Good morning.
In our gospel reading this morning that we heard Kevin read,
which is again in the book of Luke,
we heard Jesus confronting the powers of darkness
and confronting a broken world.
He cast out a demon.
He miraculously healed people.
And I think from the outset,
we need to be aware of two possible errors to avoid.
The first is to find it so strange that we just write it off.
And it is strange.
It's peculiar.
We don't encounter miracles in the supernatural every day,
if at all.
And the knowledge that we've gained as an advanced society
tells us that none of that is possible in the first place,
that the supernatural world doesn't really exist.
And if you feel this way,
I'd ask you not to dismiss what we've read
or what we'll talk about for two reasons.
The first is you and I agree, I think,
that there's a lot of wisdom to be found in non-Western cultures,
wisdom that our culture has forgotten.
And in many of these cultures,
they are completely open to the idea
that there are personal forces behind the veil.
So while you and I might find it odd,
we would do well to be listeners.
The second reason I'd like you not to dismiss this
is because what we're reading in the book of Luke
is an eyewitness account to a person,
to the life of the person of Jesus.
And so we need to start with him,
who he was,
and what he and who he claimed to be.
If the spirit world does not exist,
then Jesus is merely a motivator or an encourager,
and these stories lack substance.
But Jesus claimed to be so much more
than an encourager or a motivator.
He claimed to be the very son of God.
All right, that's the first error,
just to write it off.
The second error, which might be more tragic,
is to be too familiar with these stories.
And when we're too familiar,
we tend to just gloss through them,
not pay attention.
This is like me, I think.
I love the book of Luke.
The book of Luke presents Jesus
as having compassion and a heart for the outsider
and for the outcast.
And so we read all these amazing accounts
of Jesus calling a tax collector of all people, Levi,
of Jesus calling out and saving Zacchaeus.
We read about the Good Samaritan.
And so with passages like this,
I tend to go, okay, exorcisms, healings,
let me get to the good stuff.
And I fail to be amazed.
I fail to be amazed at who Jesus is
and what he's done.
So let's descend with Jesus
to the city of Capernaum.
Let's encounter him
and his power
and his authority
and his compassion.
And let's discover what's available to us
as we have a personal encounter with him.
Let's pray.
Almighty God, we long to see you.
Jesus, we long to see you in the synagogue.
We long to see you along the shores of Galilee.
We long to see you in Peter's house.
We long to encounter your power.
We long to encounter your authority.
We long to encounter your compassion.
So as we look at this passage together,
Lord, let the healing streams abound,
make and keep us pure within.
Amen.
So you maybe remember last week,
we were in Jesus' hometown of Nazareth.
And in Nazareth,
he delivered a sermon from the scroll of Isaiah,
which he identified as his mission statement.
To proclaim the good news for the poor,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
to bring sight to the blind,
and freedom for those who are oppressed.
And though they were impressed with his preaching,
they soon turned against him
when he told his fellow Nazarenes of God's grace,
for the outsider,
for Gentiles,
for nations that Israel detested.
They turned against him,
marching him up a hill,
attempting to throw him off a cliff.
Jesus leaves unharmed.
And in verse 31,
we read that he went down to Capernaum.
Now this would have been about a 40-mile hike,
winding through hill country,
through valleys,
alongside rock cliffs,
lots of greens and browns,
quite lovely.
From 1,200 feet above sea level,
where Nazareth sits,
down to 686 feet below sea level,
to the Sea of Galilee,
to this fishing village called Capernaum,
which sits on the northern shore
of the Sea of Galilee,
about two miles from where the upper part
of the Jordan River flows into the lake.
And he visits the synagogue there.
And today you can visit the ruins
of a second century synagogue,
which probably was built over top,
the same spot where the first synagogue sat.
So you can visit probably the place
where Jesus preached these words
and confronted the powers of evil.
Inside the synagogue,
you would have found fishermen,
merchants, craftsmen, laborers,
and their wives,
all participating in the psalms
and blessings and prayers,
the reading from the law and the prophets.
And you were eagerly awaiting the sermon
from this carpenter
who was causing such a stir
among the towns around this inland sea.
Now, imagine yourself there, would you?
Imagine yourself there
and imagine you have some sort of ailment
or illness, sickness
that only you know about.
