Pastor Cogan

How to be Human

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, ‘Everyone is searching for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.’ And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.


The Super Bowl is next week and my household is rather excited. Some of us for the game and others of us for the commercials, Usher at Half Time, and most importantly the Taylor Swift appearances. I have always been a football fan, I played growing up and in high school and have always loved watching Colts games with my family. Recently, I listened to a podcast from the Athletic on Andrew Luck. I am guessing most of you are familiar with him, but for those not, Luck was the Colts first round draft pick in 2012.

We had a dismal season in 2011, we lost Peyton Manning, but there was all this hype around a young, nerdy, very athletic quarterback out of Stanford. Despite the enormous pressure Luck faced, he delivered. Immediately, he made an impact: throwing touchdowns, taking hits and getting right back up, even taking the Colts to multiple playoff appearances. At times, Luck seemed more God-like than human on the football field. Everything was pointing to the Colts making a superbowl run, that is until August 24, 2019.

To the shock and disappointment of many, the 29 year old, with potentially some of his best years ahead of him, decided to retire, to move on from football. Over the last four years of playing, Luck went through a vicious cycle of injury, pain, rehab. He was amazing to watch, but it came at the cost of his body: Torn cartilage in 2 ribs, partially torn abdomen, a lacerated kidney, at least 1 concussion, a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, and a calf/ankle issue that he’d been dealing with. At the press conference announcing his retirement, Luck said “I feel quite exhausted and quite tired. It’s been tiring. I feel tired, and not just in the physical sense.”

But in the very next breath, Luck said "I feel so much clarity [about this] and so grateful for the experiences..." At that press conference, Luck showed us that he wasn’t just a football player, or some superhuman athlete. He was human.

And even though he was beloved by fans, coaches, and this city, Luck discerned that if he continued playing football it would come at the cost of his body, his family, and the life he wanted. So he moved in a different direction. It was a remarkable decision. So what do Andrew Luck and Jesus have in common? They show us what it means to be human: That is, they’re exhausted, they discern what to do next, and with great clarity they move in a different direction.

The last five weeks we have explored stories that show us who Jesus is and what he is all about. Think of the stories we’ve explored: the magi calling Jesus as King of the Jews, Nathaniel saying he is the Son of God, fishermen dropping everything to follow him, and he can even cast out unclean spirits. But this week we are shown something different.

This week our story picks up on the same day Jesus cast out that unclean spirit. He and the disciples are just leaving the synagogue as word spreads about the miracle. They go to Simon and Andrew’s house. Right away, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever. Amazed, the disciples then bring to him everyone they know who is sick or demon possessed for healing. The whole city has gathered outside this little house to see the spectacle! In just one day, Jesus had taught in the synagogue, performed his first exorcism and healing, and then healed and cast out many that same night.

Jesus had to be exhausted. So that next morning, before the sun is up, Jesus awakes, retreats to a deserted place alone, and prays. And right there we are shown something different about Jesus than in all the other epiphany stories. We are shown that Jesus is human. He hit a limit. He was tired. He needed time alone; to recharge. He needed to pray, to listen to God, to discern what came next, before he was bombarded with the demands of the people around him.

And that time didn’t last long. The disciples hunted for him, frantically searching. And when they found him, they informed Jesus that everyone was looking for him. As if to say, “what in the world are you doing out here? People are looking for you, you’ve got to heal them”. Yet, likely to their shock and disappointment, Jesus said “Let’s move on to other towns; there’s more preaching and healing needed. After all, that’s what I came to do.”

Jesus had clarity about what the next move was in his ministry. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do what he was called to do if he just stayed there.

This life demands a great deal from us. People and powers try to pull us in all sorts of directions, telling us who we should be and what we should do. They want all that you can give and then ask for more. We will get tired, overwhelmed, exhausted even. It’s only human. And it’s so easy to just continue on doing what’s asked of you, even at the cost of yourself and the kind of life God really desires for you. Which is why, just like Jesus, we too need time to recharge, to pray, to listen to God, to discern what comes next, before the bombardment of demands continues. In that time and space, God gives clarity about what we are called to and gives our weary selves power to do it. It might be in a different direction than you thought, it might come as a shock or disappointment to others.

But, by faith, we trust we will be headed where God is leading and giving us strength along the way. Everyone will faint and grow weary as Isaiah says; but those who wait for the Lord, those who go off to pray, to listen, to discern, will have renewed strength.

And just as we need time of discernment and prayer in our individual lives, we need it in our life together, too. We as a community will feel the pull to do so many different ministries, serve in so many ways. The world around us will say we need to be more like this church or that organization or do more programs. It can be overwhelming, exhausting even.

But Jesus shows us another way. A way we are trying to follow with our Holy Conversations that begin today.

It's vital to our mission and ministry that we pray together. That we listen to each other, to our leadership, and most importantly to where we hear God at work in all of this. Where, to what, and to whom is God leading us? Who needs to come alongside us? What is the need that calls us to serve in new ways and in new places?

There is energy and excitement in this place. So now is the time to create the space and time for us to discern together; to dream about what comes next.

Yet in all of this what doesn’t change is who we are and what our ministry is. Jesus went on to the neighboring towns, but he still preached the gospel and healed people; that part never changed. No matter what comes next for us, we remain a community of disciples offering grace, no strings attached. We will continue to worship, learn about, and serve the everlasting God who does not faint or grow weary, but gives power to the tired and strengthens the weak.

And so we pray that God will guide these Holy Conversations, giving us clarity to God’s call, and empowering us to do the ministry that is before us.

Amen.

Bob and I Aren't So Different

Mark 1:21-28

Jesus and his disciples went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.

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

Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and 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.’

