Confronting Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:21-28

January 29, 2012 / Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

I can’t remember the last time I saw a commercial for Ivory soap, but the ad that ran during the late ‘80’s had a jingle that has stuck with me:

I want my clean as real as Ivory

It’s gotta be 99 point 44,

I want my clean as real as Ivory

Nothing less and nothing more

I want my clean as real as Ivory

It’s gotta be pure that’s for sure

I want my clean as real as Ivory.

(1988 ad for Ivory Soap)

Ivory is pure soap that claims to leave you really clean.  Isn’t that what we want out of a soap? Of course I always wondered if it is 99.44 % pure, what happened to the other 0.56 %?  Does that mean that it is 0.56% impure?  Does that leave us 0.56% unclean?

Which leads me to wonder – just how clean am I? I washed this morning with Ivory soap – like I have for years.  Is my “clean” clean enough? Have I washed away all the impurities? Can I enter into the presence of the Lord as I am?

Of course, it isn’t the external cleanliness that I’m actually worried about.  Somewhere during my lifetime we quit worrying about what we looked like on the outside when we came to church – everything from stained blue jeans and a t-shirt to a silk dress with high heels is acceptable. What matters is just how clean you are on the inside, or at least how clean you want to be.  God is concerned about our purity and holiness. Ivory soap is almost 100% pure. A pure metal has had all the undesirable elements removed. How pure are you?

It matters because when we enter into this sanctuary we enter into sacred space – a place where we expect to encounter the Holy Spirit. If we are unclean or impure then we are not fully prepared to encounter the holy. That which is holy cannot exist in the same space as that which is unholy. Which is what we witness in today’s gospel lesson:

Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum when suddenly there was a man with an unclean spirit who cried out, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?”

Interesting questions! Clearly the unclean spirit is picking a fight with Jesus! What business does the Holy One of God have with an unclean spirit? Can it be anything other than destruction? Jesus, who is teaching with power and authority, simply utters, “Be silent and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit obeys him, surprising and amazing everyone who is present. This truly is a new teaching, with authority. Something people have never seen before. Even the unclean spirits obey Jesus!

We know nothing about the man who was possessed by an unclean spirit except that he showed up at the synagogue that Sabbath.  He has no voice.  We don’t know if he was well known by the community or a stranger who was passing through. We don’t know if he looked perfectly normal or if it was clear that something was wrong. All we know is that when the unclean spirit who possessed him saw Jesus it recognized Jesus and named the danger. And Jesus responded with power and authority, freeing the man of this unclean spirit.

The point is, in Mark’s gospel, this first miracle of Jesus is an exorcism. The unclean spirit convulsed the man and cried with a loud voice as it came out of him. This unclean spirit is clearly some sort of demon. I suspect many of us would prefer to leave the world of demon possession in the realm of fantasy – we want to believe that movies like The Exorcist have no basis in reality.  And yet, history is full of stories of demon possession. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote extensively about the assaults of demons, and even John Wesley participated in an exorcism.  Hear what Wesley wrote in his journal on Tues. Oct. 23rd:

At eleven I preached at Bearfield to about three thousand, on the spirit of nature, of bondage, and of adoption.

Returning in the evening, I was exceedingly pressed to go back to a young woman in Kingswood... She was nineteen or twenty years old, but, it seems, could not write or read. I found her on the bed, two or three persons holding her. It was a terrible sight. Anguish, horror, and despair above all description appeared in her pale face. The thousand distortions of her whole body showed how the dogs of hell were gnawing her heart. The shrieks intermixed were scarcely to be endured. But her stony eyes could not weep. She screamed out, as soon as words could find their way, “I am damned, damned; lost forever! ... I am the devil’s now. I have given myself to him. His I am. Him I must serve. With him I must go to hell... I must, I will, I will be damned!” She then began praying to the devil.

We began: Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!

She immediately sank down as asleep; but, as soon as we left off, broke out again, with inexpressible vehemence: “Stony hearts, break! I am a warning to you. Break, break, poor stony hearts! ... You need not be damned, though I must.” She then fixed her eyes on the corner of the ceiling and said: “There he is: ay, there he is! come, good devil, come! Take me away. You said you would dash my brains out: come, do it quickly. I am yours... Come just now. Take me away.”

