Returning from Madness
I’d like to take a few minutes this morning to talk about forgiveness and reconciliation.
Our Gospel reading this morning shows Jesus, along with Andrew, Simon, James, and John, visiting the small town of Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. They arrive and go to the synagogue, and when they get there, Jesus begins to teach.
He’s not there to listen or learn. He’s not there to debate or banter with the priests and elders. He comes and the scripture says that he taught “as one with authority, and not as the scribes.”
And this authority is shown in the proof of the man with the unclean spirit, who comes into the temple, and starts to mock Jesus. And this man called 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!”
You can almost feel the sarcasm and the disdain dripping from this spirit’s words.
And Christ’s reply is to rebuke the Spirit, and cast the demon out with just a few words. “Be silent, and come out of him!” And speaking with divine authority, the unclean spirit, the demon, is forced to leave the man.
And we’re left with a synagogue of people amazed at what they have just seen, and the authority of Jesus Christ etched firmly and unshakably in their minds.
But I can’t stop wondering about the man who had the unclean spirit driven out of him. What happened to him after that?
Capernaum was not a big place. Archaeologists estimate that at the time Jesus would have been in ministry there, its total population would have been around 1,500 people or so. I mean… my high school was bigger than that.
If he was a local, people would have known who this man with the unclean spirit was.
If the spirit had been in him a long time, he probably would have had something of a reputation, and probably not a good one. He may have been derided as the village idiot, accused of being under witchcraft, possibly drunk, definitely unstable… However people saw him, he would have been someone to be avoided.
Until he meets Jesus. And the demon in him confronts Jesus. Mocks and insults him.
Until Jesus drives the demon out with a word.
Presumably, this man went back to a normal state of mind, then. Or at least, normal-ish.
So what happens next?
He has a large group of witnesses who have seen what just happened at the synagogue. Maybe they help spread the word of what’s happened here. Maybe they can attest that this man is safe to welcome, no longer to be avoided. Maybe he gets treated to a few cups of wine at the local tavern as people ask him to tell his story. Maybe things work out for him in the end.
Or perhaps he finds the stigma of having been possessed a difficult one to overcome. Maybe he has to work extra hard to show that he can be trustworthy or a worthwhile part of the community. We don’t know what he said to whom while the spirit was inside of him. We don’t know what things he may have done. Who he may have hurt. The relationships that would have been damaged. We don’t even know if he has a family to go back to.
The point is this – even with Christ’s intervention in his spirit; even as the demon is gone, this man may find a long road of work ahead of him to regain trust, to earn forgiveness, to repair broken relationships. We can imagine that if the demon had been inside of him for a while, people might not be so quick to forgive and forget, if they can forgive at all.
Trust, once broken, is a tricky thing to put back together. Even with the authority and assurance of Christ at your back.
We suffer from a lack of trust in this country. Politically, we see it. Culturally, we see it. Even generationally – we might trust our own parents, grandparents, children, or grandchildren. But on the whole there are huge differences in the values and concerns between generations of people. Young people are called lazy, self-righteous, and entitled. Baby boomers are called selfish, out-of-touch, and also entitled.
Liberals are bleeding-heart socialists who want to spend other peoples’ money.
Conservatives are heartless fascists who who live on hate and fear.
Culturally, we might be divided into soy latte-sipping urban hipsters on one hand, and Nascar-loving, Bud-drinking rednecks on the other.
Every once in a great while, we’ll meet someone who bridges the divides. The people just at home at a gun range as they are at the opera. But generally, we know where we stand. Are we urban or rural? Rich or poor? Liberal or conservative? Young or old?
And we get so involved in defending where we’re at and who we identify with, why my tribe is good and yours is bad, that we forget to talk to each other.
No… we don’t forget… we actively avoid it. We block each other on social media. We only tune into news that tells us what we want to hear. We assume that our perspective is the objective one, the legitimate one, the only right one, and that our political opponents, our cultural opponents, whoever our “other” is, just feeds on whatever lies make them feel good.
This is no way to be a country together.
This is no way to live into loving our neighbors.
This is no way to share the love of God and Christ.
And I wish I had some easy answers. I wish I knew what to say to begin the healing. What to do to say, “here’s how we trust each other again.” Because I do believe, in spite of all that we’ve seen not just in the past few weeks or the past few years, but even the past several decades, that in spite of our hateful words and rash actions, that we do hold more in common than we do in difference. That we all want our country to be great, even if we disagree on what that means or how to achieve it. That we all want to prosper, to do good, to be righteous in the eyes of God, even if we don’t see eye-to-eye on what that looks like.
