Secrets - A Sermon for Sunday January 28 2024

GOSPEL: Mark 1:21-28

The holy gospel according to Mark.

Glory to you, O Lord.

Forces that would bring death and disease have taken hold of a man, yet they recognize Jesus and know what his power means for them. Jesus commands these forces to leave and people are amazed at his authority.

21[Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and 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.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27They 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.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Well the secret is out.

The unclean spirit cries out:

I know who you are, Jesus of Nazareth,

the Holy One of God.

Yet Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit.

Jesus wants to keep things under wraps,

almost like Superman and Clark Kent,

to keep his true identity secret.

For years I have wondered why.

Why so secretive, Jesus?

It is called the Messianic Secret:

again and again Jesus says,

“Tell no one!”

And out comes another secret:

this Jesus of Nazareth has the authority

to command even unclean spirits

and they obey.

Jesus wont let the unclean spirit share the secret,

even if it is true.

Why can’t people know that you, Jesus,

are the Holy One of God?

Why the secret?

We love a good secret.

It’s one of the reasons we follow the news,

and gasp at the headlines

when truth is revealed.

It makes for enjoyable drama

in our favourite books and TV shows,

knowing the secret that the character doesn’t.

And, we are terrified of secrets.

We might be terrified of what might happen

if that secret about me were found out.

Sometimes in our work we have to keep secrets.

I remember a time when working for the utilities company.

I was training new staff,

and not only had I to select the new staff

that would be fired,

I had to keep that a secret

until the right time to let them go.

I hated keeping that secret.

On the other hand,

sometimes the secret protects people.

We might bemoan the realities

of the Freedom of Information

and Protection of Privacy Act,

yet confidentiality is a gift,

especially in caregiving.

Could you imagine the damage that could be done

if a pastor or psychologist were to publicly share

all those little and big secrets

that are kept in confidence?

It seems much of our lives revolve around secrets:

Infidelity,

habits or addictions,

self-harm,

abortion,

lies,

traumatic experiences,

all often kept secret.

Many people want to keep their

web browser history a secret,

including some of the locations searched for

in google maps.

Many people who identify as transgender

feel unsafe in certain public places,

like gyms or swimming pools

and choose to keep their body a secret

by not going.

Many people, young and old,

do not feel safe to share their sexual orientation,

do not feel safe to come out,

in church,

in family,

with friends

and keep that integral part of self secret.

Sometimes we keep secrets

because we don’t trust the other.

Sometimes we keep secrets

because we’re processing the truth

and we’re not ready for the truth.

Our God is the one from whom no secrets are hid.

Why do you keep the secrets you keep?

Often it is protection.

we keep the secret to protect self or loved one,

or to protect our reputation,

or to protect feelings.

Sometimes we want to be polite,

we want to be nice,

so we tell little white lies

to keep the secret and to preserve relationships.

The truth shall make you free,

but the truth might also hurt like hell.

I’d say a big reason we keep secrets is control.

We want to control outcomes

when so much of our lives

are outside of our control,

and we might be afraid of the repercussions

of the truth coming out.

There’s one particular secret

we Christians are really good at keeping.

As sung by the Christian rock band Skillet:

Jesus is the best kept secret of my generation,

the best kept secret of all time.

In some places in the world,

keeping Jesus a secret keeps people alive

because Christians might face imprisonment or death,

but not here.

We might hesitate to invite someone

to discover Jesus, the best kept secret,

because, right or wrong,

we might be somewhat ashamed

to be Christian.

Frankly, with all the bad theology out there

particularly from certain Christian denominations,

it is not an easy time to be Christian.

I don't want to be identified

as “that” kind of Christian.

Considering the church’s difficult past,

with conquest and colonialism,

the crusades,

residential schools,

white patriarchy,

clergy abuse scandals,

I can understand why some of us

keep our Christianity a secret.

Even so,

We are invited, like the first apostles,

to come and see.

We are invited by Jesus

to invite others to come and see,

but we choose to say no for the other

perhaps out of fear of being rejected,

or presuming church isn’t for them,

so instead we keep Jesus a secret.

We also keep secret our experiences of God.

I mean, what will others think of me,

if I admit to hearing God’s voice,

or even just having some kind of spiritual experience?

As a faithful tangent,

allow me to share a recent experience

that I had of God.

I can’t really go into the details,

but in this season of Epiphany,

I heard or felt God giving me an epiphany

just a couple weeks ago,

a reassuring and calming reminder

of God’s gracious presence with me,

And amidst my own difficulties, doubts and … secrets,

God reminded me that God has been preparing me

to follow and serve

in a time and place like this.

Even though I have experienced God,

I find myself scrutinizing

or wanting to scrutinize

other’s experiences of God,

but oh what power and possibilities are opened

when I hear someone share how they’ve experienced God, 

and in that listening, I receive,

I experience God.

Back to Jesus, and this Messianic Secret.

Why does Jesus repeatedly say “Tell no one”?

Why does Jesus not allow the truth to come out?

We pondered this question

in our Monday Evening Bible Study weeks ago.

There have been many academic thoughts

as to why the Messianic Secret.

Biblical Scholar Lamar Williamson Jr.

puts it well in his Gospel of Mark Commentary:

No full and appropriate understanding of Jesus is possible

except in the light of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.

Jesus says,

“Don’t say anything

until after the Son of Man has risen!”

Jesus seeks neither to conceal nor deny

that he is the Christ and Son of God,

instead, the so-called secret is

Jesus correcting and completing

all inadequate understandings of those terms.

We cannot understand who the Messiah is

without the cross,

and without the empty tomb.

Put another way, Jesus keeps his Messiahship secret

until the whole truth of the Messiah can be revealed.

The unclean spirit is rebuked and exorcised,

though speaking the truth,

because it was simply too early

to know the full story.

That, and the source matters.

In this age of fake news

and AI generated false news,

we know that the source can distort the message.

It’s like the devil in the wilderness,

even the liar can quote the bible,

so no, unclean spirit,

you are not welcome to speak.

My dear friends in Christ,

you are welcome to speak.

You are the baptized,

you are gifted with the Holy Spirit,

you have met - or will meet -

the Messiah at this altar.

You have heard the full story,

Christ has died,

Christ is risen,

Christ will come again.

Jesus is Lord and Saviour.

It is time to let this secret out.

Jesus is the Messiah,

not just for the 12 apostles,

not just for the many disciples who follow,

but for the whole crowd.

Jesus is the Messiah

For all those who search for God,

for those who doubt,

for those who just want more bread;

for the insider and the outsider.

Jesus is Messiah

for those in the crowd we want to stand beside

and perhaps especially for those we don’t

want to stand beside.

Jesus is the Messiah

for God’s faithful of every generation,

for those who find refuge in the sanctuary

and for those who do not feel safe

inside church walls or in swimming pools.

Jesus is the Messiah

for all people,

and for all creation.

Amidst our many secrets,

those we need to keep,

and those we shouldn’t,

the big secret is out.

Jesus is the Truth,

and the Truth shall make you free.

Thanks be to God. Amen.