And it's nearly debilitating,
but you're still able to keep it a secret.
These fishermen and merchants and craftsmen
have no idea about your illness.
They don't know about your constant pain
because you don't reveal it to people.
If you do, you would be considered unclean,
would be considered an outcast.
You would be cut off from the community.
It's not hard to imagine that, is it?
Many of us right now
are hiding something about ourselves
that we would rather not have revealed
or else we would feel cut off.
We would be afraid of being cast off.
So you're standing there
alongside your fellow villagers
waiting for this Nazarene to preach.
He does not disappoint.
He said things in a way
that you had never heard before.
And everyone there, including yourself,
are thunderstruck with amazement.
I mean, take yourself back into the present.
Can you remember a time when you were dumbfounded?
When you jumped out of your seat,
perhaps because of an amazing sports play
or a ripping solo
or a crazy plot twist
in your favorite television show.
I mean, do you remember how that felt?
Like exhilarating, right?
Now imagine being in a whole group of people
experiencing that.
You're feeling this right now
in this crowd,
in this synagogue,
in this fishing village.
And in the middle of all this,
shrieks him in.
Ah!
And it doesn't sound entirely like a man.
Ha!
What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are,
the Holy One of God.
And all eyes turn to Jesus.
This feels like a showdown.
Now you've heard of exorcisms happening before,
you being a turn-of-the-millennium Galilean.
But you, and most people you know,
you've been skeptical
because of the hocus-pocus
that would surround such an event.
You heard about one exorcist in Palestine
who would put a ring
under the possessed person's nose.
And then the exorcist would recite
this really long spell.
And then there would be a basin of water
staged nearby.
And then there'd be a splash.
Aha!
That's the demon.
We got him!
But not this time.
It doesn't happen this time.
After the demon-possessed man challenges Jesus,
there's silence and stillness
in the synagogue by the sea.
Except for the sound of the lapping water
through the window of the synagogue,
the sound of the Sea of Galilee
lapping up against the shore,
and maybe the cry of a seagull.
And Jesus says,
be muzzled.
That's what he literally says.
Be muzzled.
Come out of him.
And with this word,
with this simple rebuke,
the man is thrown down,
the demon is cast out,
and the man is in his right mind.
The people around you respond,
what is this word?
For with authority and power,
he commands the unclean spirits,
and they come out.
That's right.
You sense it too.
Authority and power.
Authority,
because the teachers of the law
that you have always heard taught in the synagogue,
they taught in a style
that was mainly just quotes.
They would just quote their teachers
who were quoting their teachers,
and it was just a sermon full of quotation marks.
These teachers took a lot of pride
in being able to rip off all these quotes.
But man, was it boring.
It was labyrinthine,
and legalistic,
and joyless,
and weightless.
It was all secondhand,
and thirdhand.
It was a hand-me-down theology.
But Jesus would say,
you have heard it said,
such and such,
but I tell you,
I tell you,
it was fresh,
and it was clear,
like it made sense,
and it was alive,
and it would penetrate,
and convict,
and liberate,
and heal.
You knew authority when you heard it.
And along with authority,
came power.
Jesus' authority was challenged,
and Jesus imposed his will.
Have you come to destroy us?
The demon asked.
Us, that is.
The demon is saying,
have you come to destroy both me,
and this man?
Because you're not winning
without me taking this guy down.
I know who you are,
the demon shouted.
The Holy One of God.
Now, you recognize being,
again,
a turn of the millennium,
Galilean,
that this is a power play.
It was believed that if you could name something,
or have the true name for something,
or someone,
then you had power over it,
and you could control it.
That's what the people of this time believed.
In giving something or someone its true name,
you could have control over it,
but this was no contest.
It wasn't even close.
It wasn't a riveting contest
of mostly equals,
like Skywalker versus the Emperor,
or Potter versus Voldemort.
It wasn't even 91 seconds
of Tyson dominating Sphinx.
It was instant.
And the man isn't even harmed at all.
Everyone lives.
So not only are you thinking
that Jesus had authority and power,
but you see he has compassion.
Jesus departs.
You go home,
and you can't stop thinking
about his authority,
his power,
and his compassion.
The Holy One of God,
you remember the demon saying.
