Sermon for 4th Epiphany
A Fellowship of the Needy
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
Each of the gospels has an overall theme as they tell the story of Jesus. In Matthew, Jesus is a teacher and new lawgiver, a new Moses. In John, Jesus creates unexpected abundance and new life. In Luke, Jesus releases those held captive, heals the ill and infirm and proclaims good news to the poor and the Lord’s favor to all.
And then we have the Gospel of Mark which we have been following these last weeks. Mark is the shortest gospel and is thought to be the first. Many scholars believe the other gospels used Mark as their source.
As Mark tells Jesus’ story, Jesus begins his ministry by picking a fight with an unclean spirit, our gospel lesson today.
Thus, Mark’s gospel begins with a confrontation. Whatever dramatic value beginning with a fight scene might initially promise, there is little doubt of who will win this showdown. The spirit protests Jesus’ very presence and Jesus casts him away with a command as authoritative as it is succinct. And with this bold teaching and show of power, the text tells us that Jesus’ fame spreads quickly.
Thus, Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God, and that includes both you and me, Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God from the abundant life that God desires for all of us.
And this is why this text is important today. We certainly do not speak often about unclean spirits in our lives today. But the message of this text still matters: God wants the most for us from this life and God stands in opposition to anything that robs us of the joy and community and purpose for which we were created.
You see, especially in Mark’s gospel, God regularly shows up where we might least expect God to be. In today’s Gospel, God shows up in a man with an unclean spirit.
Some years ago, I shared with you the story of a man named Arnie who showed up at my office in Allentown, Pennsylvania, while I was serving as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod. Arnie thought he was Jesus, even handing me a business card which said so. “My mother’s name was Mary and my father’s name was Joseph,” was what Arnie quickly said to me.
At first, I was not kind to Arnie, ushering him out quickly. I assumed he was looking for a hand-out and I just did not have time for him that day. So, I walked him quickly out the door.
And I regretted that decision almost immediately, especially when the receptionist called me a few minutes later to tell me that Arnie was sitting in his car in our parking lot, crying. Before I could try to correct my too-quick un-welcoming response, Arnie had driven away.
That’s when it hit me: I had been rather purposely unkind to one of God’s most vulnerable children!
If you remember my story from when I last shared it with you, you know it had a better ending. Arnie came back some days later and this time I spent some time with him. He just wanted to pray with me, even getting down on his knees in my office. He wanted to give me a bag of apples and some wooden crosses which he had made. Then, after just a few minutes, Arnie left.
He never asked me for anything, just a little time.
Since that time, and especially here in Santa Monica, I have met a lot of people like Arnie. Many are or appear to be homeless. Many appear physically ill, some mentally ill or high on something. A few think they are Jesus or have some other wild, but often fascinating, story to tell. A few are frightening, but most are just hurting.
I am not a mental health expert, but I have come to realize also that what may even appear to be mental illness or even substance abuse may be simply not having enough sleep or enough to eat for too many days and/or not have access to medical care for simple problems that, on the street, can quickly become major health issues.
Thanks to the generosity of many Mt. Olive members and friends, I have some funds to help people who come by the church and, with Darci Niva on our staff, a person who can help them find resources to help them pull their lives together and, perhaps, even find housing and health.
I am very proud to pastor a congregation which helps those in need in so many ways and a congregation which is not afraid to try to help people who others may consider “unclean spirits.”
Mark is telling us that God is a God of the broken and that the church is to be a fellowship of the needy. And, for Mark, that is all that is needed to be a disciple of Jesus – recognizing our own deep needs and trusting that Jesus has come to meet these needs.
Now, we may not think we are Jesus or be homeless or living on the streets, but all of us have places of brokenness and disappointment and even fear in our lives. And it is in these moments that God draws us close and surrounds us with God’s care and love.
And then God asks us to “pay it forward,” so to speak, to act towards others who appear broken with love and kindness. Even if they have an unclean spirit. Even if they appear to be ill and unclean. Even if they think they are Jesus. God is still casting out the unclean spirits of this world and God wants to use us to continue this work.
So, the next time you are in your own time of brokenness and disappointment and fear please remember that we have a God who can draw us closest in these times, a God who even has the power to call out “unclean spirits” in our lives and the lives of others.
And the next time you come into contact with one of God’s more vulnerable children, please remember this text also. God is closest to all people in their most vulnerable times and calls us to be his representative to others, even if they think they are Jesus.
Just remember this: Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God, including you and me, Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep us from the abundant life that God desires for all of us. God wants the most for us from this life and God stands in opposition to anything that robs us of the joy and community and purpose for which we were created.
Today’s gospel lesson from Mark teaches us that all that is needed to be a disciple of Jesus is to recognize our own deep needs and trust that Jesus has come to meet these needs.
The church is to be a fellowship of the needy. Our call is to recognize our own deep needs and trust that Jesus has come to meet these needs. With that recognition and trust we are freed to be Jesus to others, those closest to us and those we do not even know, even those who may think they are Jesus. Because, in a very real way, those with the greatest needs can be Jesus for us.
Amen.
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sermon for:
January 31, 2021
