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.

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