They were astounded at his teaching, for Jesus taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 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.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ Mark 1:22-25

Jesus spoke with authority.

It is a little dangerous to leave this undefined. It can be different things to different people. An authoritative figure can mean someone who is knowledgable and reliable to guide us. At the same, it could mean someone who is a tyrant and demeaning. Once I read this very passage with a homeless youth and he was confused. He asked if Jesus was like the police. Unfortunately, in the streets, the police establish their authority through violence and intimidation. It is not just the police but society in general also does this. Well, it is the way of the world. Wars present and past are about establishing one’s authority over another one. Violence and authority are often indistinguishable.

Jesus acted with authority but it was unlike that of the scribes. These people are the ones who were supposed to define the proper and right behavior of the people according to God’s Law. In other words, they were the ethical teachers of that time. They knew their stuff but it lacked authority. Knowing something does not suffice.

Before proceeding, there is an important question to consider; what is the purpose of authority or rather, what role does it play in our lives? It seems like we, as humans, need someone to guide us. Even the most independent person has someone as their guide in life. We need someone to trust and guide us. Trust is voluntary. No one can force us to trust but we can be forced to obey. This is the problem. The scribes had authority. They demanded trust but, most likely, the people just obeyed them. It is probable that this was achieved through social pressure and manipulation, something which is still very present in contemporary religious practice, unfortunately. Jesus was different. There was no pressure nor social manipulation. The people heard him and trusted him with their lives. The scribes were trained in the scriptures but their words did not inspire Life in the people. The people heard Jesus say the same words but something stirred within their souls. These words brought forth healing and life in their souls and also exposed the agents of death in their midst.

In the gospels, these agents are sometimes identified as demons.

Most of us live in a world where demons do not play a crucial role in our daily life. Therefore, our minds might be tempted to ignore this gospel passage or not give it too much attention. However, demons do exist. Perhaps not in the caricatural manner in which they have been frequently presented. We need to interpret demons in a manner relevant to our daily spiritual life. The demonic manifestations recorded in the gospels today can be defined as mental illness in some cases and epileptic episodes in others. Back then, medical science was in its primitive state. It is understandable why anyone would define these symptoms as demonic attacks. We have seen many epileptic episodes in the streets. It did seem like the person’s body was taken over by something strange. However, medical knowledge has advanced since then and it has given us different names and medications to address these conditions. Perhaps, indirectly it has helped us to discern true demonic presence in our midst.

What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15:18-19

Demonic manifestations come from within us. They are words and thoughts which not only inspire but result in death producing actions. They also seek to contaminate the people around to adopt these destructive attitudes. Even in the passage in the gospel reading, the demons, despite confessing the Lordship of Jesus, tried to entice him to destroy them just like they destroyed everything in their path. They wanted to reduce Jesus to be just like them. Our Lord refused to succumb to their temptation. Instead He demanded their silence and ordered them to abandon their death inducing activities. If He was of this world, He would destroyed them because this world only knows one form of authority. Jesus is the Savior, in other words, He is a Healing presence and refuses to destroy even those who are perceived as deserving of destruction such as the demons.

The scribes were just like the rest of the world. All their knowledge and spiritual wisdom did not inform them how to act differently in society. They had authority in their community but it wasn’t a life giving one. Jesus was different and He is the One whom we need to follow. After all, if we say that we worship Him, then the highest form of worship is imitation. This then beckons the question on how can we live out the kind of authority Jesus manifested. It is not something we can learn from a book. It is not something we can gain through our actions. We can only receive this through His grace. The only thing we can do is to be open and available to the Holy Spirit to bestow this authority in our lives.

I always wanted to share this story about one of the most unlikeable boys in the streets. I don’t want to create any expectation that he eventually became our favorite boy. This never happened so there is no traditional happy ending here. I will say that he became slightly less unlikeable. However, through him we learned an important lesson.

