An Authority Worth Trusting

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
January 29th 2006

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“An Authority Worth Trusting”
Mark 1:21-28

I want to start this morning by making a bit of a confession. It is nothing earth shaking and for many of you it will come as no surprise. So, here it is: As long as I can remember I have been suspicious of authority figures. It is not that I am openly hostile to those in authority. It just seems that my natural inclination is to distrust those in positions of power.
While I am sure a good therapist could explain this in clinical terms, I like to say it has something to do with growing up in the shadow of a Nixon presidency. Whatever the reasons, I have come to expect people in positions of authority, particularly politicians, to abuse their authority or end up being implicated in wrong doing. As it turns out, I have yet to be let down by any of the men who have served as President during my lifetime. I guess it says something about setting low expectations.
It turns out that this was not unfamiliar situation for people living in Palestine in the First Century. In this province, at this edge of the Roman Empire, it was common for the political and religious leadership to work hand in hand. It is no exaggeration to say that funds for buildings and even synagogues were provided in exchange for helping keep order in the empire. It was quite a system. One might even call it a first century faith based initiative.
However, not everyone was pleased with this arrangement. John the Baptist and his message was a direct challenge to the religious establishment to turn from their collusion with the empire. His imprisonment could have only been arranged by the cooperation of the religious leadership and the political establishment. It would take their cooperation to make sure this “truth-teller” was out of the picture. Despite the imprisonment of the messenger, the message lived on.
On the heels of John’s imprisonment, Jesus began his public ministry. After calling his first disciples, Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum. He stands in the midst of the synagogue and makes a direct challenge to the authority of the religious establishment. On a surface reading of this passage this may sound like an overstatement. While this passage may seem like a healing story, I believe it is a confrontation between the power and authority of the religious establishment and the authority of Jesus.
It is the Sabbath. So, Jesus and his disciples go to the synagogue in Capernaum. We read that Jesus taught even though, we have no record as to the content of his teaching. However, we do know that the people recognize Jesus as a teacher with an authority greater than the scribes. The scribes, you will remember, were the people who studied the sacred texts and then interpreted them for the gathered community. Whatever it was in Jesus teaching, it was clear he taught unlike anyone had before.
As soon as Jesus finishes teaching, a man with a “demon” confronts him. There are some clues which let the hearer know that this confrontation is about more than healing. The first clue is that the speech of the man comes as a response to the teaching. The second clue is the content of the speech. When the man speaks, he says: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are; you are the holy one of God.”
New Testament scholar Ched Meyers says this speech from the “demon” is meant to represent the scribal establishment. It was a way that the writer of the gospel could get away with saying the religious leadership is possessed by a “demon.” It is for this reason, he says, that the “demon” demands that Jesus explain his teaching because it attacked the religious establishment.
If this is true, and I believe it is, then this encounter with the religious establishment is extremely insulting to the religious establishment. On one hand, it paints the scribal establishment as demonic. Yet, at the same time, it shows the scribal establishment calling Jesus the holy one of God. In other words, they know who Jesus is but are so beholden to their own power are unwilling to change their ways. This encounter is making the clear claim that the religious leadership is abusing their power and authority.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus invites all people to come and live faithfully. However, the people who are most resistant to this call are those in positions of power and authority. Throughout his life, Jesus unveils the hypocrisy of the religious and political leadership. His goal is not to bring condemnation but to simply invite all people to a new way of life.
This encounter between Jesus and the religious leadership is one which seems rather familiar. I am familiar with religious leaders who lie and manipulate the faithful to enhance power and prestige. I am familiar with politicians who lie and manipulate and even use faith to enhance power. And, I am even more familiar with my own foolish attempts to place my trust in authority figures which are never worthy of my ultimate faith and hope. Is this a familiar story for you?
This encounter is radically good news because it speaks to our world which is full of authority figures who are not worthy of our ultimate trust. No religious leader or teacher, however persuasive or charismatic is worthy of our ultimate trust. No political leader, however faithful or charismatic, is worthy of our ultimate trust. However, the good news of this passage is that there is an authority worthy of our ultimate trust.
In the person of Jesus, we have an authority figure that is truly compassionate. We have an authority figure which invites all people, even those who would kill him, to live faithfully in the midst of a corrupt world. “Come out,” Jesus says. “Come out” from the ways of the past. “Come out” of the ways of manipulation. “Come out” of the ways of hypocrisy. “Come out,” Jesus says, and live as my transformed witnesses. Despite my inclinations to distrust all authority figures, I believe that the call to “Come out,” the call to live as transformed witness, comes from the one authority actually worthy of our trust. This is a message for which our world is desperately hungry. May we be transformed witnesses which invite others to hear this great “Good News” story. Amen.