Epiphany: Brought into Proximity with Power
January 28, 2024 Fourth Sunday of Epiphany
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Mark 1:21-28
“Epiphany: Brought into Proximity with Power”
Douglas T. King
It was 18 inches tall with a cherubic face and slightly pudgy body that was ever so cuddly. This was about thirty years ago but I believe it was called “The Jesus Buddy Doll.” For those of you that remember back then it bore a vague resemblance to a Cabbage Patch Kid. When a colleague of mine walked into my office to show me an advertisement for it I was horrified. Now, to be fair, I do understand the intention behind it. We want our children to feel close to Jesus; to feel comforted by the idea of Jesus’ presence in their lives. But reducing Jesus to eighteen inches of cuddliness is going a bit too far.
Our text this morning from the gospel of Mark brings us an entirely different image of Jesus. And one, that bears light upon this liturgical season of Epiphany and this second sermon in the series. Jesus and his newly minted disciples arrive in Capernaum and on the sabbath, go directly to the synagogue. Jesus walks in the door and begins to teach. And not just teach, but teach with authority. The onlookers are confused as to who this is and how he could have any authority.
However, Jesus does not go completely unrecognized. The unclean spirit in a man that was present knows exactly who he is. And not only that, the unclean spirit knows the power he wields. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus proves the unclean spirit right by rebuking him and freeing the man. Everyone who was looking on was left in a state of confusion as to how Jesus did what he did, and on the Sabbath no less, when healing was forbidden.
I get it. We often run the risk of doubting the power of God in our midst. It is not that we doubt the power of God out there and up there, somewhere removed from our vicinity. We doubt the power of God being found incarnate in the very thick of our lives. Sure God is omnipotent and all, but not in any way that comes in direct contact with us, sitting here in Ladue this morning.
I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Annie Dillard which is worth hearing again. “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’…hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.”
I believe those onlookers in the synagogue have the same issue we do today. They could not believe that someone in human form could ever possess the power of God within them; that God’s power could ever be so close to them. And we cannot believe that God’s power will be revealed in the midst of our very human interactions. We do not mean to doubt the power of the divine. We believe we are only doubting that God would wield divine power in our midst. But in doing so, we are actually denying the power of God.
The reality is that most our epiphanic experiences do not scream of God’s overwhelming power. They are somewhat indirect and subtle. They often come in quiet moments. They are whispers of a presence of the holy. They are similar to Elijah hearing the divine in a still, small voice. Like those onlookers in the synagogue we are confused that divine power can arrive enrobed in human and everyday realities. But we are mistaken if we assume God’s subtlety belies a lack of immense transformational power. And when we make this mistake we close ourselves off from a very important reality.
While I was serving one of my former churches I would routinely spend time in the sanctuary balcony in the afternoon for prayer and reflection. Sanctuaries are such different spaces during the week, separated from the hustle and bustle of a Sunday morning. They possess an empty stillness. On one of those afternoons I felt a sudden shift in the air around me. The entire room was instantaneously filled with an energy. It crackled. Every color was more vibrant. I felt enveloped. It was as if, even though I was in a very large room, there was not a single cubic inch of space that was not imbued with a presence, a charged all-consuming and all-embracing presence. I could barely breathe.
In that epiphanic moment I felt touched by the immense power of the divine. For hours after that as I walked the streets of the city my vision was heightened. I saw everything more deeply, more vibrantly. My body had a hum to it. Those immediate feelings faded over time but that epiphanic moment has continued to shape my understanding of God. When I find myself doubting that the power of God is intimately present around me, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment. When the world feels overwhelming and I doubt God’s power to bring healing and transformation into my life, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment. When I find myself metaphorically reducing the divine to an eighteen-inch cuddly companion, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment.
Clearly, none of this is one size fits all. My experiences of the divine will not match yours. But what we all share is the gift of the gospel of Mark. Each gospel presents a slightly different portrait of Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as a powerful presence battling against the immense brokenness of this world. He is large and in charge.
There are times in our lives when the Jesus Buddy doll can be enough for us. Life is sailing smoothly along and all we are looking for from the divine is a friendly pat on the back. But there are other times in our lives when we need so much more. When the company for whom we have worked for decades downsizes us out the door, we need the powerful presence of God. When the doctor calls us up and says the last round of tests are concerning, we need the powerful presence of God. When we look across the kitchen table and no longer recognize the person we fell in love with all those years ago, we need the powerful presence of God.
Our text this morning teaches us that even those in the very presence of Jesus, the very Son of God, were confused about who he was and whether he had any true power. And we too will doubt the power of God’s presence in our midst. Perhaps you have had an epiphanic experience like the one I described today, and perhaps not. But we all share this biblical witness of the power present when the divine is in proximity to us. And we have all been promised that God is indeed present with us in each and every moment of our lives. The connection to which we are called to hold fast is that God’s presence ensures we are ever in the midst of the awesome power of God.
