Sermon for February 1st

When you heard the gospel reading just a moment ago, did you realize that it was a story about an exorcism? If you weren’t paying much attention, Jesus casts out an “unclean” spirit from a man. And this is not the only time Jesus does this, that is for sure. He cast out evil spirits, unclean spirits and even demons from people throughout the gospel stories. But we don’t talk much about it. We don’t talk much about “unclean” spirits or “evil” spirits or demons much do we? The topic certainly doesn’t come up much in casual conversation. But here it is, plain to see, in a story about Jesus in the Bible. So, the time has come to talk about it.

First off, should you believe that evil spirits exist? It’s a good question and an important one because a lot of really weird people believe in a lot of REALLY weird things. And, furthermore, you’ve probably lived your life pretty nicely up to this point without giving much thought to the subject—so why should you now?

When Jesus was ministering throughout Galilee and Jerusalem, he healed many people. In the gospel of John, Jesus healed a blind man. That man told the authorities the story, “I once was blind, but now I see.” In the gospel of Matthew, a leper came to Jesus and said, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I do choose. Be made clean.” And immediately that man’s skin disease was cured. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus met a woman mourning the death of her son. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus healed a man whose hand was writhered, “The man stretched it out to Jesus and his hand was restored.”

These are four stories told in the four gospels about Jesus’ ability to heal though there are many more. Have any of you known a person who was blind? I have. Anybody been in the presence of a dead person? I have. Anybody ever heard of the skin disease called “leprosy”? You might not know anyone who has it, but in 2006, Africa had 41, 239 new cases and in South East Asia, there were 201, 635 new cases of the disease, so it certainly still exists. Finally, does anyone here know someone whose hands are withered, broken or deformed in some way?

Now, let me make this clear. I’m not asking any of you whether or not you believe that Jesus HEALED anybody. I’m not asking you if he has the power to heal these diseases. I’m only asking you if these diseases and these problems existed at the time of the Bible and still exist today. I believe that we can all answer this question with a resounding YES!

In the gospel of Mark, just after Jesus called his disciples to service from their fishing boats, the story moves on to today’s gospel reading, “Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” Jesus casts this spirit out of the man. In the gospel of Matthew, two demoniacs, people infested by demons, were coming out of the tombs and met Jesus. Jesus cast out the demons from these two men. In Luke’s gospel we are told of a woman with a spirit who had crippled her for eighteen years. Jesus sets her free.

Have any of you heard of someone being infested by a demon or an evil spirit? If someone told you they were, would you believe them or would you walk slowly backward and try not to make eye contact. Again, I’m not asking you right now to believe that Jesus could or did cast out any evil spirits, I’m only asking you if you think these evil spirits existed. And if they existed at Jesus’ time do they still exist today?

Many of you probably don’t think they do and I can understand why. In our society, if someone is suffering from something that doesn’t make sense, we give them psychological or psychiatric treatment. Maybe it’s just in their heads. Only “primitive” cultures still believe in demons, we say, but not us, not civilized Americans. In fact, at seminary, one distinguishing characteristic of foreign students is that they are willing to talk about evil spirits in class while no one else really gives it a second thought. It just sounds too weird.

But here’s my question for you: Why is every other problem, sin, disease and pain spoken about in the Bible still in existence and uncontested, but the existence of evil spirits is doubted? If we truly want to argue that only “primitive” minds or cultures accept these things, then why does Jesus, who we confess is God in the flesh, appear to not only accept their presence but actually casts out demons and frees people from evil spirits? Is he just “playing along” with their delusions? Why not tell them the truth if there really was a different truth? He didn’t seem to usually have trouble breaking with traditions. Was Jesus simply “a man of his times”? Or did it go against the Star Trek prime directive to tell the truth? Or, perhaps, Jesus cast out demons because there were demons to cast out.