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!. And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

They 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.’

At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.


Bob was fighting unclean spirits all the time: in himself, at the church, all around. The first time I met Bob I was leading service by myself for the first time at St. John’s in Phoenix. Bob walked onto campus wearing three coates, sports goggles, and had a large buck knife hanging from his belt. He mumbled his first words to me: who are you and who do you serve? What a greeting right?

I quickly, and as kindly as I could, introduced myself and asked him who he was. He said “they call me Bob. I’m a warrior of the Lord.” Okay… Church starts in like 5 minutes. By this time I am sweating bullets, which was normal in Arizona but this was way worse. So I ask Bob if he’s been here before and says, “are you getting cross with me…?” No, no, no Bob. (Please I think to myself, I just want to get through my first service!) Finally I told Bob he was welcome to join us, we’d be happy to have him, but the knife stays out here.

He said “oh I know that, maybe I will or I might be here”.

Bob didn’t join us that day, but he kept coming back. Each time he was a little less threatening and we got to know each other more. Bob felt he had demons, real unclean spirits, attacking him or surrounding him wherever he was. He would patrol the perimeter of the campus to ward them off. He would point at them and curse them; unafraid to walk right up to them. For Bob, expelling demons was a part of his everyday life.

I suspect many of us don’t know what to do with stories in the Bible about casting out uncleaning spirits or exorcizing demons. We think we are so different from Bob or the man in the story. Afterall, we don’t really believe in those types of things, do we? We have science, the scientific method. None of it has proven the existence of demons or unclean spirits, right? In our western minds, demons and unclean spirits exist only in indigenous cultures, or scary movies, or in folks who are seriously mentally ill.

But should we be so quick to dismiss this notion? Just because we don’t understand or haven't experienced them doesn’t mean they aren’t real, does it? I asked our faith formation students if they thought angels and demons existed, and their opinions were across the spectrum from “absolutely i've experienced them” to “absolutely not.”I like what Mary Oliver says in her poem, “the World I Live In”. She writes:

I have refused to live locked in the orderly house of reasons and proofs. The world I live in and believe in is wider than that. And anyway, what’s wrong with Maybe? You wouldn’t believe what once or twice I have seen. I’ll just tell you this: only if there are angels in your head will you ever, possibly, see one.

Can not the same be true of unclean spirits? I am not trying to suede you or convince you to believe demons or angels are real. However, we should not write off others’ experiences so quickly, like the man in our story or my friend Bob. If anything, perhaps our understanding of unclean spirits is too narrow, which means our view of Jesus' power and ministry is too narrow, too.

Jesus, along with his first four disciples, strolled into Capernaum. Then on the sabbath, Jesus walked right into the synagogue and began teaching. He must have been feeling rather confident, maybe from seeing the heavens rip open at his baptism or from defeating the devil's temptations in the wilderness. Regardless of why, he taught with authority, as one who is sure and passionate about what he’s saying. And in the midst of that, the man with the unclean spirit comes up to him.

That’s what we read, “a man with an unclean spirit”. Yet, what the Greek says is a little more terrifying… It reads, a man “in” an unclean spirit… as if the unclean spirit has swallowed up the man, so much so that he could no longer be identified apart from the spirit that’s overtaken him. He was known only by this thing that had taken control of him, running and ruining his life.

So when the man cries out “what have you to do with us Jesus?”, I don’t think he’s referring to all the people in the synagogue, but instead referring to himself and the demon he can’t shake. And asking if Jesus has come to destroy “them” makes it clear: the man is consumed, terrified, and unsure what Jesus will do…

We too know what it’s like to be swallowed up by unclean spirits, so much so that our identity is unknown apart from the demon we have. You don’t call it an unclean spirit, but when you get so angry you can’t see straight, what else is that? Or when you fixate your gaze on a person, or a screen, or on sex. When you obsess about always getting more: more money, more stuff. When you can’t see the good things in front of you and only wish for what others have. When someone knows you not for who you are but only for what and who you stand against. All of these spirits can swallow you up so that no one can see you apart from them. They can run and ruin your life. And maybe you too are consumed, terrified, and unsure what Jesus will do…

This story, the first public action of Jesus ministry, tells us that Jesus is more powerful than any unclean spirit we could face. With as much authority as he taught with, Jesus commands the unclean spirit to shut up and come out, setting the man free. And the spirit does just that, but not without a fight, shaking and screaming until the end.

We’ve all been possessed by unclean spirits: powers that hurt you and others, voices telling you that you aren’t loved, things that seek to divide, disparage, and denigrate. We all want to be set free.

Thankfully, that's what the mission and ministry of Jesus is all about. In baptism, God claims you as God’s own and covers you in the grace and forgiveness only Jesus offers. Rather than a life full of anger and greed, jealousy, and hatred, at the font and at this table we are invited and empowered to live a life of peace and generosity, discipline and love.

But how do we experience this liberation? For some of us, it was quick, like a grace-filled lightning strike and your life was forever changed. For others of us the path of healing and freedom is longer and requires more companions along the way: like the unending support of a Stephen minister, the persistent presence of Al-anon meetings and sponsors, a parent support group, a prayer partner, or a fantastic therapist. We can be confident that God works in all of these ways, and more that we may not even notice, to liberate us from unclean spirits.

What is the unclean spirit that swallows you up? What’s the thing trying to run and ruin your life?

Often we are too scared to name it, to examine it, in case it takes greater hold of us. How’s that going for you?

Instead, what if we take a cue from my friend Bob; rather than ignore or deny it; point at, curse it, be unafraid to ask God to free you from that which threatens you, trusting that Jesus is still more powerful than any spirit we face.

Maybe we aren’t so different after all.

Amen