Sermon for June 19, 2016
Proper 7C - RCL
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.
There is a
lot of things about our gospel reading that just don’t make sense. It is one of those stories that seem
strange. One of the questions that come
up is “Why did Jesus go across the lake?”
We missed the
earlier part in the journey while Jesus was on the lake. While on the lake a storm comes up and nearly
sinks the boat – and the disciples – afraid for their lives wake up Jesus. Yes Jesus was sleeping through a violent
storm. And when they wake him he calms
the see – one translation says that Jesus “rebuked the wind and the raging
waves”. And this action left the
disciples wondering “who is this Rabbi?” The very wind and waves respond to his
commands.
So why are
they going across the lake from the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee to the
gentile side? They are going from a
place of relatively safety and ritual cleanliness to a place where they are
more likely to encounter situations that would leave them un-clean and unable
to go to temple. You see the Gentiles
would not be following Jewish purity laws and dietary laws. It will take a lot more work to keep ritually
clean.
Perhaps Jesus
wanted to go the Gentile side so that he could get some rest. He has been healing people and casting out
demons. He has been drawing a crowd
wherever he goes. And – from his
sleeping through a storm – we can guess he is tired. So perhaps he went someplace to escape the
Jewish crowds who have been flocking to this itinerate Rabbi.
When they get
to the other side of the lake they are not greeted by a welcoming
committee. They are greeted by someone
very unclean. They are greeted by a
possessed man who the townspeople have tried to chain up only for him to break
his chains. And he is naked and living
in the place of the dead – in a cemetery.
For his family and the townspeople it is the right place for him to
be. For the man they knew is possessed
by demons and may as well be dead.
Unfortunately
in our own society families sometimes act as if a member was dead. This happens still all to frequently with
gay, lesbian, transgendered and queer youth.
They are thrown out onto the streets.
They are thrown into a situation with few skills and little to survive
on. They are frequently exploited and
many end up on drugs or alcohol to escape.
They end up with many demons inhabiting them just as the man in the
cemetery.
When Jesus
and the disciples are accosted by this man the demons recognize Jesus and are
afraid that they will be thrown out. It
is interesting that Jesus allows the demons to negotiate with him to not be
cast into outer darkness but to instead enter the pigs that are nearby. And Jesus agrees to let them go into the pigs
– where upon his command they leave the young naked man and enter the
pigs. And the poor pigs cannot take the
demons and throw themselves into the sea and drown.
And in the
very next scene we find the young man sitting by Jesus – miraculously clothed
and conversing. The cured man wants to
follow Jesus but instead Jesus gives back the man who was dead to his family– Jesus
in a resurrection like act gives the dead back to the living.
I have been
amazed at the reaction I get when I actually treat someone who is on the street
– sometimes possessed with a legion of demons – with respect. On Wednesday during the midweek service at
St. Paul’s I offered communion to a man who respectfully was sitting in the
service and participating by reading the responses. When I approached him he said “I am not
worthy to receive”. And my response was
that I was not to judge and that in God’s eyes all of his children are
worthy. After all he had recited the
confession with us. His eyes cleared and
he took communion – in a way that told me that at one time he was a churched
person.
I don’t know
what put this man on the street. I don’t
know his particular demons. I do know
that he sought refuge – if only for an hour – in a church. I do know that he knew the service well
enough to participate. I do know that
God can do amazing and healing things with people that we think and treat as
unclean.
Our Gospel
story tells me that God will pursue us anywhere to offer God’s
Love. God’s love is not just found in the church. God’s love can be found in surprising
places.
And sometime
evil tries to pervert the places where God’s love finds us.
That is what
happened last Sunday. A man full of evil
and possessed by demons entered into a place of friendship, fellowship and dare
I say God’s love. Last Sunday Omar
Mateen entered into the gay nightclub Pulse on “Latino night” and opened fire
killing 49 people and injuring many more before he himself was killed. We do not know the demons that drove this man
– in the name of God – to open fire. I
do know that it was not God that drove him to do this. But is was evil.
And the
church is called to not only pray for the 49 people killed and for those
wounded. We are called to pray for the
soul of the one that was infected with evil too. We are called to pray for the shooter.
I know this
in not easy. I am not even sure exactly
what I should say about the shooter.
Perhaps only say to God “Oh God - Only you know how to reach into the grave and
heal the shooter from the evil that infected his heart.”
That is the
same prayer I have for the Baptist pastor who praised the shooting here in
Sacramento. I pray that god will enter
into his hard heart and show him that God loves all of God’s creation and
desires nothing more than to show that love.
Praising the slaughter of innocent people and calling for the execution
of an entire class of people is not Christian.
It is evil.
God doesn’t
call for the death penalty for people who love.
God sent Jesus to remind us and to show us how to live a life where we
love our enemies. God crosses the river
and calms the storm to find us in the cemetery.
God goes all the way to hell to find us and to offer to cast out our
demons. God goes to the very places we
call unclean to find love and bring back from the dead those who society treats
as unclean and dead.
In a moment
we are going to pray a litany for those who have been killed in violence. We are going to light candles to remember
that in God’s eyes their light has not been extinguished. We are going to light candles as a reminder
that in the darkness that can inhabit human souls there is a light shining that
will – if we only let it – cast out the darkness.
We will
remember the 49 people who where killed by name. And we will be invited to remember all of those
who have had their lives taken as a consequence of violence. And yes e will remember the shooter Omar too.
Our Gospel
story gives me hope. Hope that no matter
where we go God is pursuing us. God
desires to throw out the demons that inhabit our souls. God desires to give us life – an abundant
eternal life.
And even when
I don’t know what to say or how to pray I know that God is there listening. God is there to comfort and heal us. And we are called as followers of this Jesus –
the crazy Rabbi who was willing to cross the sea in a storm – only to be
greeted by a man possessed by many demons.
A man whose reaction was not one of scorn but who healed him.
We are called to offer that healing love to
all whom we meet. Even – and perhaps
especially when we think that it will make us unclean!
