09 Jun SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024
Let’s begin with a little background info regarding today’s gospel scene. Jesus has been away from home for a few years and is now in Capernaum, about twenty miles northeast of Nazareth. It’s as if he left home after growing up in Halifax, traveled around Dauphin County, then returned to Klingerstown. People were wondering, “What’s up with Jesus?”
His own family, that is, mother, and so-called brothers and sisters have lost touch with him. His earthly father Joseph is most likely dead by now. None of them exactly understand why Jesus left home in the first place and since then, stories and rumors about this family member of theirs have circulated far and wide. Jesus became rather famous, almost notorious. So, he’s not returning home a hero or someone the family’s overtly proud of. So there is a good chance that even his immediate family is doubting whether Jesus is of sound mind.
There are more and bigger concerns, too. Trouble with a capital “t” in the form of Jewish authorities has followed Jesus home, bringing trouble with a capital “t” to the family’s doorstep. Once the crowd gathered, Jesus and the disciples could not even eat. Not much has changed since then. Throughout my lifetime and for centuries before that, a common way of explaining and/or dismissing a person’s questionable behavior has been to accuse them of being out of their mind.
Saying that a person has gone out of their mind suggests they are already beyond reasoning, that they have demonstrated behavior or expressed thoughts beyond the range of normalcy. They cannot be taken seriously, taken rationally, or considered competent. In fact, they must be treated with caution because in some way, they are suspected of being prone to violence and possibly a danger to themselves or others.
Phrases like these are still used to label people who are mentally incapacitated, incapable of controlling themselves, or in need of restraint for the sake of safety. During my twenties, the use of physical and chemical methods to restrain patients and prisoners was fairly common. As student nurses we were taught how to use sheets and belts to tie patients/residents to beds and wheelchairs.
A U. S. Marshal told me of his experience transporting prisoners via a public airline and how a dose of Thorazine was routinely given. An LPN who spent her entire career at a state mental hospital admitted that drugs were dispensed not only to pacify patients, but to keep peace on the wards. And the recent use of ketamine as a chemical restraint by law enforcement has caused not only a stir of controversy, but a death.
The topic of controlling mental illness or else using mental illness as an excuse to take control is not new.
In both private and social settings, an altered mood or strange behavior stirs up anxiety and elevates tension, but in the time of Jesus, such things are no less than the equivalent of demon possession. So, how does Jesus argue against the claim of those who come down from Jerusalem that it is he that has Beelzebul inside of him? How does Jesus refute wielding the power of the ruler of demons to cast out other demons?
To be clear, the scribes weren’t giving Jesus credit for mastering the ruler of demons, they were really saying that Jesus himself was subject to the head demon’s rule. So, in typical fashion and by a stroke of genius, Jesus again chooses to not refute what others say, but makes his own incredible observation which is itself absolute and irrefutable.
“How can Satan cast out Satan,” he says. If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and has divided, he cannot not stand and his end has come.”
This time around I don’t hear what Jesus says as Jesus defending himself. I hear it as Jesus issuing a warning to any group of people in conflict, any household, any party, any assembly which finds itself dividing into factions, who can’t agree on who’s allowed to belong, who won’t acknowledge a chosen leader, or who isn’t working together on common goals. What Jesus says in today’s gospel reading serves as a warning to families and institutions: religious, governmental, and societal.
Divided against ourselves, our country cannot stand. Rising up against each other causes division, will cause us to fall, and lead to a coming end. I can’t help picturing America as the world’s strong man and our country as his house. I wonder if our actions stem from being afraid that we’ll be tied up and our property plundered if we allow the stranger in?
I mean, don’t we denigrate strangers by labeling them as potentially violent or dangerous? And doesn’t doing so make us feel justified about detaining and restraining them? By labeling individuals with illegal status, as being engaged in criminal activity, in possession of a criminal record or lengthy history of undesirable behavior, it only makes sense to exclude them from basic consideration, to insist they’ve lost their rights, must withdraw their petitions and be relocated.
At a recent workshop addressing the housing crisis I learned just how difficult it can be to overcome injustice. Anyone whose name was ever mentioned in eviction proceedings is banned for eternity from lists of potential renters given to potential landlords. They are banned forever whether their case was won or dismissed in the court system.