Last week we learned that every experience we have with the divine, every epiphanic moment comes with an invitation to live in a new world, a new kingdom. Today we have learned that the invitation invites us not solely into this new kingdom but in intimate contact with the one who reigns there with great transforming power.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Mark 1:21-28
“Epiphany: Brought into Proximity with Power”
Douglas T. King
It was 18 inches tall with a cherubic face and slightly pudgy body that was ever so cuddly. This was about thirty years ago but I believe it was called “The Jesus Buddy Doll.” For those of you that remember back then it bore a vague resemblance to a Cabbage Patch Kid. When a colleague of mine walked into my office to show me an advertisement for it I was horrified. Now, to be fair, I do understand the intention behind it. We want our children to feel close to Jesus; to feel comforted by the idea of Jesus’ presence in their lives. But reducing Jesus to eighteen inches of cuddliness is going a bit too far.
Our text this morning from the gospel of Mark brings us an entirely different image of Jesus. And one, that bears light upon this liturgical season of Epiphany and this second sermon in the series. Jesus and his newly minted disciples arrive in Capernaum and on the sabbath, go directly to the synagogue. Jesus walks in the door and begins to teach. And not just teach, but teach with authority. The onlookers are confused as to who this is and how he could have any authority.
However, Jesus does not go completely unrecognized. The unclean spirit in a man that was present knows exactly who he is. And not only that, the unclean spirit knows the power he wields. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus proves the unclean spirit right by rebuking him and freeing the man. Everyone who was looking on was left in a state of confusion as to how Jesus did what he did, and on the Sabbath no less, when healing was forbidden.
I get it. We often run the risk of doubting the power of God in our midst. It is not that we doubt the power of God out there and up there, somewhere removed from our vicinity. We doubt the power of God being found incarnate in the very thick of our lives. Sure God is omnipotent and all, but not in any way that comes in direct contact with us, sitting here in Ladue this morning.
I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Annie Dillard which is worth hearing again. “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’…hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.”
I believe those onlookers in the synagogue have the same issue we do today. They could not believe that someone in human form could ever possess the power of God within them; that God’s power could ever be so close to them. And we cannot believe that God’s power will be revealed in the midst of our very human interactions. We do not mean to doubt the power of the divine. We believe we are only doubting that God would wield divine power in our midst. But in doing so, we are actually denying the power of God.
The reality is that most our epiphanic experiences do not scream of God’s overwhelming power. They are somewhat indirect and subtle. They often come in quiet moments. They are whispers of a presence of the holy. They are similar to Elijah hearing the divine in a still, small voice. Like those onlookers in the synagogue we are confused that divine power can arrive enrobed in human and everyday realities. But we are mistaken if we assume God’s subtlety belies a lack of immense transformational power. And when we make this mistake we close ourselves off from a very important reality.
While I was serving one of my former churches I would routinely spend time in the sanctuary balcony in the afternoon for prayer and reflection. Sanctuaries are such different spaces during the week, separated from the hustle and bustle of a Sunday morning. They possess an empty stillness. On one of those afternoons I felt a sudden shift in the air around me. The entire room was instantaneously filled with an energy. It crackled. Every color was more vibrant. I felt enveloped. It was as if, even though I was in a very large room, there was not a single cubic inch of space that was not imbued with a presence, a charged all-consuming and all-embracing presence. I could barely breathe.
In that epiphanic moment I felt touched by the immense power of the divine. For hours after that as I walked the streets of the city my vision was heightened. I saw everything more deeply, more vibrantly. My body had a hum to it. Those immediate feelings faded over time but that epiphanic moment has continued to shape my understanding of God. When I find myself doubting that the power of God is intimately present around me, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment. When the world feels overwhelming and I doubt God’s power to bring healing and transformation into my life, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment. When I find myself metaphorically reducing the divine to an eighteen-inch cuddly companion, I remind myself of that epiphanic moment.
Clearly, none of this is one size fits all. My experiences of the divine will not match yours. But what we all share is the gift of the gospel of Mark. Each gospel presents a slightly different portrait of Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is portrayed as a powerful presence battling against the immense brokenness of this world. He is large and in charge.
There are times in our lives when the Jesus Buddy doll can be enough for us. Life is sailing smoothly along and all we are looking for from the divine is a friendly pat on the back. But there are other times in our lives when we need so much more. When the company for whom we have worked for decades downsizes us out the door, we need the powerful presence of God. When the doctor calls us up and says the last round of tests are concerning, we need the powerful presence of God. When we look across the kitchen table and no longer recognize the person we fell in love with all those years ago, we need the powerful presence of God.
Our text this morning teaches us that even those in the very presence of Jesus, the very Son of God, were confused about who he was and whether he had any true power. And we too will doubt the power of God’s presence in our midst. Perhaps you have had an epiphanic experience like the one I described today, and perhaps not. But we all share this biblical witness of the power present when the divine is in proximity to us. And we have all been promised that God is indeed present with us in each and every moment of our lives. The connection to which we are called to hold fast is that God’s presence ensures we are ever in the midst of the awesome power of God.
Last week we learned that every experience we have with the divine, every epiphanic moment comes with an invitation to live in a new world, a new kingdom. Today we have learned that the invitation invites us not solely into this new kingdom but in intimate contact with the one who reigns there with great transforming power.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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