Proper 7C RCL
Luke 8:26-39
Jesus and his
disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long
time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice,
"What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you,
do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come
out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and
bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by
the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?"
He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him
not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of
swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he
gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the
swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened,
they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out
to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from
whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right
mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had
been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the
surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were
seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom
the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away,
saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for
you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had
done for him.
One of the things that strikes me
about our Gospel reading today as well as the one last week is something that
Dean Baker from Trinity cathedral said at the Integrity Eucharist in the park
last week. And that is that both today
and with the unclean women last week that Jesus sees the person. In last weeks gospel Jesus sees the women for
who she is and not for what she had done in her past. This week Jesus sees the humanity that is
being masked by the demonic force in the young man. The townspeople no longer saw the young man
but only saw his demons. They were so
afraid of the demons that the chained the young man up in the graveyard. They put him among the dead for he surely was
dead to the rest of society. Jesus arrives
and goes to the possessed man and, like an earlier story of exorcism in Luke,
the inhabiting unclean spirit recognizes Jesus and the demons ask what Jesus is
going to do to them. Jesus goes against
societal norms and instead of shunning the unclean he heals the tormented
soul. Jesus sees the humanity that still
is there – unlike the rest of the people who have encountered the unclean he
does not shun but touches and heals. Jesus
restores the humanity that others fail to even recognize anymore.
What does this story say to us
today? After all most of society does
not recognize actual demonic possession anymore. But there are certainly demons that can and
do inhabit us today. Today we frequently
call the demons mental illness. We come
up with psychological diagnoses and chemical treatments to try and control the
underlying imbalance that science has determined leads to some mental
illness. The ability to control chemical
imbalances is fine as far as it goes but Jesus calls us to do more. Jesus calls us to see the person behind the
disease. Jesus calls us to touch and
care for those whom society would just as soon chain in the cemetery like the
community did to the demonic in our Gospel reading. . Jesus calls us, as his disciples, to see the
human and not the disease. To see God’s
holy creation.
The first week of June I had the
privilege of participating in an event that truly does see the person and not
the disease. The first week of June was
AIDS Lifecycle 12. The amazing bike-ride
from San Francisco to Los Angeles over seven days that raises money for the San
Francisco AIDS Foundation and for the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Centers AIDS
treatment and prevention services. The
ride this year broke records. It was the
20th year that people have ridden their bikes 545 miles to raise
money and to support each other. But the
ride is more than a ride – as I have observed for 13 years now. The ride creates a wonderful supportive
community that sees the individuals as beloved children of God and as good. It doesn’t matter their HIV status, their
sexual orientation, their race, their gender or gender expression. All are cared for by each other and the wonderful
volunteer roadies – as the crew is called- and staff on the ride.
This year the ride raised a record
breaking $14.2 million! In the 20 years
of the rides existence it has raised an amazing $182.5 million. This year another milestone was reached as
the ride calculated that over 20 million miles have been ridden to date to
raise money and awareness of a pandemic that is still all to prevalent in the
world. A disease that has, in some ways become invisible to the vast
majority. But it is still a terrible
pandemic.
In California:
·
An estimated 117,213 people are living with HIV and 72,496 are living
with AIDS.
·
In 2010, more new AIDS diagnoses were made in California than any other
state: 4, 243, or 12.6% of all new diagnoses in the U.S.
In the United States:
·
1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.
·
Close to one-fifth of those infected with HIV doesn’t know it.
·
New infections among young gay and bisexual men (ages 13–24) increased
by 22% between 2008 and 2010, the most significant increase of any age group.
·
Racial and ethnic minorities have been disproportionately affected by
HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic and represent the majority of new
AIDS diagnoses, new HIV infections, people living with HIV/AIDS, and AIDS
deaths.
In the world:
·
Approximately 34 million people are living with HIV and nearly 30
million have died of AIDS-related causes since the beginning of the epidemic.
·
About half of new HIV infections are among those under age 25.
·
HIV is a leading cause of death worldwide and the number-one cause of
death in Africa. (www.aidslifecycle.org/about/press-room/press-kit/alc2013-press-kit.pdf)
This year there where 2203 riders
and over 500 Roadies. The oldest rider
was 82 and the oldest Roadie was 83. The
youngest rider was 19 and the youngest roadie was 18. While the ride is impressive in its
statistics – and I could give you some impressive numbers for the amount of
food, water and porta-potties that it takes to create this event – it is more
than just numbers. It is truly about the
cohesive community that is created from the diverse community that comes
together.
This year was a different for
me. I did not participate in the entire
week. I only participated in orientation
and ride-out and pack-up on day one before coming back up to Sacramento so that
I could attend the pre-ordination retreat Monday through Wednesday at Mercy
Center Auburn with the Bishop, the Archdeacon Cookie Clark and eight other
diaconal ordinands. The Bishop gathered
those of us being ordained as transitional and vocational deacons together to
reflect on the ministry of a deacon.
After the retreat I got up early on Thursday morning and drove to Lompoc
to rejoin the ride. It was quite a treat
to rejoin the ride on Red Dress day! I then participated in Days 5, 6 and 7 of
the ride
In some ways the pre-ordination
retreat helped focus my participation on the parts of the ride I was able to be
part of. The pre-ordination retreat
asked me, and the other ordinands, to
reflect on the promises that I will make at ordination. Among the promises that a deacon makes is
to “…look for Christ in all others, being ready to help and serve
those in need. And… in all things seek
not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ? (BCP 544)” When I rejoined the ride I certainly
recognized that what happens over and over again on the AIDS ride is true
diaconal service. The riders, roadies
and staff all are ready to serve those in need.
There are examples of selfless giving that happen all over the place
from people cheering the riders up steep hills to helping change a flat tire or
perhaps most importantly to truly seeing and loving each other as Jesus calls
us to love each other. And I have yet to
run across anyone in my 13 years of participation that does this for their own
glory. Sure there is a sense of
accomplishment when riding at making it up quadbuster – or completing any of
the days rides – not to mention the sheer joy of riding into Los Angeles. There is a similar sense of accomplishment
for the Roadies when we complete our day and see the sea of bikes parked in
bike parking and hear the laughter and joy ringing through camp. The motivation of the riders and the crew is
to make a difference in peoples lives – both in the lives of people we know
with HIV/AIDS and for those we will never meet and for those who will never get
the disease due to the education and outreach into at-risk communities that is
funded on account of the ride. It is in
giving life to people who thought they had lost their lives. Each year I encounter people who are
literally in tears of Joy because for at least one week a year they are part of
a community that sees them. That does
not see HIV status, sexual orientation, or physical ability but sees a
wonderful child of God. For my part this
ride was truly one of diaconal service.
After the ride the logistic director posted an excerpt from
an e-mail that came across her desk. It
read “'AIDS/LifeCycle literally saved
my life ... I never really told anyone how I felt I was just losing steam,
energy and the desire to keep moving forward in my life ... The Lifecycle
changed that. After doing this ride I feel like I can do anything ... ' That is why many of us keep coming back over
and over again. The ride saves
lives. The ride casts out demons just as
Jesus cast out the legion of demons inhabiting the young man in our Gospel
story.
As we go about our lives in our communities
let us strive to see the beloved child of God in each person we encounter. To assist each other and especially those in
need to cast off our demons rather than to figuratively chain them up in
societies’ graveyard. Let us strive to
live into our baptismal covenants to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as
ourselves” and “to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect
the dignity of every human being” (BCP 305) And there is no escape clause in
our Baptismal promises. We are to love
all of our neighbors…even, and perhaps especially, those who do not look or act
like us. Amen.
