Almost, But Not Quite

Acts 19: 11-17

The Book of Acts is the book of us.

It’s how a group of semi-organized, mostly uneducated men and women, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became us.

And each incident, each miracle, each message brings to us the faith and guidance we need as we go forward from here.

Somehow, I’ve never preached on this story of the seven sons of Sceva, but as I was looking at it, I realized what a powerful message it has for us – as we write the book of us.

A little background.

The seven sons of the high priest Sceva were traveling exorcists, going from town to town exorcising demons from those held captive.

Now I should tell you that there was no Jewish high priest named Sceva. So very likely, these men were charlatans. And even if they weren’t, they were probably professional exorcists, doing their thing for the silver that would cross their palms. I guess they must had some success, or else they might have been kicked out of every city to which they came. Maybe they had been – we don’t know anything of what happened before they came to .

But here they are in Ephesus, plying their trade, and they come across this fellow named Paul who seems to be able to do some pretty amazing things in the Name of of Nazareth. So the seven sons of Sceva figured that if Paul could do such wonders in the name of Jesus, so could they.

So they come to this poor demon-possessed fellow and call on the demon: “in the Name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, come out.”

Well, the demon – he wasn’t so dumb. His reply was: “I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?” In other words: who are you to use the Name of Jesus? And the man attacked them, beat up all seven, and sent them packing, naked and humiliated.

Now, it wasn’t that the Name of Jesus was ineffective – it’s just that the seven sons of Sceva only knew of Jesus; they didn’t know Him. They only knew about Jesus (and apparently not much!) and not Him. They only had a minuscule connection to the Lord of all the universe, not a meaningful relationship.

And therein lies the message for us.

Life is about knowing Jesus, not just knowing about Him.

There are complementary concepts in mathematics – the variable and the constant.

A variable in algebra is the ‘x’ we are supposed to look for. A variable in geometry is the value of ‘y’ when the value of ‘x’ is stated. A constant, of course, is that which never varies. It’s pi (3.14 etc.) when you figure out the circumference of a circle – (pi r squared). It’s the c – the speed of light - in Einstein’s great equation: E equals mc squared.

Without a constant, mathematics becomes nothing more than a frustrating series of numbers that don’t add up.

You see, to the seven sons of Sceva, the Name of Jesus was a variable. They hadn’t used it before, but they figured that if it worked for Paul, they might as well plug it into their exorcism equation. And if it didn’t work (and boy, it did not work for them!) they would plug in some other name the next time.

The Name of Jesus is the constant in our battle with every dark thing that would bring us down, with every power that would send us wandering in the wilderness. But if that Name is just a name, a variable we try on and use, and if it doesn’t fit, we’ll try on something else, it won’t work.

The sad truth is – a lot of people who call themselves Christians, know a lot about Jesus, but they don’t know Jesus. They know of Him, but they don’t know Him. He’s an acquaintance, not the one whose relationship with them is living, breathing, pulsating. And you don’t get that relationship by going to church, reading the , putting money in the offering plate. You get it by turning yourself over, fully, with no reservations or conditions, to Him.

Every day, we need to take the spiritual temperature of our relationship with the only constant in our lives.

Otherwise, we may end up dragoned.

OK, let me explain that one.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is one of the volumes in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. In it, we meet a British schoolboy named Eustace, who has been whisked off to Narnia against his will. And he finds it a ‘beastly’ place. Only, Eustace is . He is mean, nasty, and petulant; the word ‘brat’ was coined for him. When the Dawn Treader docks at an island, Eustace gets off the boat to explore. But he gets lost in the hills, and when a sudden downpour drenches him, he seeks shelter in a cave. What he doesn’t know, though, is that it is a dragon’s cave. But there is no fire-breathing, reptilian creature there; Eustace is the dragon, covered with the scales of his actions and attitudes. After a while, the loneliness and isolation get to him, and he wants to be undragoned. So he begins to claw at his scales, one by one, until a great pile of them lay outside the cave. And he runs off to a nearby pond, only to see his reflection – he is still a dragon.

