Jesus sets an example of demonstrating his authority through miracles.
Mark 1:23-28 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.
Sunday night I was privileged to celebrate a new building with a Korean Presbyterian church. As we sat down to a feast after the worship service, my husband and I sat with one of the Korean pastors. We begin to talk about the differences between how Koreans and Americans practice their faith. The Korean pastor said that he was very disappointed when he came to America and saw an American Presbyterian worship service for the first time. He said that when American Presbyterian missionaries came to Korea, they taught the Korean converts to expect the Holy Spirit to be active and strong in their lives. He said that in their Korean services (even today) they experience the Holy Spirit's power through speaking in tongues, healing, and the casting out of demons. He said sitting in an American Presbyterian church service was a very very dry experience in comparison.
But here Jesus is... in a worship service. A man has an unclean spirit. And Jesus casts the unclean spirit out.
What is our reaction to this? Many of us begin to explain away the unclean spirit. We certainly don't believe in those. Right? Probably just a medical condition. Mark didn't think so... he heard the unclean spirit speaking in a loud voice - he witnessed it leave the man's body. Why is it so hard for Americans who believe in God to also believe in unclean spirits?
My Korean pastor friend went on to say that Americans equate believing in God with faith - they keep it all in their heads. But for Koreans, it is experiencing God that matters. For the people gathered in the synagogue, it was experience that mattered too. When they saw what Jesus was capable of, it was then that they accepted his "new teachings." Jesus' miracle showed the people in the synagogue that he was the real deal.
What shows people that our faith is the real deal?
Do we ignore the possibility that like Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit to do miracles should be present in our lives and worship services too? That maybe we (and others) need to do more than just believe - maybe we need to experience God's power too?
No comments:
Post a Comment