It's not normal for me to preach on all of the Scripture readings. That's just too much and can get way too messy trying to pull things together. But for some reason this week...it felt right to touch on all of them.
We're entering into what is called "Ordinary Time" meaning that we're simply keeping time, or the weeks, of After Pentecost. From a liturgical standpoint, that means we'll be mostly reading from one or two books of the Old Testament while the Epistle and the Gospel will be more likely to be intentionally chosen. And this is Year C in our Episcopal calendar, so the Gospel lessons will be coming from Luke.
Even though this is called "ordinary time"...there ain't nothing "ordinary" or "normal" at this time in the life of the United States of America. In fact, as I am typing this, we are apparently dropping bombs on targets in Iran.
God help us...I mean it.
This sermon will post on Sunday evening...about 24 hours from now. We'll see where we're at by then.
Meanwhile...here's the sermon. See what you think.
Texts: 1 Kings 19:1-15a; Psalms 42 and 43; Galatians 3: 23-29; and Luke 8:26-39
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O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness…
These words from our opening collect
this morning have been sticking with me especially as I reviewed and thought
about our readings from First Kings…both of the Psalms…Paul’s Letter to the
Galatians and that wild story of suicidal pigs in the Gospel of Luke.
Quite the collection to sort through and
ponder!
I thought about where we’ve been in the
lectionary these past couple of weeks.
We’ve had the powerful Spirit-filled
moment of Pentecost and the unifying Wisdom of last week’s lessons for Trinity
Sunday.
Both of those were really positive and
life-affirming lessons to carry us into the week.
And now…today…it seems as if we’re
dealing with matters of fear and trouble…division…and standing up to an evil
that can’t be chained or locked away.
Tougher lessons to work with for sure.
And unfortunately…none of us has the
privilege to live in a world…somewhere over the rainbow… where our troubles
melt like lemon drops… right?
The angst…and the frustrations in our
readings might feel like an echo coming back to us from across time.
Elijah…having gotten on the wrong side
of a corrupted King Ahab and his vengeful Queen Jezebel…thinks he can run away
and hide.
Paul is not happy with what’s been
happening to the Galatian church.
Some unnamed character has been trying
to tell the new converts that they have to adopt a bunch of rules…including
circumcision…in order to be right with God.
And then there is Jesus coming
face-to-face with a demonic power that has been tormenting this poor man in
Gerasene…leaving him naked and howling…and very alone.
While all these stories are tales told
of our biblical ancestors….that sense of the enormity of the opposition to Love
may feel fresh against our modern-day backdrop of things happening both here
and abroad.
The cry of the Psalmist…”Why are you so
full of heaviness, O my soul, and why are you so disquieted within me?” might
be the best and the most real response to the nightly news these days.
That restlessness is our soulful
response to things that are not right in the world.
Yet even in the middle of what might
seem like an endless tide of doom and gloom…there is hope.
There is still that promise of the God
who does not fail us…if we can keep our hearts and minds fixed on that much
greater power of Love.
The story in Luke of the Gerasene
demoniac is a great example of the ultimate strength of Love…and Love’s ability
to overcome even a Legion of evil.
There’s a reason this demon calls itself
“Legion.”
A “legion”… for the original audience of
this Gospel…was representative of a unit of five thousand Roman soldiers…part
of the Imperial force of the day…deployed throughout the Empire and hated by the
Jewish followers of Jesus…and not loved by the Gentiles in Gerasene either.
The occupation of Legion in this man is
causing him to have fits of rage…busting chains…and behaving in ways that have
made him an outcast.
Legion recognized the power of Jesus…calling
him, “The Son of the Most High God.”
Just as a point of reference: Legion
knows who Jesus is…while those following him were still scratching their heads.
Just a few verses before this story in
the Gospel…Jesus calms the raging waters while he and the disciples are sailing
across the lake to Gerasene…leaving his friends wondering, “Who is this guy who
commands the winds and the waters to obey him?” (Luke 8:25).
Jesus not only confronts and casts out
the demonic Legion from this man…he further asserts Love’s superiority to the
Roman Empire by sending the Legion into pigs who then run off a cliff and
drown.
Pigs…and swineherds…were an important and
a vital part of the Roman agricultural economy.
Pigs were also often used in some of the
sacrifices to Roman gods.
So not only had Love gotten rid of a
bunch of demons from this one man…it had greatly disrupted the institutions of
the Empire…and proved…again…that the God who is Love will win…and prove that
Love is a better way.
In this act of exorcising Legion…Jesus
has asserted that Love will stand as a bulwark against the evils of the Empire…and
will be with those who are seeking justice…mercy…and compassion.
This sentiment is crucial for us to
remember in our times.
We don’t face demons of possession in
the same way that the Gerasene man did.
But there are other insidious forces
that want to disrupt and break the spirits of the people of God.
There are those who want us to turn on
each other… and be suspicious of each other because of our race…gender…country
of origin… orientation… or identity.
The sin of “othering” people is probably
one of our most pervasive wrongs that continues to plague humanity.
And it has been leading to deadly
consequences in society…as we have seen in Minnesota….and in less violent ways through
the denial of healthcare to trans people and the shutting down of suicide
hotlines.
“Othering” is what ends diplomacy and
starts wars.
When we “other” people…when we start
ranking some creatures of God as being more superior…we are not following
Christ or even the Scriptures.
But we are drifting away from God and into
the dystopia of a George Orwell novel.
It is the othering…the dividing and deciding
who is in and who is out…that led Saint Paul to pen his angry letter to the
Galatians…reminding them in no uncertain terms that in Christ Jesus…there are
no “others.”
In that same way…we are called upon to
stand in firm in Love.
Our Baptismal Covenant makes it
clear…that our constant task is to resist those forces of evil that seek to
turn us against one another…and when we do fall into that sin…to realize we’re
wrong…turn around and go back to the God who made us out of Love and to love.
Love for ourselves as the wonderfully
and beautifully made creatures of God.
From that centered and grounded place…we
can extend love and give respect and dignity to every human being as we strive
to make this world a place where all can live in peace.
Our scriptures today remind us that none
of the work of living into our call as Christian witnesses is easy.
But as the psalmist reminds us…put your trust in God…keep calm…keep close to that source of love…because that love is more powerful.
And THAT love will get us through to the other side of our troubles.
In the name of our One Holy and
Undivided Trinity.
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