A Gospel Sandwich

Mark 1:21-28

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. 

This Gospel lesson is called an “inclusio” in Biblical studies.  I just call it a Gospel sandwich.  It’s got two slices of “teaching with authority” bread, on either side of an “unclean spirit exorcism” filling.  Mark’s trying to get us to understand that we need to eat it all together… that you can’t take out the filling and just eat the bread and you can’t tear off the bread and just have the filling. 

When I first read this lesson I tore off the bread and just had the filling.  I zeroed in on the unclean spirit stuff and started making my list and checking it twice writing down everyone I knew who was naughty and not at all nice!  I wanted my unclean spirits to cry out “are you here to destroy us” and I wanted to say them “damn straight I am!”  But this lesson is not just about the filling.  Jesus tells us we must eat this sandwich as a whole. 

There’s a popular little quote going around by Rev. Benjamin Cremer that says, “The moment we Christians start looking for an authoritarian “strongman” to lead us is the moment we stop looking for the One who leads by washing feet, who rides a donkey instead of a warhorse, and who tells his followers to put away their swords and take up their crosses instead.”  Right on... but I think he's beating around the bush so he comes across as being as obsessed with the bread as I was with the filling.  Again Jesus insists, we must eat this sandwich as a whole. 

When Mark made this Gospel Sandwich to explain what Jesus was all about, he was letting us know FIRST that from the very top of the sandwich, from the beginning of everything we do… down to the very bottom of the sandwich, to the very end of all we do… Jesus’ teachings hold it all together.  Jesus' teachings are that God’s love is for all of humanity and all of creation… that everyone, from every race, creed, and country has been, and is, being wrapped in a Divine loving embrace that can’t be undone.  That’s the bread, and to be a whole sandwich, we obviously MUST have the bread.  

But this sandwich also teaches that there will inevitably be times when the unclean spirit jumps up and yells, “What have you to do with us?”  This lessons teaches us that those are NOT the times for subtlety or gentleness.  So, “when Christians start looking for an authoritarian strongman to lead us”… that’s not the time to beat around the bush... it's the time to say clearly and strongly that those people have STOPPED BEING CHRISTIAN!  That’s the middle of this Gospel sandwich and to be a whole sandwich… we must have that middle as well. 

By making this lesson into a Gospel Sandwich Jesus is showing us that real, solid, clear boundaries… standing up to, and calling out evil… saying out loud and with clarity that “This behavior is Christian and This behavior is simply NOT”… Those things are NOT outside the realm of love; they are actually an essential part of the realm of love… you guessed it… like a sandwich made of both bread and filling!  This Gospel Sandwich teaches us that dealing clearly and firmly with unclean spirits… calling out a thing for what it actually is with clarity and without hesitation, IS just as critical a part of our calling as followers of Jesus as surrounding everyone we meet (including those with unclean spirits) with God’s Divine love.  Jesus is again calling us to eat the whole Sandwich!  

In my lifetime, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time where hearing, digesting, and putting into daily practice the lessons of this Gospel sandwich were more crucial.  We are surrounded by men and women whose words and actions end up frankly being best described as those of unclean spirits!  I’m a science guy, as you know, but things are so far gone that the best way I’ve found to describe what they are doing, even in this modern age, is to call it the work of unclean spirits and that makes this Gospel Sandwich a sandwich for 2024!  It calls us to confront the words, actions, and policies of those with evil spirits directly and clearly.  It calls us to remember that Jesus himself calls us in this lesson to use clear and firm boundaries IN ORDER TO love our neighbors.  AND this Gospel Sandwich also calls us to remember, that even those with evil spirits, are also surrounded by God’s unconditional love.

This Gospel Sandwich calls us to practice a kind of love that is not at all watered down.  It is both a love that surrounds all things in this world unconditionally.  And it is also a love that cares so much about our neighbors that, in that love, we will find ourselves compelled to call out their evil spirits for what they are.  To not rely on subtlety to get the message across to them because in love, we want them to be free!

 

Mark built this Gospel Sandwich to help all of us understand those two drastically different looking facets of love, see how they are used by Jesus, AND how they are inseparably intertwined with one another.  Mark built this Gospel Sandwich to then teach us that as we eat, digest, and practice this Sandwich as a whole, we are walking Jesus’ Way.  He built this Gospel Sandwich so that as we eat it as a whole, each day we will find that it becomes easier to reflect God’s love, both in the way that tells the evil spirits to just “shut it” AND in the way that draws those same evil spirits into a love wide enough, even for the likes of them… and therefore, even for the likes of us!  Amen.