What Have You To Do With Us?”

4^th Sunday after Epiphany, 29 January 2012                    

Based on Mark 1:21-24

John D. Lane 

They 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."

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” A question from the man with an unclean spirit, but one that could just as easily be asked today–by people like us. This morning, I’d like to examine this question from several angles, then suggest one approach to following Jesus more closely.

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” It’s a question of identity, and the man with an unclean spirit asks Jesus what do you and I have in common, how are you and I alike? You are the Holy One of God, and I am your complete opposite. I am a demon!

Christmas was a month ago. It’s the feast of the Incarnation, the belief that Jesus was fully human, just like us in many respects. He was born in shabby circumstances, grew up as the son of a carpenter–akin to a contractor today–was a traveling healer and teacher, and was executed by the Roman government at the urging of the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem.

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Of course, the man with an unclean spirit is right to ask this question because we also believe that Jesus was fully divine. The unclean spirit certainly isn’t divine. He is a demon, a creature of the devil.

Jesus has a double identity, if that’s not a heretical way of putting it–fully human, fully divine. Because he is fully human, he understands us. He empathizes with us. According to The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition, as opposed to some random online dictionary of dubious authority, the primary definition of empathy is “the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.” Jesus is a big time empathizer–especially with those who are down and out for one reason or another.

As he is also divine, he has great authority, more than enough to command the wind and the seas and the demons. And he has no fear. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, he isn’t afraid of getting close to lepers, cripples, prostitutes, the deaf, the blind, the dirty, the smelly, the demon-possessed, and sinners. He doesn’t buy the prevailing belief of the time that sin is the cause of diseases and other significant problems.

Love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus tells us. Empathy is key. If we can’t put ourselves psychologically and spiritually in the shoes of others, it’s hard to follow Jesus.

A bad example is called the Unmerciful Slave, the man who owes his master 10,000 talents, and cannot pay. He begs forgiveness and, out of pity, his master forgives him. On the way out, he sees another slave who owes him a small amount. He threatens him, but the other man says he needs more time to pay. The first slave has the second thrown into debtor’s prison. No empathy at all. No following his master’s example. Very bad behavior indeed.

A good example is even more familiar: the Good Samaritan. You know the story. A man is mugged on the side of the road. First one, then another of the area’s religious leaders see him, and pass by on the other side. Then a hated Samaritan, thought by many Jews to be the scum of the earth, sees the man, gives him first aid, calls the rescue squad, and promises to pay the hospital bill, whatever it turns out to be. Much empathy. Very good behavior indeed.

Back in 1989, I conducted a survey of the members of Trinity Church and your volunteer activities. I was astounded by the results, how many people were giving their time and donating their money to make the Staunton area better. My first goal had been to get more people involved in the community. Calculating the results of the survey, I decided that the members of the parish were already very involved in the community, so that goal had already been reached. Let me illustrate:

My favorite children’s books are in a series called Frog and Toad. In one chapter, called “A List,” Frog encourages Toad to improve his efficiency by making a list every day, and then checking off each item on the list as he completes the task. Toad follows his friend’s suggestion, but makes one change. He doesn’t  put any task on the list until he has completed it, then he checks it off immediately. My 1989 project quickly became something like that: (1) Get Trinity people involved in community service. Like Toad, I checked it off. Then, I moved on to Goal # 2: Get people to see their community volunteer activities as Christian ministry as followers of Jesus, not just do-gooder work.

I had a discussion recently with a woman who is a dedicated feminist, and we talked about ministry. I suggested that she continue to work on women’s issues, but that she also find a ministry of which she herself is not a beneficiary. And this is my suggestion to you this morning. Find something–you may already have–that only helps others, not any group of which you are a member. Along this line, Jesus frequently emphasizes the importance of caring for the poor, so it is shocking to our ears when he says, “For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.” (Mark 14:7) I wonder if he is telling his disciples that serving the poor will be the best way to carry on his legacy, once he is gone. I suspect he is. And I think working for the poor is an important, but not the only, example. Your ministry can be to help any who lack the resources, financial or otherwise, to help themselves.

Back in the mid-1980's, a colleague and good friend of mine was diagnosed with AIDS. At the time, most of us didn’t know much about AIDS, except that it was a certain death sentence. He was in the hospital, and we all know what Jesus says about visiting the sick. I was more than a little bit apprehensive, but I went to see him anyway. What do you say to a 30 year-old who has just been told that he is dying? I don’t know either. And I wondered, am I in any danger of being infected? I know the answer now, but I didn’t then. I decided to treat the visit like any other hospital visit. I shook hands with him when I arrived, watched nurses come and go always wearing gloves while we were talking, listened to him carefully, and held his hands and prayed with him before I left. Despite my fear, I decided that I could not represent Jesus of Nazareth from a safe and antiseptic distance. What would Jesus do? I had no doubt.

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?” Jesus identifies with us and he empowers us against the world, the flesh, and the devil. As John’s gospel puts it: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”

Everything. That’s all. Amen.