In every gospel, there is a reference to a least one, if not many, exorcisms, and yet, so many Christians don’t even think the possibility of the demonic even exists. Even today’s prayers of intercession, which we read each week in our celebrate insert, fail to acknowledge the need to pray against evil spirits. Instead, we are “crying out to God to care for all those who live with mental illness and those who are sick and hospitalized.” This truly brings the issue to a head doesn’t it? The fact is, most people would say that if you believe that you are infested by an evil spirit you probably need to be institutionalized or you have a hormonal inbalance. To put it quite succinctly—you’re crazy.

I’ve presented an argument for the existence of evil spirits, but now we come to the REASON these stories of exocism were ever included in the Bible in the first place. You see, those reading the gospel stories at first didn’t seem to have an issue accepting the possibility of the demonic in their lives; instead, they had a problem DEALING with demonic influences. They were looking for hope and hoping for someone with the authority and the power to deliver them from bondage. Jesus did not just come to heal and forgive. As he prepares for his crucifixion in the gospel of John, Jesus points out, “Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” John’s gospel doesn’t have a scene where Jesus casts out evil spirits from a person, the one exorcism in John’s Gospel is the crucifixion itself where Jesus casts the Devil out of power for good.

Jesus doesn’t always cast out a demon when there is something wrong with a person. Sometimes there is a need for physical healing, like the man with the withered hand. Sometimes a person needs spiritual healing and needs to hear that their sins are forgiven. Sometimes people need emotional healing when they’ve struggled with abusive parents or siblings. Healing can take place through prayer, both intercessory prayer or the in-person laying on of hands kind of prayer. Healing can also take place within a hospital setting or in a psychologist’s office. AND the Bible also tells us, there are times when deliverance is needed; when God expects us to trust him not only to deal with problems we understand, but problems we don’t understand, such as those caused not by bacteria, or guilt or hormonal imbalances, but, yes you guessed it, problems caused by evil spirits as crazy as that may sound.

Believing in the existence of evil spirits and demons doesn’t mean that everything that goes wrong in your life, in your mind or in your body is the work of the Devil, like some little fairy Queen Mab, ala Shakespeare, “who Drums in a soldier’s ear, at which he starts and wakes, And being thus frightened swears a prayer or two And sleeps again.” Sometimes you can’t sleep because you ate pizza at midnight and you have heartburn, or maybe you just broke up with a girl and you’re having second thoughts. Sometimes drug therapy is needed and necessary for manic-depressive disorders. Sometimes being institutionalized is the only way to keep a person safe from hurting others or themselves. However, the Bible stories about Jesus casting out demons give us another possible technique with which to deal with the problems in our life: prayer. And more specifically, praying for deliverance.

You shouldn’t assume that every problem you are having or health issue is caused by evil spirits because, honestly, they aren’t. But, if you sense that you might need deliverance, for whatever reason, don’t feel ashamed or scared. Remember today’s gospel lesson: Your God is a God who has the power to defeat sin, death and the devil, along with any demons or evil spirits that come along for the ride as well. He answers prayers, that’s his promise for you, and this includes prayers for health, wellbeing as well as prayers for freedom from the bondage of depression or compulsion or lust. Jesus has power over every part of life, even those parts you cannot and don’t really want to understand. The natural and the supernatural. And he promises that no matter how much evil has entered into your life, he has the power and authority to cast it out. You don’t have to fight it alone.

God has placed you in a community that loves you. Jesus promises, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me, I give them eternal life and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” If you have been dealing with an evil that you cannot control and cannot understand or find help for, you are not alone and the church is definitely a place to find help and support. God loves you and will fight for your freedom. If you still think that all this talk is pretty silly, don’t worry; I pray that these stories of exorcism throughout the Bible might help you trust that indeed, there is nothing, natural or spiritual, that can ever harm you. You are under the protection of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior. There are a lot of things we cannot understand in this world, even evil spirits, but God has not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Nothing can overcome this promise for Jesus has overcome the world. Amen.