RonBlog

Sunday 20th June, 2010 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Sentence
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him Acts 10:38

Collect
Pour out upon us, O God, the power and wisdom of Your Spirit, so that we, who have been baptized into Christ and made Your children through faith, may know Your Son’s power to heal and, being made one in Him, may overcome all the barriers that divide us; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

Old Testament Lesson 1 Kings 19: 1 –15

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He answered, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away." Then the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.”

PSALM 42: 1 -7

As the deer longs for the running brooks: so longs my soul for You O God
My soul is thirsty for God, thirsty for the living God: when shall I come and see His face?
My tears have been my food day and night: while they ask me all the day long, ‘’Where is your God?’
As I pour out my soul by myself, I remember this: how I went into the temple of the Mighty One, into the temple of God
To the shouts and songs of thanksgiving: a multitude keeping high festival
Why are you so full of heaviness, my soul: and why so unquiet within me?
O put your trust in God: for I will praise Him yet, Who is my deliverer and my God

Epistle Galatians 3: 10 – 14 & 23 – 29

All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for "The one who is righteous will live by faith." But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, "Whoever does the works of the law will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"-- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed
Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

GOSPEL Luke 8: 26 – 39

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"-- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)
Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him.
They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.
Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

NOTES ON THE READINGS

Old Testament
So many of the stories from the Old Testament made such great Sunday School stories, but sadly much of the impact of the tales were lost on us kids, for the teachers did not really ponder them at all. Elijah was one of the first of the line of (real) prophets but he does not show up all that well in this tale. Fresh from the slaughter of the prophets of Ba’al on Mount Carmel, he had fled for his life to Sinai, his equivalent of a sacred spot. There he contemplated death or even suicide. His fear stemmed from the furious wife of Ahab who was a nastier piece of work than even her husband, the King.
However, this act of considerable cowardice became for the prophet a huge learning curve, an enormous encouragement, and the recognition of all that is important. As we learnt as kids, there is always the ‘still small voice.’ Shut up and listen to the Lord Who speaks even when you are down and out. Elijah went on to be a worthy first real prophet, though he seemed to have an anger management problem. But I bet he never forgot that still small voice.

Psalm
Here is a fascinating if sensitive exploration of the difficulty of someone trusting God in situations where it seems not to be at all easy. Pressure from outside – or even in - can be enough to create problems. However, the past experience of this person still indicates clearly that the wise and productive way to go is to continue in faith –because it is based on experience. Never be surprised if you hover between joy and strain.

Epistle
There seems to have been a long and arduous tension between ‘salvation by faith’ and ‘salvation by works’ especially amongst more evangelical Christians. I suspect that part of the problem lies in understanding what the terms really mean. The Epistle of James has some significant things to say on the subject, to balance out the realities. Sadly, ‘faith’ seems to be misunderstood rather too often, for it has been presented without solid background, in my experience.

Certainly, Paul was at pains to draw the clear distinction between those of his own previous conviction that a good Jew was shown by his adherence to the Mosaic Law, together with all the Rabbinic and others addenda ad nauseum. In other words, acting under that process, I would be in a strong position to hold myself quite apart at considerable distance from the mere hoi polloi because I was a far better person that them! And that superiority was rendered totally false because the Great Commandments were obviated. I cannot love God and my neighbour if I think that you are rubbish!
So Paul underlined the reality that yours and my acceptance by God in Christ stems not from any superiority we may or may not have, but by the grace of God.

GOSPEL
I suggest that you set aside some time to ponder all this, for the ramifications of this fascinating tale is enormous. Factor one is that this incident occurred outside Israel in Gentile territory. It is worthwhile taking time to add up the number of times Jesus exercised His ministry in non-Jewish areas, and with non-Jewish people. That was no accident, but an attempt, if you will, to get his disciples to think outside the somewhat bigotted view that God was interested only in the people of Israel. Have you ever stopped to see how many times a subject had to be raised for you, before you came to terms with the change that was called for?
Another factor is to wonder quite what this ‘demon-possession’ was really all about. A lot of nonsense has been written and said about the subject. The Biblical reality is worth pursuing especially in the light of medical and psychological advances in recent decades. Also one needs to see past ‘miracle’ to catch sight of what is really being said.
So, are you game to continue?
Here is the story of a tragic of the first order, whose insanity stemmed not from anything demonic, unless you understand that to have a human source. He was isolated and isolated himself, full of guilt and anger, certain that what he had done was his own fault and deserved the penalty of death, really. It may well have been that the approach of Jesus, as human to human, was the first time in many years that anyone had treated him as human. That is both shocking and therapeutic at the same time.
In spite of the gentle approach, the poor man was still certain that he lived under harsh judgement, and expected it to come, specifically, from Someone he understood to have connection with the Divine. Please stop and see how Jesus’ continuing response to this poor wreck of a human was in terms that would have made quite some sense to the demoniac. Exorcism in visible terms would have assured the poor man that Jesus’ healing of him would be permanent. With the death of the pigs (at some huge expense to the locals) would have shown the certainty and the finality of the man’s problems.
‘Seated at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.’ What a stunning contrast for the locals to see this man in a way most had never seen before. Small wonder that they were fearful, and wanted to see the back of Jesus. Do not think that their fear stemmed from what Jesus might do to them! It was because of what at least some of them now knew that they would have to face.

