What a Story!
I tried…but there is no father’s day connection to be made!
Its so colorful and intense and scary!
Demons
Naked
Tombs
Chains
Swine
suicide
I can just see this scene in the hands of Mel Gibson?
We have been in the gospel of John for so long that it’s easy to forget that this year C
Luke’s year
From now until the feast of Christ the King at the end of November
We are back in Luke
Chapter 8
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 diptych 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
But today…we quickly learn
That the Demons do know who Jesus is…they call him by name:
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God”
Legion is in the know
These are Jewish stories
Shaped by Jewish norms…which means a couple things:
Those 1stcentury listeners knew what Opposite, opposite Galilee 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…
Waco or Wounded Knee
And the Name LEGION
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 ROMAN demons…
Yippie on all accounts!
…and, Sorry to say…there wouldn’t have been an iota of sympathy for the pigs.
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
They know him and I think they believe that they are doing well by him…considering the circumstances and all
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…in the tombs
To his family and friends this…man of the city…IS…dead
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 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 shocked and bloodied victim:
Tell me your name?
Larry
Okay Larry…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 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
Many years ago
I met a very wise 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 several 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!
It seems to me
That our ‘Man of the City’
Through Jesus’ healing
Is returned to what is truly definitive
No longer crazy-possessed-man-of-the-tombs
But
Child of God
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 wait!
The townspeople are full of fear
Now they are the ones who are possessed!
They circle their wagons
“We were comfortable with our old routine…until yo…u
“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???
And they kick Jesus on down the road!
Legion was somehow part of who they are…it seems like they preferred him the way he was???
We do that don’t we?
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---I’m not a demoniac!
Who are we?
Are we Christians…
St. Stephan-ites
Democrats…Republicans…
Well
Whoever we are
AT LEAST we aren’t like those-----fill in the blank
Describing ourselves and/or our communities by what we are and what we aren’t
Seems to happen almost by default…as a matter of habit…tis sneaky that way
But it doesn’t define
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**
(say twice)
What is definitive about who I am?
What is definitive about the Community of Stephens?
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 is setting us free---inviting us to live free of fear
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 us 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 the company of each other
we hear Gods ongoing call to live our way into our names
Why?
Because knowing that what is most powerful in the world
…actually LOVES US
Is the liberation that the world really needs!
*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
