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Cindy tells her own story of struggling with anxiety and depression and helps us see two things:
1) The Psalmist sounds like someone going through serious mental health challenges!
2) The Psalmist points us to a God of Hope, even when it feels like we're drowning in chaotic waters.
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The live sermon recording failed this week, so instead of having no podcast (which is a bummer) or re-preaching it to no-one-all-alone-in-my-room… I called up Susan Littleton! Sue is a part of Eucharist and was happy to sit down with me and play the role of our whole congregation in the sermon.
And we couldn’t have picked a stranger one: the text this week is about unclean spirits, and exorcisms! HA!
It’s easy to want to write off this sort of talk in scripture as superstitious nonsense, but in many ways the stories of Jesus reveal a part of reality that our culture has forgotten: that there are very real spiritual powers around us, and that they can be unclean!
What does Jesus do with these unclean spirits, and what does it mean for us? Let’s dive in.
The text:
Mark 1:21-28
21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 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.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 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.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
2014.02.16 - Prayer 2014 - Leshia Knopf
Leshia Knopf shares an honest and reflective sermon on suffering, lament, trust, and being angry with God. Leshia is a part of the Eucharist Church “Preaching Guild”, a student of theology at McMaster Divinity College, and has spent the last few months driving her mother back and forth to her cancer appointments.
Suffice to say, this is not an intellectual exercise.
Leshia draws from the (little preached on) prophet Habakkuk to present a way of wrestling with God that is both faithful and raw.
Jeff Wynands also lead us in songs of lament, including a remixed version of Psalm 137.
The music starts at 32 minutes.
The lyrics to the song are below:
If I sing it wouldn’t mean a thing
If I dance it wouldn’t prove a chance
If I shout it wouldn’t lift the doubt
But I will if just to trust
We sit in endless sorrow at this river of defeat
We hang our songs in sadness on this tree of memory
Our joys are shapeless shadows these foreign city streets
We’ve fallen prey to mockers and their morbid mockeries
These hands surrender function and this heart it stutters beats
Were I to forget mount Zion my lips would surely seize
The wreck and rubble of a promise now dust upon our feet
We pray the same for the infant of these wretched godless deeds
If I sing it wouldn’t mean a thing
If I dance it wouldn’t prove a chance
If I shout it wouldn’t lift the doubt
But I will if just to trust…
Your will is enough oh God
Father this city’s cursed but you bless it with your name
Oh son this home is exile but you make it all the same
