Second Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 8
Luke 8:26-39
June 23, 2019
homily preached at First Presbyterian Church, Evansville, Indiana
Several weeks ago
When Reverend Kevin texted me about preaching today
I did what any wary itinerant preacher would do:
Before saying YES
I went straight to the lectionary
To see the text for the week
And there…I found…this vivid, colorful, weird, story
Of the Garasene Demoniac
So I texted back
Absolutely!
Absolutely!
…It’s the Garasene Demoniac!
To which YOUR pastor replied (followed by a winking emoji):
Perfect…you will find a bunch of demoniacs here!
We will see…
Today’s story is part of a diptych
A diptych is when two panels of art or two stories
Are placed side by side and hinged together
Each story sheds light on the other
My title for this ditych in Chapter 8 of Luke, is
“Two Bloodcurdling Incidents!”
the HINGE is FEAR
Just a few paragraphs ago, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat…
Jesus was asleep when a terrible storm swept in
The disciples were fearing for their lives
But Jesus dispelled the chaos…He calmed the storm
And in that scene those bewildered disciples end with this:
“Who is this, then, that commands even the winds and the water to obey him???”
At this point in Luke’s narrative…
the disciples are still trying to come to grips with who Jesus is exactly
the disciples are still trying to come to grips with who Jesus is exactly
But today…we quickly learn
THAT the demons do.
These are Jewish stories
Shaped by Jewish norms…which means a couple things:
Those 1stcentury listeners knew what Opposite meant
Gentile territory---
with pigs---
Think UNCLEAN---
The very mention of the region of the Garasenes
Called to their minds the brutal and bloody massacre of that town by Roman soldiers
The name Garasa would have had the same conjuring power as say…
Columbine, or Waco
And the Demons---with the Name LEGION
This was an obvious allusion to the Legions of the Roman Army…
This was an obvious allusion to the Legions of the Roman Army…
a legion = 6,000 soldiers
So our 1stcentury Jewish audience had a lot to cheer about
No more pigs…no more demons…a comeuppance for the Romans
Yippie on all accounts!
Sorry to say…there wouldn’t have been an iota of sympathy for the pigs or the pig-farmers.
In our story the first line that refers to “the demoniac”
Dignifies him by calling him “A man OF the city”
He is ---regardless of all else---connected to the city and her people
He is ---regardless of all else---connected to the city and her people
There is something co-dependant going on here
But from that first line the Man is known only by what possess him
What occupies him defines him…His name is LEGION
Our MAN is naked and has been that way for a long time
He is shackled and is homeless…living among the dead
To his family and friends this…man of the city…IS…dead
From time to time
His seizures were so violent that he broke free
fleeing wildly into the desert.
The scene I have painted in my mind’s eye is a Mel Gibson-esque;)
Now, your Pastor may have been kidding…
About this being a den of Demoniacs
But my guess is that at different times we have
All felt “Possessed”
And if that word is a little too loaded for our sensibilities
We might say OCCUPIED…
My guess is that at varying times we have felt powerless to break free
Of that which occupies us…heavy burdens, sadness, grief, addiction,
…pathological busyness???
If any of you have ever watched CHICAGO FIRE
Or if you’ve been a patient in a hospital
Or worked in healthcare
you will know this strategy
Sylvia Brett, she is the Indiana born EMT in the show
She comes upon the scene of the disaster
And the first thing she does is ask the bloodied almost dying victim:
Tell me your name?
Charlie
Okay Charlie…don’t worry…Hang in there…we are going to take great care of you
In the hospital, Clinical personnel are trained to do that too…
It puts people at ease…it humanizes them.
But in my hospital experience…
I Implicate myself here
Outside the patient’s room…the names quickly disappear
Things revert:
the Diabetic in Room 4
the Drug-seeker in Room 5
the Suicide in Room 6
When I was working in the hospital
I met a woman who had just earned her 3-year chip at AA
AA was very important to her well-being
But she told me how
One day
after three years of standing up and saying
Hi my name is…let’s say, Eve
Hi my name is Eve and I am an alcoholic
She found herself continuing with an addendum
Hi my name is Eve and I am an alcoholic…a Child of God
I thought about this in relation to this story
Being an alcoholic
Or a diabetic or a community volunteer or a Barista at Starbucks
These are all descriptive…and…true
But they aren’t definitive!*
CHILD OF GOD…now that’s definitive!
I’m beginning to think that we are culturally obsessed with descriptors
Maybe even…we confuse that which describes with that which defines?
We cant forget the ending of the story
This is where Luke, the Master Storyteller,
deliberately offers the hearers an opening into the story
It’s open-ended---what will happen? Will the Man go back? The the townspeople send HIM packing?
There he is
Our Man…once again…OF the Town
-Demons Gone
-Seated at the feet of Jesus (the stance of a disciple)
-Clothed
-And in possession of his right mind
This is certainly very GOOD NEWS!
But its the townspeople’s turn to be possessed
They are possessed by fear
They circle their wagons
“We were comfortable with our old routine
“we all had our roles to play
“We managed our demoniac quite well…didn’t we
“Everything was under control
“And…you never know…There’s no telling…What if it doesn’t stick???
“No way…NOT IN my backyard!
And they kick Jesus on down the road!
We do that don’t we? I certainly do.
To some degree
We come to know who we are by who we aren’t
Don’t Most families have at least a mild “black sheep”???
…well at least I’m not my sister---
So:
We here at First Presbyterian…
Or we Christians…
Or we Evansvillians or Americans
Or we Democrats…or Republicans…
AT LEAST we aren’t like those-----fill in the blank
Describing ourselves and/or our communities by what we aren’t
Is a convenient and easy default stance
But it just Doesn’t hold.
When the Demoniac was Healed…made whole…
and brought back to his identity as---Child of God
And when the townsfolk…those who defined themselves over-against him---
…When they saw him
They. Were. UNDONE.
And here I believe is the crux of the matter:
Being scared to death that what is most powerful in this world
…means to HARM US
comes far more easily
than knowing that what is most powerful in this world
…actually LOVES US**
SO
Whether we go in as the demoniac or the townsfolk
This story seems to be about identity
Who are we? Who is this Jesus? And who is this God Jesus has come to reveal?
Who are we? Who is this Jesus? And who is this God Jesus has come to reveal?
What is definitive about who I am?
What is definitive about the Community of First Presbyterian Church?
What is definitive
Not just descriptive
What is grounding and sends us forth in love
On the left side of the diptych
Jesus calmed the Chaos at sea
Showing his power over the natural world
On the right side of the diptych
Jesus expels EVEN a LEGION of Demons
Showing his power over anything that is an occupying force
And in all this
Jesus sets us free
And invites us
Over and over again
To know DEFINATIVELY who we are
Not as descriptions of our own making
Not as descriptions someone else makes of us
Not over-against what we are NOT
But DEFINATIVELY
My friends God definitively NAMES us:
God names our status as Child of God
God names our Being as IN CHRIST (to use Paul’s language)
God names us in Baptism
Sons and daughters, Beloved disciples
But all these names represent a work-in-progress
And so we gather on Sundays
To recall our names
And with the promised help of the Holy Spirit
and in company of each other
we hear Gods ongoing call to act our way into our names
Why?
Because knowing that what is most powerful in the world
…actually LOVES US
Can save the World!
Thanks be to God!
*this distiction came to mind after listening to David Lose commenting on this pericope on "sermonbrainwave" episode 122
**this insight comes from John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels, Luke Year C, p. 179