You remember how the world
was spoken into existence
by a Holy One
with authority and power.
And you realize somehow
you were in the presence
of the divine.
That realization occurs
just as you are acutely aware
of your own pain,
this illness that you've been feeling
that you carried into that synagogue.
This wound,
this yuck
that you've been hiding
out of fear.
And you know what you need to do.
You need to go see him.
And you know where to find him.
You heard he went to Simon's house.
Simon is a burly fisherman,
a fellow Galilean from Bethsaida
who currently lives
in your town of Capernaum.
It's the Sabbath.
So you wait until sundown
because it's a bit too far
to travel on the Sabbath,
the day of rest.
But you're so eager
that you leave
as the sun is setting
hoping no one will see you.
Right?
But then you get outside
and of course
everyone's thinking the same thing.
Maybe they won't see me.
I'll just get a head start.
It's like my friend
who grew up in Iowa
at a fundamentalist Baptist church.
They were strictly not allowed
to see movies.
So they would go to the town
30 minutes away
and in the theater
half the people were from their church.
So anyway,
everyone is doing the same thing.
As the sun is setting,
they're heading to Simon's house.
They're going to see Jesus
including a lot of people
you haven't seen in a while.
You're going there
and you haven't seen
some of these people
because they've been sick
for a long time.
You arrive at Simon's house
with this throng of people
many who are sick
and through a window
you see Simon's mother-in-law
and you knew she was sick
with a raging fever
and you had wondered
knowing the average lifespan
at this time
is around 40 years
that this might be it for her.
But there she was
up and about
serving with energy
and joy.
So you're feeling hopeful.
I think she may have been healed.
Jesus opens the door
but then you start to doubt
because some of these people
are like religiously
ceremonially unclean.
So I doubt this holy one
is going to come into our midst
but he does.
He does.
He doesn't stand from a distance
and say a healing for you
and a healing for you
and you get a healing.
He comes into the midst
of these people
very slowly.
He places his hands
on somebody
and then he places his hands
on somebody else
and then on somebody else
and people are being healed.
He's not afraid
to touch us.
You've never seen compassion
like this.
And finally
it's your turn.
Finally it's your turn.
What's the look
on his face?
Do you see the kindness
in his eyes?
Does he place
his hands
on your head
or does he place
them on your heart?
or does he wrap you
with an embrace
and not let go?
Where do you need healing?
Where do you need healing
right now?
What kind of griefs
need to be healed?
What kind of addiction
do you need to be freed from?
What broken relationship
do you find
needs to be restored?
What betrayal
have you been walking around
unable to shake?
What fear
do you need deliverance from?
What pits
of anxiety
or depression
or mental illness
do you need
to be lifted out of?
What shame
or disgrace
do you need
to be rid of?
What kind of physical illness
do you need relief from?
Brothers
and sisters
Jesus
had the authority
and power
and compassion
to heal you.
He has the authority
and the power
and the compassion
to heal you.
His
uncontested authority
and unlimited power
and unfathomable
compassion
means there is
more healing
available to you.
There is more healing
available to you.
Do you hear this?
There is more healing
available to you.
And it's an encounter
with the person
of Jesus.
His hands.
His embrace.
His countenance.
His heart.
That can bring
the healing.
You and I
probably think
of salvation
as merely
a spiritual event.
Perhaps
we need to think
of it more expansively.
After God
created the world
good and perfect
and man sinned
everything broke.
Our relationship
to God
because of sin
our relationship
with ourselves
our psyche
our environment
broke
including
our bodies.
So which of all
that did Jesus
come to fix?
Jesus came to earth
he died on the cross
and he rose again
so that you and I
could have access
to the Father.
That is of utmost importance.
We have access
to the Father
we have forgiveness
of sins
and we can be healed.
Soul
and body
together
that is rescue.
We are rescued
soul and body
together
the good news
of that Jesus
proclaimed
was forgiveness
he proclaimed
freedom
he proclaimed
healing
Jesus' healings
weren't in ends
to a means
they were in ends
themselves.
He had compassion
for the sick
and he comes
in person
as a person
to heal
and because of his power
and authority
and compassion
there is more healing
available to you.
