Unlike John’s gospel, where the first miracle Jesus performs is the changing of water into wine, and in Matthew where he cures a leper, Mark’s account of the first miracle worked by Jesus is the freeing of a man from possession by an unclean spirit. How quaint. Unclean spirits! By-products of an age that did not understand human psychology very well, nor the chemical interactions in the brain which are causative of much which a former age would have labeled demonic. It is tempting, isn’t it, to dismiss such miracles as appropriate for a less sophisticated age. Yet… Yet, it doesn’t take much perception, nor effort to realize there are still unclean spirits roaming our world. Unclean spirits that lessen human dignity and degrade the goodness of people created in the image and likeness of God.
• There is the unclean spirit of violence that surfaces in the guise of entertainment in the media and in video games and that desensitizes us to torture, pain, abuse, and killing.
• There is the unclean spirit of pornography that appears on our computers, smart phones and other digital devices. An unclean spirit that distorts our understanding of human sexuality and reduces human beings, particularly women and children, to objects of pleasure to be used, exploited, bought, and sold.
• There is the unclean spirit of greed and materialism that drives us to acquire more and more even at the cost of human relationships, family life, the ecosystem of our planet and our spiritual well-being.
• There is the unclean spirit of alcohol consumption on college campuses, which often leads to a host of poor choices, victims and victimizers.
• There is the unclean spirit of meaninglessness and hopelessness for many. In a world, so fraught with so much senseless violence, so much injustice and racial inequality, what is the point – of trying? – of sacrificing? – of working to make a difference? I am just ONE person – what I do will not/does not matter. Let me just enjoy my small pleasures of family and friends and my mostly peaceful world.
• There is the unclean spirit of cynicism and contempt that mocks religion, morality, and traditional values and replaces them with nothing that gives life direction, meaning and purpose. Everything good and true and beautiful becomes a joke that leaves only emptiness when the laughter stops.
Sadly, it did not take long for me to come up with that list. I suspect you can add to my list without much effort as well.
So here are two truths that I know about these “unclean spirits:”
1) They need to be named in our lives, honestly and truthfully for what they are – human distortions of the plan of God for our good and our salvation. In the gospel, the unclean spirits recognize in Jesus their ‘potential downfall” – “What have you to do with us – have you come to destroy us?” “As a matter of fact – I have”, is Jesus’ response. He directly faces the one possessed. And he engages the un-cleanliness head on. Because as often as we dismiss our unclean spirits as “harmless video games”; as “artful images of sexy women”; as “deserved acquisitions from hard labor” – we give power to these unclean spirits to remain. And we will never be rid of them, both as individuals and as a community. As often as you want to ‘let yourself off the hook’ – beware the distortion and the power of the unclean spirit to remain…
2) They need to be confronted with the power and authority of Jesus Christ. Notice the first word he uses to drive them out: “Quiet!” As if to say: “I am done listening to you. Your voice carries no power any more. So just be silent, for I will not listen to you any longer.” When we deny those sirens of un-cleanliness a voice, they fade and flee from the voice that we do listen to – that of our Lord.
SO, this week – shine a little light into the darker places of your world and heart. Name what is ‘less than God’ in your choices and behaviors and patterns – all that is ‘unclean’ in your life. And then, invite the Lord to speak to you the words he spoke in that first miracle recorded by Mark: “Be silent. Come out of you.” Let him indeed set YOU free…