Saturday, July 9, 2022

Fear/Love and the Gerasene Demoniac

Homily for June 19th, 2022 
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 8:26-39


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

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