Disruptions

Do you like to get disrupted when you are in the middle of something?

I generally do not. If I’m in the middle of something then I want to get it finished before moving on to something else. Wouldn’t it be great if we did not face disruptions?

Unfortunately we do not live in a world where there are no disruptions. We face them all the time.

It could come from a phone call. Someone calls and rather than get to the point they talk and talk and talk. While they are talking you are thinking about all the stuff that you have to do.

It could come from a broken appliance or a broken water line. You have to get it fixed or get it replaced so everything that you had planned on doing is pushed aside until you get it done.

It could come from a visit to the doctor and you are given a diagnosis that shakes up your world. You go from living a good life to dealing with a terrible diagnosis.

Since March of last year our world has come to a screeching halt as we have been stopped by something so tiny that it takes special microscopes to even see. Every day we read obituaries of people who have died from it.

We’ve been struggling with who to believe. Government leaders tell us that masks will save our lives. They tell us that but then don’t wear them themselves.

We’re told that the vaccine is going to save our lives but we still need to wear masks.

We were told that the last administration was not doing enough. Now we are hearing that it it going to last longer.

Who do we believe?

What do we do when we are disrupted by unplanned events?

James wrote in his letter and I’m going to read from the Message these words:

James 1:2–4 The Message

2 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. 3 You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. 4 So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

James is acknowledging that tests and challenges come at you from all sides, in other words, there will be disruptions in life.

In our scripture text this morning we hear about two disruptions and also an implied disruption.

The first implied disruption happens there in the first sentence of verse 21.

Common English Bible Chapter 1

Jesus and his followers went into Capernaum.

Why is that a disruption? Well, look back just a few verses

Mark 1:16–20 CEB

16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.

Jesus had just disrupted the lives of Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He had disrupted Zebedee’s life and business. Those four young men left every thing to follow Jesus.

Those four fishermen were now going to become fishers of men.

I have often wondered what Zebedee thought when his two son’s up and abandoned him to follow this rabbi. It must have been a good business because he had hired workers. His son’s who has trained them since they were boys have laid the nets down and left him.

The next disruption happens in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Mark says the went into Capernaum. Why Capernaum, shouldn’t Jesus head straight to Jerusalem, the place of worship, God’s holy city?

Matthew 4:13–17 CEB

13 He left Nazareth and settled in Capernaum, which lies alongside the sea in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said: 15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, alongside the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 16 the people who lived in the dark have seen a great light, and a light has come upon those who lived in the region and in shadow of death. 17 From that time Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”

That t light has come.

In typical Mark fashion the Bible says “Immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the Synagogue and started teaching.”

Immediately. There is action and as you read through Mark you see the constant action happening.

Jesus did not come to lead a relaxing life. He came to introduce people to the Kingdom. He came telling people to change their lives, to repent, to trust the good news.

He came as one on a mission.

Do you remember on the night that Jesus was born?

Luke 2:8–16 CEB

8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.” 15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

When you hear good news you just have to go and check it out. That is especially in this case when it was Angels who announced the news. Luke records that they said “Let’s go right now.”

There was no waiting around, no keeping it to themselves. They left right then and went to check it out.

Jesus came on a mission and that first night of his earthly life as God and man, was the beginning of that rush to get the Good News out.

Immediately on that Sabbath morning Jesus went to the synagogue and he started teaching.

My research tells me that it was the custom for a visiting Rabbi to be given permission to speak and teach in a synagogue. So it was not odd that Jesus was teaching.

What he did is similar to what happens here if the District Superintendent comes for a visit. He is afforded the opportunity to bring the Good News to us.

Have you ever heard a preacher that you were just mesmerized by the message? You sit their listening and the Holy Spirit begins speaking to you at the very core of your being. When they finish up you are breathless because you realize you’ve been sitting forward on your seat, just taking it all in. You look at the clock and you see that they have been preaching over an hour and it feels like they’ve just begun.

That was what I think the people in that synagogue in Capernaum were feeling.

Mark 1:22 CEB

22 The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.

The people were amazed by his teaching. I can almost hear someone saying under their breath, wow. Wow, did I hear him just say that?

Mark says that “he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.” That was not a criticism of the legal experts or scribes.

The scribes’ teaching was not based on some authority that they had. They spoke based on the authority of the law. One author put it this way:

Mark: A Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition Teaching with Authority

what the scribes taught was essentially a series of legal precedents surrounding the text from previous rabbis, securing their authority from tradition while holding back any personal renderings.

Jesus spoke not from traditions or from what others had said. He spoke from the authority that was his own as God himself.

When the Scribes stood up to talk they were going to tell you what someone else said. Not so with Jesus. Look at the Sermon on the Mount for example

Matthew 5:43–44 CEB

43 “You have heard that it was said, You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who harass you

The scribes would have told them the first thing, but Jesus says “I say to you.”

