“Time Will Tell”      2012

Deuteronomy 18:15-22                     Mark 1:21-28

 

Deuteronomy 18:15-22

15The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. 16This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” 17Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. 19Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. 20But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” 21You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?” 22If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.

 

Mark 1:21-28

21They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, “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.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

 

As a college student, my friends and I

            loved going to Cape Hatteras to camp and hangout by the ocean.

                        And way back  behind the dunes next to the parking lot,

                                    it was great fun to climb-up the old lighthouse

                                                and gaze across the wide expanse of the beach.

 

Since then, many years of hurricanes, storms and eroding tides

            have so washed-away the beachfront, that the old lighthouse

                        was at risk of tipping and tumbling down into the ocean.

 

In a major engineering project, the old lighthouse was raisedà   

    onto some special rollers and moved a mile or so further inland…

            … because with the passage of time, the beach at Cape Hatteras

                    had not held up very well to the storms and pounding surf.

 

Soon  after I finished seminary, Kathy and I visited

            the area around Gloucester, MA, so that I could

                        show her some of the places of my childhood memories.

 

Cape Ann is just around the corner from Gloucester,

            and is an area with huge, car-size boulders next to the ocean,

                        where my brother and I used to climb and play,

                              while our family drank hot chocolate, picnicked,

                                       & watched ocean waves crash & pound the shoreline.

 

            But despite decades of storms, waves and surging tides,

                        nothing had changed, and the boulders along the coast

                                    were exactly as I remembered them from childhood …

 

            … and I suspect quite unchanged,  since as a small boy à

                        my great grandfather also scrambled and played

                                                along those same boulders next to the ocean

                                                            there at Cape Ann   more than 150 years ago.

 

In contrast to the beachfront at Cape Hatteras,

            the rocky shoreline at Cape Ann has withstood all the storms

                        and ravages of time very well… virtually unchanged.

 

The passage of time   and storms endured            uniquely revealsà

           that which is true, steadfast and trustworthy,

                        … for with time we can see how things hold up  and are able

                                   to withstand storms and adversity … sustain & last.

 

We know that in this world,

     appearances can be deceiving,  a fad may grab our attention;

            but,  that truth and authenticity will still stand long after

                        the other    has failed, worn-down and disappeared …

          … so time is the ultimate sifter   of truth and authenticity.

 

That same principle  is described in Deuteronomy 18, vs. 21-22

            You may say to yourself, “How can we recognize a word that the Lord has not spoken?” If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken.

 

It is a pretty simple concept.

            How do we know if someone is really speaking God’s truth?

                        If in time, what they have said does not come to pass,

                                    then they were not sent by the Lord

                                                to speak the true and authentic word of God.

 

This Deuteronomy passage comes from when Moses will soon die,

            and God makes a promise that after Moses,

                        the Lord will raise up another spokesman and leader

                                    who will serve and function like another Moses ---

            --- speaking and teaching God’s true and authentic word,

                               and leading the people in the way of God’s salvation.

           

But all of the Hebrew prophets and leaders after Moses fell short,

       and none of them were able to live-up to the standard of Moses.

There were some great and faithful leaders,

            and there were some wonderfully wise and inspiring prophets,

                        but no one person     ever measured-up to Moses …

 

… so the Deuteronomy prophecy came to be seen

            as God’s promise to send a final prophetic-spokesman à

                        the Messiah to announce God’s Kingdom and final victory…

 

            … and as one who would act redemptively among God’s people,

                        to save them as Moses had done in Egypt,

                                    and to teach them as Moses had at Mt. Sinai.

 

The early Christians recognized that the promises of Deut. 18,

            had been finally fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

                  The author of Mark was writing from that perspective,

                        and frames his story-telling to make that point clearly.

 

The major intent and focus of the Gospel of Mark is to reveal

            who Jesus really was and explain what he came to accomplish…

                        … and throughout this gospel a conflict is building

                                    between Jesus and the religious authorities

                                                that is centered on the truth about God,

                             and specifically, the teaching-authority of Jesus.

 

Jesus wasn’t crucified for telling parables & healing sick people

            - he was crucified because

                        he challenged the authority of the religious leaders,

                                    who didn’t react well when he said they were wrong.

 

The people in the synagogue who heard Jesus, we’re told in    vs. 22

            were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

 

The teaching-authority of the scribes

            derived from their detailed study of Scripture & traditions,

                        by knowing finer points of interpretation of the Law

                                    built on the opinions and learnings of others.

 

            Their interpretations tended to be harsh and judgmental

                        as they pursued a holiness

                                    based on excluding those others   deemed unworthy.

 

In contrast, Jesus had a different sort of teaching authority,

            not dependent on the study and wisdom of scholars,

                        but focused on the gracious will and acts of God,

                                    and especially God’s love, mercy and compassion

                                                in seeking the lost and welcoming the outcast.

 

It is no accident that twice in these few verses

            the author refers to the teaching- authority of Jesus ---

            ---which was verified and confirmed by

                           the authority of Jesus to drive out the unclean spirit.

 

There is a connection being made in Mark similar to Deuteronomy:

 

            how do we know that the teaching of Jesus is true and of God?-

                        - because by that same authority,

                                    he has the power to drive out unclean spirits…

  … because when Jesus speaks, they can see his words come to pass.