We know we need healing. We know we’re broken. We’re anxious. And we find it difficult to trust our neighbors, much less love them. We’ve seen people do things we can’t wrap our heads around. People we might even agree with on the issues, taking their actions to extremes that are simply beyond the pale. And we have to remember that even though they scream the loudest and get the headlines and the attention, that they are not most of us. That there are still huge swaths of us who want to be one again. Who want to engage in the conversations and the understanding. Who pray in earnestness – not for God to prove us right or them wrong – but who pray for peace, for love, for trust… who pray for the ability to regain the sight of God’s divine spark in all creation. We’ve all seen enough to know that the path we’re on is unsustainable. That we need healing, we need a re-centering, we need to rebuild trust once more.
We don’t know the story of what happened to the man with the unclean Spirit. We have no idea if he was able to resume a normal life in Capernaum. It’s conceivable that with a large group of witnesses to his exorcism, that people may have been ready or eager to forgive him whatever harms he may have caused.
It’s also possible that even with the witnesses, that there may have been trusts too broken to be fixed. We simply have no idea.
But we do know that when Christ heals us. When God drives out the demons and restores the good within us… that our work is only just beginning. Most of us, who try to live good and orderly lives, will find that our faults can be forgiven by those around us. Who treat with us out of love and respect and trust. And we may occasionally make a mistake or say the wrong thing, and hurt someone we love. Sometimes hurt them deeply. And God’s grace can help us on our way to repairing that hurt – God’s healing can put us in a place to begin to come to reconciliation. But we have to be willing and able to do some of the leg work ourselves.
And there are some actions which, yes, God may forgive. But God’s forgiveness is infinite. While humanity’s is… much less so. And we are accountable to both. The authority to cast out our demons and drive away our sin is with our God, Jesus Christ. But the impetus to repair our relationships and engage in reconciliation with those we’ve harmed… that’s all on us. God will help us. God will grant us strength and courage and fortitude to begin that work, and make it fruitful if it can be so. But it is work that we have to be willing to do ourselves, with his help. Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, we live in constant awe and amazement of your glory and your power. As evil permeates our world, we have seen with our own eyes the goodness that radiates and drives it back, over and over again. Lord, you know that we each have good and bad within us. Let the goodness in us outweigh and temper what is bad. And help us to be truly faithful servants to you. Hold us accountable. Show us how to be reconciled to each other. Give us hearts that not only forgive, but seek forgiveness. And give us the strength to live our lives beyond reproach, to your everlasting glory. We pray this in your most holy name. Amen.
I’d like to take a few minutes this morning to talk about forgiveness and reconciliation.
Our Gospel reading this morning shows Jesus, along with Andrew, Simon, James, and John, visiting the small town of Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee. They arrive and go to the synagogue, and when they get there, Jesus begins to teach.
He’s not there to listen or learn. He’s not there to debate or banter with the priests and elders. He comes and the scripture says that he taught “as one with authority, and not as the scribes.”
And this authority is shown in the proof of the man with the unclean spirit, who comes into the temple, and starts to mock Jesus. And this man called 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!”
You can almost feel the sarcasm and the disdain dripping from this spirit’s words.
And Christ’s reply is to rebuke the Spirit, and cast the demon out with just a few words. “Be silent, and come out of him!” And speaking with divine authority, the unclean spirit, the demon, is forced to leave the man.
And we’re left with a synagogue of people amazed at what they have just seen, and the authority of Jesus Christ etched firmly and unshakably in their minds.
But I can’t stop wondering about the man who had the unclean spirit driven out of him. What happened to him after that?
Capernaum was not a big place. Archaeologists estimate that at the time Jesus would have been in ministry there, its total population would have been around 1,500 people or so. I mean… my high school was bigger than that.
If he was a local, people would have known who this man with the unclean spirit was.
If the spirit had been in him a long time, he probably would have had something of a reputation, and probably not a good one. He may have been derided as the village idiot, accused of being under witchcraft, possibly drunk, definitely unstable… However people saw him, he would have been someone to be avoided.
Until he meets Jesus. And the demon in him confronts Jesus. Mocks and insults him.
Until Jesus drives the demon out with a word.
Presumably, this man went back to a normal state of mind, then. Or at least, normal-ish.
So what happens next?
He has a large group of witnesses who have seen what just happened at the synagogue. Maybe they help spread the word of what’s happened here. Maybe they can attest that this man is safe to welcome, no longer to be avoided. Maybe he gets treated to a few cups of wine at the local tavern as people ask him to tell his story. Maybe things work out for him in the end.
Or perhaps he finds the stigma of having been possessed a difficult one to overcome. Maybe he has to work extra hard to show that he can be trustworthy or a worthwhile part of the community. We don’t know what he said to whom while the spirit was inside of him. We don’t know what things he may have done. Who he may have hurt. The relationships that would have been damaged. We don’t even know if he has a family to go back to.
