February 1, 2009
 (Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany)

Rituals

Photo of Dean Terry White By The Very Rev. Terry White, Dean

Deuteronomy 18:15-20  •  Psalm 111  •  1 Corinthians 8:1-13  •  Mark 1:21-28
(From The Lectionary Page)

A common word in headlines these days is “crisis.”  It seems as if every day a new crisis is revealed, and with it comes commentary, dire predictions, and a general sense of despair.

In the midst of all those recent headlines, a crisis was revealed that will end tonight with the conclusion of the Super Bowl. In case you missed, throughout the country there is a shortage of chicken wings. Inconvenient as this might be most every other day of the year, to many, this shortage is a disaster of super proportions on Super Bowl Sunday.

According to various sources, a major chicken producer in the sovereign state of Texas has gone bankrupt, seriously cutting off the poultry supply line. The shortage has been especially felt in Pittsburgh, home of the AFC champion Steelers. The folks in Arizona are not too excited. It would take a shortage of chardonnay to get their attention. But several news sources report that in the home city of the ultimate chicken wing appetizer -- Buffalo, New York --  people are torn between hoarding every wing they can find, and boycotting the wing altogether as a protest for this malfeasance.  And many are disappointed that this Super Bowl Sunday dawned with no promise from the White House that a chicken wing bailout would pass Congress in time.

Setting aside for the moment the tongue-in-chick, I mean, tongue-in-cheek aspect of this, it would be hard to deny that for many Americans, observing Super Bowl Sunday has become a ritual. Granted, not everyone cares about football, and some who watch the game are mostly interested in the televised commercials.  And many godly souls will carry on just fine without paying a bit of attention to the six hour pre-game festivities and the game itself.  Still, the Nielsen people will tell us tomorrow how many millions of households watched the game. And according to newspaper advertisements for grocery stories and superstores selling big screen TVs, the Super Bowl is a big deal even if chicken wings are in short supply.  And accompanying this big deal, are rituals.

Rituals can be of a religious nature, and can also be purely secular. Two weeks ago the rituals surrounding the peaceful transfer of the powers of the American Presidency were broadcast around the world. The ritual of laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier causes most of us to sincerely pause for reflection.  Ritual is not magical, it is not observing a meaningless custom. Authentic ritual of any kind expresses something about our identity. And as we preachers like to say, ritual does at least three things: it reminds us who we are, Whose we are, and who we are becoming.

This month of February begins with the secular ritual of the Super Bowl, then we observe in two weeks the rituals surrounding Valentine’s Day, and on the last Wednesday of the month, the Church with solemn ritual will invite us all the observance of a Holy Lent.  And tomorrow will be a special day. It is the cross-quarter day of winter, when we in this hemisphere pass the half-way point of this season. It is observed liturgically with the Church’s feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, 40 days after Christmas, though most people know tomorrow by its secular feast of Groundhog Day. There is a common theme or two in the distinct feasts, but that’s another homily.

Ritual. The lessons for today speak of ritual. Deuteronomy refers to the succession of the Lord’s prophets, First Corinthians addresses what a Christian should do about the ritual of offering sacrifice to an idol, and Psalm 111 is of course a song to be sung in the ritual of worship. But in order to make kick-off in plenty of time, let’s consider only the Gospel, and the ritual Jesus used to cleanse a man in the synagogue of an unclean spirit.

Mark tells us that, the people were amazed when Jesus taught in the synagogue. Imagine what they must have thought about this act.

Mark’s description is concise. The man with the spirit cries out, and Jesus replies: “Be silent, and come out of him.”  No elaborate ceremony, no incantations or prayers. “Be silent, and come out of him.”  These few verses have been the subject of volume after volume of discourse over the centuries. Many have to do with the question of the reality of evil and the form it can take. Here is yet another sermon for another time.

The liturgy here is concise.  A man cries out to the Lord in order to be released from all that is unclean.  Even this unclean one knows the Lord Jesus is the key to the health and hope and wholeness we are always seeking.  For instance:  consider how often, we go looking for self-worth. And we think we will find it in our jobs, or in the opinions of others, or in the next goal we set for ourselves. Likewise, how often do we let others judge us or put us down because we attempted something which failed.

Think instead of the reality of our baptism. The Sovereign Lord has called us his beloved daughters and sons, and we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever.  Jesus can silence those unclean spirits so that we might live more fully, and joyfully.  What is required of us, according to Mark, is to cry out to Jesus, that we might be cleansed, and know again how much grace has saved us and how deeply we are loved.

And all of this has a purpose: that we might give glory to God in how we live, and serve, as we care for others and work for justice and sacrifice for the common good.

For however long current circumstances will challenge us, this season is a time for the servants of God to rise up. To be sure, there are many programs and ministries here that seek to share the light of Christ. But the point of our baptism is not to minister from the Church, but to live as servants of God in our homes, in the workplace, in our schools, in our communities and in each and every arena where God places us.

Let us claim the power of our ritual.  And go forth forgiven, redeemed, renewed, and on a mission to love and serve the Lord.