Coming Clean

"THEY NEVER LEAVE QUIETLY"
Text: Mark 1:221-28
Faith United
February 1, 2009


This is one of those parts of the Bible
where people, including myself,
feel somewhat justified in turning off their minds
and resting for awhile
'Ah, it's the demons, again,'
another one of those stories about Jesus casting out demons
whatever that meant

Modern minds tend to believe
that the demons of that time were probably just your normal
everyday mental illnesses
People were primitive back then,
and didn't understand psychology or science
and so what do we do with these stories
if we don't believe in demons anymore?

Fred Craddock, a retired preaching professor
once said, "not believing in demons has hardly
eradicated evil in our world.."

They were also called unclean spirits
another word for unclean, is well, dirty
Dirty spirits
I never knew how to relate to the image of unclean spirits
until Larry and I were appointed to a church in Pennsylvania
right after the senior pastor of 18 years
had been abruptly removed
for several counts of sexual misconduct
We moved into his house
and it was the only time I felt like I lived in a haunted house
Have you ever been the unfortunate one
to uncover secrets that nobody wants to know about?
The congregation had an image of their pastor
to be bigger than life
amazing, wonderful, they adored him
We moved into his home
where he had lived for 18 years
We only lived there a year
because that's as much as we could stand

In his anger at being kicked out,
the pastor had locked his dog and cat into one of the bedrooms
for a few days
For weeks we could not understand where that smell
was coming from
We shampooed all the carpets in the house
we aired out the house,
but still there was that persistent, awful,
nauseating smell
coming from the back bedroom
The carpet back there was saturated
had to be pulled, and the wood underneath needed to be treated
We found fist-size holes in closet doors
broken windows that were covered up in duct tape
We got phone calls in the middle of the night
and when we answered, the caller hung up
I always referred to that parsonage as the Amityville Horror
I couldn't stand to be in my own house
There was an unclean spirit in the house
as crazy as that sounds
a spirit of intense anger, violence, lies,
broken relationships,
and many many days, all I could say was that there was
a spirit of evil in every room
Brokenness, deep pain, intense anger
After that, I believe in unclean spirits
Dirty spirits that linger and fester like untreated wounds
spirits that make you sick, literally
that cause irrational dissension
that keep bitterness and hate alive
It had filtered out of the parsonage into the church
and it infested everyone there
like a virus
and there was nothing the two of us could do about it
by ourselves
and we had to leave

I believe in unclean spirits
Unclean spirits are spirits that keep people sick
that keep relationships from being healed
spirits that keep hate alive
and fan the flames of bitterness and dissension
Unclean spirits are spirits that keep the work of Christ
from going forward
I've sensed them in all the churches I've been in
When someone is excited about a ministry opportunity
a chance to reach out to those in need
and they feel a passion and excitement
about being Jesus to someone else
but then someone says,
"what about liability issues?
can we get sued?
what if they damage the carpet?
what if they leave a mess?"

When the ministry of Christ among us is interrupted
there are unclean spirits at work
Whenever good things are kept from happening
or volatile arguments and fights
keep our focus off of serving Christ,
there are unclean spirits at work
When the truth is told and someone is punished for it
because we don't like truth that is hard to hear,
there are unclean spirits at work

We may know a lot more about what causes
various mental illnesses
but for the person who is caught up in that mental illness
it doesn't matter what science knows
that person's spirit is still so painfully broken and in chaos
unable to receive love and mercy
unable to feel the goodness of wholeness
whatever the scientific explanations are,
that spirit is still unclean
separated from God's peace

Not believing in demons anymore
has hardly eradicated evil in our world…..

Even Jesus couldn't get a break
He had just started
He was on a roll
He blew people away….
When he taught, he taught with unusual authority
not authority that comes with a degree from a university
but a different kind of authority
It wasn't just book learning
he didn't quote chapter and verse of the Scriptures
but his teaching held them mesmerized
they couldn't not listen
and he spoke to their souls
Who was he?
Where did he come from?
How did they not know him?
What school did he go to?
Who was his mentor?
Man, he had them
he had them in the palm of his hand
and than that crazy person showed up
they always do, don't they?
Just when things are going well,
the crazies show up…
Out of nowhere, in the middle of Jesus' teachings,
there was loud scream
A crazy scream,
that these days might cause us to hit the floor
for fear of being shot
A man, crazy with rage or something,
ran down the aisle
and pointed at Jesus
his eyes full of fire and hate
"What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazereth??
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are, the Holy One of God,"..
Nobody moved
he might be armed
people froze in place,
frozen in fear
the man was wild and crazy with rage
But Jesus somehow, seemed unfazed
He reached out his hand
and with a loud voice, and seeming anger in his own eyes,
he said,
"Be silent! Come out of him!"
And the man was thrown back onto the floor
he squirmed and convulsed
as if he were having a seizure
as if he didn't want this to happen
as if he was holding on with all his might
to keep the demon inside
and then with another ear piercing scream
the man came to rest on the floor, still
looking almost dead
The unclean spirit was gone
I bet you could have heard a pin drop in that room
People stared at the man
nobody moving, maybe no one even breathing
They looked at the man,
laying peacefully on the floor,
starting to rub his face, and groan,
and they looked up at Jesus,
His face still stern and determined, focused
"What is this?" someone said, breaking the silence
"what is this?" they said fearfully
"a new teaching? with authority!
"even the unclean spirits obey him!"
and people looked at Jesus with fear
who was he, that he was that powerful?
That his words, his mere words
had that kind of powerful effect?
They didn't know whether to kiss his feet
or drive him out and send him over the cliff