His name is Davi just like the Psalmist King in the Old Testament but without the charm and poetry. He always was an antagonistic boy and never really respected us. We never had any falling out with him. He was just an aggressive and difficult boy. One day we were coloring with the other teens and he asked if he could join us. Naturally, we welcomed his participation. He took a page from our book and ripped it off. Then he proceeded to do the same with other books. I stopped him and asked him what he was doing. He did not respond and continued destroying our books. Of course, we stopped him by taking away the book. My mind ran through a series of actions which would teach this young boy a lesson or two on who is in-charge. The only reason I did not act on them is because I am an older person and should act according to my age. The thing which made me really angry is that we were having a rarer peaceful moment with the teens before he joined us.

All the other teens were a little shocked by his utter disrespect and they left without creating a scene. The whole incident disturbed us and increased our dislike for this boy more. Thankfully the following day he was gone and we did not see him for weeks. However, he left a bad taste in my mouth. I sensed bitterness building up in my heart towards him whenever I thought about him. A few weeks later, he returned. We were doing the same activity and he wanted to join us. We were quite weary but decided to give him a chance. This time, he sat down and said that he had acted very disrespectfully towards us and he didn’t know why. He asked for our forgiveness. We did not expect this from him. In a way, it melted our hearts and took away all ill feelings towards him. I told him that we forgave him and thanked him for having the courage to ask for forgiveness. He shook our hands and said that he wasn’t in the mood to color but he really just wanted our forgiveness. We did not see him after that time. However, after some time, I got a friend request from him on Facebook. I did think twice before accepting it.

Demons slipped into Davi’s life since he was young. He has always lived according to their bidding. However, something happened that day, not just in his life but in all of us including the teens who were with us. We saw how God can move and bring Life into the most hardened hearts. At first, Davi rejected Life and then he decided to open his heart to it. He is far from being a saint but he has shown us that he is not beyond the grasp of Divine Love. We were invited by the Holy Spirit to participate in this process through the simple act of forgiveness which is the most precious fruit of Love. It is the principal way we can open and avail ourselves to do what God is doing in this world. It is the way we can recognize His authority in this world. This age seeks to repay an eye for eye. Our Lord seeks to heal and restore and the very first step is forgiveness. If we cannot forgive, then we will never understand the authority which Jesus has in this world. Then we can never be open and available in this world to reveal the true nature of Jesus’ authority. It is not easy but nothing good is.

Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’ John 1:49-51

Every day for past few months, we walk past a homeless adult living in a little makeshift tent-like structure made out of plywood scraps. Ironically, it sits opposite the entrance of an expensive hotel for business executives. We never actually saw the homeless person initially, only his two intimidating looking dogs with a lot of Rottweiler in them. One day we happened to walk by when he was out and about. As we passed him, he remarked that he couldn’t believe that we are still around after all these years. At first, we were little puzzled. Then almost Immediately a name popped into my mind and I hollered out, “Clayton!” I was a little embarrassed for my overtly enthusiastic outburst. I was actually more impressed with myself that I still remembered his name after 27 years. His face bears the harshness of time. However, his smile recalls the young boy we first met when we ourselves were much younger.

My memories of him are a little vague. I remember that he was part of a group of boys who lived in a manhole. Back then, the homeless children and youth lived lived in whatever hole or tiny abandoned space they could find in the streets. Unfortunately, not much has changed since then. On several occasions he invited me to visit his underground home. I remembered contemplating doing it. I must have been much more adventurous or maybe extremely curious back then. However, when I saw the dark tunnel without any ventilation, visions of unknown critters and strange smells made me change my mind. Besides his strange abode, I don’t have vivid memories of him. Nevertheless, I remembered him being always happy to see us for no apparent reason.

He is 40 now. The first thing he wanted us to know is that he will never forget our love and affection. The truth of the matter is that we represent something symbolic for him. I am not underplaying our role here. There were streams of people over the years who showered love and concern for the homeless children even though a major part of society ignores them. It is not humility but a fact. Furthermore, it is important for us, as followers of Christ, to know that God is always actively involved in the lives of these little ones. Moreover, it is essential to recognize that the Holy Spirit is not restricted to those who profess the faith. He uses anyone who is available. Many times His instruments of Love do not realize that they are His instruments. Many of these people are not around anymore. It is apparent that Clayton needed someone concrete to show his gratitude. We just happened to be the privileged ones and he made our day.

