Diversion and Distraction

Mark 1:21-28

1-29-12

My text is today’s Gospel lesson wherein we have an account of Jesus going to the Synagogue to teach. And the people were simply amazed by his teaching because he taught so clearly and with such authority. But their attention and amazement were quickly disrupted by a man possessed by an unclean spirit which cried out: "What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the holy one of God!"

This was an actual case of demonic possession. Of course we live in an age of great skepticism and there’s all kinds of theories as to what is actually happening when the Bible tells us of people who were possessed. Some say that those people who were said to be demonically possessed were really having fits of epilepsy, others say they were clinically insane. The latest one I heard is that it was Turette’s Syndrome. I’m sure that there are many more explanations but all of them start at the same place: they deny the spiritual.

Most of you attend church because you because you do not deny the spiritual and you want to learn more about it. But still, there might be a part of you that wonders why we do not often see demonic possessions in our day. Well, the coming of Jesus into the world was a a very huge spiritual event. Just as multitudes of holy Angels attended his birth, he was also challenged by hordes of unholy angels who would harass him on his way. That’s one reason that we perhaps do not often see such outbursts. Jesus great work of entering the realm of man and saving humanity has been accomplished, a great spiritual event.

Another reason, that we do not see such outbursts, I think, is because we live in an age when people doubt the existence of the spiritual dimension which is perfectly fine with Satan. That’s what he wants. He’s not going to put on a big visible show because people might actually come to believe that he exists, and if they believe he exists they might also begin to conclude that God also exists and that Jesus is the real deal. So in this skeptical generation, he is content to work quietly among the people of the earth.

But don’t be fooled, he is still very active. In certain parts of the world, his outward activity is still quite evident and in our part of the world, his covert activity seems to be at a very high level. That’s what he’s doing today. There are many people, perhaps people that you know who have been lulled into unbelief by the covert actions of Satan.

How does he do this? How is he able to to lead so many people away. Well, in today’s Gospel lesson I think we can see one of his favorite methods: diversion and distraction. If you will recall, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, and the people there were listening, and they were just at the point where they were starting to be amazed by the gracious words of our Savior. They were amazed by the authority with which he taught. And suddenly, as if on cue, this unclean Spirit starts raising cain; diverting the attention of everyone.

And that’s what Satan likes to do: to divert and distract. In our day we have witnessed his grand plan to divert people from coming to know Jesus. The philosophers of our day, call it relativism. It’s the belief that the truth is relative to the individual. It’s a pattern of thinking that has been drummed into all of our minds. It is the idea that nothing in this world is absolutely true, and that nothing is absolutely false. The person who has been instructed in this way of thinking becomes easily horrified when someone even suggests that something is absolutely true.

And Satan uses this to teach people to posture themselves against the truth. Let me read John 3:16, 17, 18 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. That is the Christian message in a nutshell. We are saved by believing in Jesus. And whoever doesn't believe in Jesus stands condemned already. Could it be any more clear? I don’t think so!

But you'd be amazed at how many people cannot understand this verse--or at least refuse to understand it because of the way they have been taught to think. Though they read it just like you and I do, their minds are so clouded with relativism that they hear something completely different, Something like: "God so loved the world that he made many roads to heaven, and everybody will be saved no matter what they believe. Just as long as they’re sincere” That is how a good number of people in the United States today understand John 3:16. The real version is just too absolute, too definite, and too specific for a mind steeped in relativism. They can’t bear it. They bristle at the notion that God has chosen a specific way to save the World.

Now I talk with people about this stuff a lot, it’s what I do obviously. And when I relate the truth of the real John 3:16 they cut me off by saying “That’s just your opinion”. That’s a classic relativistic escape hatch. It silences all discussion and allows them to keep their brains in a perpetual fog of darkness and indecision. It’s just your opinion. But is it just my opinion? Or is it something else. Could it be instead the words of a Savior seeking to redeem people by the forgiveness of sin? Could it be the words of God reaching out to open a doorway to eternity?

A man built a swimming pool in his back yard, he called up his friends and invited him over for a swim. As they walked around to the shallow end of the pool together. The friend said, "Hey this looks like its 12' deep, I'm going to dive straight in." But the owner of the pool said "Its only 3’ deep the only way to enter the pool is to jump feet first, or go around to the deep end where you can dive, otherwise you'll break your neck”. "That’s just your opinion”, said the visitor “I’m going to dive in.” By this time the owner was getting a little concerned and a bit perturbed. "Look it,” He said “I designed this pool, I built it, I'm telling you it is only 3 feet." But the obstinate friend refused to believe that his own opinion was wrong. So he dove in, broke his neck, and died.

Now Eternal life is God's pool, he designed it and he built it. He knows how we should enter it and encourages us to enter it in John 3:16. And we must take him at his word. But a lot of people don't Satan has made difficult for an entire generation to hear the saving word’s of Jesus.

But don’t be thinking we are free from this. We may believe in Jesus, But still we struggle with the relativistic mind on other things God says. We know what he says about morals for instanced, but we say “Yeah but, times have changed, and God’s word on this or that subject is out dated.” We are not always willing to hear what God has to say and we find ways around hearing it.

So it’s an ongoing struggle for us as we seek to communicate Christ to others and as we seek to live for him ourselves. But let’s not forget who’s on on our side! What happened in the Gospel lesson today? Jesus told the demon to be quiet. He had the authority to do so. And what Satan meant as a distraction, only gave greater testimony to his power. Later the world would see Jesus express his authority over not only demons but the physical world as well. He would walk on water, he would calm the raging seas, he would feed 5000 with just 5 loaves and two fish and of course he would rise from the dead. This was not merely a great man, this was the Son of God. And concealed within his human frame was ultimate power of the divine. He did not leave us as orphans, While we might be hassled by the unclean Spirit, he has filled us with his Holy Spirit. He has also given us his word. He’s given us all that we need to make our stand.

When I was a kid in second grade. I wasn’t really listening in church, I wasn’t really singing the hymns. I wasn’t doing anything... I was, distracted..... not by demons or anything, I was fully equipped to distract myself thank you very much. I’d look at the shadows of my dangling feet on the floor. I would count the boards in the ceiling, I would riffle through the hymn draw on the visitor cards and in general I would go into my only little wonderland of imagination as I sat there.

One Sunday, my father put a hymnal in my hand saying “ You can read now, It’s about time you start taking part in this worship.” “I expect you to follow the service and to sing the hymns” Do you see what was happening? God was using my father to bust through my distracted mind. This is one of the roles that a father called to bear, by the way....spiritual leader. A few years later, shortly after I was confirmed, he called my attention to the prayer section of the hymnal. And he showed me a particular prayer that I should pray when I entered the church. That was the ancient Lutheran hymnal. There are prayers similar to it in this hymnal. Take your hymnal and turn to page 308. There’s a couple of prayers that you could pray as you enter church. Let look at the first one “Grace to receive the word” Let’s read that together. Okay then the next one “for the blessing of the word”. This is one you could also read during the offering.

It’s a good idea to pray something like this before the service begins. The evil one and the sinful world pollutes our lives and our minds that it diverts us and distracts us. We want, no we need to focus on the Word as it is given... so we must pray that God will open our ears. Amen