If you have had anything to do with victims of sexual abuse, you would know from what sort of ‘demons’ this man suffered. His isolation, self-mutilation and the sense of enormous guilt speak for themselves. And whilst sexual abuse may not have been a factor in Jewish culture, it certainly was in that somewhat isolated village. And even those who may have been aware of the predator(s) would also be aware of what was likely to happen to them if they interfered. It must have been a vastly tense community in which to live.
What strikes me as most interesting in this whole scenario is the final outcome to the tale. On the one hand the healed man asked to be part of Jesus’ retinue, following along as a disciple. It would have been a remarkable feather in Jesus’ cap, so to speak. Jesus’ refusal of his request may well seem rather harsh in the first instance, until you ponder what, really, ‘salvation’ is all about. Jesus’ requirement that the man stay where he was to ‘declare how much God has done for you’ was a telling – stunning! –challenge.
When that man was restored to the ordinary life of that village, both the perpetrators and the victims had to come to terms with what had caused the vast problem in the first place. So everyone in that village had to face who had done the initial damage, and those whose silence meant the scourge remained also had to face their own demons, and the man who was prime victim had to be the centre of the healing. No one in that village or area could ever be the same again. And that is ‘salvation’ in the real Biblical sense.

NOTES FOR A SERMON

Back when I was a pup, it was somewhat fashionable in Christian circles to be somewhat superior when it came to stories about healing demon-possession. It was held to be OK for back then in Biblical times, but to modern humanity it was so passé as to be ignored. Mind you, there were still those who held a far more literal view, and found all sorts of ways to bring the past into the present, and have all sorts of exorcisms, religious and otherwise. Even some movies portrayed the sinister business, giving people the thrill along with the safety of distance from the action. Later still, there have been tragedies that initiated from attempts to ‘heal’ someone possessed.

On the other hand, there are those who have understood, seems to me, rather deeper into this business of ‘demons.’ They do not see them as some sinister and irresistible force, but rather as the outcome of a persistent interference from someone close to them. Trusted people like parents and relatives have been known to inflict all manner of evil and abuse – particularly on younger people, resulting in all manner of mental and other illness and disturbance. And the more the whole ugly business is repressed, by victim or perpetrator, the greater and more lasting the damage.

I remember, with great joy, having discovered that my early searching into this incident and its impact, to find that a Christian priest and psychologist produced an article in the theological magazine that diagnosed both the illness and the cure in this incident in Jesus’ ministry, My delight has always been to find that someone else has asked the hard questions that emerged for me, and came up with answers rather more specific and precise than I could offer. In the decades since, that picture has widened and deepened, especially in the light of the emergence of the enormous and horrible evidence of constant and vicious abuse of children in this State.

In my own ministry I have spoken to many people in similar situations, who have what they all seem to call their ‘demons’ – all of which manage to flourish because, unlike Jesus, most other people simply do not want to know. Those augers well for the perpetrators, who can remain hidden along with their nefarious activities. The outcome of that hiding is that it produces even more pressure on those victimised. So the baggage goes on, across generations sometimes.

Two strong pleas emerge from this saddest of all subjects. The first is to be aware of the facts, I find it interesting that Jesus appeared to be sufficiently proactive in the story in the Gospel to have moved right out of His normal territory. One wonders whether He had heard ‘on the grapevine’ of this situation and determined to face the people concerned to bring some peace and progress to that area. Thank heaven He did, but also we need to learn from His actions.

The second, surely, is to be rather better prepared to respond to those in such dire need. In this State, our Church and others have responded with considerable seriousness to the issue, and even at great cost. One is left wondering whether this pandemic is of relatively recent emergence or whether it goes back a long way. Whatever the case, it has to be said that the further we humans move from the ancient realities of life, and distant from God, the more these aberrations are uncovered. Whilst there remain those who are most antagonistic to the very idea of God, it has to be said that the faith once delivered has very serious things to say about the genuineness and caring in our relationships with our neighbour. That relationship as neighbour, as Jesus pointed out, extends to every other human on this planet.