If I were to describe this past week with one word it would be “interrupted.” Everywhere I turned between last Sunday and this morning I was confronted by one interruption after another. The interruptions began on Sunday afternoon with a baseball practice that had been on my calendar for 2:30 PM being moved to 12:30 PM. OK, not a big deal, but still, come on!
Monday was a holiday which meant the kids were out of school, meaning the beginning of my week was interrupted. The Chapel staff had to reschedule our staff meeting because the office was closed. Another interruption to my plans. Then there were the snow days. School was canceled or delayed on four of the five weekdays this last week. Thanks, Arlington Public Schools.
Thursday was the only day that felt normal this week. Minor interruptions still found their way to me. When I sat down to write this sermon on Thursday afternoon emails popped up that needed to be responded to, an IT contractor had questions for me to answer, and I was reminded that I needed to write a few cards to members of the congregation. All important things to be sure, but my agenda was once again interrupted.
That is just my work schedule.
Your lives were interrupted this last week.
If you found yourself flying for work or pleasure, good luck. The weather most likely interrupted your plans.
The interruption of going to the grocery store was amplified by the weather because if you do not have toilet paper, milk, and bread, how can you survive a snow day?
Interruptions are part of life. Just ask anyone trying to have an “adult conversation” within earshot of a child.
I mentioned flight delays, be we can add interruptions to Metro and bus schedules into the equation too.
Interruptions happen at what appears to be the most inopportune time because that is how interruptions work. Interruptions for better or worse break our attention from what we thought was important in the moment and cause us to reconsider our priorities in that moment.
In the church, we do not like interruptions. Our liturgical calendar is planned – Advent, Christmas, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Eastertide, Ordinary time, All Saints, Christ the King Sunday, and repeat. The order of worship is intentionally planned. The prayers and hymns are selected to highlight the themes of the selected scripture reading and help the preacher drive home whatever point they are trying to make.
There was a time when a child making noise during worship was viewed as the ultimate and most unacceptable interruption during worship.
Whether you worship with an organ in a sanctuary or with electric guitars in a school cafeteria, interruptions can throw off the entire order of worship. We found that out last Sunday with a loud “boom!” and a brief power outage. Sure, Lisel and Camden did a great job getting the technical side of worship back up and running, our organist was able to easily pivot from the organ (which requires electricity to function) to a piano, but your preacher never regained his footing.
Interruptions are part of life, but that does not mean we always welcome them.
With his disciples in tow, Jesus was preaching at a synagogue in Capernaum. Because Jesus is the Savior of the World, the Son of God, and the firstborn of all creation, we can assume that the sermon was at least better than average. Jesus’s sermon was so good that those in the congregation were “astounded” by his “authority.”[i] Suddenly, a man possessed by an unclean spirit stood up and confronted the Savior of the World.
“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."[ii]
“Jesus of Nazareth, why are you here? We know who you are and what you are.”
Jesus ignores the unclean spirit’s question. Instead, Jesus pivots and calls the unclean spirit out of the man. With a loud sound, the unclean spirit left the man.
At first glance, this scene appears to be about Jesus healing a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit. And yes, that did happen, and will happen again. Jesus, when confronted by a person possessed by an unclean spirit would set the person free by calling out the spirit.
But take a look at what happens after the man is freed. Unlike the time when Jesus frees a man who was chained outside of a town, in the town’s cemetery, and tells the man to return home and to tell his neighbors and family what the Lord had done,[iii] our story pivots to the congregation’s amazement at what Jesus had done.
The congregation was “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.’”[iv]
They were amazed because standing before them was the One the prophets spoke of. Standing before them was the One for whom they had been waiting.
Even if Jesus were to come into this room right now, interrupting our worship service, and perform an exorcism or what John calls “signs” revealing his authority to the point that we were “amazed,” I bet there would still be a few of us (me included) who would be annoyed; irritated because, come on, we worked so hard to plan this thing out!
Even a divine interruption can grind our gears.
Come on Jesus, do you realize the amount of work that we put into planning this service? The choir rehearsed. I practiced my sermon this morning. Could you not at least let me get to the big but of the sermon because you know Jesus, big buts do not lie.
Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ means that God will interrupt the well-laid plans of our lives. God is in the business of disrupting what we thought we wanted or needed and reorients us toward God’s mercy and grace.
The interruption that occurred in the Capernaum synagogue was not the healing of a man with an unclean spirit. No, the interruption was the revelation that standing before the congregation was “the Holy One of God"[v] who holds authority over all corners of creation.
(Another interruption – this time to go sledding).
To become a disciple means we welcome these interruptions because we know we will be amazed by the authority Jesus commands over creation.
Not all interruptions are bad.
There will be interruptions this week, a phone call perhaps, from a soon-to-be parent calling to inform a soon-to-be grandparent that what was said to be impossible is happening.
There will be interruptions in school. Teachers calling off pop quizzes or test scores returned that were better than the students imagined.
Good interruptions interrupt the trajectory we think we are on, and move us on a path with better possible outcomes and destinations.
A diagnosis that was attached to the wrong medical record.
A promotion that seemed impossible.
An estranged family member or friend that comes home.
Interruptions by God are common in our Holy Scriptures.
Israel’s enslavement in Egypt was interrupted by God when God used Moses as an agent of divine interruption.
The assumed death of Daniel in the lion’s den, along with Shadrack, Meshack, and Abendigo’s deaths in the fiery furnace was interrupted when God intervened.
Paul’s plans to persecute the church were interrupted by Jesus when he met Paul on the Road to Damascus, knocking him off his horse and sending him out as the great evangelist.
The story of Jesus Christ is a story of interruptions. The announcement of his birth by the angel Gabriels interrupts Mary's life and her plans to be married to Joseph. The silence of Christmas night was interrupted when angels announced the birth of the Messiah to shepherds who watched their flocks by night. John the baptizer was interrupted when Jesus stepped into the Jordan River to be baptized. The lives of the first twelve disciples were interrupted when Jesus called them away from their nets and families. Jesus's sermon is interrupted by a man with an evil spirit. We can jump ahead in the gospels and see that the victory Sin and Death thought they had grasped was interrupted on Easter morning when the crucified Messiah left his burial clothes behind, and walked out of his tomb.
God’s interruptions reveal to us not only God’s grace but also the authority God holds over our lives. So, we gather, and we worship praying that God will interrupt the status quo. To become a follower of Jesus means that we can welcome these interruptions, viewing them not as inconveniences but rather as moments of grace breaking into our lives.
[i] Mark 1:22
[ii] Mark 1:24
[iii] Mark 5:1-20
[iv] Mark 1:27
[v] Mark 1:24
When God Interrupts