RCL Year C - 5 Pentecost (Proper 7) - June 23, 2013

The Rev. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Trinity Church
Towson, MD

RCL Year C - 5 Pentecost (Proper 7) - June 23, 2013

Click here for the scripture readings

I wonder why it is so hard for us to proclaim our faith?  I mean, really claim it for ourselves and then share it with others around us…  Is it that we think that we will be judged or ridiculed because of what we believe?  Or is it possibly that we haven’t developed the language to be able to express the deep seated awe that we feel when we think about God and all the wonderful things that God has done for us?

 

I would like to think it was the latter…  I would like to think that we do not share our faith because we are dumb struck by the awesome and tremendous power of the loving and living God…  However, I feel it’s because we do fear that people will think we’re those weird church people, those Jesus freaks, or what our society considers to be superstitious fools.

 

There’s some truth even today to the ridicule that the prophet Isaiah tells us about when God tries to reach out to a nation that did not call God’s name…   They followed too much the devices and desires of their own heart, and they told others, “keep to yourself – I am too holy for you,” for we are the chosen people of God… 

 

That’s some of the things we encounter today, isn’t it?  We are reluctant to proclaim the love and restoration that we have experienced – that we know is from God – because of what people might think.  We are scared because it might make them uncomfortable or even angry…  

 

We don’t call out to God – at least not in public!  And we may come to worship on Sunday,  but other than that we go on into the week and follow our own devices and we keep to ourselves…  We fail to share our faith story.

 

In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus and his caravan have entered into Gentile territory.  This is the only account in Luke of Jesus being in a Gentile country.  East of the Sea of Galilee to a place called Gerasa – the country of the Gerasenes.  This is clearly NOT Jewish territory… 

 

The scripture says that it is opposite Galilee – and it is just that – opposite, both spiritually and geographically…  a place of the unclean filth that the Jews consider to be the Gentile world.  A place where pigs graze on the hillside…  A place of Roman occupation. 

 

Jesus encounters an interesting character there as soon as he gets out of the boat…  a man who is running around without any clothes on that lived in the tombs.  We don’t know who this man is...  He is thought by a colleague of mine to possibly be a roman war veteran who has been discharged and given a means of support, a portion of land, and some pigs to raise. 

 

But regardless of what he is or isn’t, the scripture tells us that on top of living in this unclean land, the man is tormented by many demons.  Tormented so much that the folks around him feel the need to restrain him with shackles and chains – Ironically the same type shackles and chains that the Romans would use when they begin to round up those who proclaim in public that they follow the way of Jesus.

 

So Jesus meets up with this man and immediately the divine power is recognized as the demon falls down and says, “what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg you, do not torment me.”  The interesting thing is that demonic forces always seem to know who Jesus is…  They call Jesus by name, and are quick to acknowledge his divine power.   In this case, they know Jesus to be the Son of the Most High God.   They may not know completely about the God of the Hebrews, but in this pagan country in their pantheon of gods, they knew of the God of Gods they referred to as the Most High God. 

 

Jesus responds and asks him very simply to him, “what is your name?”  The demons tell Jesus that their name is Legion; for many demons had entered him.  A legion is a division of Roman soldiers – at full strength, a legion could include some 6,000 men.  And Legion begged Jesus not to go back into the abyss.

 

So Jesus granted Legion permission to enter the herd of swine that was feeding on the hillside, and the herd rushed down the steep bank and was drowned in the lake.  The people that were tending the swine ran off and told others what they had seen – about this man called Jesus, whom they just saw exorcise power over the Legion of demons, and many came out to see what was going on…  They found the man who they knew to be possessed - the naked man from the tombs clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus.  And they were scared to death! 

 

Scared so much they run Jesus out of town…  and the man whom Jesus healed wanted very much to go with Jesus, but Jesus sent him home and told him to declare how much God has done for him…  and he went away proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him…

 

How come it’s so hard for us to proclaim our faith?  How come it’s so hard for us to proclaim how much Jesus has done for us?

 

We could be like the man that was tormented…  It was probably easy after living a life in anguish, naked, and in the tombs – finally being free to proclaim Jesus throughout the city.  It is often the case that the most broken that have been healed by Jesus have the most to proclaim.

 

But, instead of proclaiming Jesus, we act more like the folks in the scripture that witness the miraculous act, standing there scared to death. 

 

We recognize the power of God, and we know the healing power of Christ, but we are seized with fear…  so we drive Jesus, and religion, and deep spirituality away…  We fear that people will think we’re those church people, those Jesus freaks.  Or we think we have it all under control…  so we seek out a Jesus only when it’s convenient but day to day we follow our own devices and keep to ourselves until the world comes crashing down around us.  

 

Friends - our life and our society are in trouble – tormented and oppressed by too many demons to count…  by demons of hate, injustice, ignorance, and ambivalence…  by fear, debt, misguided anger, and self-sufficiency…  I could keep going, but we would be here all afternoon.  It is too often that we favor the demon we know over the freedom we do not yet know…  we have developed a false sense of security from the dysfunctions that we have learned how to deal with and we fear taking any action or making any change… 

 

We all have good news to share about the healing and restorative power of Jesus Christ.  And yet, we are hesitant to tell our own story.  Each and every one of us today has an individual story to tell about what awesome wonder God has done for us.  (be it big or small)  That story is important and has value – and that individual story is part of God’s greater story.

 

These stories, honored and shared bring about trust, and restoration…  healing and change…  We are bearers of the story, witnesses to the mighty acts of God…  Acts that we have experienced first-hand in our own lives…  and we have been empowered by God to share it.  God calls us all into discomfort, and challenges us to declare how much God has done for us.

 

Jesus tells the man that has just been freed from the demons to “return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.”  With those words, Jesus sent the man who was healed back into his own city, to tell everyone what happened.

 

When we go from this place today, in order to take the first step, we should do what St. Francis referred to as preach the Gospel at all times, when necessary, use words.  We should show forth within our lives, the love that we know Jesus has for us…  the love that restores the world to God through Christ Jesus Our Lord.