But watching him has been Aslan, the lion Lewis introduced us to in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The lion who was murdered, then resurrected, the messianic lion who, of course, represents Jesus. And Aslan tells Eustace that only he can undragon him. And he does, carefully clawing away at every scale (a painful process for Eustace, to be sure, but necessary), until Eustace stands naked next to an enormous pile of scales that represent the dragon he once was. Naked, like Adam and Eve were before they decided to eat that old apple – and look where it got them – and us! Well, the seven sons of Sceva were trying to undragon this poor possessed man, with no lion to help them. Under their own power (and it really was their own power, because Jesus wasn’t about to let His Name be used by a bunch of charlatans), they were just a bunch of pussy-cats.

And the man they tried to undragon turned his fire-breathing upon them, sending them scurrying away, naked, to be sure, but the humiliating kind of nakedness.

Jesus is the lion of Judah who undragons us, who restores us and renews us and revitalizes us, and strips us naked of our scales and lets us be new creatures.

If we know Him. Know Him. And you don’t get to know Him by sitting in church for an hour or so and then heading off to whatever is next. And you don’t get to know Him by the routines and rituals we all develop. You only get to know Him by living by and with and for Him. Otherwise, we never get undragoned.

Which leads to one last terrible thing the seven sons of Sceva did – the most terrible.

Some of you may remember that some years ago, we hosted a performance of “The of Mark,’ by the Christian actor Frank Runyeon. It is essentially a one man show in which, he, as Jesus, shares the message of Mark with the twelve disciples. To begin, he called up twelve from the audience and gave us all the names of the twelve. I was the last one up – I knew he did it on purpose – and when he got to me, he just looked for a moment, and named me .

Well, there was some laughing from the rest of the audience, and I guess I laughed, too, but it was a nervous, hollow laugh.

After all, who wants to play that part?

When the shields of the disciples were placed in our chancel years ago, no one wanted to donate the money for Judas. Would you?

Oh, and something you may not all know, but every young person I have taught in Confirmation Class knows – or should know – is that I when step in the pulpit and look straight ahead, I see Judas Iscariot, dressed in black with a noose around his neck. A bold and powerful, and yes, frightening, reminder, that if you are standing in this pulpit, you’d better be careful what you say, for as it is recorded in our memorial book by the family who did finally donate the funds for the shield of Judas, ‘in recognition of the fact that there is a little bit of Judas Iscariot in all of us.’ Even in clergy, maybe even more so.

And you see, that’s what the seven sons of Sceva were doing. Not just using a Name they really didn’t know. Not just using a Name they had no real connection with. They were betraying the Name of Jesus by hoping that the mere mention of it would somehow make them look good, would somehow add to their reputation, that they could make Him work for them. Their concern for this demon- possessed man was purely fiduciary; Jesus wanted Him free.

That stained glass representation of Judas and his blank shield loom large in our sanctuary – for a good reason. For no matter how much we know about Jesus, no matter how eloquently we might be able to preach about Him, no matter how often we offer His Name to another, without knowing Him, really knowing Him, our shields just might be blank too. What happened to the seven sons of Sceva after this? No one knows – they fade into anonymity. Never, I expect, to be heard from or maybe even seen again.

If only they had known Jesus. If only they had asked Paul who this Jesus was that he was preaching about. If only they had gotten on their knees and asked God to introduce them to the one whose Name held such power. If only……..

May our lives never be those that are filled with ‘if onlys.’ If they are, we’re getting nowhere fast.

Do you know Jesus?

Worship

November 8, 2015

Call: Litany

Assurance: Litany

Children’s Message: shields – why is one blank?

Prayer: Loving God, we turn to you in trust, seeking the way past all the emptiness and frustration we feel. We turn to you in trust, seeking the way to find new meaning for our life. We turn to you in trust, seeking the hope that will lift us from all despair. We turn to you in trust, seeking the life that counts for something more. We turn to you in trust, asking you help nus know Jesus, not just know about Him. Needs, etc.

LORD’S PRAYER