Sunday January 31, 2021
Rev. Elroy Christopher
THE POWER OF THE WORD AND GOD’S AMAZING GRACE
Mark 1: 21-28
In reflecting on the gospel reading, something that I have always known struck me in a very new, positive, and forceful way. It is about the importance and the power of the words we speak. The writer of the Book of Proverbs expresses this in chapter 18 in verse 21 in these words: the tongue has the power of life and death. The tongue here is referring to our speech, the utterances that come from our lips.
Paul gives this admonition in Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
From the beginning of time, the spoken word has been shown to have authority and power. The creation narrative recorded in Genesis tells us that GOD SAID; (he spoke) Let there Be… AND IT WAS SO. IT WAS DONE. By the spoken word, God created.
Jesus demonstrated the power of the spoken word as he transformed lives.
He was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. He defied the sabbath regulations in order to speak a word with and of power and authority. The text says the people were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
Immediately, it was recognized that there was something different about what and how Jesus taught. His teachings meant something more to them than what they had been receiving from the scribes. The words spoken by Jesus would have brought a new light, a new understanding of the scriptures and what it meant to the way they were living; What it meant for their relationship with God. He would have done what those who were teachers of the law, learned men failed to do.
The Scribes spoke to the letter of the law, the written word. – (this is what is written in the law). However, they applied their knowledge of the written word in its narrowest sense. They were not able to bring this written word alive to the everyday situations or circumstances impacting the lives of the people. They knew the letter but failed to grasp the spirit of the law.
Often person misuse or abuse words, their knowledge, and or powers in ways that demonstrate a lack of genuine authority. Some use words and knowledge to try to impress others, but in reality, they are trying to hide weaknesses and fears. The words we speak must be more than a display of knowledge, they must be spoken with power and conviction that come from God by his Holy Spirit. That is what gives the authority. Like Jesus, the words we speak as his followers must touch the innermost parts, the souls, the very beings, of those who hear us.
That is what Jesus meant when he said (John 6:63): "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you--they are full of the Spirit and life."
The word was spoken on the authority form God is a Liberating word, bringing freedom from the things that beset us.
As Jesus was teaching, a man who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out What do you want with me, Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us?
Even the devil knew who Jesus was. He also knew that Jesus not only taught with authority but as the Holy One of God, he also had the authority to liberate the man. That was their fear.
Here, Jesus demonstrated the authority of his word, spoken sternly, in liberating the man from the evil forces that besieged him.
Mark records that Jesus commanded the spirits with the words: Be quiet. Come out of him.
Mark says that The spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
Such was the power; such was the authority of the spoken word. A liberating word.
My brothers and sisters, many people, sometimes even people in our pews, are in need of that liberating word, a word to free them from the crippling circumstance of life.
I want to point to two things that are not of God, yet which are virtually controlling the lives of many today.
First, there is the fear.
Today many are afraid today. Think that at this point in our history, the greatest fear of many of our people is that of contracting the COVID 19 disease. none of us want to contract it. But living in fear is not the solution. Indeed, living in fear is never the solution to any of life’s problems or situations. When fear dominates our lives, it has a crippling effect on how we live. fear can affect our relationship with others because it can lead to distrust. Living in fear For some people even adversely affect their relationship with God. But I want to remind us today that fear is the work of the adversary, it is not the work of God.
In his second epistle to Timothy 1:7 Paul said: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].
Yes, there is concern about health and safety. But concern must not mean living in fear. INSTEAD, we must do the things we ought to do.
The second thing that is not of God, but which controls how many of us live is pride. We are to be proud of who we are in God, not who we are in ourselves.
We have been told of the need to take certain precautionary measures to prevent or slow the spread of this virus. But there are those who prefer not to follow this advice, often because of pride. Not wanting to wear a mask, not wanting to keep your distance, yet we know that these things are necessary. There is that thing within some people “whispering loudly” in their ears - you are going to look foolish; people will laugh at you; you will not get sick. That pride has the potential to affect, not just the individual but it can affect the entire society, even to the point of destruction.
I want to say that Pride leads to conflict and sin, because it is all about self, and leaves no room for God. Proverbs 13:10 says: Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise. These are words that all of our people need to be hearing regularly.
The point is we must not be controlled by the circumstances in which they find ourselves, but we must have control of them. Pride often stands in the way.
We must see ungodly influences for what they are, and there are many (I just two as examples we can easily relate to) and rebuke them with conviction and assurance as Jesus would have us to do.
As people of God, we are called to speak words of hope, words of comfort, words of assurance that God cares about our every situation. We must proclaim the word that instead of being controlled by fear or pride or anything that is not of God, anything that will keep us captive like the man in the synagogue, God in Jesus Christ brings release, liberation.
The Apostle Paul wrote about his experience in II Corinthians 12:7-10. He said he had “…a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself. (I daresay all of us have had some thorn, some struggles in life) Paul said he pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from him. 9 But the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”
Sometimes we must endure pain and suffering, but we can do so with the assurance that God’s grace is sufficient for us in any situation. That is the word that we have for today. By his grace, and with the word spoken by Jesus, the man was freed of the spirits that had taken over his life. His grace is all-sufficient and will take his people through this and any pandemic, not just COVID 19. But I want to label our trials, and tribulations as pandemics in their own way, because what happens to one, as I said before, often affects all of us.
We don’t have to be learned as the scribes and those whose words did nothing to uplift the people. We must speak INTO the lives of people words of comfort, words of encouragement, words of hope words that bring them closer to God as they see (and hear this) they must see our lives as living examples of the words we speak; they must see in our lives how God’s amazing grace has set us free.
Amen.