Epiphany 4 Year B

Epiphany 4 Year B Mark 1:21-28

I have a somewhat shocking confession to make: I find it embarrassing to be called a Christian. It is not that I am embarrassed to believe in Christ. Not at all. I am just embarrassed by what the word “Christian” has come to mean in our society.

Now, of course there are people on both sides of this whole Christianity debate. There are people who find the word “Christianity” being bastardized by the Fundamentalists, and there are people who find the word “Christianity” being bastardized by the liberals. There are two sides to every argument, and even though I tend to fall on one side of this argument, I also truly believe that both sides are acting in good faith.

But this is where we run into a big problem: How can both sides be right? How can well meaning people come up with diametrically opposed ideas? How can groups on opposite sides of a topic both claim to have THE Spirit inspired interpretation? One group has got to be right and the other has to be wrong. Right?

This is not a new topic. This topic has been around for as long as there have been people of faith. Our gospel today presents us with an example of this challenge.

Jesus is in the temple healing. He is out there doing the will of God. The problem is that he is doing this on the Sabbath. Now, I am sure to the one who was healed, there was no problem of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. But we have another group of people who are wondering what is going on. Who is this man who is doing nasty things in the temple? Why is he driving out demons on the Sabbath? This is a new teaching! But the people have to wonder, is it a teaching that they can trust?

For the people of Jesus’ time, the teaching of their scripture, what we call the Old Testament, was interpreted to mean that no work was to be done on the Sabbath. This was the fundamental understanding of the commandment to “Keep the Sabbath day holy.” It was what was taught for years and there was no reason to doubt it. But here was this man, working on the Sabbath! This guy was commanding demons on the Sabbath! What’s up with this??

We generally assume that the people were impressed with Jesus’ teachings. We assume that the comment of “What is this? A new teaching – and with authority!” Was said with awe and reverence. But what if it was said differently? What if it was said with disgust and skepticism? What if the word that was spread quickly over the whole region was not a word of admiration but a word of contempt?

To many in Biblical times, what Jesus was doing in the temple was fundamentally wrong. What Jesus was doing was against everything the people had been taught and every tradition the people had. To many in Biblical times, Jesus was a heretic and was deserving of death. These people were not bad; they were just blinded by the world.

In our world today, we have a bunch of different teachings. Many of these differences can be found within the Episcopal Church. We have people saying that ordaining women is heresy. But right here at St. Swithen’s there has been a woman priest. We have people with differing opinions on abortion. We have a whole lot of fuss going on not only in the Episcopal Church but within the Anglican Union over homosexuality and the ordaining of gay people. With all of these people, people of good faith, at odds with each other, how can we know what is the proper teaching? How can we know what is new revelation? How can we tell if we are following God’s will or just doing what makes us feel comfortable? How do we know if we are hearing a new teaching with authority or if this is some kind of heresy?

When we look back on the story, we can easily figure out which side we should be baking; of course we should be following Jesus. But if we were to put ourselves into the shoes of those in the temple, would we believe Jesus had a new teaching or would we believe that Jesus was trying to push a personal or political agenda?

One of the unfortunate things about the Bible, or maybe it is a fortunate thing, is that we are not given clean-cut answers. We just can’t read a passage in the Bible and immediately know what it means. What makes this a fortunate thing is, if we are conscientious about growing in our faith, the Bible forces us to gather together to study and to learn. To get a more complete understanding, we need to come together in community and in Bible study. It is when we join together that the Holy Spirit can truly function.

But we still don’t have the answer: If someone were to walk into our midst -- right now -- and start teaching a new teaching, and started to teach it with authority, how would we know if this teaching was something new from the Spirit or just someone trying to advance their own agenda? Just because the teaching is “with authority” does not necessarily mean it is from God. We have a history littered with dead bodies from people who taught with authority. However, I doubt we would say that their teaching came from God.

We also cannot just go with the rule of majority, either, when deciding if something is a new teaching or heresy. Our past should show us that the majority can be just as heretical as a solo person. For many years, scripture was interpreted, and still is interpreted in some locations, to keep women and people of color from positions of power. Scripture was used to empower certain groups while disenfranchising others. I would hope that we would see this also as false teaching.

One of the most important things that I learned in seminary is to use scripture to interpret scripture. What is meant by this is pretty simple: When trying to find the interpretation to a piece of scripture, does the interpretation you are defending make sense?

Hopefully, it took some effort to think of Jesus as being a heretic in today’s gospel. It just doesn’t make sense. We can look throughout the New Testament and see Jesus healing people, showing compassion on people -- lifting up the poor and lowly. Being compassionate was just a part of Jesus. And since Jesus is God incarnate, then being compassionate is part of God.

Another thing we learned in seminary is when there is a discrepancy in the scriptures, the New Testament takes precedence over the Old Testament. As I have said, the law of the Old Testament was interpreted to forbid healing on the Sabbath. But the actions of Jesus show us that healing on the Sabbath is not only acceptable but to be encouraged. So in this situation, we are to take the New Testament interpretation as the more appropriate interpretation.

I am taking the time to do this to give you all some tools. The Episcopal Church does not take too many political stands, but asks its members to pray, study, and discern the will of God in each situation. When you are confronted with a moral quandary, or we as a congregation are facing a challenge, we need to look back at our faith and our scriptures. We need to ask, “What would Jesus do?” We need to consider if the interpretation is consistent with the words and actions of one who died for the sin of the world? Is the interpretation consistent with the actions of the one who calls us all to the table and feeds us with his own body and blood? It the interpretation consistent with the kindness and compassion we see Jesus demonstrate throughout the New Testament? If our interpretation does not seem to make sense with the example we see coming from Christ in the New Testament, then we need to further question the interpretation.

We have no problem with Jesus casting out demons in the temple on Sabbath because this is something that seems natural and right for Jesus to do. Even though this goes against the Old Testament law to keep the Sabbath holy, for Jesus to have acted in any other way would have seemed wrong. Through Jesus’ life and actions, the people of Biblical times were given a new teaching and this teaching had the authority of the Son of God.

The teaching of the Holy Spirit did not end when the Bible was written down. The teaching continues. But it is up to us as a people to weigh the teaching and to see if it is consistent with the scriptures and to discern as a community how we are to apply these new teachings. It is not always an easy task, but it is a task God will equip us for. In asking questions, seeking clarity, and searching for the authority, we will meet new teachings with insight and with enlightenment.