Mark 1:21-28
Mike and I had a couple discussions this past week about demons and evil spirits, and where they come from. In essence, the question is, “did God create evil?”
In the ancient world, in
cultures where there were lots of Gods, it was easy to identify the source of
demons and bad things – they came from the evil, bad gods.
But in a culture where there is one God – and
emphatically one God – where evil comes from is not so easy to identify. Does
God – the Most High, the Creator of all that is – does that God also create
evil, and so demons?
The answer is no. Simply put, our Creator God allows
bad things to happen as a result of our ability to make choices. For example, the
evil that results in racism and climate change is a result of collective
decisions. Many people made the choice to identify their group of people as more
important than another group of people. Many people made the choice to use
nature to the point of exhaustion. So, in this sense, evil is the result of
human choices to believe that their needs are more important than the needs of
other people – or of “Mother Nature”.
In the case of the man in the story infested with an
evil spirit, there is no way to know the exact source. It may be some sort of
mental illness. It might be epilepsy. We know a whole lot more about the human
mind and body now than they did 2,000 years ago. The specific cause of the
man’s affliction with an evil spirit doesn’t matter. What does matter is
that Jesus has the power and authority to get rid of it.
And, what does matter is that Jesus has the
power and authority to get rid of the evil spirits that lurk in our own hearts
and minds today. They may manifest as depression, as braggadocio, as obsessive
behaviors, as extreme fear or extreme boldness, and so forth.
The evil spirits lurking in our
own hearts may seem simpler, or we may not be aware of them at all. We all know
moments of self-doubt, times when we know we have said or done hurtful things, times
when we know our habits are out of control – we eat too much, we drink too
much, we shop too much, we can’t put down the phone or stop playing video
games. We can’t forgive, or we can’t accept that we are forgiven.
How do we get rid of these evil spirits? With prayer,
intentional prayer. We ask Jesus to heal us, to remove the evil spirits from
within us. Prayer works because we trust that Jesus has the power and authority
to heal us of evil spirits. However, healing may not be instantaneous, as it
was for the man in the Gospel story. It may take a long time, longer than we
hoped, but eventually, we will notice that the pain, the desire, the self-doubt
are gone, replaced with peace.
Do you notice that the evil spirit in this Gospel
story recognizes Jesus for who he is? The spirit knows that Jesus is more
powerful. The evil spirits that reside within each of us know that Jesus is
more powerful than they are, but we have to trust in God’s power more than we
trust in the power of the evil spirit.
… So a story, from one of my favorite movies: It’s
a Wonderful Life.
George Bailey grew up always
wanting more. He didn’t want to stay in town and manage his father’s Building
and Loan Company. He wanted to travel the world, but circumstances kept
intervening. And by the time he was 45, he was married with children and struggling
to make ends meet. While his life was full, he was also filled with resentment
that it hadn’t turned out the way he wanted.
The movie’s crisis arose when a cash shortage was
discovered just as the bank investigator showed up. Unable to resolve the
problem, George panicked. All his previous resentments and fears compiled to
send him into a suicidal depression. Even as he climbed over the rail along the
bridge over the freezing river, he was crying out to God for help in banishing
these evil spirits.
George’s prayer was answered, but George didn’t
understand how Clarence could help him. While Clarence worked with George to
help him see his life through different eyes, the people in the town gathered
funds to make up for the bank shortfall.
At the end of the movie, George
had a very different view of his life and his personal value. The resentment at
being stuck in town became a recognition of the importance of his determination
to offer respect and good housing for all people. The evil spirits that had
plagued George for most of his life had been banished.
… We may not know or realize that we are plagued with
evil spirits. We may not know when a Clarence is prodding us, helping us to
banish evil spirits. But God knows, and God wants us to know that divine power
is stronger than any evil spirit.
Or, we know that we are plagued with evil spirits,
and have trouble letting God heal us. It is hard to trust God, when we are so
accustomed to trusting ourselves. This is another evil spirit, don’t you see? We
are so accustomed to not praying for help for ourselves, it seems unfair,
selfish. But it is just what God wants us to do – ask for help!
Let’s do that now. Please pray with me. Jesus, you know our
hearts, how we are filled with fear, anger, resentment, pride, and more. These
feelings keep us from trusting you completely. They are evil spirits residing
in us. We ask that you would remove them from us. Where they seem to be familiar
friends, help us understand how they are hurtful to us and help us to let them
go. Remind us that you are more powerful than any evil spirit, and help us to
fully trust you with our lives, with our hearts, with all that we are. Amen
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