.
Or maybe you have been affected by the evil living in others.
Or it may be that you know someone who struggles in the face of addiction.
This is a very real problem that affects all of us in some way.
Over 80% of the homeless population in the United States are people who have addiction or mental health problems.
Their plight is a direct result of the “unclean spirits” that have taken control of their lives.
But it’s not just the homeless, either.
There are wealthy suburbanites who admit to addictions to prescription drugs, countless overly stressed businesspeople who drink their worries away every night.
There are the demons of fear which cause persons to hoard money and possessions for themselves, while their neighbor next door goes without food and clothes.
And God only knows how many people in all walks of life are fueling the business of internet porn, sending marriages and relationships into sometimes irreversible tail spins.
In the midst of such chaotic possession, what all of us need to hear more than anything else is the powerful authority of Jesus ordering out the evil.
There is a power at work in this world greater than all evil, and that is the power of God that is shown to us in Jesus Christ.
Jesus came to be the human bridge across which people can climb to safety, a human bridge with outstretched arms carrying people from death to life.
It cost Jesus His life, but it made it possible for all people to have new life.
Have you accepted this new life?
Will you allow Jesus to silence the demons which seek to destroy you?
