{"id":511022,"date":"2010-06-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T14:14:46","slug":"lets-look-for-a-minute-proper-7-c-2010","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/lets-look-for-a-minute-proper-7-c-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Look For A Minute…, Proper 7 (C) – 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

[NOTE TO READER: Gerasene demoniac is pronounced JER-uh-seen de-MON-ee-ak]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look for a minute at the story of the Gerasene demoniac; it\u2019s about time somebody did. The story doesn\u2019t get a lot of attention in preaching these days, and that\u2019s a shame. There\u2019s some really good stuff here, and it\u2019s pretty funny if you come at it from the right angle. Also, it\u2019s very handy to have it coupled with Paul\u2019s words in Galatians. The two readings help each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, let\u2019s look at the issue that seems to get in the way of engaging it the most these last few centuries \u2013 those poor doomed demons. The fact is, the New Testament world had a different way of seeing reality than we do, or than the 10th century did, or than the 17th century did. And I\u2019m confident that in just a handful of decades there will be a still different way of seeing the world \u2013 different categories, different ways of naming and organizing the stuff we experience. And so on. That changing never changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These days, we don\u2019t do demons, at least not much. We don\u2019t have a category for that. But it\u2019s not a big deal; and it\u2019s sure not worth all the effort folks put into trying to force this square peg into the round hole of our current categories. Instead of that, let\u2019s see what\u2019s going on here; and let\u2019s see where the gospel is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one really important level, the story is a hoot \u2013 it\u2019s somewhere between a political cartoon and a graphic novel. The whole scene is bizarre. You\u2019ve got a naked crazy guy, chatty demons, charging pigs doing swan dives, tombs, chains, shackles, freaked-out locals, and a small riot. All in gentile territory where, as far Luke was concerned, Jesus had no business being in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The folks who first heard this story must have loved it. In addition to the great action and dialogue, there was ancient regional rivalry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could be more fun for the good Jews of Galilee to hear than a story about how un-kosher, unlucky, and generally weird the gentiles on the other side of the lake really were; and about how all those unclean pigs came to a well-deserved and hilarious end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the political subtext. Everybody knew instantly both that it was no accident that the demons called themselves \u201cLegion\u201d after the famous and feared Roman legions, or that pigs were a staple of both the Roman army and the Roman economy. Caesar\u2019s legions, and Caesar\u2019s rations, were mere child\u2019s play for Jesus \u2013 a quick flush and they\u2019re gone. What fun. And most Romans who heard the story probably wouldn\u2019t even get this part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as delightful as all this is, this is much more than a mildly comic interlude in Jesus\u2019 Galilean ministry. It\u2019s really good news, and it\u2019s good news about power \u2013 all sorts of power. The Gerasene demoniac appears just after the more familiar account of Jesus calming the storm on the lake. In fact, the storm was on the very same trip that took Jesus and the disciples to Gerasene. Both of these accounts are part of Luke\u2019s run-up to the big question Jesus asks his disciples in the next chapter: \u201cWho do you say that I am?\u201d In fact, all of these stories are hints about what the right answer is; so they all are not so much stories about what Jesus did, but about who he is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And who Jesus is has to do with power. It has to do with which, of all the powers in the universe, regardless of what categories we use to talk about them, are the strongest, which powers will have the last word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, there are a lot of powers out there, powers that can, and do, hurt and isolate and torment and destroy \u2013 in all sorts of ways. The categories we use to describe them don\u2019t really matter that much. Whether we live in a world full of demons or schizophrenics, of storm-gods or indifferent natural laws, of illness or of possession \u2013 regardless of the categories we use, we live in a dangerous world, a frightening world, a world that seems at both first and second glance to be pretty much against us. We live in a world that doesn\u2019t seem to care about us or our pain. We know this all too well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the story of the Gerasene demoniac, like the story of the calming of the sea, like so many of the other stories about what Jesus did, and about who Jesus is, these are ways of saying that all of those powers out there, regardless of how we name them or organize them, regardless of how real they are, and regardless of how awful they are \u2013 none of them is ultimately powerful, none of them has or will have the last word, none of them will prevail, ultimately. In the end, when all is said and done, we are safe. And the power that Jesus brings, the power of love, the power we see most clearly on the cross, that power will prevail. And this victory is ours by gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, it doesn\u2019t matter what is lined up against us. Look, the Gerasene demoniac had more to worry about than his demons. He was also a pariah, cut off from family, friends, community, relationships \u2013 from all those connections that together weave the fabric of our humanity. That isolation, that apart-ness, was also the victory of powers, perhaps powers we humans create, powers that can destroy as effectively, and as completely, as madness or storms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, by the time Jesus got through with him, our demoniac was on the other side of those as well. He was not only in his right mind, but he was, as they say, dressed appropriately; and Jesus told him to go to his home, a home he didn\u2019t have when our story began. He was given the fullness of his life back. Remember, there are all sorts of powers out there; and all sorts of victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is part of what Paul is talking about when he insists that, in Christ, \u201cThere is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female.\u201d Paul is saying that these distinctions, and others, these powers of the social, economic, ecclesiastical, and political structures \u2013 as ancient, hallowed, destructive, and potent as they were, and as they are \u2013 these are powers that will fall, and that have fallen, before Jesus. Their voices are not the strongest voices, and they will not have the last word. It is our vocation to oppose them, and by God\u2019s grace they should not, and ultimately they cannot, separate, isolate, define, or destroy us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the love that Jesus is, and the love that Jesus brings, is stronger than anything, even the worst, the very worst, that the world can throw at us. That\u2019s who Jesus is \u2013 that\u2019s what these stories are all about, that\u2019s the metanarrative or \u201cbig story,\u201d regardless of the categories and the worldviews we use to talk about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is good news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sermon was written by the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[NOTE TO READER: Gerasene demoniac is pronounced JER-uh-seen de-MON-ee-ak] Let\u2019s look for a minute at the story of the Gerasene demoniac; it\u2019s about time somebody did. The story doesn\u2019t get a lot of attention in preaching these days, and that\u2019s a shame. There\u2019s some really good stuff here, and it\u2019s pretty funny if you come…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[372],"class_list":["post-511022","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-7c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":372,"label":"Proper 7C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477293,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511022\/revisions\/3477293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}