Devotion: Our Unclean Spirits

Mark 1.21-24 : They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “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.”

As Jesus is teaching, a man with an unclean spirit comes up to him and asks why he’s there.  Jesus shushes the spirit and calls it out.  At the command of Christ, the spirit exercises its only option: obedience.

When Mark’s Gospel was written, demons were very much a part of the regular worldview.  While some of us may or may not believe in demons, they are still very much a part of the worldview of some areas of our Christian faith.  Furthermore, our Western society is fascinated with the supernatural and paranormal, and many non-western societies still think that demons play an active role in life; sometimes they are used to explain unknowable illness such as seizures and strokes.

This text’s primary function in the narrative is to show Jesus’ power and authority. I think that we can focus on the unclean spirit here, if we look at it not as a demon from the spiritual warfare perspective I was brought up with: angels and demons as the servants of two great beings – one greater than the other in the fullness of time – warring over us, possessing people and taking control of their bodies.  No, I think that if we look at unclean spirits from a different perspective we can safely examine our lives in terms of spirits, both clean and unclean.

I think we can ask ourselves from this text, What unclean spirits do we have in our lives? 
I do not wish to suggest that things in our lives are the product of demonic possession. 
As we approach Lent it might do us – certainly do me – well to start thinking now about
    that which separates us from God and our neighbor,
    that which dims the image of God in us,
    that which keeps holds us back from trailing the One who has called us to simply follow,
    as we consider things to give up and things to take on as Lenten disciplines. 

Is there animosity hidden in our hearts?  Do we have addictions – public or private – that hold us back?  Do we lack the fruits of the spirit?  Are there things that affect us that we can actively work at to try to change?  Jesus has the authority to fix those things which keep us in bondage…but that doesn’t, to me, mean only praying for Jesus to cast out the unclean spirits in our lives.  I believe that God has given us reason and science and people to help us sort things out, too.

Writing that last paragraph was hard, as I sought to craft the words in such a way that don’t tell us to hate who we have been created to be. 

I fear that someone will find this on the website and think, “I can do this!  I can pray my gay away and go to therapy and get better!”  I think that specifically because I’ve been there and I would’ve been the person hoping that’s what it said.  That’s not what I meant, and I hope you know that.  We are created in the image of the Most High God who loves us and wants us to love ourselves.  I hope you can hear me and understand me saying that there are things that keep us back, and God can help us – often through others.  She has brought into existence who nurture us from time to time.

As we wind down Epiphany season – going forth to show the manifestation of God in Christ making disciples – I hope we can look at the things in our lives that hold us back from walking in love as Christ loved us, and ask for God to help us get rid of our own unclean spirits.

Joseph Matthews, Reconciling in Alabama