Cleophus LaRue, in his book I Believe I’ll Testify, says that African American congregations have little interest in hearing about God; they want to hear from God. Presence. Fortunately, that’s the modus operandi of the God rendered in Scripture and whom we meet in Christ. Unfortunately, God with Us, Emmanuel, can sometimes be a challenge. That’s what the good synagogue-going folk at Capernaum found out! (Dr William Willimon)

I don’t know about you and you are not going to hurt my feelings, but when I come to church I don’t want to hear myself talking about God. I don’t, I listen to some of my sermons. I don’t want to hear me talking about God. I want to hear from God. I don’t just want to hear from God. I need to hear from God.

When I’m writing a sermon, I want to hear God speak to me. When I preach the sermon, I want to hear God speak.

Let’s get our of our comfort zone and allow God speak to us.

Jesus is not our errand boy, our go-fer, not our cosmic Santa Clause. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the creator of the universe and without him nothing was made.

Jesus came to not only to speak words of hope and freedom to us, he came to tell us the truth. We need to repent and turn our lives around and follow him.

Jesus came to enlist us in this mission of the Kingdom of God.

Maybe what we call life is less than what Jesus has in mind for us. We need to hear from God so that we know what he wants from us.

Things were about to get really strange in that synagogue.

The third disruption was about to happen.

Mark 1:23–24 CEB

23 Suddenly, there in the synagogue, a person with an evil spirit screamed, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.”

Now I don't know about you, but, that would be a major disruption to the service.

Can you just picture that in your mind? You're sitting there in the synagogue and Jesus has been teaching and you're simply amazed by his teaching. It's nothing like you've ever experienced before. You're looking around at your friends and they're just as mesmerized by his teaching as you are. All of a sudden, maybe from the back row a person starts screaming with a scream that sounds otherworldly.

You recognize the person you've heard stories about them. You've heard the gossip about them being demon possessed, but you've never had a bad encounter with a person

You didn't even see them slip into this worship time. But out of nowhere the evil spirit begins speaking through that person. That demon is screaming that Jesus.

Mark 1:24 CEB

24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the holy one from God.”

What would you do in that moment? Would you be looking for the nearest exit?

We see people in the sanctuary fainting?

Do we even believe today that there are evil spirits or demons?

Paul wrote:

Ephesians 6:10–12 CEB

10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and his powerful strength. 11 Put on God’s armor so that you can make a stand against the tricks of the devil. 12 We aren’t fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens.

There is an invisible spiritual world out there. We gladly talk about angels. Most of what we say about angels is wrong, but that is for another day. Just as there are angels, there are demons or evil spirits. They are fallen angels, those that followed Satan the once great angel who led a rebellion against God and was cast out of heaven.

One of those fallen angels is in possession of this person at the synagogue. That demon knew exactly who Jesus was. It was speaking the truth. Jesus is the holy one from God.

Jesus was not going to have a conversation with the demon he said to it:

Silence

That is not the only time he said that, over in chapter is the account of the Jesus and the disciples out on the sea of Galilee and a storm comes up. Jesus is sleeping and the disciples wake him up and let him know that they are afraid that they are going to die.

What did Jesus say to the storm?

Mark 4:39 CEB

39 He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm.

Jesus commands the demons and he commands the storms of life.

Jesus came to bring us freedom from sin and peace. He came to heal the broken hearted, to set the prisoners free.

This individual was possessed by this demon. The demon was speaking through him.

Jesus tells the demon “come out of him.”

King Duncan a popular writer and inspirational speaker wrote about this event. He wrote:

Jesus certainly aroused something in this man at the synagogue in Capernaum. Suddenly he screamed at Jesus, "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!" And then something happened. "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" And just like a scene in the X-Files, the evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching--and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."

Mark goes on and finishes out these event by writing:

Mark 1:27–28 CEB

27 Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands unclean spirits and they obey him!” 28 Right away the news about him spread throughout the entire region of Galilee.

He surely got their attention.

What would happen if Jesus came to our church today and the same thing happened? We would probably do and say the same things that those in that synagogue did that day.

They really did not know what to do with Jesus.

Do we know what to do with Jesus? There were some major disruptions that day. Those disruptions were meant to bring people into the Kingdom.

We’ve been pretty disrupted over the past year.

In the book, FINDING HOPE AGAIN, Roy Fairchild tells about coming to Vienna, Austria after a two-week illness in a small Austrian village. He had spent most of his money on medical costs and his last cent to take a train to Vienna to try and find his friends he had been traveling with. As he was standing in one of the street car stations in the center of the city, tired, hungry and discouraged a little old wrinkled lady, one of the ladies whose job was to sweep out the station, came to him and asked him if he were hungry.

Before he could answer she took her own lunch from a brown paper bag and offered him half of it. He said he was so moved by her action that he has never forgotten her face or her kindness and the sparkle in her eye. They talked for more than an hour about her life. She was raised in the country on a farm knowing only hard work. Since then she had lost her husband and two sons in the Resistance. Only her daughter had survived, but she said that she was very thankful for many things. When asking her why she offered him half her lunch, the lady simply said, "Jesu ist mein Herr. Gott ist gut." Translated that means Jesus is my Lord. God is good." (1)

Is Jesus your Lord? Once you see Jesus as he really is you will either hate everything he stands for or you will be willing to give your life for him. What is your decision?

1. E-zine: DAILY ENCOUNTER (http://www.actsweb.org/encounter.htm).