Let's think of this
even more expansively
we read in the last
chapter of Revelation
chapter 22
that there is
healing for the nations
available
as Jesus makes
all things new
healing
for the nation
I mean that's a cosmic
concept
there's healing
available between
warring countries
there's healing
available between
races
there's forgiveness
available
reconciliation
repentance
justice
that are available
there's healing
available
even between
Democrats
and Republicans
do you believe it?
do you believe that?
because the world
needs you to believe it
and the world
needs you to be
praying for it
or do you
bore the angels
with your prayers?
or do you pray
for the impossible?
what feels impossible?
do you pray
for healing
on a cosmic scale?
how about
you shock
the angels
may it sound
scandalous
the way you pray
with boldness
that God would bring
healing to this nation
we read of healing
being available
when people
encounter
the person
of Jesus
so how do we
encounter
the person
of Jesus?
well I think
it's instructive
at the end
of this account
in verse 42
we read
and when it was day
Jesus departed
and went into
a desolate place
and the people
sought him
and came to him
and he would have
kept him
from leaving them
but he said
to them
I must preach
the good news
of the kingdom
of God
to the other towns
as well
for I was sent
for this purpose
you might remember
last week
that people
thronged Jesus
and kicked him
out of town
and tried to
throw him
off a cliff
this is the opposite
people like
mob him
and try to keep
him in town
they try to make
him stay
not only is that
instructive
I think that's
prescriptive
we encounter
Jesus
and we keep
him from leaving
when we have
what you could
call a rule
of life
it's a rhythm
of praying
and reading
and resting
that keeps
Jesus' authority
and compassion
forefront
in our minds
and in our
spirits
through the
rhythms of our
day
healing is
available when
we encounter
Jesus
when we gather
together at this
table
we believe Jesus
is really present
here
when we come
forward and share
this meal
and he heals
and he restores
our soul
healing is available
when we confess
our sins
to one another
in James 5
we read
is anyone
among you
sick
let him call
for the elders
of the church
and let them
pray over him
anointing him
with oil
in the name
of the Lord
the prayer
of faith
will save
the one
who is sick
and the Lord
will raise
him up
and if he
has committed
sins
he will be
forgiven
therefore
confess your
sins
to one another
and pray
for one another
that you
may be healed
you know
we have a
liturgy
for that
too
we have a
liturgy
of prayers
of repentance
and reconciliation
that you can do
with a priest
a confession
healing is available
supernaturally
we believe
that Jesus
still heals
supernaturally
and miraculously
tonight at our
sister church
Falls Church
Anglican
at 7 o'clock
you can go
to a healing
service
and anyone
is welcome
to attend
there will
be people
to pray
for you
there will
be songs
there will
be prayers
and healing
is finally
also available
through men
and women
made in the
image of God
fulfilling God's
mandate to
subdue the
earth
through the
vocations of
medicine and
science
counseling
healing
we can
find
healing
for
depression
anxiety
and mental
illness
so what
about you
what ailment
did you carry
into the
synagogue
what ailment
were you
concealing
from your
fellow villagers
what ailment
did you carry
as you walked
along the shores
of the sea of
Galilee
to Simon's
house
what pain
will you be
bringing
today
as you walk
down these
aisles
as you extend
your hands
in need
to be fed
at Jesus'
table
brothers and
sisters there is
more healing
available
there is more
healing available
he has made
all things
so he has
the power
to heal
he governs
all things
so he has
the authority
to heal
and he has
compassion
on all he
has made
especially his
daughter
especially his
son
so he has
the desire
to heal
in the name
of the father
and of the son
and of the
holy spirit
amen
father let
the healing
streams
abound
let the
healing
streams
abound
as we
encounter
you
lord
as we
encounter
you
among
your
people
as we
see
you
extend
your
grace
to us
through
embrace
through
touch
through
the
peace
of the
lord
let the
healing
streams
abound
as we
partake
of this
meal
let the
healing
streams
abound
as we
sing
and rejoice
give you
praise
and thanks
for rescuing
us body
and soul
let the
healing
streams
abound
as we
go to
this
place
into
our
workplace
as we
rely
on your
holy
spirit
to be
reminding
us
constantly
every hour
of every
day
that we
are your
daughters
and sons
in Jesus
name we
pray
amen