A Note From Rob ...
Week of Feb. 1
Mark 1:21-28 is the Gospel lesson for this week. I suggest you read it before proceeding with the rest of the article. Take your time, I’ll wait ..... Welcome back! What did you think?
The text is customarily read during Epiphany. Epiphany is the season in which Jesus is recognized as chosen and sent by God. In this passage the people recognized his authority and a person with “an unclean spirit” recognizes Jesus as the holy one of God. But that is probably not what you thought about when you read this passage. Did the unclean spirit get your attention? Did it surprise you that someone with an unclean spirit was worshipping?
I recall a story about a revival being held in a small rural church on October 31. As the story goes, someone had been imbibing before going out to a Halloween party. They got lost and wandered into the church that evening for directions. The pastor was the first to see the party-goer and his alarm caused the congregation to turn around to see what was happening. They turned around to see the man dressed in his costume and the place went into chaos.
You see the man was in a devil’s costume. People were running out the doors, screaming, climbing out windows, confessing sins and praying for deliverance. Children were in their mother’s arms and soon the church was empty except for two folks sitting down front. The ‘devil’ still needed directions so he wandered down front to the people still there.
The first was an older man. He sat stern faced and looked the devil right in eye while he said, “Mr. Devil, I ain’t afraid of you. I’ve been married to your sister to over 50 years”. The other person was a lady who seemed to be over 70. She also spoke to the ‘devil’ and said, “Mr. Devil, I have been a member of this church for over 50 years and I’ve been working for you every one of them”.
What do you think? Not about devils especially but could it be possible that some in the church are not clean? Are there unclean spirits lurking about? A temptation would be to try to identify those who might have unclean spirits. We might be tempted to look around us to identify those with unclean spirits.
However, perhaps a more helpful exercise would be to look within to examine our own lives, hearts and spirits. Would it be helpful to identify the uncleanness within and ask the power of Jesus to release us from it? Of course, the answer is “yes.” Then we could say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me”.
This is a daily exercise. Or should I say daily exorcise?! O God, Create in me a clean heart today.
I hope to see you Sunday when we pray together.
RETURN
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