But for better or worse,
his fame spread throughout the region
Everybody was talking about him
and nobody quite knew what to think
They didn't know if he was good or bad
They didn't know if that kind of power
could possibly be a good thing
But Jesus did it again and again,
he drove unclean spirits out of people
and restored them to wholeness and health again
It's easy to dismiss these stories
as ancient, and therefore irrelevant
but you know, I think you're crazy
if you ever think that unclean spirits aren't real and very much alive
We are all possessed, really
and we're fools if we don't admit that
We're all possessed by something
something or someone that keeps us from wholeness
keeps us from knowing peace in ourselves
keeps us from speaking truths that need to be spoken

We're all possessed
it's just a matter of knowing what it is that possesses us
so that we can be healed
Over and over again in the Gospel of Mark
it is the demons and only the demons who know who Jesus really is--
the Holy One of God
Those who were crazy, those who were dismissed as being sick
they were the ones who called him the Son of God
and it was the so-called sane ones
who finally put him to death
The ancients believed that unclean spirits
were more powerful than human beings
but less powerful than God
and I think they're right
they didn't know the science or the psychology
but they knew the basic truth
unclean spirits possess us
and are too powerful for us to heal on our own strength
the only way we can be healed is by the power of God
in Jesus Christ
Over and over again,
we try to heal ourselves
we try to control our lives
we try to fix it all by ourselves
but it's only when we have the strength
to surrender to God
to say, "God, I can't do this alone
I am powerless over this thing--
this addiction, this rage,
this hate, this pain, whatever…"
and then to say, "God, you take it
you take me, and heal me..
let me get out of your way and surrender my own control…"
Wow, that's hard
We are a fix-it kind of people
we are a self-help culture
Read a book, attend a workshop
and be healed!

But we're all just crazy, when you come down to it
we're crazy because we live in a crazy world
and we are fools if we think that that's not going
to rub off on us daily
We are possessed because we live in a world that wants to possess us
We join the mob spirit
we believe what we read on the internet
we let our emotions take over
and take us to places that aren't pretty
We are easily possessed
because we haven't learned that we can't be in control
and be healthy

Unclean spirits are, as they always have been,
more powerful than humans
but less powerful than God
and the only way we can be whole and healthy
and a little less crazy,
is to surrender daily to our life-giving God
the only one who can drive out unclean spirits
from our souls
and make us clean

But, beware,
those spirits never leave quietly, do they?
When Jesus rebuked them to come out,
the spirits didn't just come willingly
they were forced out
and they didn't like it
they convulsed the poor men and women
threw them around, injured them and exhausted them
on their way out,
leaving them vulnerable and weak
In another part of the Bible
Jesus talks about being careful --
that if demons are driven out,
then something good and healthy
needs to fill that empty place
otherwise, the door is left open
for more vicious and more plentiful demons to enter once again

In other words, when we are healed from our demons
we need to still be vigilant, faithful, prayerful,
actively filling that empty place with good things,
good thoughts, good spirit--
or worse and more powerful unclean spirits will come to live in us

Not believing in demons has hardly
eradicated evil in our world

Evil is alive and well
we fan the flame of it every day
we are easily caught up in it
and our only hope is Jesus
the Risen Christ
our only hope is to stay closer to him
surrender our spirits every day to him
trusting him to fill us with good things, right things
It's hard to let go of that control
It's hard to not to fight good things
Unclean spirits never leave quietly
or without trying to get the last dig in
before they are banished
Don't give them voice
don't give them room
allow your hearts, minds, and souls
to be filled with the powerful spirit of the Living Christ
whose presence banishes unclean spirits
whose power threatens and overwhelms them

Every day,
Every moment,
let the spirit of Christ come in
with each breath of air you take
and someday, we pray,
they'll all be gone
forever
and everyone
will be at peace