Sermon 22nd June 2025 – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost
Text Luke 8:26-39 –
Tormented
What a sad story we have in
our Gospel reading. The account of the demon possessed man known as “Legion”. This
was a man whose community could no longer care for him. Their solution: He was
kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles. He lived in the cemetery
until he was able to break the chains and shackles when he would then flee into
the wilderness rather than return home only to be tormented again. The same
wilderness that Jesus was very experienced with when he was tempted by Satan. He
wore no clothes – whether that was because he ripped them off or perhaps that
was how they sent him – we don’t know. Jesus arrives at the Gerasenes where
this man lived and when he sees Jesus he naturally feels that Jesus will treat
him just as everyone else did. What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the
Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.
Sadly there are many people
in society today who probably feel like this. Those that society forgets. Those
who don’t fit in.
Those that live on the
outer. And I’m not just talking about the ones we usually put into that
pigeonhole. The addicts – why bother helping them – they’ve made their choice. The
criminals – leave them in jail where they belong. The homeless – they could get
a job if they tried like all of us. But there are many who look okay – who look
like they are coping – who look as if everything is under control – but inside
are tormented. Maybe you’ve felt like that tormented man. Like you don’t fit
in.
Like everyone else is fine
but you’re not. Yes we can all put on a well presented front like everything is
okay – but beneath the façade of our neat and tidy appearance dwells a person
locked in chains and shackles wanting to escape where no one can see you, And
maybe your experience of God is like this man whenever you come to God in
prayer – please do not torment me. I know I am a sinner – I don’t need to be
tormented again and again. Maybe you feel that God is more like the local
sheriff who has come to arrest you than the local doctor who has come to heal
you.
And this is what St Paul is
pointing out in out Galatians passage – the difference between a God who Is a
disciplinarian and one who has come to love and care for us: 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. What a wonderful and
comforting message from St Paul. And unlike the people in the Gerasenes, God
does not distinguish or discriminate: 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.
Jesus Christ is the great
equalizer who brings us freedom. In Jesus we are all one and we are all on the
same level playing field. There is no distinction as was made very evident in
his 3 year ministry on earth. He ate with sinners. He fellowshipped with
lepers. And here he goes to the land of the unclean Gentiles. I know that
sometimes it might feel like God is not really there for you when you need him.
That’s how Elijah felt. With all that he was going through – with people trying
to kill him – it seemed that his enemies were doing much better than he was as
a follower of God. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O Lord,
take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors. And then God shows his
care: 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. And then God revealed something extraordinary about himself: God
said to Elijah – "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. Even though it was the sound of sheer silence – Elijah heard God’s
presence.
And that’s God’s message to
us. Maybe we don’t always feel or hear God’s presence but he is always there
for us. Sometimes God’s presence appears as sheer silence. Just as he was there
for Elijah even though everyone was chasing after him to kill him. God was
there for the demon possessed man even though the whole town was against him. And
God is also there for you even when it seems like the whole world is against
you. And just look at the transformation Jesus makes in the life of the demon
possessed man. They found the man from
whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right
mind. What a beautiful image. Jesus not only restored his physical body but
gave him back his dignity by finding clothes for him to wear. Much like God
replaced the pitiful attempt by Adam and Eve to clothes themselves with fig
leaves by providing them with clothes from animal skin.
And God also clothes you
with a very special garment. As Paul says - As many of you as were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. How beautiful to know that God
has clothed you by the special clothing of his Son Jesus Christ. That was the
image that John saw in his Revelation. I
saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
There’s another important
lesson in our Gospel reading today. And it’s about mission. After having been
healed the once demon possessed man wants to show his appreciation to Jesus and
begged that he might be with him; What a great testimony that would have been. But
nobody would really have known the extent of this man’s healing except those
who had discriminated against him and thrown him out of their community. So,
Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much
God has done for you." And he did.
This is our greatest mission
field. To go to our communities and to help those who have perhaps been against
us. To show love and forgiveness as Jesus says – love your enemies and pray for
those who persecute you. And that’s why Jesus said that repentance and
forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed – beginning in Jerusalem. Beginning
where you came from.
Beginning in your homes. This
is going to be a huge challenge for him – to declare the love of God to people
who showed him no love. But that’s the story of the Good Samaritan who showed
love to someone who showed him no love. But that’s exactly what God has done
for us: As Paul says in Romans - But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us
.
And sometimes those are the
chains that bind us. The inability to forgive those that hurt us – and that
unforgiveness keeps us bound in hate and resentment and we won’t know true
freedom until we can break those shackles. And if we can’t do that then instead
of the freedom of Christ and the Gospel we places ourselves back under the law
as our disciplinarian. But thanks be to God for Jesus’ freeing words from the
cross – forgive them Father for they know not what they are doing.
May you experience this
freedom as you claim your Baptism garment that has washed away all your sins.
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