Pentecost 2C - Sunday, June 23, 2019

Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY

Br. Josép Reinaldo Martínez-Cubero, OHC
Pentecost 2C - Sunday, June 23, 2019

Isaiah 65:1-9
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39

Click here for an audio version of the sermon.

It is generally agreed upon that the original version of the gospel lesson this morning is in the Gospel according to Mark. In Mark’s Gospel, it is part of a series of stories in which Jesus moves back and forth between Jewish and non-Jewish communities, foreshadowing that the gospel would eventually break through barriers of, in Saint Paul’s words, “Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female”, and would offer good news of salvation to all of God’s people. In our gospel story this morning, Jesus and his friends have crossed the Sea of Galilee into the country of the Gerasenes, a territory occupied by Gentiles.

Jesus is met immediately by a demon-possessed man.  The man is identified as a "man of the city," and is on the margins of society. He is naked, in other words, completely exposed, and has no home but lives in the tombs, in other words, he is as good as dead for the people of the city. The people of the region have tried to keep him in chains, to bring him under control, but have not been successful. He is a problem! When he sees Jesus, this man throws himself on the ground in a posture that seems as of one begging for help while at the same time howling in protest. The literal translation is "What to me and to you, Jesus, son of the Most High God?"  The expression means something like "leave me alone!" Have you ever been met with a “leave me alone” that clearly sounds like a cry for help? I have, more than several times in my life. By the grace of God, in some of those occasions, when appropriate, I have been able to say: “No way will I leave you alone.” For me it has been a way of paying it forward because you see, there have been times in my life when I, too, have shouted, “Leave me alone!” and it has been a cry for help. And by the grace of God there have been incredible people in my life who have refused to leave me alone.

“Jesus then asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He said, ‘Legion;’ for many demons had entered him.” The usage of the word translated as Legion in this passage refers to something very specific. The country of the Gerasenes was the location of a Jewish revolt in 67 A.D. that was brutally put down by a Roman Army of close to 6,000 soldiers. One thousand Jewish rebels who had been besieged in that region were slaughtered. The gospel writer identifies Roman military oppression with the demons that possess this man. So when this man says that he is Legion, he is saying that a massive mob of demonic power has seized him.  He has been overwhelmed, overrun, fragmented. Have you ever felt like your life has been broken into 6,000 pieces? Have you ever looked in the mirror and said: “Who are you? I don’t recognize you.” Has your head ever been filled with conflicting thoughts and voices? Have you ever lost your bearings, suddenly no longer knowing what your life is about? Have you ever wondered if you are going crazy? We have all experienced times of isolation and loneliness when perhaps our dreams and hopes have been shattered, or our marriage or very significant relationship has ended, or the death of a loved one, or the challenges and pains of aging, or perhaps our faith and beliefs have been turned upside down. I would bet many of us in this room could think of a time when we felt we were losing the self we knew.

Jesus asks the man his name because the first step in getting rid of the demons that enslave us is to be able to name them. The man calls himself Legion but that is not his true name. That is not who he is. It is, rather, what has become of him. And he has been dispossessed of his humanity, an alien to the town. And why? Well because there always has to be a scapegoat. There’s always the one to whom the group points the finger and says: “Oh, she is such a mess!” “We don’t want him here. He is crazy. Let him self-destruct somewhere else.” “She is nothing but trouble.” But it never fails! The person to whom we point the finger is holding a mirror in front of us, and revealing something to us we are trying very hard not to know.

In this brilliant story Jesus redirects the demons from the possessed man to the herd of swine that ran down to the lake and drowned. For the Jewish culture of the time pigs were unclean. The point, however, is that, the demons are gone! And what happens when the demons of a scapegoat are gone, and the scapegoat is functioning in a healthy way? Well, those who were pointing the finger are going to have to change or their own demons are going to start showing up really fast! When the people of the city hear what has happened, they go to Jesus and find the man "from whom demons had gone out sitting, clothed and in right mind, at the feet of Jesus. And they were afraid.” The man who had been identified as naked, living in the tombs, out of control, without a home is, by the end of the story, clothed and in his right mind, no longer out of control, and now being taught by Jesus. He has been saved. And what are the implications of this event for the people in the town? You see, the way it works is that, they all had a part in the problem.

The assurance of the Gospel is that, Christ comes to the Legion of our lives. He did for the man in today’s Gospel, and he does for each and everyone of us. Christ comes before us with a truth that challenges us at the places in which our lives have become fragmented and distorted. Christ comes before us with a truth that challenges us when we are not true to ourselves. Christ comes before us with a truth that challenges us at the times when our identity has been lost and shattered. Christ comes before us as the one with inner clarity, focus, and understanding. Christ comes before us as the presence of wholeness, and integration. Christ comes before us as the image of who we truly are. Christ comes before us revealing the original beauty of our creation. Christ comes before us, yes, but we have to be able to name our demons, because Christ ain’t codependent.

Jesus comes to the man seeing and knowing a truth about him that the man can neither see nor know for himself. How can he? He has been convinced that his name is Legion. But, Legion is never our ultimate reality or true identity. Yes, we may know what it is like to be Legion. We can tell that story. For every story about Legion, however, there is a counter story that shows us who we really are, our true self, and that’s the story Jesus wants told. “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” ¡Que así sea en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo! ~Amen+