Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast...
Over the last century, this phrase has become synonymous with breaking news. The most famous moments in history have been first introduced with similar words.
The Hindenburg explosion
The D-Day invasion
The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
The Apollo 11 Moon Landing
The Resignation of President Nixon
The Challenger Shuttle Explosion
The Freeway Chase of O. J. Simpson
The Oklahoma City Bombing
And September 11, 2001
Breaking News. Momentous events that shape the context of our lives. Depending on our age, most of us mark life before and after these events. We remember where were when the news broke. We can remember sitting with family, friends, co-workers, or even being alone in a car when the broadcast came on.
These radical interruptions are more than just news, they are part of the history that shapes our lives. They are momentous events that had such a broad and personal impact that they changed the way we think about the world.
Instant communication, like radio, TV, and now the Internet, didn’t exist 2000 years ago. News could only go viral by word of mouth. Written letters took weeks to move through the area. Yet, the earliest letters of Paul give evidence of a rapidly growing movement of Jesus-followers in the first two decades after his death that extended hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem.
The Gospel of Mark was probably the earliest written record of Jesus’s life, and it very language evokes the 1 st Century equivalent of breaking news. Mark repeatedly uses the phrase “and immediately” to inject urgency into the journeys of Jesus. And like big news, Mark tells his readers that the crowds were always “amazed” by Jesus’s teaching and works.
Would Jesus have been viewed as Breaking News today?
Maybe our first instinct would be to say no, thinking we would dismiss an itinerant preacher and teacher as a modern-day kook, but I’m not so sure. I am reminded of a different leader of the 20 th Century. Perhaps you remember when on April 4, 1968, Walter Cronkite reported on the death of another prophet:
“Good Evening. Dr. Martin Luther King, the apostle of non-violence in the civil rights movement, has been shot to death in Memphis, TN.”
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In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus breaks onto the scene as a new preacher and teacher. The people immediately recognize that he teaches with authority as he offers a new lesson. We can assume this preaching was in line with his proclamation a few lines before today’s passage.
Mark tells us that, “Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’”
We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast with this news: “The kingdom of God is near! Turn towards God! Believe that God loves you!” I can just imagine the news crawler in red at the bottom of the screen quoting Presiding Bishop Curry: “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.” And “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world. Love is the only way.”
You might laugh at the image, but in a way, this is exactly what Jesus was doing. Preaching about the in-breaking of the kingdom of God, disrupting our way of thinking, inviting us to a life focused on God.
Jesus’s preaching interrupts the regular pattern of the synagogue, leaving the audience amazed and astounded. Today’s reading marks the start of this extraordinary ministry, and Jesus begins with power, taking over the preaching at the synagogue and casting out a demon.
The interruption by the unclean spirit is a sign of just how disruptive Jesus’s preaching is. This spirit recognizes the threat to the status quo and tries to sidetrack Jesus into a battle for power. It tries to instill fear and doubt in the people around it so that they will shrink back into their meager existence. Instead, Jesus quickly and succinctly dispatches the demon, restoring the person to wholeness and astounding the crowd.
The breaking news is Jesus.
There was the time before Christ and the time after Christ. The life of Jesus was so momentous that it literally marks the start of time. By sending Jesus, God does a whole new thing. Jesus is here to interrupt our lives as he literally interrupted history.
We like to get comfortable with our normal routines. We are entranced by our ability to find easy answers at our fingertips with constant Internet and Google on our phones. We seek a safe groove where our needs are met and modest comforts are achieved. Maybe we literally want nothing more than to settle into our favorite seat each evening and zone out to a favorite TV show.
Instead, Jesus is interrupting the regularly scheduled broadcast.
He is calling us to new life in God. He tells us that the kingdom of God is near. The world offers distractions and addictions and fake news. If we really want to find fulfillment, we must turn our hearts and minds to God. Breaking News – God’s love is for everyone.
In line with the prophets before him, Jesus preached God’s justice. To free the oppressed. To feed the poor. To give voice to the marginalized. To love our neighbors as ourselves regardless of their circumstances.
Our call is to explore the wisdom of the prophets and to apply God’s justice in our day. To understand who our oppressed, poor, and marginalized neighbors are today and to seek justice for their situations. This will sometimes call us into uncomfortable places. We may spend less time on our phones and TVs. We might have to explore our own participation in unjust systems through cultural habits and traditions.
It takes compassion and courage to act for God’s justice, but when we pay attention to the message, we become participants in the work of God. God will continue to interrupt our expectations and disrupt our thinking. God will continue to break into our lives to share the light of love. What could be more amazing than the death and resurrection of Christ? What could be more astounding than the promise of eternal life?
God interrupted everything to change the world. And the great thing about God’s breaking news is that it’s good news for everyone.
The Rev. Mercedes Clements
