One thing that stands out in the earlier chapters of Mark is what is called “demon possession.” Many commentators shrink back at this term. They know the history of the mentally ill being called demon-possessed. They also know the excess in some parts of the church about exorcisms, coupled with the entertainment industry’s over-the-top use of this in the horror genre. But the Gospel deals with it as a part of the human condition that the good news of Jesus addresses.
Mark’s favorite term for this is “unclean spirit.” What are the factors that make people feel “unclean”? We as a society are obsessed with the cleaning of our bodies. Just go to the typical grocery or drug store and look at the long aisle devoted to soaps, shampoo, shower gels, and other personal cleansers. Couple all this with the equally packed aisle for products to clean our houses, clothes, and pets; maybe the advertising industry has tapped into something. We seem to obsessed with getting clean.
Then what makes us feel unclean? Shame, failure, weakness, betrayal, exposure, abuse are just a few examples of us feeling unclean. A bar of Safeguard will not mitigate these. The world is filled with people weighed down by “uncleanness.” And yet is the church or Christians offering nothing more than moralizations and more condemnations? “Welcoming and Affirming” offers a glimmer of hope to those who feel doomed to always being on the outside. Are we prepared to offer it?
Don’t succumb to the temptation to sensationalize the condition that Mark calls demon-possession. But look how each individual is situated, and think what gospel remedy you can offer to them. As we study the Gospel of Mark, we will encounter many with unclean spirits, pay attention to these people and see the human condition that the compassion of the Savior brings hope and healing.
Pastor Greg
Jan 04
The Gospel of Mark, Demon Possession and Today
Dec 29
Empowerment
The New Year is filled with opportunity. Sadly, a disquieted spirit within will cause the opportunities to vanish. A renewed spirit is needed for the new year. Charles Allen writes of the terrible tortures of the Spanish Inquisition. The worst of all was to put a man in a jail cell with the ceiling so low he could not stand up fully. He was never able to stand up straight, never able to hold up his head. This was discovered to break even the strongest man’s spirit. As we step into the months ahead, may we do so standing on tip-toes, anticipating God’s grand work among us. As Allen said, “Christian, stand up straight; be a real person.”
—Lee McGlone
Take the New Years Challenge
I am suggesting each person in our church to listen to the Gospel of Mark at least once in January. I will be preaching from Mark through Easter, and it will allow you to put the events of the sermons in context with the text of Mark. Often, we get the impression that the Gospels are just a compilation of various teachings and stories. But when we read or hear them in large sections I think we will be able to understand them as an intentional portrait of Jesus and his ministry.
There are several internet sources to have audio readings of the Bible. I find www.biblegateway.com as the easiest to use with about 20 different audio Bibles for you to use. Listen to the Gospel of Mark (or read it) in larger sections and let me know if you were helped with this discipline for the New Year.
Pastor Greg
Dec 21
The Importance of the Body
And the Word became flesh and lived among us,
I think that we have become disconnected from the traditional Christian theology of the physical body. Sometimes we think it is all bad, so we must deny anything our body wants. That is asceticism. Or we may swing the other way and feel we must satisfy any desire of the body. That is hedonism. Both are a perversion of the Christian theology of the body.
This is where our celebration of Christmas will help ground us in proper thinking of our body and the physical world. John says in the quote above, “the Word became flesh.” The physical world and our physical bodies are important to God. We celebrate the babe in the manger, not for sentimental reasons, but for the reason that God has come to us in a body, a real human body, with a real human soul. And then on Easter morning, a real human body with a real human soul was raised from the dead.
Our bodies are the result of our father and our mother combining their genetic material to form something new and unique. Our soul was created by God and made for the body it was going to inhabit. We are not what we are by some random mixing of genes and a heavenly lottery on which soul gets which body. All of it was purposeful, and under the control of the creator that also become flesh and dwelt among us.
It is not just the babe in the manger, but each one of us are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” We were made for one reason we are the temple of the Holy Spirit so that we may glorify God in our bodies. It is so counter-cultural these days to celebrate our bodies as gifts from God. It seems some are in a rush to reject their bodies and want massive changes. Obviously, we need to seek the health of our bodies. Just as the babe in the manger was a gift from God, so are our bodies and souls that we may bring glory to the loving God that works all thing out for the good.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Greg
Dec 15
The Apocalypse and Advent
Mark 13:24–“But in those days, after that tribulation,
the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.”
I have been thinking a lot about how Advent is such a counter-cultural season. In the traditional church year, Advent always begins with a verse like Mark 13:24. The reason for that is justice is not a continuation of the world system that is now in control, but justice can only come in the administration of the rule of God. I have been shocked by some of the leaders in academia recently showing the lack of moral clarity over the question of genocide of an ethnic group.
In Advent we realize we are called to a higher morality and ethic than the moral equivalency that is the excuse of so many today. If our vision of the rule of God does not allow us to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, oppression or equality, then we flounder in our justice just as the academics on the issue of genocide.
Clarity or confusion is our choice when it all starts “turning south.” Often, we hear individual recount their experience in a natural cataclysm as, “I thought it was the end of the world.” Yes, there are terrible events like the ones we witness on the news, fires, tornados, hurricanes, or earthquakes, that result in the tragic loss of life. But when every crisis is portrayed as the end of the world, we are taught to fear some existential threat, or held responsible for some long-term injustice, unless we are grounded in the rule of God, we will be caught up in the apocalyptic panic that rarely results in any justice for people, or aid to the needs of the individual.
Having the vision of the righteous rule of God, and the righteous judgment of God, is what we need to gain clarity in this confused time. This is how we realize the vision of “Peace on Earth and Goodwill to People.”
Pastor Greg
