4th Sunday after Epiphany, 29 January 2012
Based on Mark 1:21-24
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.
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