Mark 1:21-28
“Amazed”
January 31, 2021
What was the last thing that you were amazed at?
For me one of the most recent moments of amazement was Thursday night’s stunning full moon.
As I drove north on 7A to pick up a few groceries and dinner in Manchester I could not help but be in awe by how absolutely huge and bright it was.
And then I had to take this picture of it when I got back to the parsonage.
The photo does not do it justice, but I wanted to hold onto that feeling.
Living a life where amazement is part of our expectation out of it makes life so much richer.
The songwriter and founder of the a capella women’s group Sweet Honey in the Rock, Bernice Johnson Reagon, captured the importance of amazement this way:
“If every moment is sacred, and if you are amazed and in awe most of the time when you find yourself breathing and not crazy, then you are in a state of constant thankfulness, worship, and humility.”
Jesus was onto something when he left all of those folks amazed and it wouldn’t be the last time.
Soon after today’s experience he heals the paralyzed man who was lowered by his 4 friends through a hole in the roof by raising him up. The just healed man walks out, carrying the mat he was lowered in on, to the amazement of the crowd outside of the house.
The disciples were understandably amazed when Jesus walked on water toward them and got into their boat while they were still processing the loaves and fishes experience with the 5000.
And Jesus left the women at the empty tomb amazed after what we now know to be the Resurrection.
Jesus was a master teacher who knew that it would not be his words alone that would get followers to the point of amazement, so much so that they would want to be a part of the new Kingdom that he was both proclaiming and building.
His was a ministry that began in a synagogue where he dramatically eliminated an unclean spirit right in front of a tough crowd.
He knew that in order for this new message of his to be heard he would have to put his all into his teaching.
He goes first to a synagogue which is the place where all of the best and brightest scholars could be found and where there is an expectation of great wisdom.
Jesus begins his ministry and his teaching entering that place of public prayer and from there he will journey to homes and desolate spaces.
He figuratively rolls up his sleeves and gets to work in the toughest setting with a confidence that his message is one that needs to be heard. It is that determination that has others awestruck.
Unlike the scribes there in the synagogue who could recite scripture backwards and forwards, citing chapter and verse and all that the scholars had to say about the written words, Jesus came in and made the lesson come alive.
And you can just hear it now as those in attendance lean over to the one sitting next to them and whisper breathlessly,
“Who is this guy?” and “Where does he get off talking like this?” and “He has some nerve.”
Now he has their attention, and his passion is clear.
That is how hearts and minds are changed.
Jesus was onto something.
And he was not above a bit of drama, something to grab the attention of those watching him so closely.
Who and what has grabbed your attention lately?
We are surrounded by a multitude of visual images and loud voices every day, all tugging at us.
Are these voices and actions that are worthy of listening to, who will motivate us in the daily business of Kingdom building?
To find the truth, we may need to turn off some of the negative speech and actions around us, develop better filters, and seek out those pointing us to God.
The average John Doe in the pews of that synagogue did not recognize Jesus as a messiah.
But the demon fully recognizes Jesus and accepts his authority.
Authority means power and that power comes in two forms.
First is the power that comes from position or title or book smarts.
That’s the easy one to recognize.
And then there are those people who possess an internal authority that draws respect.
Those authoritative voices reflect a power that has nothing to do with money or position but everything to do with the wisdom and integrity that they embody.
Right now, such authority looks like the doctors and scientists, nurses and public health officials who are facing down the Coronavirus and trying to bring us all along to a place of herd immunity.
None of us know what the possessed man’s life was like before Jesus’ visit or after.
What we do know is that Jesus is shaking up the established power structure.
Jesus is establishing himself as the new authority, the one with the power to bring healing and hope and change.
He was surrounded by those in awe who quickly spread the word about what he had done.
Maybe that’s what we should be doing with our awe – spreading it around.
If our faith in Jesus fills us with awe, how does that awe show itself?
What an amazing story we have to tell and its power is in the life we live because of it.
One of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver, talks about what she wants to be able to have accomplished when she reaches the end of her earthly days and moves onto the next life with these words:
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
(from When Death Comes by Mary Oliver)
The story of Jesus is meant for our awe and our lives were designed for amazement. Amen.