The Message, January 28, 2024: "A New Authority," Mark 1:21-28
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
January 30, 2024
“A New Authority”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Mark 1:21-28
It was Valentine’s Day, February 14,
1993. The faithful members of First Baptist Church, Beverly, Massachusetts had
gathered for Sunday morning worship. The Reverend Renee Kaufman was delivering
the message. (Renee is my wife.) When suddenly, the fire alarm went off. The
lights were flashing, those awful horns were blaring … and the faithful … just
sat there!
Renee must have been offering a very
powerful message. The congregation was totally engaged. They were not going to
budge. I, on the other hand, ran around the building looking for the fire.
Needless to say, when the Fire Department arrived, they were not very happy
with our response to the fire alarm.
As it turns out, there was no fire.
A spider had crawled across one of our smoke detectors.
The date was December 14, 2009, the
middle of the Advent season for the family of Federated Church in Norfolk,
Massachusetts. The Reverend Scott Cousineau … that is me … arrived at the
church to prepare for worship. Within moments, the fire alarm went off. Was I
preparing a super hot sermon? No. There was an actual fire in the boiler room
of the historic church building. The lights were flashing and the horns were
blaring, and as I made his way through the fellowship hall, I saw two church
members, Charlie and Jeanne, making coffee and punch for coffee hour …
completely oblivious to the smoke billowing out of the heating ducts!
Pastor
Scott said to them, “What are you doing?!”
“We
are making the coffee.”
To
which Pastor Scott replied, “The building is on fire!! The coffee can wait!”
The
fire was quickly extinguished by the Norfolk Fire Fighters. We let the building
air out for a bit, and worship was only delayed by fifteen minutes. And
everyone enjoyed delicious … albeit a little smoky … coffee and punch!
Please
know that we WILL be conducting some fire drills here at First Parish Church in
the very near future. Of course, we will tell you ahead of time so that you can
adequately prepare.
It
is odd that every church that I have served has had some experience with fire.
We know our history here at First Parish, Saco. When I served the church in New
London, New Hampshire, we wanted to prevent the inaction of the faithful folks
in Beverly and Norfolk. We purchased a bullhorn so that we could instruct the
people to exit the building. The person with the bullhorn would obviously
possess the authority to move the people.
I
am certain that we all grew up with fire drills. Every student that attends
public school has gone through the drill. We all knew that the alarm klaxon and
the blinking lights superseded everything else. When they begin blaring and
flashing, we exit the building in a safe and orderly fashion.
The
people gathered in the synagogue in our Gospel lesson this morning must have
been like those Valentine’s Day folks at First Baptist Church in Beverly. They
were astounded by what Jesus was saying! He spoke with a power and a new
authority that they had never heard before.
Let
me pause and provide a little historical context here. The synagogue in that
day was not a place of worship. Rather, it was a center of instruction …
teaching. The Temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship and sacrifice. The
synagogue was the spot in which scripture was opened and explored. There were
no hymns at the synagogue, no songs of worship. There was no full-time preacher
either. The leader of the synagogue would invite a qualified individual to read
scripture and then to speak and expound upon the passage.
The
scribes were the experts in the Law and the Torah. They firmly believed that
the first five books of the Hebrew Bible … the Books of Moses … were divinely
created. Every word, every dot and chittle, was of God. Moses did not craft
even a single word. He was the vehicle through whom the Voice of God, the Word
of God, was delivered. The ancient Jewish leaders believed that ALL life and
faith was guided and directed by the Torah. Throughout the generations, rabbis
had read and interpreted Torah and applied its Law to EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT OF
DAILY LIFE. This resulted in hundreds and hundreds of rules and regulations.
The
Scribes memorized all of the rules and regulations and all of the
interpretations of the various rabbis as it was passed down to them. This was
the Oral Law. When the scribes opened a passage of scripture, they said,
“According to the Law of Moses …” “According to Rabbi So-and-So …” and they
would then cite every reference, every exposition of a passage that they had
learned. They offered no new thoughts or
opinions of their own. They simply cited the generations of rabbis before them.
And
then Jesus entered the synagogue in Capernaum on that Sabbath day. The leader
of the synagogue invited him to speak … and everything was different!
Jesus
did not refer to the Word that Moses had delivered. Jesus did not quote Rabbi
So-and-So. Jesus spoke with his own authority!
Let
us consider for a moment what that must have been like for those gathered that
day. They were astounded! They were “feeling or showing great surprise or
wonder!” (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary) No “Rabbi This said this,” or “Rabbi
That said that.” Jesus was speaking from personal knowledge and experience.
Mark’s
Gospel does not record the actual words that Jesus spoke. Which is interesting
and … to be honest … a little disappointing. I would love to know what Jesus
said that day. Instead, Mark focused upon the “authority” of his message. Jesus
spoke with the power and the finality of the Voice of God. And not just any
authority, but “new” authority. The word that Mark used did not refer to new as a particular moment or a recent moment in time. Rather, the word that he
used meant unprecedented or previously unknown.
The
people, the world had never heard anything like that before. Jesus did not talk
about God or the Kingdom of God citing the words of generations of rabbis.
Jesus spoke about God, of the Kingdom of God, or love, or life … or whatever it
was that he spoke about … with the actual Voice of God!
I
have been in Capernaum. I have walked in the places where Jesus walked. What I
would not give to have been in that synagogue that day.
At
our Bible study gathering on Thursday evening, we discussed this passage and
about why Mark did not record the words that Jesus spoke. We also discussed
what it means to hear the Voice of God in our lives and in our world today.
First
of all, the Gospel writers could not include every word that Jesus spoke
throughout his ministry. If they did, we would have to carry our Bibles around
in a wheelbarrow or even a small pickup truck. But even more, God speaks to
each of us in an intimate and personal way. The word that I need to hear today
will likely be very different than the word that you need to hear. I imagine
those people gathered in the synagogue that day hearing Jesus as if he was
speaking to them individually, responding to the needs of their hearts and
souls.
I
know that I have completely ignored what happened next … the calling out of the
unclean spirit. But I truly believe that true miracle that day was the way in
which Jesus touched the lives of those gathered there.
Be
open to the wonder. Allow yourself to be astonished … astounded even. God
speaks to each of us in very powerful and also very intimate ways. God knows
the content of our hearts. Jesus knows as well.
Listen.
God speaks to us. Jesus Christ speaks to us. They speak to us in a way that is
both intimate and powerful. What we have to do is listen …
Amen.
BACK