He climbed a mountain and invited
those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on
twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be
with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give
them authority to banish demons. Mark
3:13-14
Like a whole lot of
other people lately, I have been following the story out of Ferguson,
MO. To be honest, prior to this past weekend I was aware of the
trouble there but really hadn't paid much attention to it. After all,
St. Louis is a long way from Chetek and in Barron County, the place I
call home, we don't have the same kind of problems that the citizens
of St. Louis county do – or, at least, some of them do. It was the
looting and the outbreak of violence following the release of the
grand jury's findings that got my attention. Since then, my emotions
have run the gamut between moral outrage to grief to, yes,
embarrassment, that this kind of thing can still happen in America.
Okay, that probably sounds terribly naive but there it is: in a
country ruled by law how is it that a small minority of our citizenry
feel they have the right to go on a rampage to express their outrage
at what they feel is a miscarriage of justice?
It's
just wrong.
Yesterday in my
personal devotions I read Mark 3:13-19. After nearly getting crushed
to death by the crowd at the shore of the sea by the crowd (3:9-12),
Jesus draws away to some remote part of the country to officially
identify those who will be his “sent” ones. Their job will be to
be schooled by him and (later) go out and proclaim the news about the
Kingdom and deal authoritatively with demons and devils. Mark's
Gospel has a lot to say about Jesus' encounter with the powers of
darkness. In every case of conflict, he wins hands down: in the
desert he is tempted by Satan (Mark 1), he drives out evil spirits
(Mark 1 and 3) and never allows them to speak. Here on the
mountaintop he confers the same authority he has over the devil and
his minions unto his apostles.
Donald English is
one of the guys I have referenced in my personal study of Mark. While
Ferguson was waking up from a night of mayhem and violence, I read
this in his comments on Mark 3:13-19:
We
are prone to apply 'casting out of spirits' individually. There is
much however, both in Paul's widening picture (Eph 6:12 for example,
and Col 2:15), and in our observation of world history, to show the
reality of the demonic in groups and institutions, in systems and
hierarchies. At
[the] very least it explains how groups of humans made in the image
of God can behave as destructively towards others as they sometimes
do. It also helps us to understand the relentlessness of the wiles
and pressures of evil in the world.
Exorcism, in this context, is not just about individual spiritual
liberation therefore.
It is about setting the world of institutions and structures free
also, from injustice, cruelty and neglect; from extortion, corruption
and greed, from the lesser gods of profit at all cost, and beating
down the rest whatever it takes.
The charismatics and radicals are nearer to one another than they
think when they get down to the action – and they need one another
too. It is tragic to see, in parts of the world, strong pentecostal
churches largely supporting governments wielding demonic power, while
the congregations practice individual exorcism regularly. It is
equally sad to see Christians struggling in politics, and other
public areas of life who are largely ignorant of the Spirit's power
to heal. (The
Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Mark by
Donald English. ©
1992 IVP.pp. 85-86)
As I watched the video footage of people running into a Ferguson
store to take part in the looting or of others setting police and
other vehicles on fire, it makes me believe that in this outbreak of
violence there is way more going on than just a bunch of thugs
seizing an opportunity to engage in vandalism and destruction. It is
also a spirit – or spirits – at work, “coming upon” the crowd
like sharks at a feeding frenzy. During our local news, a history
professor of color who teaches at UW-Eau Claire and who was in L.A.
during the Rodney King riots questioned why the decision was made to
announce the findings of the grand jury after it was dark. I agree:
bad things happen under cover of darkness. Why, indeed?
At the moment when the national media is on the scene, nothing can be
done about the violence but contain it. People have worked themselves
up into a lather – or have cooperated with a host of unclean
spirits who have influenced people to behave in such a way – and
the cameras are rolling. If a cop shoots at an unarmed civilian who
is menacing, all bets are off. You may, indeed, have a war on your
hands. But after the klieg lights go off what then? When dawn breaks
what can be done in the aftermath?
Again,
I don't live in Ferguson nor anywhere near there. I don't think I
could with any authority tell them what they should do next. But if
there are disciples of Jesus Christ there – and certainly there are
– you can bet they are at work at prayer, in helping with clean-up,
in seeking to bring reconciliation, ministering both to the good guys
and the bad regardless of their race or creed. That's what disciples
of Jesus are to be about. “God
blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the
children of God” (Matthew 5:9,
NLT). No doubt they know that and are doing their best to do just
that while “all hell” seems to be breaking out.
Biblical
scholar David Garland puts it this way:
The
apostles are not simply given authority, but authority to do good –
to drive out demons. This does not mean that we need to have exorcism
services in our churches or to train ministers for this task
(although I have many missionary acquaintances who have said that it
would have been useful for them to have been better prepared to meet
this phenomenon on the mission field). What it does mean is that the
church should do more than just talk about the power of God; it
should be a community that exhibits some evidence of the power.
In other words, the church should be a community that does more
than just confess his name, which is no more than what the demons do.
The church is not to sit on the sidelines, watching the world go by
and doing nothing more than offering people a different religious
option for salvation. The church has the task of standing up and
confronting evil in the arena of life. Jesus sends his disciples out
to tackle evil that is larger than personal evil and to deliver
people from whatever enslaves them.
(The NIV Application Commentary: Mark by
David E. Garland. ©
1996, Zondervan. p. 144)
A war
on terror whether foreign or domestic will never be won at the point
of a gun or because of the precision of a smart bomb. It comes down
to real people working in real neighborhoods over a long time
contending with real need as well as dark powers stirred up and
agitated because of hatred and bitterness. There is a need for all
kinds of expertise in bringing real peace to that community and to
all communities – good and just policing, just and sound
jurisprudence and servants of Christ filled with the Spirit of God
working for peace and justice. What may be Ferguson's darkest hour
may turn out to be the Church of Jesus in Ferguson's greatest moment.
Those of us who don't live there should pray for just that thing.
“...forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one...” Matthew 6:12-13, NLT
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one...” Matthew 6:12-13, NLT
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