 

In Mark’s world and culture,

            unclean spirits and healing by exorcism was assumed by all,

-  but that may not track well with our science-based perspective.

 

But we do know what it is like

            to be drawn and influenced toward wrong-doing and evil,

                        by a inner motivation  or spirit that opposes God,

                                against God’s grace, mercy, purpose and intentions.

 

Haven’t you ever plowed ahead with something that

            you really knew was wrong, and you’d eventually regret?

 

Though I might not ordinarily call or name it an ‘unclean spirit’,

                        I certainly do know what it is to rebel against God,

                                       to think, speak and act in ways that I know are

                                                in opposition to the will and purpose of God,

                                                            and that rob us

                                                                        of the blessings and hope God intends.

 

We don’t generally encounter people possessed by unclean spirits

but we do experience desires tugging us away from the will of God.

 

In the story, a man reacts badly to what Jesus is teaching  vs. 23-24

            … a man with an unclean spirit cried out, “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.”

 

Literally he asks, “what do we have in common, Holy One of God?”

            And the answer is,   unclean and holy have nothing in common.

 

But Jesus came to save the lost and unclean;

            God’s love and grace are the bridge, the power and authority

                        that brings   cleansing, healing and hope …

                                                … which we see enacted in this story.

The man in this exorcism story represent a struggle for influence

   between the unclean spirit and the teaching-authority of Jesus.

 

This raises important questions, that demand my answer:

            what are the things and desires that rule over me,

                        and how much authority to influence and rule

                        does Jesus really exorcise over my life and way of living today?

 

- and what are the ‘unclean spirits’ that I let influence me,

            or my decisions, my life’s goals, desires and objectives?

                        - and how much am I letting selfish and wrong interfere

                                    with my walk and faithful discipleship?,

                                          or compromise with integrity and righteousness?

 

          By gracious love and mercy God has made me His own,

                        but what am I choosing to hold back for myself?,

                               where am I limiting God’s transformation of my life?

                                               

            The Holy Spirit lives and dwells in me as home,

                        but what have I hidden away in secret nooks and closets,                                                                             areas of my life that I withhold from the reign of God?

 

Here’s the unsettling truth:

            my faith will remain stagnant or slowly decay until

                        I grapple with the issues of righteousness and integrity

                                and permission for Jesus to rule over all of my life.

 

As Christians, we are in possession

            of the greatest and most wonderful Good News of all time,

                        God’s gracious power to bless and transform our lives à

à and yet in our culture and in our community,

            we are often perceived as mostly irrelevant & insignificant,

                                                ---  just one more voice among the many--

 

            - hardly worth going out on Saturday evening for worship,

                        or getting up in time for church on Sunday morning,

                                    or worthy of more than

                                                a partial commitment when it’s convenient.

 

For 130 years or so,

            1^st Presbyterian Church has withstood the test of time.

Something wonderful and amazing has been passed down to us,

            and our call is to be faithful and effective

                        with that which has been entrusted to our care,

                                    during the storms and challenges of these days.

 

Our call and task is not the slow decay of stagnation and decline,

            but to communicate and proclaim boldly

                        God’s unchanging truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

                          in ways that can be heard and understood by our culture;

                                                ---- without us ---  becoming that culture.

 

--- so perhaps we have been too busy and distracted,

                        and lost our focus on proclaiming Jesus Christ,

                               and allowed lessor issues and concerns to interfere.

 

-- perhaps we have lost our passion, abandoned our first love,

                        by settling into

                                    comfortable complacency, familiarity and ease,

                                                afraid of walking along the edge because

                                                       it requires too much commitment and effort.

 

- perhaps we’ve forgotten the wonder of when we first believed,

            the thrill of when Jesus Christ first made us his own;

                            or when “Amazing Grace”

                                    actually described our transformed life-journey,

                                             and was more than just familiar words of a hymn.

 

Jesus was very clear and pragmatic about our life’s work,

            and the words of our task and mission are very familiar:

Matthew 28:18-20

            And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 

The business of the true Church, the authentic body of Christ,

            is not to build another human institution or organization,

                        or to Christianize our culture, city or nation,

                                    to memorize Scripture, or learn about theology …

                                                            … as important as some of that is.

 

Our purpose and call, our Jesus-given  soul-mission

            is to make disciples by teaching and influencing

                        all the world to know, follow and serve Jesus Christ …

 

    … which requires one-on-one personal involvement with others,

                        as by life, by word, mercy and gracious deed,

                               we proclaim the truth, the Good News of Jesus Christ…

 

            … and anything else in life that we might do,

                        must always be subservient to that commitment,

                                    -- empowered by the promise from Jesus,

                                                            I am with you always, to the end of the age.               

                       

- And that is how we will pass the faithfulness test,

            and the authenticity and  effectiveness test of time …

                        … like the boulders along the coast of Cape Ann,

                                    rather than the shifting sands at Cape Hatteras.

 

Jesus was very clear and pragmatic about our life’s work,

            and the words of our task and mission are very familiar:

                        Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.

 

            And Jesus also said in  John 14:15              

                                    If you love me,             you will keep my commandments.