We interrupted her by calling again upon God, on which she sank down as before; and another young woman began to roar out as loud as she had done. My brother now came in, it being about nine o’clock. We continued in prayer till past eleven, when God in a moment spoke peace into the soul, first of the first tormented, and then of the other. And they both joined in singing praise to [God] who had “stilled the enemy and the avenger.”[1]

I suspect even John Wesley was uncomfortable with demon possession and exorcism, and yet there is no doubt about what he experienced.  I know and you know that there are unclean spirits in the world, even today.

So, before we try to dismiss the power of demons and claim that unclean spirits can simply be explained in terms of illness or addiction or sin, we need to read Mark’s gospel.  Today’s story is the first of many exorcisms, pointing to an important theme running through this gospel. Mark’s gospel is a story of spiritual warfare: good vs. evil, sin vs. sanctification, the Holy Spirit vs. unclean spirits, life vs. death, wholeness and health vs. sickness and disease, the power of Jesus vs. the wiles of the devil.

The unclean spirit recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God and challenges his power: “Have you come to destroy us?” Jesus doesn’t waste a moment or a breath – for that is exactly what he has come to do: “Be silent and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit has no power to do anything but obey.

No one wants to be possessed by unclean spirits. And yet, at some point in our lives most of us wrestle with them. Unclean spirits of doubt, fear, and shame. Unclean spirits of lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Unclean spirits that claim power over us, leading us to deny the love of God and the power of the cross.

Friends, we deny the power of the gospel when we ignore the ongoing spiritual warfare in our lives. We deny the authority of Jesus Christ when we allow unclean spirits to reside in us. While most of us have not and hopefully will never confront full-blown demon possession, we have all experienced some sort of unclean spirit. Unclean spirits possess us, leading us to self-doubt and even self-destruction. Unclean spirits consume us, sometimes becoming lord of our lives, haunting our waking hours, and denying us sleep.  Unclean spirits lead us to question God’s love for us; unclean spirits isolate us; unclean spirits can lead us to depression and addiction and sin.

We deny the power of the cross when we ignore the ongoing spiritual warfare in our lives.  As Jesus hung on that cross he took on all the powers of hell – all of the demons and unclean spirits in this world – and silenced them. He crushed their authority. Satan no longer has power where Jesus is concerned.  When we invite the holy into our lives, there is absolutely no room for the unholy.  When Jesus is Lord of our lives, no one and nothing else can be lord.

I’m here to tell you that Jesus has authority over all of the unclean spirits in our lives.  I’m here to tell you that Jesus loves you more than you could ever know.  I’m here to tell you that through the cross you have been set free from all of the powers of hell and death.  Jesus has claimed each one of us as his own! And yet, he has given us the freedom to choose who is Lord of our lives.  Have you chosen Jesus as Lord?

In Jesus the kingdom of God has come near – in Jesus we have glimpsed this holy space, this pure light, this unending joy – in Jesus we have encountered the Holy One of God. And Jesus longs to be Lord of our lives – Jesus longs to silence the unclean spirits that consume us. Jesus has won the battle – the strife is over – victory belongs to our God. Let us claim this victory today!

Let me close with a prayer found in your hymnal:

Silence, Frenzied, Unclean Spirit (UMH #264)

“Silence, frenzied, unclean spirit!”
cried God’s healing Holy One.
“Cease your ranting! Flesh can’t bear it.
Flee as night before the sun.”
At Christ’s words the demon trembled,
from its victim madly rushed,
While the crowd that was assembled
stood in wonder, stunned and hushed.

Lord, the demons still are thriving
in the gray cells of the mind:
Tyrant voices, shrill and driving,
twisted thoughts that grip and bind,
Doubts that stir the heart to panic,
fears distorting reason’s sight,
Guilt that makes our loving frantic,
dreams that cloud the soul and fright.

Silence, Lord, the unclean spirit
in our mind and in our heart;
Speak your word that when we hear it,
all our demons shall depart.
Clear our thought and calm our feeling;
still the fractured, warring soul.
By the power of your healing
make us faithful, true, and whole.

---

[1] http://www.puritanfellowship.com/2009/03/john-wesley-casting-out-demons.html