On another occasion, some acquaintances, who gave us a ride home in their car, drove by Clayton’s tent. I took the opportunity to share about our chance reconnection. For us, it was a happy encounter. However, it was obvious that our acquaintances had a hard time appreciating our joy. It was not a success story. Clayton is still homeless and has never found a way out of it. It was difficult for them to look beyond the overwhelmingly sad and tragic situation to partake in our joy. I understand their sentiments. There is nothing positive nor romantic about homelessness. It is indeed a tragedy and sign of utter failure and hopelessness. Perhaps this is why many avoid the homeless. They reveal an uncomfortable truth. We live in a fragmented world. Some may create an illusionary existence to help them ignore this fact. Our homeless children and youths were never given the luxury to participate in this illusion. Therefore, they have become outsiders who remind the world of this uncomfortable truth. We used to think that our primary task or ministry was to help these young people become insiders. We were part of society. We participate in its illusions, too. Naturally, we thought that everyone needs to be part of it to enjoy the gospel to the fullest. However, we forget John the Baptist was an outsider. Our Lord made special efforts to be an outsider. He refused many times to be a prominent insider because abundant life is not dependent on making this fragmented world better.

The very first lesson our children learned from this world is that it did not want them. They were not given any part in society. Their families had such heavy burdens to carry that they could not afford to prove them otherwise. They had no sense of personhood.
Their journey to the streets was their final attempt to discover their identity and individuality. Their relationships and experiences in the streets helped them develop who they are as individuals. In other words, homelessness is an integral part of their personhood. They don’t know how to be somebody outside this environment. It is quite tragic but it is reality. However, it is not a problem peculiar to our homeless youth. Most of us perambulate up and down in our social circles in search of our identity too. We develop our identity within our limited social circles. At the same time, we are also constantly aware how fragile these circles are and how easy it is for us to lose our space in them. Some times we shudder to think what would become of us if we were lose everything which guarantees our identity. In the same way, our children are afraid that they might lose something integral to their identity if they leave the streets.

We don’t remember much about Clayton because we were trying to solve his problems instead of recognizing that he is an individual with thoughts, faith and even a personal philosophy of life. In other words, in our attempts to help him, he became a mere object of our project. Consequently, we became part of the problem. The whole reason he took refuge in homelessness was to discover his personhood. We failed to comprehend this because we associate homelessness with utter anonymity. However, the truth is that they were already anonymous before they became homeless. In this way, children and those who spent their infancy in the streets are different from homeless adults. These resign to a state of anonymity where as our children escape to the streets in search for their identity. Not all homeless are the same.

In the past, we were physically present in the streets but our minds was elsewhere. We were busy trying to solve problems beyond our capacity. Besides, Clayton did not ask us to resolve anything. He just wanted someone to recognize that he is a person. It is not merely knowing his name. He wants to be someone whom others enjoy being around. This is really what all of us desire. We want our presence in this world to be appreciated by someone. We want people to know that we have something significant to say about the important things in life. Perhaps society might not think that the homeless have anything relevant to say. In a way, this might be true. The way society defines success, it excludes the homeless from the conversation. However, as followers of Christ, we have different topics of conversation. Clayton, like most of our children and youth, has a strong faith. It may not be a perfect one but none of us have this. Despite all the hardship and miseries they have suffered in life, they are convinced that God has never abandoned them. They have something to share with us which will enrich our spirituality.

Even though, we were busy focusing on the problem, something in our souls made us obey the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Clayton knew that we liked him as a person. He remembered us as such. Now, we have the opportunity to know him more profoundly. Every day we pass by to see if he is there. During the day, he goes around looking for recyclable products and sells them at a junk yard. He survives by doing this. Whenever we walk by, he always smiles and waves at us. The gracious Spirit has given us another opportunity to see Clayton as a person; someone whose faith has helped him make sense of the world in which he lives. He has an understanding of the love and providence of God that perhaps we would not comprehend. He has something precious to share with us just as much as we have something to share with him. It is not about solving problems but recognizing that we have something wonderful and special to give to each other because our God is gracious and powerful to do miracles in all circumstances and situations.