Saturday, January 27, 2018

Evil Spirits


Epiphany 4B Newland

This morning we prayed, “Bring wholeness to all that is broken and speak truth to us in our confusion, that all creation will see and know your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.” 
This Sunday and next Sunday our Gospel readings tell us about the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Today Jesus heals a man with an unclean spirit; next Sunday we will hear of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and how Jesus “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.”  Then after Lent and Easter we return in June to more about Jesus’ public ministry of teaching and healing.

Ash Wednesday we’ll meet at 6:00 PM for a bilingual service from the Prayer Book in English and Spanish. This year our Palm Sunday service will be from Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the Easter Day service from the Book of Common Prayer. Next year reverses: Palm Sunday from the Prayer Book, Easter Day from the  ELW.
In today’s gospel we hear, “. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out . . .” We have lots of unclean spirits in the church and in the society. Jesus “brings wholeness to all that is broken and Jesus speaks truth to us in our confusion.” Wholeness and truth are connected.  Wholeness is brought by truth. And as St. John reminds us in 8:32 and 16:13 that the truth makes us free and that the spirit of truth will guide us into all truth. About half the congregations I know of have suffered some kind of serious misconduct by clergy or lay leaders. Sexual misconduct, stealing money, misuse of power, malicious gossip, all these evil spirits are found in the church and in the society. Penn State, Hollywood, the American gymnastics organization, our political life, all of these have recently shown the presence and the power of evil spirits.

Last week Rachel Denhollander testified at the sentencing hearing of Dr. Larry Nassar. Nassar had been convicted the Michigan court of sexually abusing her and other young girls. The transcript of her testimony is on line. You can read it after church. Her report of misconduct by the doctor and by university and gymnastic association leadership is horrifying.
But the testimony is also a word of grace. This is part of what Rachel Denhollander said in court directly to her abuser, “The Bible you speak carries a final judgment where all of God's wrath and eternal terror is poured out on men like you. Should you ever reach the point of truly facing what you have done, the guilt will be crushing. And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet. Because it extends grace and hope and mercy where none should be found. And it will be there for you. I pray you experience the soul crushing weight of guilt so you may someday experience true repentance and true forgiveness from God, which you need far more than forgiveness from me -- though I extend that to you as well.”

The truth sets us free. It appears to have set Rachel Denhollander free. The truth will set us free.

In your bulletin today are letters from Bishop Jose McLoughlin and from the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church. They call us “to create a church that is not simply safe, but holy, humane and decent. We must commit to treating every person as a child of God, deserving of dignity and respect.”

Evil spirits do not come out easily. Conflict and trouble have come along with the progress we have made toward holy, humane, and decent treatment of all people regardless of race, sex, language. We have a ways to go. But Jesus who set free the man in the synagogue in Capernaum works by his spirit of truth in each of us, in the church and in the society, to set us free to love and serve our Lord.    

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