When I first began preaching, my knees would knock together so hard that I had to stand behind the pulpit and hold on for dear life. Now I had been trained in theatre with an emphasis on acting, so one would think that I would know how to handle stage fright. But it was not stage fright that bothered me. What bothered me then and continues to concern me is what we read in the Old Testament reading for today from Deuteronomy. Moses writes,

“any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak – that prophet shall die”.

It was in fear and trembling that I first began to preach. Fear that I would utter one word out of line with what God had given to me through prayer; and trembling, because I was concerned about literally being struck down by God, especially during lightning storms. Over the years I learned to trust in God’s anointing that is graciously given to the prophets who seek to deliver not their own message, but the message given to them from the Lord for the people of God. Although my knees no longer tremble, let me assure all of you that the message I give to you has been bathed in prayer. Bathed in prayer, because it is important for the people of God to receive what is needed for their spiritual growth. 

Granted, my preaching has been known to get me into trouble, but I would much rather be in trouble with humans than to disappoint the Father God. The afflictions that come from humans are temporary, but the punishments of God are eternal. When St. Paul preached, the response from the people was sometimes stoning, but that did not stop St. Paul from preaching the good news. So far no one has thrown literal stones at me. I have been kicked out of churches for preaching the gospel and had lies told about me, but I have not had to physically suffer for the gospel’s sake as did St. Paul and countless others who made and those who continue to make the ultimate sacrifice for the Lord.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus amazes the people, because He preaches with authority. They go to synagogue expecting a soft spoken sermon to lull them asleep. Instead, they hear the Word of the Lord from Jesus the Son of God. Mark describes their reaction in these words,

“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

What happens next is a miraculous healing of a man with an unclean spirit or a spiritual deliverance. The scriptures tell us that Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and commands it to depart from the man. Mark writes,

“Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”  Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.” Notice, once again the people use the word authority to describe Jesus. Mark writes, “They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

Many of us here have heard this text so often that we do not even comprehend what was happening. So let me put it into today’s perspective. The town drunk shows up at church and sits where he always sits every Sunday drunk as usual, but then something unexpected happens. Instead of one of the regular scribes doing the teaching, Jesus Christ is the Teacher. Fear hits the drunk, because even in his state of stupor he knows from Jesus’ teachings that this is no ordinary teacher.

Mark writes,

“…there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Unlike the regular teachers who would just ignore the drunken heckler, Jesus took pity on the man and delivered him from his affliction. The man is sober from that day forward. I use the example of a drunk, because I have known of such miracles happening. People delivered completely from alcohol or other addictions through the healing power of Jesus the Christ. Such miracles continue to happen even today.

These miracles are done through the authority of Jesus Christ. In Luke’s gospel, he writes,

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.” These are the words that Jesus spoke to the seventy followers He sent out to share the good news of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Think about it! Folks were being healed in the Name of Jesus before Jesus suffered His Passion for us. Before the Roman soldiers first cut the skin of our beloved Savior with their brutal scourging, before one drop of Jesus’ blood was shed, people had been healed! The lame had walked, the afflicted delivered, the blind were given their sight, and even the dead were brought back to life.

All of these miracles and so much more happened before Christ’s death and Resurrection! Not only that, but Jesus shared His authority with His followers. Then when Jesus was ready to ascend into Heaven and return to the Father God, He spoke of His authority. Matthew writes,

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

The Church is the Body of Christ with Jesus as the Head. As members of Christ’s Body we share in His authority! Through Christ we have been given the power to overcome the works of the enemy. Whenever two or three are gathered in the Name of Christ, miracles ought to be expected. The trouble with the Church of today is that we have abdicated the authority of Christ to secularism. No longer do we expect miracles. The time has come for the believers in Christ to rise up and proclaim the good news. Not with whimpering voices, but in the authority of the Word of God. Miracles can happen, but first we need to expect them, then crush the enemy with the Name of Christ and set the captives free!

This is the heritage we have been given. We have been called out of this world to go back into the world as bearers of the good news, expecting miracles! We have been given the authority by the One who holds all authority! No weapon formed against us will stand! We are the Church and we are here to stay until our Lord returns as the Triumphant Christ! The King of Kings!