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.

Sermon for June 15th

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave his twelve disciples authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. Then, he gave them instructions to actually go out and do it. And we say, good for them. But do we still have to deal with things like that? At Saint Peters? In Northwest Connecticut? In the year 2008? In other words, is there still a need to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” Do we even expect those things to happen? Is it still essential to do this when we have doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists? And even if there is a need, do we really have the abilities, the call, the knowledge, the power and the authority to do any of these things?

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” The first question to ask is, do we still have to deal with these things? Yes. I assume that we can all agree on the relevance of at least the first three. People still get sick, people still die, there are still diseases including leprosy that we have to deal with. But as for casting out demons? I am sure that there is much disagreement in the room about whether we still have to deal with that. But I hope that you realize that it is exactly on this point where the power of this passage stands or falls. To put it quite simply, if Jesus is just some religious nutcase, out of touch, or scientifically ignorant about what he calls “casting out demons”, then it is difficult to believe anything else he is talking about either. In other words, if Jesus can’t cast out a demon, or if there were never demons to cast out, how can we really believe that he could cure diseases or raise the dead. They are all about as likely.

Perhaps you have heard the following quote before, “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” Take a moment to consider that statement. “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” And yet, as my advisor at seminary, who was also the president of Luther Seminary at the time, as he told me once, “I don’t believe in the Devil. I believe in Jesus Christ who has defeated the Devil for me.” In other words, while it is important to know that there is indeed an evil enemy you are in combat with, it is even more important to know where to turn in order to defeat that enemy. That is finally, in fact, what Jesus is speaking about in the gospel today. Where can you turn to deal with sickness, death, disease and demons when they affect you in your daily life?

In my life, I have dealt primarily with two groups of people when it came to talking about the phrase “casting out demons”. I hope that you will find these two groups familiar from experience in your own life.

The first group considers evil spirits to be an antiquated and uncivilized labeling of psychological maladies. For instance, in my first “pastoral care” class, the teacher read about a time when King David was said to have a spirit in him that made him sad. She explained that nowadays we would probably just call him depressed and get him on some medication. In the New Testament, there was a little girl who had seizures and would foam at the mouth. Jesus cast an evil spirit out of her, but my teacher explained that she probably just had epilepsy. At the end of class, it seemed clear that, as a pastor, there was very little I could do for these people. I could only send them off to a hospital or psychiatrist while praying that God would find a way to help them someday. .

The second group of people I have seen or dealt with talked about life in a very different way than I did. Many times I have watched this group of people on T.V. For them, every event in life is being affected by either angels or evil spirits. If they almost get in a car accident, their guardian angel must have been watching out for them. If congress passes a particular law they disagree with in Washington, they might maintain that the Devil has gained a foothold in some government official. Every hurricane and earthquake is a sign of Christ’s second coming. What do I get out of these conversations? I should be a better Christian. I must do more, speak out, fight against temptation, accept Jesus into my heart, get ready for Armageddon and call my congressman. Everything, finally, is left in my hands. I’ve got to constantly be on guard against the Devil.

It is easy to think and worry about demons and evil spirits all the time. It is also easy to believe that they have never existed in the first place. If you focus on them too much, you can become anxious and fearful, on the other hand, ignoring their existence can lead to anxiety and fear as well. Jesus does not call us to be a part of either of these two groups I just mentioned, but instead calls us to himself where there is finally peace. We cannot take Christ’s power away from him and place it in science alone, nor can we take Christ’s power away and put it in our own hands.

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave his twelve disciples the authority to deal with suffering whether it came from evil spirits, from sin, or from germs. The most important point to realize is that the power and the authority comes from Jesus alone. By themselves, the disciples have absolutely nothing to deal with sin, death and the devil. It is the power of God that heals. His power that casts out. His power to cleanse. His power to raise. His power to cure.

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus not only has the power to give eternal life through the forgiveness of sins, but here, he is also pointing out that he has the power to sustain life. And just like his gives us the ability to forgive sins in his name, he also gives us the ability to sustain life in his name. Either way, the power, the ability and the authority comes from God, but he finds a way to get people forgiven, healed and at peace by using your hands, your feet and your mouths.

Martin Luther called Christians a “priesthood of all believers.” A priest isn’t a special kind of a person, but they do know something very important: you know who to look to guidance, who to pray to and on whose authority you speak. What I want to impress upon you is that you do have the authority to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons” because, and this is very important, because you know who is really doing it. You know who really has the power to do it. You know who is in charge of healing and sustaining life. You are just the tool God uses to do it.

My goal in telling you all this is to give you faith. Faith to believe that Jesus alone has power over all these things and you can look to him for healing and deliverance whenever you come in contact with sickness, death, disease and demons. This is true when you are praying for healing with people on your own. This is true when you are taking them to a doctor’s appointment. This is true when you are admit someone into a psych ward. This is true when you are sitting with a loved one on their death bed. This is true if you are the one needing help. You may trust that Jesus is loving enough to heal, able to heal, faithful to heal and wise enough to know when and how to heal.

But, before you leave today, I need to do one more thing. I need to equip you to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” Even if you know that there is suffering and are called on to do something about it in Jesus’ name, you might not have a clue how to do it. So let me give you a few ideas.

First, listen to people. Listen to their pain and listen to their hopes. Just listen to them even if you don’t like what you are hearing. And while you are listening to them with one ear, listen to God with your other ear to see if you are encouraged to pray with them.

Second, pray with people. Even if you think it might not make a difference and even if you don’t know what to say. God has promised to listen to your prayers just as a loving Father listens to his child. You can demand a hearing from God knowing that it is always his will to heal and to deliver people from evil even if the healing looks different than we expect. Ask to pray with them. If you want, you might even ask to hold their hand or touch their shoulder. Let them know you care for them just like God cares for them.

Take as much time as you would like to pray. Sometimes your prayer might be short and to the point, at other times it might take longer than you expect. There is no reason to heap up empty phrases just to sound like you know what you are doing, but if you think of something else to pray for, or just want to be silent for a little while, go ahead and take the time.

Finally, leave healing in God’s hands. Perhaps your prayer will have already been answered as soon as you open your eyes. Maybe it will happen days later. Maybe years later. Maybe you’ll never know, but, finally, you are not responsible to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons,” God is responsible and you are only doing what you have been asked to do. The authority comes from God and the power is God’s alone.

When you hear that your sins are forgiven, you can be assured that God himself has promised you eternal life. When God heals you or delivers you from evil, you can only be assured of a longer or fuller life. However, both are important, one for this life now and one for eternal life.

“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” There is a lot of suffering in this world, God knows that we go through much each and every day. But as a member of God’s family, you know where to look for healing and deliverance while many others do not know where to place their hope. So listen to people. Pray with them. And leave the healing and deliverance in God’s hands. Amen.