The point is this – even with Christ’s intervention in his spirit; even as the demon is gone, this man may find a long road of work ahead of him to regain trust, to earn forgiveness, to repair broken relationships. We can imagine that if the demon had been inside of him for a while, people might not be so quick to forgive and forget, if they can forgive at all.
Trust, once broken, is a tricky thing to put back together. Even with the authority and assurance of Christ at your back.
We suffer from a lack of trust in this country. Politically, we see it. Culturally, we see it. Even generationally – we might trust our own parents, grandparents, children, or grandchildren. But on the whole there are huge differences in the values and concerns between generations of people. Young people are called lazy, self-righteous, and entitled. Baby boomers are called selfish, out-of-touch, and also entitled.
Liberals are bleeding-heart socialists who want to spend other peoples’ money.
Conservatives are heartless fascists who who live on hate and fear.
Culturally, we might be divided into soy latte-sipping urban hipsters on one hand, and Nascar-loving, Bud-drinking rednecks on the other.
Every once in a great while, we’ll meet someone who bridges the divides. The people just at home at a gun range as they are at the opera. But generally, we know where we stand. Are we urban or rural? Rich or poor? Liberal or conservative? Young or old?
And we get so involved in defending where we’re at and who we identify with, why my tribe is good and yours is bad, that we forget to talk to each other.
No… we don’t forget… we actively avoid it. We block each other on social media. We only tune into news that tells us what we want to hear. We assume that our perspective is the objective one, the legitimate one, the only right one, and that our political opponents, our cultural opponents, whoever our “other” is, just feeds on whatever lies make them feel good.
This is no way to be a country together.
This is no way to live into loving our neighbors.
This is no way to share the love of God and Christ.
And I wish I had some easy answers. I wish I knew what to say to begin the healing. What to do to say, “here’s how we trust each other again.” Because I do believe, in spite of all that we’ve seen not just in the past few weeks or the past few years, but even the past several decades, that in spite of our hateful words and rash actions, that we do hold more in common than we do in difference. That we all want our country to be great, even if we disagree on what that means or how to achieve it. That we all want to prosper, to do good, to be righteous in the eyes of God, even if we don’t see eye-to-eye on what that looks like.
We know we need healing. We know we’re broken. We’re anxious. And we find it difficult to trust our neighbors, much less love them. We’ve seen people do things we can’t wrap our heads around. People we might even agree with on the issues, taking their actions to extremes that are simply beyond the pale. And we have to remember that even though they scream the loudest and get the headlines and the attention, that they are not most of us. That there are still huge swaths of us who want to be one again. Who want to engage in the conversations and the understanding. Who pray in earnestness – not for God to prove us right or them wrong – but who pray for peace, for love, for trust… who pray for the ability to regain the sight of God’s divine spark in all creation. We’ve all seen enough to know that the path we’re on is unsustainable. That we need healing, we need a re-centering, we need to rebuild trust once more.
We don’t know the story of what happened to the man with the unclean Spirit. We have no idea if he was able to resume a normal life in Capernaum. It’s conceivable that with a large group of witnesses to his exorcism, that people may have been ready or eager to forgive him whatever harms he may have caused.
It’s also possible that even with the witnesses, that there may have been trusts too broken to be fixed. We simply have no idea.
But we do know that when Christ heals us. When God drives out the demons and restores the good within us… that our work is only just beginning. Most of us, who try to live good and orderly lives, will find that our faults can be forgiven by those around us. Who treat with us out of love and respect and trust. And we may occasionally make a mistake or say the wrong thing, and hurt someone we love. Sometimes hurt them deeply. And God’s grace can help us on our way to repairing that hurt – God’s healing can put us in a place to begin to come to reconciliation. But we have to be willing and able to do some of the leg work ourselves.
And there are some actions which, yes, God may forgive. But God’s forgiveness is infinite. While humanity’s is… much less so. And we are accountable to both. The authority to cast out our demons and drive away our sin is with our God, Jesus Christ. But the impetus to repair our relationships and engage in reconciliation with those we’ve harmed… that’s all on us. God will help us. God will grant us strength and courage and fortitude to begin that work, and make it fruitful if it can be so. But it is work that we have to be willing to do ourselves, with his help. Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy Lord, we live in constant awe and amazement of your glory and your power. As evil permeates our world, we have seen with our own eyes the goodness that radiates and drives it back, over and over again. Lord, you know that we each have good and bad within us. Let the goodness in us outweigh and temper what is bad. And help us to be truly faithful servants to you. Hold us accountable. Show us how to be reconciled to each other. Give us hearts that not only forgive, but seek forgiveness. And give us the strength to live our lives beyond reproach, to your everlasting glory. We pray this in your most holy name. Amen.