"Shut up and come out, unclean societal spirits!"

Credit and/or my apologies must go to my wife, The Rev. Jacqueline Pinkney, for much of this, as it came out of her sermon preparation and our discussion of it this evening before prayer...

Mark 1: 21-28    YES!  Dust your Bible off, go to the index and look up Mark, and read it, please :-)

In the synagogue, a man with an unclean Spirit encounters Jesus, and the spirit at seeing Jesus started to cry out to Him and negotiate with Jesus about His intentions.  Jesus did not give the spirit the power or credibility worth talking, but demanded that the spirit exit the man.  The spirit did with convulsions and loud cries.

We need to exorcise the unclean spirits in our society.  They have been exercised for far too long and have become very strong and full of stamina.  They are too healthy for our good, and they disrupt a healthy existence.
Like the man in the synagogue, until we encounter Jesus and His teachings in authority over our lives, we will remain with unclean spirits within as our norm, and live with them within us as if it is normal.  It is only when we hear the teachings of Jesus as our authority that we see the "un-normal" state of our existence with them.  We may be in the church and filled with unclean spirits, and until we encounter Jesus and His authority, we will deem them normal forces in our lives.  And when we do see Jesus' authority in His teachings, we will try to negotiate, acknowledging who He is as Lord but not wanting to let go of the unclean... but Jesus will not give the spirits that much clout, even to listen to them, but will rather demand that they be silenced and cast them out of us.  At that point, we will experience some discomfort, because they have become normal for us, and we are quite attached to them, so we do not want to let go, but rather to give Jesus acknowledgement and still be subject to the uncleanness of the spirits, gleefully going where they take us.

I know that Jesus is my authority... fulfiller of the Law and Prophets... Redeemer, Savior and LORD
of my life.  I know that His Good News is good news because it teaches me the Kingdom Values within which I want to live.  As a follower of the Way of Jesus, I have encountered Him and do encounter Him in His Good News... and I am in agreement with Him over the unclean spirit business.
I make every attempt to keep them silent and without power over my life.

So,

Unclean spirit of GREED... I recognize you for who you are... shut up with your rationalizations, your seductive promises of wealth, your protestations of innocence and uprightness in "success", "achievement" and "growth", your selfish origins and the scope of your ruthlessness to always get more for self at the expense of others... Jesus taught very differently about greed and wealth, and Jesus says, "Shut up and come out of them!"

Unclean spirit of POWER... I recognize you for who you are... shut up with your ideologies of dominance in the name of good and as our manifest destiny, your spoils of war, your blood lust and thirst for vengeance and pride of dominance and control, your profiting in blood, your "might makes right" attitudes and your perspective that power always has to be over someone else... Jesus taught very differently about abuses of power, and Jesus says, "Shut up and come out of them!"

Unclean spirit of PRESTIGE... I recognize you for who you are... shut up with your false belief that it is all about you, your guise as just being seen for the great child of God you are, your hunger for constant acknowledgement, your pride in self alone, your constant striving to be famous and not necessarily to do the right things, to be recognized and not for things uplifting, and sick need to be favored over someone else... Jesus taught very differently about humility and service for others in it, and Jesus says, "Shut up and come out of them!"

Unclean spirit of FEAR... I recognize you for who you are... shut up with your philosophy of self preservation and promotion above all others, your manipulation of others' fears so you can control them, your rationalization of judgment and exclusion of others because they are different, your false and arrogant sense of superiority over others who are not like you, your sick need to appear to be better than others and therefore the need to vilify them, and the venomous slander that leads to discrimination, exploitation and violence because your fear has led you to hatred of others... Jesus taught very differently about loving even stranger and enemy and not judging anyone, and Jesus says, "Shut up and come out of them!"

This may feel un-normal for a while and uncomfortable because it is not familiar, but my prayer is that these unclean spirits will come out of us, and that we will find our health and spiritual well being in Jesus.  Encounter Him and His Good News.  Submit to it, conform your way to His way.  It'll only hurt for a minute, and the society around you will be much happier and healthier to be around you.  You will ultimately feel much better inside.  It will mean healing for your soul, and perhaps the soul of the church and our nation.

God bless you.
Pastor Jamie

what it is

OK, so God created us... gave us life... gives us all the possibilities and opportunities of living this life, and we are subject to the imperfections of it (disease, troubling situations, environment in which we live and which we affect, etc.)... God then sends the Son who redeems us (by dying for us) for our salvation after this life and who, incidentally taught us (in The Word... The Gospel - His Good News fulfillment of the Law and Prophets) what God expects of us on how we are to live as recipients of this life and redemption (also giving us His Grace in the Sacraments)... and sends the Holy Spirit to always point us to Christ Jesus in life, and therefore to God's Love, Grace, Redemption and Salvation... and God wants us to live according to the Law of Agape Love... apply that to the world around us and create joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, goodness and self-control in it...
... and we turn this God into a "Genie in a bottle", whom we call on to give us wishes and every desire, "Mr. Good Wrench" who will fix every trouble, magically (supernaturally) work on our behalf (if we are among the favored and blessed), "a prophylactic" to protect us from all harm and a "sugar daddy" to make us rich?  All while we ignore what Jesus taught because all we want to do is offer Praise and Worship, along with our tithes and offerings, as a "priming of the supernatural pump"?
... does this seem to anyone else like a SLAP IN THE FACE TO GOD?

I ain't buyin' that... life is what we make it... good, bad or indifferent...
If God does not do another thing for me for the rest of my life, I could still spend it giving Thanks and Praise for what God has ALREADY done for me, and I will.  Period.
Thank you, Lord.  I PRAISE You for who You are - Loving, Merciful, Just, Gracious... and THANK you for what you have already done - creation, redemption, salvation, guiding me to You...
And out of thankfulness and gratitude, I will FOLLOW YOUR TEACHINGS for how you want me to live in the world and work to make it a place that is in alignment with your Kingdom Values, according to the Gospel of Jesus, my LORD.

Your Thankful Servant,
Jamie