Jesus said, “It’s a sin to blaspheme,” which means to speak inadvertently about God or sacred things. But I think it’s also a sin to label people as defective, as having unclean spirits, or being a certain way such that they are forever discounted or dismissed from compassionate consideration, tender mercy and grace.
That’s really what Jesus objected to: the circumstances of his surroundings, people whose aim it was to discredit and blaspheme the Holy Spirit, people who misunderstood and made false negative assumptions, by default.
These reasons explain why Jesus distanced himself from those calling out his name, from those wishing he would stop this foolishness and come inside to prevent further embarrassment or shame upon the family. Jesus gives us permission to choose those with whom we surround ourselves. He says, “It’s okay to choose to be with those who support you, those who see what your aim is, those who understand your intentions, those who give you credit, who are able to see God at work in you and through you, and are willing to say so.”
Know who your people are and claim them. And if people question your choices, remember that over time, you’ve discovered things about yourself. You heard a call. You have come to know who you are, what you’re about and what you need to remain sane.
Jesus discovered that family extends beyond bloodlines and can include others who fit the role of mother, brother or sister in your life. Jesus knew that doing God’s will mattered more than anything others tried to say was more important. He reminded us that how we treat people matters and that it’s not okay to speak against them because we fear or misunderstand them.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke.” In saying this, he wasn’t giving everyone permission to speak of whatever they believe. He said that whatever we believe and speak of must be true. Whatever we believe and speak of must be of faith in accordance with scripture.
Whatever we believe and speak of must be of the same Spirit, not in accordance with an ideology or belief system aimed at preserving power or maintaining control, not in accordance with what derives energy from fear or lack of understanding.
Steve and I recently participated in an immersive experience of migration based on true stories during an AMMPARO event. AMMPARO is a bipartisan Lutheran organization which accompanies migrants from all over the world. My greatest takeaway was this: “No one would ever choose to leave home or family without one or more very compelling reasons.”
Paul may well have written his message to the Corinthians for migrants and refugees, too. Our prayer for them might read, “Do not lose heart, even though your outer world, your earthly tent is being destroyed. May the Lord renew your inner nature day by day. May your afflictions be momentary and in preparation for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure. Look not on what can be seen; for what can be seen is temporary.
What cannot be seen is eternal. In the heavens, you have a building from God, a house not made with hands as your eternal dwelling. In July, Marta and Stephen Deal will share stories about innocent victims forced to flee their homes who represent only a handful of millions doing the same elsewhere around the world. Many leave not only because of threats upon their lives, but because they literally have no home to which they may return.
Will you join me in preparing your heart for 40 Days through Scripture & Prayer by reading the following passages intended for devotion? By doing so, may God challenge our way of seeing, thinking, acting and being. Let us pray.
- Genesis 1:27-28
- Exodus 12:49
- Exodus 22:21
- Exodus 23:9
- Exodus 23:12
- Leviticus 19:9-10
- Leviticus 19:33-34
- Leviticus 23:22
- Leviticus 24:22
- Numbers 15:15-16
- Deuteronomy 1:16
- Deuteronomy 10:18-19
- Deuteronomy 24:14
- Deuteronomy 24:17-18
- Deuteronomy 24:19
- Deuteronomy 26:12
- Deuteronomy 27:19
- Job 29:16
- Psalm 94:6-7
- Psalm 146:9
- Jeremiah 7:5-7
- Jeremiah 22:3
- Ezekiel 22:6-7
- Ezekiel 22:29
- Zechariah 7:10
- Malachi 3:5
- Matthew 2:13-14
- Matthew 25:35
- Mark 2:27
- Luke 10:36-37
- Acts 16:37
- Acts 17:26-27
- Romans 12:13
- Romans 13:1-2
- Ephesians 2:14-18
- Philippians 3:20
- Hebrews 13:2
- 1 Peter 2:11-12
- 1 Peter 2:13-14
- Revelation 7:9-10
Lord, may we take you at your word, believe and speak the truth, understanding that all people have the right to multiply and fill the earth, that laws apply to both those native-born and those who sojourn as travelers. You tell us to not mistreat or oppress foreigners, but to care for the poor and alien loving them as ourselves. Help us look upon no one with contempt and to choose to stand with those who are misunderstood, doubted, ridiculed and persecuted as you were yourself. In your holy name we pray, Amen.