Unclean Spirits

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

I have titled today's sermon, "Unclean Spirits," from the reference made to the evil spirit that our Savior exorcised from the man described in our gospel lesson for today. Certainly, when we think of evil or unclean spirits, we think of movies like "The Exorcist" or perhaps we are reminded of fortune tellers and spiritualists with their crystal balls. When we think of evil spirits, we tend to think of things that we believe to be imaginary, not real. And I believe that we do this because those things that were once thought to be the work of an evil spirit, such as sickness, mental illness, and so forth, are now given more rational, tangible, explanations. For instance, whereas a person with schizophrenia may have been labeled as "demon possessed" even a hundred years ago, now we are much more likely to say that the person's problem is caused by a complex bio-chemical imbalance within the brain.

Whereas in the past the world of the spirits and the world that we live in seemed to overlap, most people living in our society, today, tend to believe that there is a definite separation between the two; that there is hardly any connection between the supernatural and the world that we live in. In fact, there is a growing number of people who confidently confess that they do not even believe in the supernatural, at all. These persons insist that everything that happens has a rational explanation.

I would like to suggest, however, that there is another option for us. Rather than believing that we are constantly being influenced by other-worldly spirits, or rather than believing that there are no spirits at all, I believe that there may be a middle ground. Who is to say, for instance, that the confusion of the schizophrenic who suffers from a serious bio-chemical imbalance does not bring delight to some spirit of chaos? Who is to say that the pain suffered by a person with cancer does not satisfy, even gratify, some hideous little demon? Who is to say that the turmoil that results from a heated argument between two good friends isn't delightful to some unseen, but evil, entity? Certainly, there may be rational explanations for every rotten thing that happens in our world. But this does not in any way mean that there are no spirits who may feed off the pain, the turmoil, the chaos, and the brokenness in the world.

Indeed, many researchers are now suggesting that giving a name and a face to a disease, or to a problem that we may be having, may be a healthy way of beginning to identify and deal with that problem. A few years ago, for instance, some doctors discovered that cancer patients survived longer if they were encouraged to paint or draw an actual picture of their disease, how it was affecting them, and how it was being treated. Many patients in this study actually drew pictures of cancer cells with little faces, each of the cancer cells being destroyed by medicine, or by the body's immune system, or by some other benevolent power. By being able to personify their problem they were able to deal with it much better and, therefore, survive longer.

While I was a pastor out in Strawberry Point Iowa, serving there for six years, some strange things began to happen around the church. For instance, quite regularly, persons who wished to use the rest rooms would be dismayed to find that the stalls had all been locked from the inside. Quickly, someone would have to come with a broom handle, climb on a chair, and reach down to unlock the doors. Certainly, this sort of prank had the potential of ruining a worshipper's Sunday morning, not to mention his or her clothing.

But this wasn't all. That particular church had a pipe organ. And several ranks of the organ's pipes were exposed so that anyone walking by could reach out and touch them. Well, I remember the Sunday morning that the organist was astonished to find that about twenty of the smallest of these pipes were completely out of tune. Somebody had reached out and pushed their tuning sleeves down as far as they would go. It took me an hour, later that day, to tune them, again.

Other annoying little things happened occasionally that seemed to have occurred intentionally. And it really disturbed quite a few of the members, until, one day, the culprit was caught red handed. During a worship service a real rascal of a fourteen year old kid, by the name of Eric, was caught by one of the ushers climbing out from under one of the stalls in the men's rest room. And the door was locked. We soon learned that it had been Eric who had been pulling the pranks. And, in fact, from then on any pranks that took place in the church, however large or small, whether caused by Eric or not, were affectionately called "Eric Tricks." If the hot water was left running full blast in the church kitchen for a half hour, it was called an Eric Trick. If a Sunday School window was found open in the dead of winter, it was called an Eric Trick. If somebody had taken a crayon, pressed it to the wall, and walked down the hall, it was called an Eric Trick. Poor Eric! And, yet, in a way, he had it coming.

Yet, even today, years after leaving that parish, if something happens in the church: if a coffee maker gets left on, if the church's thermostat gets set to 85°, if the volume on the P.A. system has been turned way up so that it knocks the congregation's socks off, if the electric organ gets unplugged, I call it an Eric trick to this very day. For the impish, often annoying, spirit of Eric may be found in any church.

In each of our scripture lessons for today a connection is made between spirits and teachings. In our Old Testament lesson, for instance, Moses warned God's people that there would come teachers who, rather than teaching God's truths, would speak in the name of other spiritual creatures. As time went by, God's people had to learn how to distinguish between spirits. In other words, they had to be able to tell whether a certain teaching or idea was from God or from some other less godly source. This became a spiritual gift among the members of the early church. And, even today, persons with a large measure of this gift are respected for their counseling abilities, or for their teaching abilities, or for their leadership, or for their wisdom. It is important to be able to distinguish between spirits, to know when something that sounds good really isn't, and to know when something that may seem peculiar is truly the will of God.

Even though our gospel lesson for today is an account of how Jesus cleansed a man of an evil spirit, it is also a lesson about being able to recognize the teachings of God. Here, Jesus is described as being one who taught with authority. In other words, Jesus wasn't just teaching things from the Law and the Prophets; things that other teachers already knew. Instead, Jesus was teaching new things. He was giving new commandments. He was saying things like, "You have heard an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you, love your neighbor as yourself."	And as Jesus taught like this, the truth and order of what he taught was so apparent, and so powerful, and so striking that even the forces of disorder could no longer exist. We are told that a man with an evil 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!" But, with only two commands from Jesus: "Be quiet!" and "Come out of him!" the man was made whole.

The people were amazed that Jesus not only taught with authority, but that he had power over evil spirits, as well. But, of course, we who believe that Jesus was the Son of God can understand how it is that Jesus did these things. And as disciples of Jesus Christ, not only are we given his authority, but we are given power over evil spirits, too. For at the name of Jesus no evil can prevail. At the name of Jesus we are able to find the strength and the wisdom we need to overcome the little "Eric tricks" of life. At the name of Jesus we are given the authority to silence the spirits that may feed off the suffering of others by giving that problem to Jesus, instead.

It is no less than amazing the wonderful things that we can do in the name of Jesus, if we would simply surrender ourselves to Him. I am reminded of the story of how it was advertised in a large city that a great violinist was coming to play a concert. During that concert, the advertisement read, he would play on a violin worth over a half-million dollars.

Well, on the evening of the concert, the theater was packed. Many persons in the audience were curious, waiting to hear what music played on such an expensive instrument would be like.

The violinist came on stage to a thunderous applause, put his violin up to his chin and played a beautiful piece of music. The audience was awed at the rich, mellow tones that came from the violin. Many of them had tears in their eyes from having heard it.

Suddenly, however, the master violinist took the violin he had been playing and threw it on the floor, stomped on it, crushed it to little pieces, and walked off the stage. The people were shocked. But then, after a moment, an announcer came on stage and said that the violinist had not really used the half million dollar violin, at all, but only a cheap old violin that had been picked up in a pawn shop for $20.00.

Following this announcement the violinist came back on stage with the expensive violin and began to play. But few people could tell the difference. The great violinist simply wanted to show that it was the violinist rather than the violin that makes the music.

And herein, my friends, is the lesson for us: In the Master's hands, even a $20 fiddle would make good music. With Christ in us, speaking his truth through our words and our deeds, there is no evil, no problem, no challenge that can prevail. Amen.