“Deliver Us from (Necessary) Evil”

Michael D. Powell February 8, 2009 Mark 1:29-34 Boy Scout Sunday

Jesus is a healer, and I think that’s wonderful. For many of us, referring to Jesus as ‘the Great Physician,” or “the Healer of the Heart” is very comforting. But according to the Gospels Jesus also cast out demons, and for some of us that needs to be translated into more contemporary ways of thinking. The passages about Jesus casting out demons are often explained as a throwback to a pre-scientific, first century worldview. People used to think the devil was responsible for all kinds of ailments that we now explain using more sophisticated medical and psychological terminology.

In this morning’s text Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. The people were in awe of his power. So they brought him many more who were sick – and some who were possessed with demons. He healed the sick, and cast out the demons. The people were shocked! “What is this,” they cry out, “He commands even unclean spirits and they obey him.”

Our problem with this story comes from the fact that we’re products of what’s called “The Enlighten-ment,” a philosophical movement dating back to the 18th century that believed we could transform the world through the exercise of reason. The root belief of the enlightened attitude was that if we acquired enough education, if we simply learned to apply sound reason, then everything would be different. According to the Enlightenment, the problem was not demons or evil, it was ignorance. If we could just become smart enough, we could fix the world and all its problems. It was, obviously, an optimistic view of human nature and potential.

Many of you have probably read Scott Peck’s book, The Road Less Traveled. Fewer, I’d guess, have read his second book, People of the Lie. Peck is a psychiatrist, a product of the Enlightenment. But in People of the Lie he concludes, based on his experience with severely disturbed people, that there is such a thing as real evil in the world. He admits that his conclusions surprised him, that evil is not a scientific term. He also admits that he struggled with a definition of evil. So one day he asked his young son if he could come up with a definition. The boy said, “Evil is ‘live’ spelled backwards.” And that’s how Peck got his definition of evil. It is the opposite of life. Evil is that which diminishes, cheapens, and destroys life. Evil, according to Peck, is the opposite of God’s good and creative, constructive and benevolent plan for life.

We have, supposedly, been “enlightened” for going on three centuries now, and in each century the problems have gotten more complicated. War is just one example. In terms of the number of people, especially civilians, who have been killed in wars, and in terms of the sophistication of our weapons of destruction, each progressive century has gotten more violent. The shadow side of the Enlightenment is that we have simply become smarter and more sophisticated in our use of violence.

Let’s start with something easy. Everyone acknowledges that Hitler was the very incarnation of evil. During World War 11 the Nazis used good technology to evil ends in order to murder the Jews. But that’s almost too easy. I’ve talked about my monk friend at Our Lady of Guadalupe. He’s lived a beautifully spiritual, cloistered life for over 50 years, but his life was purchased at a terrible price. He was a soldier in World War 11, and he was among the thousands who were scheduled for a bloody invasion of Japan. When it looked like that invasion was going to leave thousands of soldiers dead on both sides of the conflict, our military strategists used the most sophisticated technology the planet has ever known to bring a quick end to the war, killing thousands of innocent Japanese civilians in the process. It made the horrendous firebombing of Dresden, which killed thousands of civilians and destroyed a cultural landmark of no military significance pale by comparison. So much for the Enlightenment. Lord, deliver us from evil.

Are there, in fact, “necessary evils?” We may have cast out the old, superstitious notion of demons, but it seems that a new demonic power has taken their place. Everyone except the terrorists believes that terrorists are evil. Counting the mass graves, the nerve gas deaths, the terror and the torture under Saddam Hussein’s reign there’s no doubt that he was an evil man. The question is what manner of violence was necessary in order to overcome his evil? Anni and I were in Italy during “Shock and Awe.” During the day we’d tour antiquities, in the evening I’d watch the war on CNN. In that eerie green light of night photography we watched thousands of missiles rain down on Baghdad and knock out water supplies, electrical services, communications, government buildings, roads, bridges and other essential infrastructure. Thousands of Iraqis, civilians as well as soldiers, were killed. Pentagon officials declared that the saturation bombing exceeded anything previously seen in history. “The sheer size of this had never been seen before, never even been contemplated before,” a Pentagon official told CNN. The battle plan was dubbed “Shock and Awe” because it sought not only the physical destruction but also the psychological overwhelming of the enemy. The idea was for the Iraqi people to be “physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted . . . rather like what the bombing of Dresden and the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima accomplished.” So much for the Enlightenment.

I’m certainly no military strategist, and perhaps I’m not enough of a realist. They say the problem with being an idealist is that you’re so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good. I’m sure there’s a lot I don’t understand, but I have to confess I was disappointed when, just a couple of days after Obama’s inauguration there were drone missile strikes in Afghanistan, and one of you mentioned to me after the service that those deadly drones are operated like computer video games from thousands of miles away. Meanwhile the Taliban employ suicide bombers to slaughter civilians and policemen. I’ve read that military and security experts say over and over that Afghanistan is where we need to be at war, that with a nuclear armed Pakistan we cannot afford to lose in Afghanistan. There’s no doubt that the Taliban and Al-Qaida are regressive and repressive, bent on our destruction and therefore, by any definition of civilization, moderation or respect for human rights, they are certainly evil. I’m glad I’m not a politician or a military strategist and I pray fervently that God will lift up leaders with the wisdom to confront these impossible issues. It gives me pause when I see the cover of Newsweek labeling Afghanistan as “Obama’s Vietnam.” If this is another one of those “necessary evils” I have to tell you, it breaks my heart!

Well, you don’t pay me for my political opinions or to be a military strategist and just because I preach for a living doesn’t make my fears or my opinions gospel truth. My job is to preach Jesus Christ. That’s really the only reason I have for being here this morning - and my faith, my belief, is that evil - in all its forms, necessary or not - is what Jesus Christ came to confront and to save us from. Exactly how that works is debatable, but I think we can all agree that Jesus Christ is Life with a capital “L.” It is a central tenant of our faith that the Living, Incarnate Word of God, the one we call the Prince of Peace, has the power to overcome evil and to cast out demons. Whether or not we even believe in demons, whether we believe that the origin of evil is natural or supernatural really doesn’t matter. What matters is the saving power of the God of Life through Jesus Christ.

So, although I realize I’ve probably raised more questions than answers, here’s my best shot. Martin Luther’s great hymn of faith, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” is based upon Psalm 46. Every single word in that hymn speaks to the concerns we’ve dealt with in this sermon, but I’ll close by reading the second verse: “Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus it is he; Lord Sabaoth (the word means Lord of hosts) his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.” Pray, my friends that we trust not in our own strength, but in God, and in Jesus Christ our Lord. In God alone is our peace, and in his name we gather and pray. Amen.