Sermon 31st January 2021 – 4th Sunday after Epiphany Text Mark 1:21-28 – Head to heart knowledge
So what we are seeing in this passage
is the difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. Hang on –
didn’t I just say the same thing? No. There is a difference between knowing
about someone and knowing someone and this is what we are seeing. James, in his
letter, also says the same thing:
(James 2:19) - You believe that there
is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. The difference
between knowing Jesus and knowing about Jesus is relational. I can read the
bible from cover to cover and recite facts and figures and quote this passage
and that passage – but that is not relational; That is head knowledge rather
than heart knowledge. Heart knowledge is when we don’t just know about Jesus
but are able to confess that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour and that I
trust him with my life and soul. This is when Jesus doesn’t just become a
compartment of my life along with many other things but he is my very being and
existence. Remember a couple weeks ago when Paul said – do you not know that
your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
God is not meant to be another thing
that we fit into our lives but our very life. Because the problem when God is
something we fit into our lives – when our lives get squeezed – we can often
squeeze God out of our lives. And that’s when we might know ABOUT God but no
know God in our hearts. Peter is again a good example to show both at work. When
Peter is asked who do “people” say I am he gives a list: “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You
are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you
for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in
heaven.
But look how quick Peter’s “heart”
knowledge resorts to his head knowledge when Jesus says: that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests
and the teachers of the law, and that he
must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and
began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” But
Jesus then turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling
block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human
concerns.”
Notice the difference – with his
heart knowledge he knows Jesus as his Lord and Saviour – you are the Messiah,
the Son of the living God. But sadly when he faces danger he reverts to his
head knowledge that only knows “about” Jesus – fuelled by his “merely human
concerns”. And that’s where the rubber hits the road when it comes to our faith
– when we face difficulties and uncertainty and our natural instinct is to
protect ourselves. As Luther said in his Large Catechism – whatever you run to
in time of danger – that is your God.
St Paul made the same distinction in
our 2nd reading where he says: Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
Head knowledge compared to heart
knowledge.
Anyone who claims to know something
does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by
him. And there’s an important distinction; Head knowledge knows about God.
But heart knowledge is where we are
known by God.
So faith is more than just knowing
about God – knowing about Jesus. Faith is being in a relationship with God
through his Son Jesus Christ. It is confessing Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Saviour and not just a head knowledge of Jesus. Because head knowledge won’t
sustain you when your back is against the wall and you face uncertainty. When
you cannot see a way through your situation and you don’t turn to your own
strength but to God as the Book of Hebrews says: Now faith is confidence in
what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. And it talks about
several Old Testament people distinguishing between head knowledge and heart
knowledge:
By faith Abel brought God a better offering
than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of
his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith
Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: By faith
Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save
his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the
righteousness that is in keeping with faith. By faith Abraham, when called to
go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even
though he did not know where he was going.
You see there – faith is not about
knowing God but trusting God and that’s the difference between the confession
of knowledge of the unclean spirit in today’s Gospel and the confession of
Peter of Jesus as the Messiah. God wants to be in a relationship with you. He
doesn’t care if you can’t recite chapter and verse from the Bible. He just
wants to be in a relationship with you and for you to call on him in time of
trouble and as we read in several places in the New Testament; Everyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
May God grant this to us all and the
peace of God that surpasses all our understanding watch over your hearts now
and always. Amen.
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