Good Morning Friends,
When we invite Jesus to be in our midst in worship and home life some amazing things can happen. Things like receiving new insights and knowledge and healthier emotions. When we bring our passions and gifts to the Lord, we can glorify God. But there is a challenge to the human condition. Our gifts can either be used for good or for evil. That is the nature of things that might actually guide us and our nation in needed new year’s resolutions to deal with our unclean spirits. You see if we put God first in our homes and places of worship and in the places, we live and work, the good spills over. Today’s scripture from the Gospel of Mark, the letter to the Hebrews and Psalm 8 is about our control and God’s sovereignty. The Psalm is a song of contemplation, which is a form of prayer that I have sung with our chancel choir in years past. In it, David reflects upon the greatness of God and His creation as well as his own part in it. It is a Psalm that comes full circle and is echoed in the letter to the Hebrews and instructs us that it is God’s authority and redeeming acts in our family homes and houses of worship that should be our focus, not so much our own authority. Here we are to seek and pray for a change in us that can be used by God for a greater purpose. We see this being played out in our Luke passage about Jesus’s ministry. And so, as we contemplate how God might use us, we hope and pray that we would praise God too. Thinking of our abode, God’s abode, and our nation too. So, this morning we look in the mirror and ask, Who Are We That God Should Favor Our House?
Scripture: They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
Mark 1:21-28 (NRSV)
and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:17-21 (NRSV)
Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere, “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.” Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
Hebrews 2:5-12 (NRSV)
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8: 1-9 (NRSV)
Message: Today we look at Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue and showing authority over demons. The passages are about all in worship. Mark gets right to the point but also to the whole picture. Mark’s Gospel is designed to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Messiah and presence of God who declares the time of God’s favor in his time on his house and a time when we all might have access to God’s presence. Mark needs just a few words to share the essence of this favor of God’s presence in Jesus which is anointed on to us. Even the demons recognize Jesus as someone special, sent by God to ruin their long run in Israel. They recognize Jesus as prophet, priest and king is to have power over sin. Jesus exercises the power of God that Israel had desired for their kings, who were by and large not holy ones of God, and so their power was almost non-existent, especially in the spiritual realm as were many of those in power in the religious orders. So too when Jesus uses us and takes away the demons of sin, we too can be used for a purpose greater than ourselves that glorifies God. Humans are a bit out of control, but when we see Jesus, who became a little lower than the angels, just like us, great things can happen. We see that humans can be crowned with glory and honor too. Christ shows the way. So, if you want to find any real significance in life, then do not look to yourself… Look up to Jesus who became a man. Pay attention to Christ, who became fully human. Focus on the Lord, who became lower than the angels for a little while, so He could be our Sovereign Savior. Only then act. Friends, Jesus became one of us, so He could become the Crowned Sovereign of the world. He became one of us, so He could regain control where we lost control. Humankind’s war against God started in the garden but needs to end if we are ever to have peace. Thankfully, as a human, Jesus never submitted to Satan like Adam and Eve and as we do. Thankfully, Jesus never lost control. So as a man, Jesus elevates all people who align themselves with Him with a declaration of peace and a freeing of the captives of sin. You see, when you submit to Christ, we regain our position, because we are no longer slaves to Satan. Instead, we are under Christ’s rule, who conquered Satan on the cross for us. This is the only sane way to power.
And So, know this, in the midst of a world that seems increasingly dark and difficult, the thing is that from God’s perspective, we might just be living in an extremely favorable time. Know that God has figured it all out in advance. So, when it comes to us, it is about the importance of commitment but also having the right perspective. You see, looking up to Jesus means leaning on God’s word and the Power of the Holy Spirit. Looking up to Jesus means focusing and fixing our eyes with a gaze of confidence while looking away from other distractions. Looking up to Jesus means loving in a way where the joy and reward of the vison is of a finish line with Jesus as the goal. Looking up to Jesus means being all in. Today scripture is about how things work through Jesus to make us better. And we are to be thankfully motivated, given the scripture, to think about God’s authority and redemption as a means of helping us to set our sights on the important things in life within our scope of influence.
Pray we get our house in order. Pray we let Jesus into our homes and hearts and churches and let the light of Christ caste out the darkness in us so that we might truly worship God in the miracle of love. Pray in 2021 we spend more time praying and worshipping God. Pray we learn the ways of God. Pray we learn to praise God in all things. Pray we learn to pray humbly and righteously for God’s favor. Pray
we are ready for God to save, sanctify, heal, and free us. Pray we believe that the LORD wants to give us our deepest and purest desires. Pray we believe that God wants to bring new life into our lives. Pray we realize that it might take surrender and sacrifice to succeed. Pray we celebrate the casting out of demons. Pray we do something definite about those dark areas in our lives. Pray we let Jesus into our homes and hearts. Pray we finish strong. Pray we look up to Jesus believing the war with God has ended. Pray we realize that God is still creating and restoring, and God’s handiwork is awesome.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 