I learned something interesting this week about narrative structure. Don’t panic, we’re not going to go far down this road. The passage this week relies on rhetorical parallelism to point us to the center, or what the writer feels is the core or main focus. It works like this, a. Jesus comes into the synagogue. b. Jesus teaches with authority and this is acknowledged with amazement by those present c. A man with an unclean spirit cries out then d. Jesus heals the demoniac. Then it sort of reverses order with parallels. C prime The unclean spirit cries out and leaves the man. B prime, The people acknowledge Jesus’ authority with amazement and A prime Jesus leaves the synagogue. So it sort of goes into the central point and comes back out the way it came in so that, by this structure the author gives us a heads up as to what the central point is. So the central point is the healing that Jesus brings to the possessed man. The thing that is interesting to me is that the demon is speaking on behalf of at least part of those that are gathered there as it says, What have you to do with us? Have you come to destroy us? Commentators feel that something is going on in this synagogue with the teaching that is going on there. Jesus has made it clear that the leaders are participating in a system of oppression and are thereby following an evil spirit as opposed to the Holy Spirit whose word is one of liberation. They advocate for their own self interests or self preservation or the preservation of power within their own control instead of the needs of the poor, the sick, the oppressed, the widow and the orphan. Once again I find myself remembering Martin Luther’s expounding on the passage in Romans, “ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Luther recalled St Augustine’s phrase Incurvatus in se (Latin for “turned/curved inward on oneself”) it describes living for one’s self or selfishly instead of “outward” for God and others. Luther wrote, “Our nature, by the corruption of the first sin, [being] so deeply curved in on itself that it not only bends the best gifts of God towards itself and enjoys them (as is plain in the works-righteous and hypocrites), or rather even uses God himself in order to attain these gifts, but it also fails to realize that it so wickedly, curvedly, and viciously seeks all things, even God, for its own sake.” So the man rising against Jesus is doing this on behalf of himself and the synagogue leaders seeking to preserve the status quo that benefits them. I think we can all get wrapped up in actions like these. If things are going well for us, we don’t want anything to upset the applecart, so we seek justification for our actions and we can begin to cherry pick bible verses out of context that seemingly validate our position. We listen to the malevolent spirits, the spirits of sexism, classism, intolerance, racism, violence, greed, apathy, homophobia, war and extreme individualism, to name a few, that always stay close, whispering words of self centeredness into our ears. In ancient Rome there was a tradition that sought to help leaders to retain humility and a sense of perspective of themselves at times of great triumphs or when things were going really well for them. A slave called an auriga would hold a laurel crown, over the head of the leader during celebrations of victories. They would stand right at his back holding the laurel but continuously whispering in his ears “Memento Mori” (“remember you are mortal”). It’s funny that that should come up as we have a very similar tradition that would be good for us to remember each day. Ash Wednesday is coming up on the 17th of February. That’s the day we have the sign of the cross made on our foreheads and we hear the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Luther suggested that each time we wash our face we should pause and remember our baptism. We wash our hands fervently right now, much more than our face. Maybe that’s a good thing to think about while we are doing it. So let’s also remember those ashes of humility and the words spoken there and the words in first Corinthians. We may think we know a lot and have all we need and need to do anything it takes to preserve it. Those are the ideas that the world constantly whispers in our ears, and usually not that subtly. These words point inward to ourselves and puff us up, but loving others builds up, and in that love we know God and are present with Christ. Paul tells us in the 14th chapter of Romans, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. So why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God. So then, each of us will be accountable to God. Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.” We could all stand to learn, really learn a lesson that Herb Brooks helped his hockey team, the 1980 US men’s hockey team, learn. We tend to think of exorcisms in terms of Linda Blair, spinning heads and pea soup. But I think we see that more often that casting out evil spirits is far less magical and more learning to stifle, shut-down, silence, shut-up or ignore those voices that whisper messages of disunity, hatred, uncaring, apathy and selfishness constantly into our ears, hearts and minds. Herb Brooks saw those fractious elements in the play and spirit of his team. Each player had their minds centered on themselves and lacked a cohesive bond as a team. In the movie, Miracle, made about the team Herb is shown asking players at different points who they are and who they play for. Time after time, they would state their name and the college they played for. After a tie with the Norwegian team where the players gave a lackluster effort and were shown focusing on their own interests, concentrating not on their teammates, the game or their jobs but themselves. After the game, after three periods of play, Brooks calls them onto the ice to exorcize those spirits, so to speak. They skate over and over, back and forth sprints punctuated by Herb’s calls to a higher level of play and team centeredness and asking individuals who they play for. In the movie he informs them that “when we pull on the jersey we represent ourselves and our teammates. The name on the front of the jersey is far more important than the name on the back.” They continue until they can barely stand and you find yourself really caught up in the tension, uneasy, stomach churning, nail biting at the exhaustion and agony. Then one player, one player, shouts out his name and the city he is from through labored breaths. Herb asks him who he plays for and he responds, “The United States of America.” One person stops and realizes who they are and why they are there. One person. That is the beginning of a spirit of unity and thinking like a team, that is putting aside selfishness for one another. The team goes on to accomplish what was then thought to be unimaginable by winning the gold medal. Then the captain refused to stand upon the podium alone but beckoned the whole team to be together on that little stage. Silencing evil and divisive spirits is hard. Standing against oppression, hatred, greed and selfishness is hard. It’s scary and gut wrenching. It’s more than skating until you can’t stand. Jesus died on a cross for it. Think about our baptism and the service. Our last names are not used. The surname is not used to draw our attention to the fact that we are reborn as children of God, a new identity as brothers and sisters, of Christ and children of the same heavenly father. We are all on the same team and the name on the front of the jersey is far more important than the name on the back. So let us silence those spirits that, through Christ, are doomed to fail, remembering the last lines of that great hymn, “For God himself fights by our side with weapons of the Spirit. Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse, though life be wrenched away, they cannot win the day. The kingdom’s ours forever.” As you remember your baptism when you wash your hands, look into the mirror and, of course use your name and say, I’m Jonathan Gantt and I play for the Kingdom of God.
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